The Harbinger of Ferocity

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

That I am aware of, I just needed to be sure that the attack would be what reveals; moving would have made this not so possible. That said, I will deal with it shortly enough.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Then as we are on to ranged weapons, can Brannor loose an arrow from his bow at the bottom rightmost kobold from his hidden position, @Hekazu? Or will he need step out and break his hidden position to do this? The goal is to try and retain that advantage and hopefully tag one of them with an actual hit.

Give Me Your Favorite Quote(s).

"I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior."

Hippolyte A. Taine

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

I have now at last returned so on to the associated business. As such, for these flying kobolds, how many feet are they off the ground? Are they within melee range of Brannor's blade if he were to approach them or are they high enough that unless the weapon has reach, it will not strike, @Hekazu?

The 'Character Sheet' as we know it needs to die.

I do honestly pose, having seen this topic arise again, that a completely free, no character sheet submission or the like topic be made, and anyone who wishes be allowed to join. I stipulate the latter because the general idea, the hope of this overarching endeavor, is that it would work. However, I do not wish to waste anyone's time on it and see it burn to the ground as a bunch of questionable characters, and or their players, have at it. I suppose it would be fair, based on the author's intent, that these people need collaborate with the Game Master but I believe this will just lead back around into the supposed infinite list of potential misunderstandings of varying ideas of what something means.

I would also offer that to be perfectly fair, it should not be stacked with persons the Game Master knows and trusts, i.e. those who would ensure this goes as close to flawlessly as possible because they all have a mutual understanding. For the best experiment we would need repeat this a few times over in varying manners and attempt to level it against other roleplays. Although I have the sneaking suspicion, some inkling, that I already know the answer; that without knowing each person individually and very well, this will not play out to any benefit.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I believe both those things to be equally excessive, their act of doing so, and your own reaction to it. They might be irritating but the exaggeration of what should be down about it is slightly disproportionate, even in jest, @Chasebloodcrest. On a related fact, I do not understand why some couples must display just how "in love" they are to everyone and everything in all that it is they do; nothing of the individual seems to remain. I can understand, as unlikely as some might think it to be, that love is an irrational thing and to have even slightly touched it and known it, yet that level and beyond I cannot grasp. It strikes me as being so far above and beyond that it is forced, insincere.

The 'Character Sheet' as we know it needs to die.

I will simply state that hoping for any sort of affirmation on expectations is the epitome of naivety with players and Game Masters alike and that goes for everyone, myself included. Players will avoid asking the most simple questions regularly and Game Masters will do anything they can to avoid putting more weight on themselves; engaging in constant question and answer sessions is exceptionally time consuming. Worse still, I would say Game Masters have it worse as people only have so much patience for things to be hashed out or mulled over. Games that do not near instantly start, at least on the Roleplayer Guild experience what might be exponential odds of failure unless the genre is so popular people will rush to play it. No amount of one player being dedicated and attempting to be proactive will make up for the three to four other people who are not.

I simultaneously agree and disagree otherwise that length and detail do not pertain. By this I mean that if a player submits a brief essay about how important their second childhood dog was and that dog has no bearing or relevance to the character, it is absolutely a waste of time to even have read it. Yet contrarily, if that character gives me an idea of why they are the way they are and give me, the Game Master or even a fellow player, a psychological explanation for that frame of mind, that is essential. I expect that, through and through, especially in the realm of potential cliche which is, in this example, people playing mental illnesses they know nothing about and could never, with their skill level, play out in writing; we all know such a character. But without a character sheet, how is this to be known? A literary perspective would only serve to make matters worse in the context of a roleplay because the author is not trying to lure anyone in, they are effectively trying to pass an examination.

I would state that the barest, truest sheet, not that the content itself should be short, contrary to that instead, but still consist of a name, a physical description, an address to personality, and a sample of who that character is in a scene. The first is obvious, the second equally so but crucially not to be neglected as other players should write and describe back observations about the other's person; they have a need to know features, but the scar on the sole of the right foot shouldn't be a detail unless for some reason people will not be wearing anything on their feet. The third and fourth? The third is again, essential, although mostly reserved for the Game Master although shrewd players should try to pick up on things to keep in mind... of course if their character is observant and watchful for these things. The last of course? Well, it goes without saying that is the examination of the person to see if they will pass the mark or not, although it should not be limited to just these; if a game involves any sort of conflict it should probably be noted what their talents are there, among other obvious modifications.

