A thread for out of character communication.

A-clan rises!

Now to select a good face-claim while we wait and see what ylva has for us.

But hi everyone!

Oh wow, you're not kidding. Funnily enough I already changed my character name in another game today because we were going to have 3/4 A-name characters XD

I was already planning to have this character go by Alex, so I guess I'll switch that out to Lexi so we can have a tiny bit more daylight between our names.

I imagine I'll mostly go by 'Wayfarer' but we'll see how everything unfolds :3

Oh, hey... Uhmm... A names, amirite? Except that Calvin guy. Talk about an odd man out.

We're allowed one exception to the rule I suppose.

Really lucked out with portraits. Almost immediately found two that were well within range of what I wanted.

Yeah, I figured I'd probably end up using my in-game name most anyway, so Vaxilion or just Vax.

If we're leaning that way then would it perhaps make more sense for us to be listed as our character names rather than their irl ones?

Let's see what Ylva says ^^

Maybe I'm wrong?

I'd guess it'll depend on the nature of how the game ends up going.

Heh, sorry to spoil the alliteration party!

We forgive you ^^

I didn't, actually.
You'll see.

after the Change.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:22, Thu 27 May 2021.

Dun DUNH!

Also welcome :)

ty ty

In the interests of not being terribly cryptic, and also of drafting what I'm going to put in the desc, let me offer this:

Mirima doesn't really talk about life offline unless prompted, and then only as far as the question goes.  She's at least let on that she's a med student in orbit on Singapore Station, where they do all the cosmic rays stuff.  She always had the most random set of skills and abilities—she says she just picks up what sounds fun, and there certainly wasn't any synergy in her build.  She really got into the crafting system, when the Cottage Industry release dropped, but kind of abandoned that for the next new thing after a few patches, and on and on like that.  She has been caught by so many bugs that way, she jokes she's collecting them as trophies.  Andarrea (Cuoroyadi, her avi) is even a race that had to be reworked four times for balance and lighting bugs.

She's wound up with a lot of random skills, of course, but she finds ways to make them all useful around the guild hall.  She... doesn't really come out on raids, often.  There's no disguising what dead weight the character is in combat.

You seem to have heard a lot more about the setting and the game than I have ^^

Any other gems of wisdom you can share?

Oh, no, that's all my contribution.  You should add stuff too!

I also have some theurgies to propose that Adrian might like, if he wants illusions.  They're ports from 3.5 and Pathfinder spells.  Dunno if I should PM that or post here or what.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:42, Thu 27 May 2021.

I'd humor them. I've taken up to the Gate. Probably going to pick up the Throne on 3rd level. Looking for Palace of the Sorcerer Prince but I have one open.

So uh


What kind of cheat code takes going to the people you're planning to cheat and into a medical lab? This changes a lot of my assumptions, anyway.

They aren't cheat codes. Not exactly.

So it was more like an invite to some sort of exclusive event/preview/thing?

Also, trying to finish my sheet up - what method are we to use to generate attribute values?

Yeah. As far as you know before checking in, these are legitimate beta invites.

Attributes are 16 14 13 13 10 8 arranged as you like.

Ohhh.

Ok, finishing up my character now. I'm seriously considering switching my Lich King word for Underworld (which I was planning to pick up later anyway) and just foregoing Lich King given its pretty extensive overlap with the Word of Death.

That said, this is the first time I've played Godbound, so I'm not sure of the value of some of the things I was planning to get from the Lich King gift. Notably the AC of 3 from the Word itself and the effects of the gifts A Mind of Iron and Ivory and Dark Secrets (which I'd either be starting with or picking up in our first few levels). Saving myself the points from picking up a 4th Word later (and swapping these 3 points worth of LK gifts out for others) lets me take a bunch of -other- gifts I might not otherwise have taken, but, again, not sure of the value of these things. Immunity to mind and emotion effects and the ability to Commit Effort to a scene to force a -4 on saves after the result is known both seem very good, but I don't know how frequently the first is relevant or how often enemies are likely to make their saves.

Swapping would let me take some more 'utility' type gifts like Low Impact (to kill incoming damage) and Atomized Souls (to kill emotions in others). I can make up for some of the loss of the base ability of the Lich King Word by taking Excellence of the Word for Constitution, but the AC is hard to make up without creating a customized Gift for one of the Words I end up with. Looking over page 6 of Lexicon of the Throne, I don't think that's particular hard to do, but I just don't know what the value of doing so is.

