Re: Downtime planning thread.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

- Splitting the cabal doesn't mean they can't continue to work together on future things [individuals can tag along on individual missions etc]. It's just that standing at nine, it's going to be pretty unwieldy a group. Plus, you will have to do more work as the NPC members will have to become more fleshed out as we'll interact with them more often.

The Cabal members are already fleshed out as they have been in play from the start and where former player characters. I see no point in splitting the Cabal and one very good reason not to. Steelhaven is not a war Chantry, this is not a combat unit but rather a group of friends if the higher ups just came in and decided, see here we remove these members here and you can take these two instead then really I doubt the Cabalmembers would feel they had any control over their Cabal at all and the bonds between the members would be weakened as they would just be a unit the Deacon Council decided on so I am very much against this and will only agree to it if a majority of the players wish for the Cabal to break up.

My feeling is this. For you to look at the NPC's skills/usual role and see how much 'redundancy' they have vs the PC's. It's the old 'party management' thing - for if say one NPC has 80% overlap with Nicole and 40% with Colin, they may end up continuously being 'left in the car' for the two PC's can do everything the NPC can between them. That NPC cabal/pack/whatever members are primarily to fill out the roster to make it viable, but with the unwritten agreement that when they're not needed [such as there's enough PC's] they're faded back into the background.

I simply do not agree a Cabal along with their Mentors and apprentices are the family of a mage and yes sometimes more than one Cabalmember are able to do something, but this is not about making a Final Fantasy party it is about friendship. If I where a player at least if Richard, Bruce and Jon was just cut from the Cabal to make a better party then for most of my characters it would no longer be family, no longer be a Cabal it would simply be a working unit and that misses the point. When out on a mission is is rare for the entire Cabal to be sent, usually it is the player characters and perhaps a few NPCs for backup. I have worked hard to make the character inhabiting Steelhaven to feel real, they are not just a list of stats and let us make sure we don't have any overlap.

- I have a fear that having 8+ scenes all running in the same thread at the same RL time will cause things to fall apart organisation-wise. Previous IC threads worked well enough for two reasons: #1 everybody was roughly in the same time/place and #2 your [as in Great One] own posting speed acted as a break in a couple of us 'running away' with the thread for it was not often a scene which did not have at least one NPC in it.

We have had quite a few scenes running before and I doubt there will be eight scenes, there will be the Cabalmeeting and once done everyone will be having their own scenes, sometimes together, having a handful of scenes going should not be a problem as long as they are properly marked, off course do not go and start five new scenes at random, but having one or two just character interaction scenes going should not be an issue.

But... what happens if in a PC-PC scene both players were on a roll and did a couple of pages worth of replies in a very short period of time? There have been times already that I've not replied because I simply did not have the half-hour plus to read through all the posts, work out what was relevant to Nick and then reply.

Search for your character's name and it should be easy to find the scenes relevant to him or her.

In short, I worry having such a thread next will become *too* boggy, tangled-up and simply confusing for me to be able to follow it to a level which I would be happy with.

Top of a page control F type in Nicole and as long as scenes are marked with the characters that are in them finding the ones that Nicole is in should not take more than a few seconds.

- No worries about going away; we're all allowed to do that now and then. *smiles*

I will be keeping an eye on thing but I will only be having my phone as I am not bringing my computer so writing up long replies will be difficult.

[Nicole Bouchard]

- Splitting cabal. As you wish. However, your description/explanation of it has seriously weakened the justification of cabals. [I don't mind this, as it's one which was developed for tabletop play, not pbp format].

Therefore I propose we simply abolish the cabal entirely and work with a 'character pool' which you assign to missions as/when they are needed instead. [Which seems to be what you're de facto saying anyway].

- Scenes. Not that many? Well, I've already counted six.

- Posting. I am aware of those things. However, I don't like doing them because it in effect leads me to ignore all the goings-on with the PC's who are not Nicole.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

According to the books, while a War Chantry might do things differently, generally a Cabal is a group of friends who join together as it is good to have friends you know will watch your back when you are trying to survive in the World of Darkness, usually it is not a party organized by someone other than the members of the Cabal in question though.

I like having a Cabal, having a formal magickal family makes far more sense to me than a Final Fantasy party. They are not combat units. Again I will go with the majority rule but I suspect most want to keep the Cabal as allot of roleplay is based around it.

Six scenes should not be that much of a problem running at once after all your character is not going to be a part of all of them.

I do not really get your last point you want a perseverate thread so you will not have to deal with as many posts because if you do not you have to ignore posts, there are just as many posts if you do it in one thread or in two. Chances though are that we are not going to split things into separate threads for this game unless again this is something the majority of the players want.

[Warpmind]

Yeah, no, I'd not want to split up the Cabal. I'm with Anja's interpretation here - the family you choose, as opposed to a strategic or tactical unit.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

I have started the new thread with the Cabal meeting so we can all continue posting while I work on the write up of thread 29. It will be a bit short though since I will be rather busy and stressed for the trip this weekend.

Everyone get 3 exps for giant ass thread 29.

[Nicole Bouchard]

I've had a thought. Perhaps each of us should do a little 'character post' so the others get a feeling of what the character's like? It would help, I feel Nick and Serge to gel better with the older players...

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

I like that idea.

[Adley]

Can do!

[Warpmind]

Hum, what, precisely did you have in mind, just for clarification?

A solo post with "a day in the life" sort of thing?

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

That is how I understood it. I might do that for the other NPC Cabalmembers as well if I get the time for it.

[Nicole Bouchard]

I was thinking more along the lines of 'obvious things about the character others would pick up on' - after all, it's been two months. In such a situation, characters would learn [for example] that Nicole is one of those strange people who actually enjoy going running at 6AM.