Speaking but only for myself, I would shelve the idea of a roleplay without character sheets and instead refine the most perfect examples of minimalism, in actual length, and maximized content. It does not say, take five paragraphs to explain that the mage character can cast a ball of fire, it takes but a handful to say what it is and what it does. Likewise, a character does not need to list their favorite food or theme song or so on and if they do, for whatever plot reason, an example as this probably does not require more than the same amount, three to five, sentences if there is a very particular reason it is relevant.

Frankly, part of my issue with even wanting to dispel character sheets in concept is that I just do not trust players or even Game Masters that much in regular terms to get away with that.

Printed guns, melded metal - An experimental GM-less Cyberpunk RP

Getting transport back was easy, they wee expecting the terminal's call now, it was all just a matter of how long it took to physically drive there. After all, normally an armored roller wasn't sent into the Zone, it wasn't like one of the tanked-out taxis or Doc Wagon vehicles. But tip off that you have your mark and finishing up business, business they have been waiting for? Rest assured most corps or their contacts were... eager, to put it kindly. The type of salivating, hungry for that next splash of credits, kind. It meant more tech for everyone, most everyone, anyone that had a hand in it; all the bureaucracy at its finest. It didn't matter if you were a suit sitting in the glitzy side of town who just happened to "okay" the entire ordeal of the security who were on a retrieval team, your hand was in the jar, and that meant more stuff for you. Not much, but when you're at that level? Anything you touch makes you money and without the risk of getting your shiny, upper crust chrome blasted into a million pieces like the scavs fighting in the slums were for a piece of that profit.

So Theron considered himself lucky, real, real lucky after everything he had dealt with. Not just Tracy or Golemeth or all else, no, he meant everything. It wasn't like he was praising high heaven for it either, just deep inside glad that they were so damn hungry for their cut of the pay that they weren't going to leave him out here waiting. Freaks, tweaks, tuners, boosters, whatever the hell else existed now legitimately lived here in the Combat Zone and knew it like the back of their hand, because there wasn't any escape; sure as hell not into the Wastes and their particular brand of freakshow wasn't going to make it far in anything but the slums. So whatever they could get, they wanted bad.

Not having tech, other than a coat, some glasses, gloves, and a gun, made that a whole hell of a lot easier, as did dragging around a bleeding, burnt heap of a broken down cyborg. It just still wasn't easy, nothing was for the man as he tucked himself there in the alley, eyes glancing from one side to the next. He could hear engines, here that wasn't all too rare given some things still were going combustion, but what Theron sure as hell hadn't heard yet was the whine of a hydrogen turbine. An armored transport was a big, beefy wall of plasteel and plain old heat and projectile resistant ceramic, and had no shortage of firepower. It also was a beast of a money sink considering it was a privately owned tank on wheels, but when you were a corp the rules changed. Want an auto-cannon that would put holes through wall after wall and had self loading magazines from its batteries of armament? Sure, sure, whatever you want, as long as the money was good.

Just another symptom of what had happened to everything, apparently back in the day, before it all that wasn't the case. But now? Now that sweet whine of industrial engines was somewhere not far, which meant whatever service they dispatched for a pick-up of corp business was getting closer.

That just meant the man's eyes sifted through the gloomy, old neon glow and stared long and hard at the problem bot-man. He was even more a mess just laying there on his side in a puddle, jaw limp and probably drooling on himself. Theron just couldn't get the attraction of it all into his head. He signed this deal for biotech expressly, god knows where it was coming from or why, but it still got into his nerves and made him uneasy he simultaneously didn't have that kind of staying power all the while the fact it made someone that vulnerable. Hell, someone like Tracy, some decker or ripperdoc, of even moderate skill could just slap some plugs into the ports and browse the brain like it was no issue from a sleazy thought-trip house. It got a huff out of him, a shake of his head and a slight nudge of his boot to the crumpled mess of somewhat person.