Well, to a degree, the answers to each of those questions depends on the campaign. By high level, only lesser foes are even rolling their attacks, and you'll probably have a way to disregard them. But good AC is really helpful for getting to that point. But I say that with three words that don't have an armor gift or even a decent immunity among them. It's not a death sentence, and you can always get to 6 - dexmod AC with no penalties, using light armor and a shield.

In reply to Alvin Fleming (msg # 24):

You can also take an "off-list" lesser gift with GM approval for an extra point. It's useful if there's just one thing you really want.

Hey so, if we're to be a guild/group that has been playing together for a while, does anyone want to do some session 0 stuff and fill out that shared history a bit?

If that's the setting then yes please. Meaning in other games if this one is raw/new/beta?

I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I know who Alessandra is, but I guess I'm going to need to build the rest of her sheet at some point.

Does anyone have a template they found useful?

I did like the rules when I read through them earlier, so I can probably figure out the rest of character creation.

Yeah, PCs have played other games together, or hung out in online social settings.

I got the impression we had played *this* game together before getting the beta thing... D:

I couldn't find a text template, so I made one. Its very basic and is mostly a transcription of the character sheet with a bunch of tables. It may be too much. I dunno. Here it is though.

|!Name | Name |
|!Goal | goal |
|!Level | 1 |
|!EXP | 0 |

| Attribute | Score | Modifier | Check |
|-
| Strength |^ x |^ x |^ x |
| Dexterity |^ x |^ x |^ x |
| Constitution |^ x |^ x |^ x |
| Wisdom |^ x |^ x |^ x |
| Intelligence |^ x |^ x |^ x |
| Charisma |^ x |^ x |^ x |

| Saving Throw | Base | Mod | Armor Penalty | Final Save |
|-
| Hardiness |^ x |^ x |^ x |^ x |
| Evasion |^ x |^ x |^ x |^ x |
| Spirit |^ x |^ x |^ x |^ x |

|!2 Hit Points |
|! Maximum |> 1 |
|! Current |> 1 |

|2 Facts|
|-
| Origin | |
| Past Career | |
| Relationship | |
| Other | |

|!2 Armor |! AC | |
|! Type | Medium |! Shield | |
|! Description |3 |
|!3 Saving Throw Penalty | H/E/S |

|!2 Weapons |!2 Base Attack Bonus | 1 |
|!!2 Description | Attribute | Attack Bonus | Damage |
|2 Sword | Str | x | x |

|! Fray Die | d8 |
|

|!2 Damage Chart |
| <i>Roll (per die</i>) | <i>Damage </i>|
| 1 or less | 0 |
| 2-5 | 1 |
| 6-9 | 2 |
| 10 or more | 4 |

|!! Resources | Total | Free |
| Effort | 0 | 0 |
| Influence | 0 | 0 | <i>Earned per Month</i> |
| Dominion | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wealth |2 0 |

|2!! Words & Divine Gifts |
|!! Words | Committed Effort |
| A | 0 |
| B | 0 |
| C | 0 |
|!! Divine Gifts |  Committed Effort |
| Gift1 | 0 |
| Gift2 | 0 |
| Gift3 | 0 |

Thank you!

I'll try to work something out this weekend, and am around for session 0 chatter.

ylva, I love the concept but I'm sure I can't be the only one who's a little lost ^^

Can you please give a brief rundown of:

What or who we are before the first post (we're friends who know each other online somehow and all decided to play this game in our separate cities?)

What we think we know about the game?

What you need us to have ready and any further information we should have to do that?

In reply to Alessandra Ramirez (msg # 28):
This is the template I generally use, and I just link to a PDF I keep on the cloud. I've linked to a copy of the fillable pdf in case anyone likes those!

And fwiw, I know Godbound pretty well and love to help model narrative things with mechanics.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Quick Reference
   Effort [ ]  [ ]
Influence [ ]  [ ]
AC  #  HP  ##  Mx  ##

Facts

• Fact

Words and Gifts

• Word (Gift, Gift)

Panoply

Artifacts

Attributes and Saves
STR : ##
CON : ##
  Hardiness ≥##
DEX : ##
INT : ##
  Evasion ≥##
WIS : ##
CHA : ##
  Spirit ≥##

<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/k18i22127d1wfly/Godbound_Character_Sheet_FORM-FILLABLE.pdf?dl=0">Offsite sheet</a>

---

I imagined Alvin as one of those that's in and out of a lot of games as his interests shift. A few months in one, then on to the next. He'll usually stick with guilds that have presences in multiple games, which seems like a good start if we want to figure out if we're all in one guild or something, since we're moving into the beta of a new game.

