Septon Arlyn long simple guide to pbp

by **Septon Arlyn** Mon Nov 09, 2015 5:14 am

So this is a question I got from a new player and I wanted to post my little guide of things I have learned from pbp (as this is my first one and I had a few bumps and learning curves I went through as well)

So here it goes:

I'm having a hard time trying to understand PC movement through the forums and the topics.

Some topics have only one post from one player that comes from nowhere and goes nowhere (like this [url:1vnxjm6z]http:
//dragonsdance.
forumatic.
com/viewtopic.
php?f=173&
t=1769[/url:1vnxjm6z]). What exactly determines where I should be? There is no GM as far as I see.

There is a GM, he is called the reader and his name shows up in red. These posts often are part of behind the scenes transactions happening. Sometimes it's for finding out info from behind the scenes, other times it's for accompshing specific objectives, either as a house goal or personal objectives.

Initially I thought that each topic was one physical location with different players at different times passing through them, but there are topics about situations (like this [url:1vnxjm6z]http:
//dragonsdance.
forumatic.
com/viewtopic.
php?f=173&
t=1841[/url:1vnxjm6z]) which already start with a quote that I have no idea from where come from.

This is a spin off from a different thread, that way peoples conversations do not clutter the main thread.

In this case that example is a spin off from this thread
[url:1vnxjm6z]http:
//dragonsdance.
forumatic.
com/viewtopic.
php?f=173&
t=1789&
start=10#p48331[/url:1vnxjm6z]

The precedent for this type of thread splitting comes from this out of character (OOC) discussion:

[url:1vnxjm6z]http:
//dragonsdance.
forumatic.
com/viewtopic.
php?f=75&
t=1033[/url:1vnxjm6z]

So should I just decide to open a topic about my arrival in the castle, for instance, and other players will post on it regardless of where their characters physically are and regardless of the time difference of one action and another (like I'm describing it is a rainy night on my topic and one player who just posted on a bright day topic suddenly appearing to interact with me)?

So about the weather... Westeros is like Oregon, you can't ever really know what the weather is like from hour to hour
until the powers that be ( reader) set it up in the almanac. Plot inconsistenties like that are just hand waved (made inconsequential to the plot) as far as I am aware. Otherwise I would probably say whoever made the first post in that area gets to determine what the
Weather was like in that area at that time (early bird gets the worm kinda thing)

Reader has also determined that time turners where not invented in westeros so you can not make like Hermione Granger and be in two places at once. But reader does have final say so if you have a very plot revelant reason to be in two places at once, he might allow it. But be prepared to plead your case. He likes to make the rule of cool so if it is cool/ plot relevant he might allow it

For the kings justice reader gas handwaved travel time between locations. That does not mean that you don't have to account for travel time if you want to, but given that there are only so many hours (timeslots) in a day he has given dispensation to "
teleport"
between time slots. More on that later.

Topics about situations are called Events and are usually set up by the reader. There is usually only 1 event per day, and events are located in the almanac here. That will also tell you the time slot if the event.

[url:1vnxjm6z]http:
//dragonsdance.
forumatic.
com/viewtopic.
php?f=165&
t=1643#p43407[/url:1vnxjm6z]

I'm really confused about what to do, could you please elucidate me on how the game works here?

Septon Arlyn wrote:Ok so each area has a description of what is there set up by the narrator (reader)

The day is divided into morning, noon, evening, and night, which equates to about 6 hours.

Those get further subdivided into early, mid, and late time slots, each representing approximately 1.5 hours.

So let's say that day 1 I wanted to visit raventree hall and ask some questions to the servants there about the routines of Ser Myles, out of there's been any deviation to the routines. I would then pick a time slot, lets say in the morning. As a PC I'm going to be having breakfast with the heir to the house in the early morning so I can not use that time slot. So lets say I choose mid morning. In the subject line I would write

[Day 1 MM (mid morning)] questioning the servants.

In the subject line. Then I would write out how my character would interact with the narrator characters in the body of the box. Try to use description of how it would look wherever you use your various techniques. Like let's say you are being friendly and trying to charm some info out of them. In that case I would write

Septon Arlyn approaches the small folk washer women with an easy smile and gentle acknowledgment. "
Good morning good women, how goes this fine day?"

"
Well the sun be shining and the boys are bringing me the water right quick like."
She replies hurriedly.

"
Aye it certainly has been a day blessed by the seven,"
continues Septon Arlyn. "
So tell me, have you noticed any odd garb found from Ser Myles's things?"