"Still not worth the envy..." The man muttered as he rubbed the back of a sleeve to his nose, displacing the discomfort with the gesture, and allowing his attuned hearing to pick up the closing sound. Again that just led him to looking up the alleyway and back, no visitors yet.

The 'Character Sheet' as we know it needs to die.

There has always been a fine balance to the art of making a character sheet that is relevant and pertinent in its entirety to a roleplay. The gist of where this stems from and why I believe it continues other than purely for the sake of tradition is so that the Game Master knows just who a character is and is being submitted to the group, although some details offer nothing and as you noted, are effectively selling short the entire idea of a written system; even outside writing, an abroad the rule is "Show, do not tell." However, characters need to pass muster to some extent and some of these elements are critical to this accomplishment. Now comes the issue of where this becomes in excess, such as date of birth, sexuality, or favorite color, which unless absolutely plot relevant for checking off a box that must be known, are superfluous additions.

I, for one, would absolutely not, in any sense, allow a roleplay as a Game Master where players did not submit to the most basic of inquiries. This is because I view it as quality control; there are certain persons and character types that are disruptive and negative to the game and story I am directing. If I am the one to host it and have leapt through all the hoops to facilitate that, as so few people wish to lead the narrative by and large, I reserve the right to say, "That character does not belong here." Now of course a player could absolutely bamboozle a Game Master but that is the reason the Game Master has added powers and authority, and should those fail, moderators and administrators have greater exercise.

Yet this does not negate the fact that a character sheet is the first and potentially most important hurtle for players and characters alike to step through, although there is one element of them that is highly controversial that I standby with stalwart resolve; psychological profiles. I absolutely believe it is essential in the meta to have an idea of who this character is and not cast it solely to chance, because as many of us, especially us older members of the genre have almost assuredly experienced, a character with zero insight as to who they are or what they do is an absolute wild card and exceedingly bad characters like to sneak in that way. This also goes hand in hand with the matter that players should, at least in my standing, be required to submit a roleplaying sample; the general idea is that anything "claimed" should be clear in the writing and portrayal. The reason this is often cast aside is that players are fickle and the more expectations set out, the less willing most are to participate for obvious reasons. These reasons are that character sheets are realistically costly in time investiture and creative energy derived from the mind, thus as people generally only have so much time to spend on a roleplay and so much creative power, they must choose, especially when the vast, vast, vast majority of roleplays fall through.

Continued, albeit in different vein but related all the same, players simply do not abide by the motions of an interest check, let alone the out-of-character section and rarely, if ever, seem to contact with questions in what amounts to "in-person". This I take as pervasive as even back long before my time with the Guild, on now ancient forums, people just applied to topics and were accepted or declined. But I digress, the point is, is that this asks more of a player and further reduces the pool from those who would rather just commit to writing a sheet and hoping something happens with it. Now if this is for better or worse, judging how devoted a player is or is not, that is to be decided based on one's stance; I personally determine how devoted a player is by how much effort invested into the character sheet their is and how they generally portray themselves out-of-character as well as their account's activity, if I can manage to recover that by observation. Even having used other services to coordinate stories with players or Game Masters, in the rare cases I have been able to play and access them, communication was still mostly non-existent or unhelpful or wasted.

This in the end still makes a sheet extremely valuable, because if all we are left with is a name and a vague, general description, there is no telling what might be in store. I agree that sheets should be trimmed down to what is relevant - I needn't know an entire character's life biography from grandfather down unless it is absolutely needed - and I would also offer that I favor, as a Game Master, limiting the explicitness of information because the players should be attempting to experience this in the game with one another, fool that I am to hope this.

Simply put, if the above was too much to bother digging through, that is a dreamy idea that will not work in the vast majority of cases because people cannot be trusted or expected to do what should be done. Game Masters need an expedient method of verification and review, players need something that is universal and consistent.

Ask Me a Question!

I appreciate such an adept and in-depth answer, @KimHanuel. I will of course return at a later date with more.