[BC] The Blackest Heart (OOC)

[Necronaut]

@Mazer Rackham we should be at 400xp accrued total now, right?

[Mazer Rackham]

 

@Mazer Rackham we should be at 400xp accrued total now, right?

 

That is correct.

[Xin Ceithan]

Oh…Maths…

so avoided total destruction to find ourselves in hell anyway 

 

Let’s see if get this right then 

 

If only initial advances count that’s 

 

Lesser Minion         - unaligned I

Radiant Presence  - Slaanesh I … which drops by one now, so it’s 

 

Unaligned (I) for alignment purposes, non?

 

Think I’ll put the Xp in a first increase to WP - that’s what’s going to be necessary if you want to to walk the road of Glory unaided by any God in the end, I guess

[Lysimachus]

 

@Mazer Rackham we should be at 400xp accrued total now, right?

 

Oh! It's 400 total... I did think rounding 150 to 400 was... odd 

 

Right, ok, scratch that off my sheet again for now...

 

 

Edit: so we got 250 as a nice little opener for our pre-game mission to the listening post (ok, cool, thanks)

 

but then we only got 150 for taking out a flipping Daemon Princess...?  

Edited October 4 by Lysimachus

[Xin Ceithan]

 

-snip- 

 

but then we only got 150 for taking out a flipping Daemon Princess...?  

look who’s talking… Rakash even lost Infamy for this 

[Mazer Rackham]

 

Edit: so we got 250 as a nice little opener for our pre-game mission to the listening post (ok, cool, thanks)

 

but then we only got 150 for taking out a flipping Daemon Princess...?  

 

Well TBH, you were lucky she didn't take you out - or have you as the main course...!

 

It was an unplanned encounter that prompted good RP, so a few pennies in the XP bank was warranted. Plus there were some Talents doled out...and nobody is really happy, so win-win? 

 

@Xin Ceithan Easy on the complaining, it cost poor Necro an arm and a leg! (And both of you are down to 1 IP IIRC).

 

Edited October 4 by Mazer Rackham

[A.T.]

 

...and nobody is really happy, so win-win?

 

I don't know about that... I see a few unclaimed suits of terminator armour that would have good trade-in value. Any wheelbarrows around?

[Mazer Rackham]

Good call AT.

 

Can always rely on you.

 

The Party can assume all wargear is policed by the Blackheart's staffers. 

[Necronaut]

@Mazer Rackham wait did Ukalegon actually lose limbs or are you just referring to his completely ruined armour?

[Mazer Rackham]

 

@Mazer Rackham wait did Ukalegon actually lose limbs or are you just referring to his completely ruined armour?

 

Yeah, I think she took one of your arms off.

 

EDIT: No, I've gone back over the damage and it was a Body shot that put you over -10 Crit, so you'll need a cybork body. You missed out being killed off (Like Character DED) by like a handful of damage, mate.

 

Edited October 4 by Mazer Rackham
Damage Check

[Necronaut]

@Mazer Rackham alright mate, add it to my tab.

[Mazer Rackham]

@Necronaut Your ego's writing cheques your body can't cash, son.

 

We'll sort it out. Huron after all is a man who settles debt. After all, he's been settling up with the Imperium for a loooong time.

[Necronaut]

The Blood God careth not from whence the blood floweth...

[Lysimachus]

Yeah, I guess that's all true. I suppose it all comes back to my issues in general with how xp is earned in play-by-post games, as opposed to in person games (which is where the FFG rules are obviously originally intended for)

 

Look at it this way, we've been playing this game since July 17th, so heading on for 3 months, and we've earned 400xp total and (if we've been lucky!) 2 Infamy Points so far. Now in person you might do that in the space of one session - so a few hours/one day at most.

 

But the goal in the game is to earn 80+ Inf and probably many thousands of xp, right?

 

Let's take Inf as a target. We want 80(ish), so that's 40 times what it has taken 3 months to gain. 40 x 3 months is 120 months.

 

Is it really realistic to expect that we'll still be playing this game for a minimum of 10 years? (and probably a decent chunk more than that, considering that our characters' fortunes can fall as well as rise!)