(Incidentally, I did go ahead and swap over to Underworld for my third Word - I'll miss Dark Secrets, but I'll survive somehow.)

In reply to Mirima Huang (msg # 33):

That’s wonderful, thank you so much!

This is my first time playing it, so you’ve more or less guaranteed yourself a basket or two of questions in your PMs as I translate concept to sheet :)

Please do!

And yeah uh, very large parts of this character were hinging on the expectation that AO is not entirely new! I can adapt, but that's like, four incompatible ideas about the world we're playing in, so I think at least half the players are pretty uncertain what's going on, for some value of "what".
This message was last edited by the player at 23:47, Fri 28 May 2021.

Yeah, first time for Godbound for me, though in a lot of ways its kinda a stripped-down d20 system. The changes to how a lot of stuff is rolled is throwing me off though.

Well, it's specifically descended from d&d editions back in the days of THAC0, so there's a lot that has changed from the Old-School Roleplaying (OSR) roots. Which rolls trip you most?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:49, Fri 28 May 2021.

Oh, nothing in particular, just in general. Also expectations, like I see a lot of +4s floating around, but the value of that vs the value in like 3.5 or other d20 games is different.

In terms of what's happening - AO is in closed beta. A group of people who at least casually know each other and have a mutual associate got codes to access the beta from the associate. But barring extenuating circumstances, those codes are activated in person at a MVS facility. Ostensibly this is so that they can monitor your physiological responses and safety, since this gamr is using new tech and you're beta testers.

If that doesn't fit a given concept, we can adapt. You don't have to be in the office - it's just the default assumption. You can also be a new member of the group, or someone only known through Kage, the guy who got these codes.

oh, huh

well


That is all coherent and sensible.  So does that mean, as far as we're aware, everyone else we might encounter is a software NPC?

From context, I assume we don't start with any wealth, equipment, armor or weapons?

I gather we'll log in and pick up our beta tutorial gear?

Almost finished my sheet, then I'll run it by Mirima to sense-check it :)

By default you've got whatever armor or weapons are appropriate for your character (see page 13, Godbound Deluxe). Presumably this is mostly limited to normal gear and doesn't include artifacts and other exceptional gear. I don't think we start with any Wealth. That said, we've got someone bound to the word of Artifice in the group - I imagine he can make stuff.

But not as people outside the game, no. I suspect everyone was disarmed before entry, surely?

You would have to conceal any weapons before entering, at least.

So our avatars have weapons and armour, but our real world personas don't (or at least no visible gear)?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:03, Sat 29 May 2021.

Basically, unless you want to have gear and it makes sense for your background.

I don't see a purpose to Alessandra bringing gear other than her clothes and a phone to the beta test.

Maybe an energy bar ^^

But does mean I can populate my sheet better, for Wayfarer at least.

Can I ask how we should approach making game-world (rather than real world) Facts?

Like if I wanted to use my third Fact to establish an in-game organisation my character is connected to and has good relations with (like a faith or paladin order for example) then is that going to be something immediately true on plugging in, something earned through off-screen gameplay, or is there some other way that would come about?

This :)

I used my third Fact for her friends (the other players) being people she befriended in other games, but if we can apply it to the game we're about to join that would be ideal.

It's a truth about the game world you're joining that is immediately true. So for example, if you pick a relationship to a group, that group would remember you and have history with you, even if it never happened. Pick a skill and you know how to do something in a gnosis deep way, despite never having learned it.

Hmm, yeah, I may need to rethink the one I picked in that case, because it was also guild-focused, but it may make more sense to have it be more game-world relevant.

Doing some session zero things with proposed relationships (I can change any of these if you prefer not):

Calvin introduced me to the group. We've never actually met irl but we used to hang out in an Among Us forum during and after my brief flirtation with the game. We sang kareoke duets on voicechat during the Lunar New Year event in Dreamcraft: New Horizons.

I have a friendly rivalry with Mirima and always compete with them for pulling off the biggest stunt, both in PVP battlegrounds and world exploration.

I was friends with Alvin before I joined the guild. We met in a different and extremely dysfunctional guild that self destructed when the Guildmaster's Lieutenant and irl boyfriend accidentally leaked his sexting whispers to her. Neither Alvin nor Alley were involved, but they saw the red flags and left in a hurry (although they sometimes joke about it still).