- Apartment Description. [A good hint on a person]
- Usual Activities. [Work, study, duties etc]
- Hobbies/Interests. [They might have something in common]
- Personal Details. [Stuff that most would know but doesn't fit above]

Thinking that if each of us does one of these in a separate thread [stickied in 'Characters and NPCs' so they don't get lost in the abyss of IC posts] it would not only help each of us to launch into scenes quicker but would also give Great One ideas too [back to the above example, Nicole might bond with an NPC who also goes running].

[Warpmind]

Hah, Nicole will DEFINITELY have paired up with Colin a few times over the next month or two, then, for the morning run.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

I am sure I can do that for a few of the NPCs.

Warp the scene with Mr Ameli are allmost done what are the next scene we should do with Colin?

[Warpmind]

Next scene... Oooh, Monday afternoon, meeting Captain Welder with Anna?

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

That works for me.

[Adley]

If it's character related things then I have been just adding it to the thread with my character sheet - for example I have a running tally of XP and etc. That's the best way to keep track for me. Otherwise if it's a day in the life, it can be added before any other post. But yeah, Adley goes jogging in the morning too lol though he won't be going until he recuperates somewhat.

[Nicole Bouchard]

Problem is, that means it's all jumbled-up with other things. Doing a single post detailing the topics I outlined above [as an example], then having them in one single thread with the other PC's/NPC's would be a handier 'at a glance' thing.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

I like the thread with a character sheet and notes that most have as it keeps it all in one place and easy to accesess.
Nicole are you suggjesting a thread with chsracter infirmation like hobbies and what they do for a living?

[Nicole Bouchard]

I don't like the 'all in one thread' as it means that while it's 'all in one place', it's not 'all in one post'. In Adley's thread, for example I will have to read through all the stuff to see if my query is there - some of the topics addressed within said thread I either should not or do not wish to see [after all, it ruins the 'big reveal' about an aspect of a PC's backstory etc if I have already read it!]. This is why I have not read any of the PC threads and haven't shown Nicole's. I like the suspense, the mystery!

What I suggest is this. We make a 'Character Personalties' thread and we each put one post in, giving the details of stuff which is public knowledge. I'll do an example...


Rebecca ['Becky'] O'Riley.

Appearance: A lithe young woman in her late teens, standing around 5'3'. Strawberry-blonde hair in a no-nonsense ponytail, freckled cheeks, somewhat dorky-looking thick-rimmed glasses. Rather cute in a 'farmgirl' kind of way; a look increased by her usual attire of hiking boots, jeans and plaid shirts - something she'd not changed on arriving in Boston.

Personality: Becky is cripplingly shy, particularly around older people. Those who go to the effort to get to know her will find a girl who is very ethical and friendly. Often finds being in groups or crowds to be very anxiety-creating. Often seems to be quite unsettled and indecisive, has a tendency to agree with others to avoid offending them.

Usual Activities: When not at college, Becky is often studying with her Mentor. She may object to crowds, but not people; loves to spend an hour or day with friends. Loves to explore; a tendency which while occasionally causes trouble, also makes her one of the better guides. Often she travels outside of the city, where both she and her raven familiar Freddie enjoy nature.

Hobbies/Interests: Exploring, building kites, growing plants, reading manga, sailing, canoeing, camping and other outdoor pursuits.

Personal Details: Born and raised in rural Upper Michigan, which shows in her 'Yooper' accent. Was sent here to study under [NPC]. Family relations are rather strained; while Becky says her childhood was happy and good people, also states firmly they would not approve. Her deepest [expressed] desire is to one day, to be able to shapeshift into a bird and fly free. One of the few things which break her shyness is when confronted by 'bleeding heart urban greenies'; pointing out firmly that nature is neither nice, kind or fair.

Apartment: Sparse, neat and clean; it doesn't look like a home, more just a place someone's staying in. Large perch in the corner for her familiar, a bookcase of books, some tools, a large rack of plants in front of the window. Several hand-written notebooks, filled with notes, ideas and detailing where she'd been and what she saw there. In the corner, several boxes; filled with seemingly random items - which she explains 'will be needed one day'. Studies Ecological Science at University; parents are under impression she won a scholarship.


Not as good as the one I'd do for Nicole, mainly as 'Becky' is a vague concept and not a fleshed-out character. But it still provides hooks; mutual interests, places she might run into someone and the like. It also allows a place we can 'park' some descriptions; so instead of having to describe Nicole's apartment each time, if someone can't remember they can simply look it up again in the 'Personalities' thread.

Regardless of the decision, I'll do this for Nicole in her own thread; but I can't promise I'll be able to find other players'/NPC's details if they're spread out across several posts and buried amongst other information.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

But this information are already there in the character sheets though if anyone want to copy paste that information into 88ne thread for you that is okey by me.

[Nicole Bouchard]

It would be best if the players themselves did this; it means it would be their post which could be edited/updated as and when needed.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

I am not so sure many would edit it allot, basucally for mist Character sheets and the character thread do this job just fine so if someone copy pase to your thread it would be as a fabor to you since you did not like the regular character threads. Yes each player have to post this themselves.

[Nicole Bouchard]

No need to do the character sheet part; I am trying *not* to see those! Though there will be edits from time to time, as time progresses and characters develop...

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

I was more thinking the background, apperance, personality all of this are already on the chsracter sheet so if someone copy this information to your thread it can not be expected that itvwill be continiously updated alobg with the actual character thread.

[Nicole Bouchard]

If my example is used as a guide, I'd guess most, though not all is on the sheets/thread; it's a simple 'collate and fill in the blanks' job. And no, shouldn't need that much updating; just a review every few RL months or so.

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