 

 

To be clear, I don't mean any of this as any criticism of you @Mazer Rackham I think you're working well in line with what the book suggests. It just feels like the advancement system was designed for and works with in-person play, but doesn't fit properly for play-by-post.

 

 

 

 

Sorry, this is all probably well off-topic here, maybe I should start another thread if anyone else thinks it's worth discussing?

 

[Xin Ceithan]

I ‘m not really complaining - starting group walked into an encounter with a Major Daemon and survived, that’s already -almost- worth it for bragging rights alone 

 

In reference to the XP thing we didn’t do that much outside the narrative ( which the FfG rules do not really cover / represent well ) and if you measure the Lore and such granted in between that’s another few hundred XP if I am correct? 
 

Guess it just feels like the pay off should be greater for something like this - even if it’s only in Notoriety? 

[Necronaut]

You whinging maggots! Does the Supreme Bleeding Grandmaster of the Grey Bloody Knights quibble over experience point rewards?! Nay! Duty is its own-- uhh, one moment. I'm, ah, being told now that I am in the wrong thread. Ahem. I'll just show myself out...

 

*BWRRRRRR!*

 

My kidneys!

Edited October 4 by Necronaut

[Mazer Rackham]

 

Yeah, I guess that's all true. I suppose it all comes back to my issues in general with how xp is earned in play-by-post games, as opposed to in person games (which is where the FFG rules are obviously originally intended for)

 

To be clear, I don't mean any of this as any criticism of you @Mazer Rackham I think you're working well in line with what the book suggests. It just feels like the advancement system was designed for and works with in-person play, but doesn't fit properly for play-by-post.

 

Appreciated.

 

Well, what we can do is look at the campaign as planned, holistically, and do some real out of costume GM/Player quality talk.

 

What you have bear in mind is that you're in a sandbox, and haven't even had your first proper mission in it yet. Now, what's planned to happen is that you'll start doing Compacts. Some Compacts will net you 3 Infamy, others will net you 5. Now, within those Missions, you will have side objectives, and for a long Compact you could earn more than that, +1 here and there, +2 here and there. So a heavy-duty Compact could earn you up to +10 Infamy.

 

Not so bad now, is it? 

 

The real problem is that it takes time. And PBP or Table is going to be the same problem. Rules misunderstandings, unavailability of Players, all take their toll. This Campaign is planned to take as long as it takes (maybe *waggles hand* max 18 months) or thereabouts, depending on how quickly you accomplish tasks. I've deliberately slowed that down by preventing you splitting the Party, but that doesn't mean it will always be the case. Marines are expected to conduct high-risk raids, Mortals are going to have to mingle with the hoi-palloi. Those will net varying degrees of Infamy and Corruption.

 

Allocating XP to sessions is...weird on PBP, but to be honest, the format helps with the admin and GM response a hell of a lot. The Prologue was too short for what I would 'consider' a Session, but the Boss Fight warranted some, so between the two you get a full Session's worth as per BC Core. It's much easier when you guys are 'on mission' because I can plot that from start to end, and allocate appropriately - the segments are naturally bookended. I could go to detailed XP breakdown, but even then, it wouldn't result in much more than I already doled out - and as observed the Boss Fight narrative was very narrowly focused, which is as it should be.

 

Now, on Corruption: its my beatstick. It's a GM tool (and a design component ticking clock) to leverage pressure on the Players to get a move on. The problem is, that creates it's own offshoots - armpit tentacles, etc. Black Crusade by it's nature is barely on the  rails. I can and will massage that depending on what you all get up to. Likewise, Infamy needs to managed. It's not like Fate Points, where you get a finite resource and spend them, we don't care, they come back.

 

The way Corruption is a ticking clock for you, Infamy is a ticking clock for me. It is an ever expanding resource that I have to plan for, with and against in order that I can balance encounters, and sometimes, yes you'll lose a bit. There is nothing stopping you from going 'right, let's do a supply raid' and getting it back. The way I handle that is by having the fuzz hunt you to try and curtail your looting. It's a lot of checks and balances, and the admin work for BC goes up, always up. On top of that, I've been dumb and tried to shoehorn in a crafting system... If you're desperate for Infamy, you can always buy it. So when I fling XP at you, I have to be aware you can do that.