I’m always looking to impress Kage. He's mysterious as fuck, but he's smart and knows things sometimes and a good ally in five-man pvp rooms. I don't like the hoops we need to jump through for this test, but he's asked me to so I will.

Lexi is the person I always turn to when I’m in a bad way. We got to know each other on a server where we were constantly being mistaken for each other, and I shared a few details about my RL situation with her during an ugly breakup. She's good people, and I have her back.

I did a world’s first in Silver Seas with Adrian, when we two-manned the Devil Kraken on the other side of the Dread Portal.

A little extra context on the two games I mentioned which entirely legally distinct from games with a similar name that they may seem similar to. Anyone is 100% welcome to elaborate on these and add more details to the fictional games.

Dreamcraft: New Horizons is a decade-old adventure roleplaying MMORPG, dividing the players into three factions at character creation and running them through parallel and intertwining storylines for PvE and PvP content. Each expansion the level cap increases and new and exciting powers are added, while new quest areas are added to the known world that can be explored. There are newer and better designed games, but this one seems to keep drawing its subscribers back, flaws and all.

Silver Seas was released three years ago as an open world adventure MMORPG focusing almost entirely on oceans and fantasy naval themes (although there are some small islands that can be visited). Solo gamers sail on their personal skiffs, but groups of 3+ get increasingly larger ships up to a full 16-player raid crew who sail into battlegrounds in frigates with magitech cannon. In the most recent expansion, players can purchase submarines to explore deeper areas that previously players needed to swim between air pockets to reach. This has received a mixed reception, with some veteran players accusing the developers of nerfing the game.

I think that's great. What you have definitely fits: Mirima is a bit of an impulsive thrill seeker. And I really like doing things like this in basically any system, especially given a premise that interconnects us all so much. I need a couple hours or so to get mine together, but I'll do similar once I have the profile done.

@Adrian: Approved invocations of the Gate!
Hide Campsite
 The theurge masks the area around a campsite or resting place as a thicket of untouched and forbidding foliage, or some other unwelcoming feature matching the surrounding terrain. Creatures outside the area cannot sense any activity going on inside the area—no odors, sounds, light, or even tactile sensations escape. Those inside the concealed site can see out normally. Once a creature steps into the area of the spell, it can see everything in and around normally. The effects of the sorcery fade once the theurge packs up and moves on.

Illusory Script
 The theurge traces an invisible design onto the surface of a document of any length, given that it is one they personally wrote.  The invocation renders the contents of the document illegible to any but the reader(s) intended by the theurge at the time of casting.  Anyone else who even attempts to read the enchanted writing is subject to a compulsion to set the document down and forget its existence.  Worthy foes may make a spirit save to resist the compulsion, but only divine magic can allow them to decipher the text.

Symbol of Mirroring
 A glittering sigil is inscribed on a solid surface and fades to a faint shimmer in moments. While the invocation remains active, the caster may at any time trigger the symbol as an Instant action, creating illusory duplicates of every creature within sixty feet. These illusions move and speak in perfect unison with the originals, making distinguishing one from the other impossible and foiling all non-area attacks, including those by the theurge and their allies.  Worthy foes may make a spirit save to see through the illusion, but success also dispels its protective effects from them.  The symbol may only be triggered once before vanishing, and any remaining illusions fade at the end of the scene.

Trail of the Rose
 This invocation creates an illusory trail in the form of a faint pink-tinged trail that ripples and flows in the caster's path as they move. Only the theurge and up to a Small Mob of designated individuals can see the illusion, all of whom must be well-known to the theurge. Creatures with unusually sharp senses of smell can follow the aroma of rose blossoms that accompanies it, though the trail is equally strong at all points, giving no indication of the direction of travel.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:21, Sun 30 May 2021.

I've thrown together a few of my own bonds ideas. Sticking them here as they'll be easier to find than if they're adrift in the discord chat.

Please feel free to veto these if they don't work for you.

---

I play ranked in a game with Adrian. Adrian and Lexi duo in semi-popular MOBA War of the Eternals. She mains Panacea and Realmshaper – a pure healer and terrain-manipulation based support respectively - and together they’re holding down spots somewhere in the upper 10-15% of the ranked ladder. For her it’s more about seeing how far they can get while taking things semi-seriously rather than truly grinding hard to find their absolute peak.