I would then go to orokos and fill out my character's name. Put in dragons dance for the campaign. Then in the description write down what I am doing (persuasion) the technique (charm) and write down the target (washerwomen). I find it also helpful to put in the day and thread, it helps it your doing a lot of the same actions. Also if it has multiple rounds be sure to include the round number as well. So it would look something like this;

Persuasion charm washerwomen day 1 MM kings justice

Then you would put down the number of dice you roll in the next box. So if I had persuasion 4 I would write

4d6k4

However if I had 2b in charm dice as well I would write:

6d6k4

Refer to the orokos rolling thread here for a more detailed breakdown:

viewtopic.php?f=75&
t=313#p3017

Now if I wanted to be more intimidating I would write the roleplay a little something more like this

Septon Arlyn stormed toward the washerwomen, red robes trailing behind him. As he rounded on the washerwomen he snarled "
Tell me what Ser Myles has been doing! Has he been using extra dark clothes that you do not see him dressed in at court?"

The women was startled at the Septon's instance but quickly gave what she knew about Ser Myles activity.

In this case I would repeat the same process as before only instead of charm I would use intimidate.

On
Each day you need to rest at least 1 full timeslot, weather that be the night, evening, morning or some combination in between, just as long as you get 6-8 hours of rest. You might be able to get away with less but the reader would have to approve it and it might cause you to pick up some penalties.

Now that we have a little bit on how to start timeslots let's talk about interacting with PC's. Most people here are pretty good about setting up times for your character to have an encounter with there's. The best way to do this is through pm's or posting in this thread here that you would like to meet up:

[url:1vnxjm6z]http:
//dragonsdance.
forumatic.
com/viewtopic.
php?f=75&
t=275#p2369[/url:1vnxjm6z]

Then once you talk with a PC and set up a time to meet then you should determine availability for other characters in the area to interact with you if they are in that time slot. There are a few ways this is done. You can declare the thread (open) which basically makes the thread into a free for all, or you could mark it semiclosed, which means that if you want to join that thread you should pm everyone participating in the thread to see if they are ok with your PC joining. And closed, which is kinda like do not pass go do not collect 200 dollars. However if you read the thread and see that it has come to a natural stopping point, and your PC is in the area, go ahead and PM them to see if you can join/or if they want to create a new thread with you so you can have an interaction.

In most events the reader will usually post some sort of skill check for you to complete against. Sometimes he will show you the target number (TN) other times it will be blind. Same basic the as the taking only instead of testing persuasion you are testing the other skills he chooses.

I would suggest starting off in some where like the tavern in an open meet up time slot and start taking with player's there, then go explore areas with other PC's until you are comfortable enough to handle it on your own.

Here is a good sample combat
viewtopic.php?f=161&
t=1499#p38663

And here is a good sample intrigue
viewtopic.php?f=189&
t=1761&
start=20#p47227

by **Ser Raynald Dulver** Mon Nov 09, 2015 9:25 am

Thank you for your help to this newbie, Arlyn =)

by **Septon Arlyn** Mon Nov 09, 2015 10:34 am

Lady Corrine Marsten wrote:Several of the links you posted are just text, so it's impossible to know what you're referring to. Could you fix that, please?
You may also want to use quotation marks, bold, italics, or underlining, to distinguish between the questions and your answers. It's really confusing in it's current state.
In the answer about there not seeming to be a GM, you should probably state that Reader is the GM, but that sometimes other players help with rolling NPC actions, if Reader needs extra help.

I will work on some formatting to make it easier to read, as well as fixing the links shortly. Thanks for your review Very Happy

by **Lady Corrine Marsten** Mon Nov 09, 2015 10:44 am

There are a number of not quite correct statements and some missing/unclear information above. I wish to clarify.

1. Reader is the GM.

1a. However, Reader sometimes needs extra help, so there are times when the more rules-savvy players will help out with battles by rolling for some of the NPCs.

2. Some posts appear to come from and go nowhere because they are just information or announcements that should be considered common knowledge from the in-character time they happen onwards. There is no need to interact with them, unless invited to do do by the original poster.

3. Threads are almost always tied to a time slot AND a location, so a character can only be there if they are in that place at that time. This is why the day &
timeslot should be included in the thread title (e.g. [D2, MA], meaning Day 2, Mid-Afternoon). Or the year &
month, if posting in the downtime between stories. The location is generally indicated by which location-specific board the thread is in (e.g. Raventree Hall, The Green Door Inn, etc). Each location has it's own board. The first post of a thread should generally add more specific location information, like whether the character is in the common room of the inn, or in their own room, etc.