 

TL;DR, The Party is at Level 1 and pretty sturdy anyway, so going into the Campaign OP is not something I want. Delly was something that just happened. I didn't plan it, but the encounter with a Master must be lethal, or as near-to as possible. An encounter like that can derail the campign in several ways - too much Infamy/XP gain, a Player dies, (although none of you are lynchpins, no offence, and don't ever make a Player a vital character, as if they leave, that's it). What's possibly frustrating Players a little, is not seeing the whole picture. This can be especially frustrating when you've been a GM, and used to looking behind the curtain. My style is especially 'show-don't-tell' and what is coming up is not what I had planned before the Boss Fight. With the Lore blocks and other freebies, this is where you will be compensated, by an internal, beneficial, narrative mechanism.

 

What is another offshoot of that, is that due to your actions, a minor character is now a major player, and if that isn't RP compensation, I don't know what is...! 

 

 

In reference to the XP thing we didn’t do that much outside the narrative ( which the FfG rules do not really cover / represent well ) and if you measure the Lore and such granted in between that’s another few hundred XP if I am correct? 

 

Yes, each Lore pack is roughly 200xp (ish) worth.

 

 

Guess it just feels like the pay off should be greater for something like this - even if it’s only in Notoriety? 

 

Oh you're very notorious. That's why you lost Infamy:

 

*Delly explodes into glorious being ready to deal out happy-slaps*

Khardon: 'Hurry Rakash, the rite of binding!'

Rakash: 'Hippity hoppity, daemonically infest my property!'

Delly: 'Nopity, nope, nope, sucka!'

Khardon: *Stares and everyone gets slapped*

 

Huron: 'Oh , here we go again...'

[Necronaut]

@Mazer Rackham and Rakash would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling... Oh wait.

[Lord_Ikka]

The Smiler's update

 

Corruption : 2 + 4 = 6

Infamy : 28 + 1 = 29

Gains : Lustful Hue (Malignancy), Rival (The Cult of Delphynie'An'Draki'Ina), Enemy (Delphynie'An'Draki'Ina)

Forbidden Lore (Daemonology) + 10 to 51

 

Alignment

Slaanesh : 2 to 1

Tzeentch : 1 unchanged

Unaligned : 1 to 2 after purchase below

 

Will take a Perception (Simple) advancement at 250XP, putting his total to 50XP left. 

 

Unfortunate that we didn't get Delphynie's True Name, but maybe next time....

 

[Lysimachus]

 

@Mazer Rackham Thank you, I do appreciate the explanation and the frank discussion. I've never really done BC, as player or GM, so I do find the mechanics of how to run a game very interesting. I'll happily wait and see how things change once we're doing proper compacts and stuff. 

@Xin Ceithan I'm not privy to whatever stuff Mazer had you roll off-screen, but I'm pretty sure the whole thing was Rakash's fault... that is definitely how Hagga sees it, anyway! Should make for some fun RP moving forward? 

[Mazer Rackham]

Just a quick note, between head scratching discoveries and a poke in the ribs, I am reminded a full session in BC is 500xp, not 400xp. I'm still operating on Damocles Time it seems! 

 

Mea culpa, none are faultless...! Given my windbaggery above, this is still within tolerances for your demise, uh, level appropriate adventure.

 

So enjoy your extra 100xp, spend it responsibly and be home by ten with your trousers on! 

 

 

Unfortunate that we didn't get Delphynie's True Name, but maybe next time....

 

That would always be a process, never a gimme. 

 

But yes....maybe next time...she'll give you her number...

 

(She's got yours...dun, dun, dun...)

 

Edited October 5 by Mazer Rackham

[Necronaut]

In light of recent events, and our enhanced XP reward, I might actually spring for Frenzy instead for Ukalegon. The brush with the daemon has awakened something dark in the Lamenter's hearts, whatever is left of them after tangling with Lady Delphynie.

[Mazer Rackham]

 

The brush with the daemon has awakened something dark in the Lamenter's hearts, whatever is left of them after tangling with Lady Delphynie.

 

And she loves you all the more for it, you sassy panther. 

[Machine God]

The Interlude:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0wOD9TWynM

 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

Post edited:

 

 

I'll be giving a few more bits and bobs for folks to handle narrative direction as things are pulled together to get you back on the path before we close it up for recess.