I feel indebted to Alvin. There have been occasions in the past when Lexi has found herself a bit out of pocket and unable to follow the group to a new title on day one, and more often than not it’s been Alvin who’s offered to come to some arrangement or even covered it gratis. While she’s never failed to pay him back, Lexi still feels like she owes him something. She doesn’t want to make a thing of it but can’t help but let that weight hang over their relationship.

I was friends with Calvin before I joined the guild. Calvin and Lexi met through a guild on a roleplaying server in another RPG (Halcyon: Legends of a Golden Age) and hit it off fairly quickly. They were both easygoing and friendly enough to be in good standing in their group, and they had good enough chemistry that they followed or reconnected with each other in a handful of other games before linking up again in the present guild.

I’m a little intimidated by Mirima. Not in a bad sense per se, but at some point in the past Lexi tried to get into one of Mirima’s FPS titles and despite her best efforts simply couldn’t find her feet.  Whenever they played together it always left her acutely aware of the skill gap between them, and while Lexi still had some fun desperately clinging to her coat tails it left her a little bit in awe of what her friend could pull off.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:49, Mon 31 May 2021.

(The background suggestions for Vin have all been excellent and on-character. Any karaoke was pretty bad.)

Fine for me too. Certainly something I've found when having a decent paying job, dropping $60 on a game just isn't as big of a deal as it was when you're a starving college student subsisting on ramen and insomnia.

I try to party with Lexiwhenever I can. Our play styles cover each other's gaps, in the games we both like, and she doesn't ask personal questions, even accidentally.

I've been working on a project with Adrian forever. Hyperbolic 3D chess isn't everyone's cup of tea, one of the reasons commercial developers never released a version, but it's obvious we're just tinkering with new rules and representations as a hobby.

I know I can rely on Alessandra to get me out of trouble when I get myself into it. Partly, she's the only one who makes characters that can keep up or get as far, but sometimes it feels almost deliberate.

Thoughts? I want to do one for Alsander but he's a mystery.

I'm happy with this either way, but I don't understand the italic bit.

It feels almost deliberate that Alessandra looks for a chance to get Mirima out of trouble the rare times she needs it?

Certainly works for me. I like the idea of using this to build on my own suggestion from earlier, with Lexi usually being a good match but then stepping out of her element and being hit by both a sense of this person is so much better than me and guilt and shame over feeling like dead weight. She's tried to play it off as nothing serious but can't help but wonder now if she's only keeping up in other games because Mirima's holding herself back.

nothing was supposed to be italic I hate my phone so much

Wait it wasn't.  Okay.  No, that Mirima deliberately gets herself stuck places, or in over her head.

No the italics are mine, I was saying that was the part I didn’t understand.

And that’s interesting!

I don’t think Alley thinks Mirima does it deliberately, from her side it’s just more manifestation of their friendly banter and rivalry. Even if sometimes things don’t go as planned :)

In reply to Mirima Huang (msg # 56):

Appreciate it. I'll keep these in mind.

So far I'd say Alsander has an intense but friendly rivalry with Kage in a fighting game from two hardware gens ago.

Open to suggestions of how he'd know others, if he does - being the outsider fits his character. His life is strictly controlled by the company so he has limited access to cheap games and tech, never anything new or high end.

He also has only a little time to communicate externally as the company monitors all his internet use so he words all messages extremely carefully not to give away his job or details of his life. It is a terrible fate to be considered a Brand Risk.

I have most of a reply for Alley, just need the core book (which is at home, where I am not).

I should be able to copy-paste it in and make the needed rolls in a few hours. Nine, tops.

In reply to Alessandra Ramirez (msg # 68):

Hey babe.  Gotta roll to hit.  :p  It's 1d20+ your level + the stat modifier you're using to attack.

In reply to Mirima Huang (msg # 69):

Oh okay!

So 1d20 + 1 + 2 (assuming Dex for ranged)?

11:36, Today: Alessandra Ramirez rolled 23 using 1d20+3.  Belated Knife of Night Attack Roll.

Ranged is usually Dex, yes.  And page 20 of the corebook has most of the details you need for combat. :)

But, you're using a weapon Gift to attack, not a mundane ranged weapon.  So you can use any ability score you can justify, and the GM is explicitly encouraged to interpret that broadly.  Andarrea will be attacking with that +4 charisma eventually, just you wait.

In reply to Mirima Huang (msg # 71):

I'm on campus at the moment, so don't have the book on me but I'll re-read over this later :)

Possibly using Strength to hurl the knives of night extra-hard...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j882wbbYlB8