3a. Character movement is shown by where and when their threads are. If I have a D1, MM (Day 1, Mid Morning) thread in the The Warrior's Seat board, and a D1, LM (Day 1, Late Morning) thread in the Green Door Inn thread, that shows that my character has travelled from the first location to the second during those timeslots.

3b. In case it is not known, these are the timeslots;

EM - Early Morning
MM - Mid Morning
LM - Late Morning

EA - Early Afternoon
MA - Mid Afternoon
LA - Late Afternoon

EE - Early Evening
ME- Mid Evening
LE - Late Evening

EN - Early Night
MN - Mid Night
LN - Late Night

3c. Each timeslot is 2 hours long, and you must account for your character's sleep. Most of us use the EN-EM slots for sleep. You can stay up and do things during the night, if you want, but significant lack of sleep has consequences. Reader might impose penalties to some rolls if your character is sleep-deprived.

3d. I'd strongly advise making a scheduling post/thread in your House/personal board, with all the timeslots, where you keep track of what you're doing where, and in which timeslot.

4. You cannot be "
in two places at once"
. You can, at Reader's discretion, have more than one separate roleplay scene within a timeslot. A timeslot is 2 hours, but, of course, not all roleplay scenes take that long in-character. For example, if your character arrives at the inn during the Late Evening (LE) slot, has a drink and a chat with another character that lasts about 20 minutes in-character (IC) time, then goes upstairs to have a 30-minute private meeting with another character, one could appeal to Reader to have both interactions in the same timeslot. Of course, they should be separate threads, with a little out-of-character (OOC) note in the first post, stating that Reader has approved the extra use of the timeslot. The convention for posting OOC notes is this:

[ooc: insert what you want to say out-of-character.]

5. Weather is decided by Reader in the Almanac entry for the specific day, but is often unimportant. If you are unsure, and want to know, you can certainly ask Reader via private message, or in the Game Discussion thread (it's in the Out-Of-Character board, if you don't know already).

by **Ser Raynald Dulver** Mon Nov 09, 2015 11:15 am

Thank you all guys,

Some of my statements may look a little blunt, but I assure you it is only consequence of my struggle with the language, not me being an ass nor nothing like it, heh. But I'm improving =)

by **Lady Corrine Marsten** Mon Nov 09, 2015 11:35 am

You're not coming across badly to me, so I expect it's not as bad as you think. Don't worry. Smile

by **Loreia** Mon Nov 09, 2015 1:09 pm

I figured you could be present in multiple threads per location-timeslot combination, as long as you were aware of the 2-hour allotment per time slot and how much time you were spending in each scene. Most couldn't possibly go on for more than half an hour - unless it's a religious ceremony and In-Character discussion of philosophy and religion! I also heard it said that intrigues are 1 per scene/thread, per time slot.

For example, in Story 1 at the tourney, the Tully seat Riverrun is - was - divided into several locations: the godswood, the greathall, the sept, the wheel tower, the tourney grounds, etc. In this story, I assume the idea is that we've got more places to visit and thus are moving around a lot more, spending less time in each place. At the tourney, we were confined to the castle, a nearby town, pavilions set up for the visiting houses, and the surrounding area. Here for the king's justice, we're visiting two different seats: House Blackwood's Raventree Hall, House Bracken's Warrior's Seat(a contested holding, currently held by the Brackens), the borderlands between all three, and the surrounding countryside pus two towns.

That is why I justify my visit to the godswood at Raventree Hall to be the same time slot as the bread and salt in the great hall. I probably wouldn't be mingling with the others of higher status for very long, and the godswood of the dead weirwood is readily nearby for all to visit and see the damage for themselves. As for the bread and salt, I wouldn't consider the contest(possibly classified as a "
simple"
intrigue"
) wouldn't qualify as a full-blooded complex intrigue.

For more information, the core rulebook is your friend! If you are ever unsure about something, I would visit the "
Ask the Narrators"
thread and post your question. You can also search the forums for whatever you need, although it won't take any search term with less than three letters.

by **Theomore Tullison** Mon Nov 09, 2015 2:21 pm

The general rule is that you can only be in one thread per timeslot though.

by **Lady Corrine Marsten** Mon Nov 09, 2015 2:26 pm

Theomore Tullison wrote:The general rule is that you can only be in one thread per timeslot though.

Multiple threads in a timeslot should certainly not be made a habit. Leeway does, however, exist for when one can justify it and it's not being meta. Smile

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