The Harbinger of Ferocity

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The lack of need for restorative power left the primal outsider in tranquil meditation. In some ways there was great thanks that they did not need the potent magic, as it would afford them more time and surely grace later as they ventured further and further in these depths in pursuit of the cult. This call to arms, this least of lesser crusades, would need such healing on tap if the moment turned dire. There was no reason to suspect it would not, for the enemy had a sizable and great dragon aiding them, let alone what well could have been one of its offspring acting as a guide for the army they were facing.

The Pale Lady had whispered her subtle directions to bring the man, and beast as well, this far. Her strange and secretive Wiles had only magnified the connection that existed between the three in the course of a mere few days, to the point that now there was even so much as the chance to conjure the cool ethereal power. No longer was it an effort to dig to the depths of the soul to find that spring, now the font of divine healing and health bubbled up under its own volition. As it all derived from the same lunar blessing, there appeared to be little potential limit for it at this rate. What was to come next in reward for banishing the darkness with pale light?

Brannor's revere lasted until their breather ended and the others were back on to their feet. So did he follow, rising up from kneeling and allowing the ghostly light to shed from his hands. The opportunity to heal was now over and as he took up sword again, the reminder that conflict was first and foremost his tole returned; the soothing moment turned to the hunt. This time without the interference of the bats, which their small band slunk by without rousing much to their fortune and the journey continued.

Yet one thing penetrated the darkness far more effectively than those whose eyes could see through the blackness and that was a pungent odor. It surprised the well armored hunter little, these creatures were reasonably as filthy and as stained in such a way as their souls, so to find what appeared to be where they might have deposited their refuse was almost expected. Still the man's nose wrinkled and he grimmaced with disapproval, staring down the lonely, pitted spear until the priestess slowed. Lost somewhere in her thoughts, she clearly had something in mind...

@Hekazu@Ryonara@Zverda@Lucius Cypher@Norschtalen

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

I will come to post this evening but if an event happens between then, no need to worry, I will adapt. There will be some response one way or another, just in this moment attempting to give others the chance to post their doings rather than emphasizing push comes to shove that we keep moving.

Post a random fact about yourself.

One of the primary reasons I am early to rise is that those few added hours of the day seem to grant far more time than the alternative.

Tiger Kisses

Welcome to the Roleplayer Guild, @Tigerheart. There is no need to be worried about the forum disappearing any time in the near future as it is still very lively despite the fact the peak period of roleplaying in play-by-post is behind us. Thanks to this, there is a fairly active community here as you might well see. All the same, thank you for joining us and should you have any questions, feel free to pose them here, on the Discord, or send a private message.

As well, you have made a wise decision in your admiration and adoration of large cats. This too is an important detail.

Post a random fact about yourself.

An ongoing objective is to ensure I may reach a place of retirement where I needn't be bothered by outsiders and be allowed to exist under my own accord. Perhaps one of the most important, if not the largest personal and longest term of orientations I have pointed my life toward.

Character Sheets: Where do you stand?

You call that a summary?!

Also going simple and leaving it to the player to make the CS/Character interesting as opposed to vice versa is ideal.

@Hero

It is difficult to take several small essays of explanation down any further on that. If memory serves, this would be the fourth time I have contributed to such a discussion between the forum and the Discord. It is a matter that comes up time and again for reasons I cannot understand, but I digress. Yes, that is the condensed version of what I have said before.

On a related note, I have never, not once in all of my years of roleplaying - aside from completely free form as it was on old chat services - known any roleplay that did not have some sort of character sheet system involved. Even then, some of those had them, or there was at the very least an expectation and unwritten rule that once things were done, they were done; set in stone. Not everything need be changed, so I do agree that simple is better, as complexity can often be needless when without explicit purpose.

Character Sheets: Where do you stand?

I will summarize on what I had said before, as many others have noted the topic was discussed prior, but it bears repeating.

The needlessly detailed, overly complicated, excessively specified character sheets are not so much creative as they are busywork; boxes with checks to be filled. The information contained in such things are less applicable, generally speaking, with each section added beyond those absolutely essential to the game's being. Unless the information may be relevant, why include it as a requirement? Just for the sake of people better defining their characters? Why not simply ask them to specify and elaborate, creating more of an overview? Moreover, why not simply emphasize that in game? So on and on it goes, it becomes another hoop to leap through, one that may even be blazing if these are hard requirements; miss the mark, likely be unable to play in the game at all.

In contrast, the concept of no character sheet is spectacularly trusting of a thread's owner, and more or less denies players too, the ability to get an idea of who a character is. It eliminates fact checking and functions solely on trust. Conceptually, one should ask themselves this, would they allow any number of randomly chosen players on the forum to just participate? It has its function in say, topics where the players know one another or have reputations that precede them, but otherwise? There is no vetting, no review, no reassurance. It no less affords an issue of trust that might be naively optimistic. It might be sincerely more organic and natural but that is not always a positive force. So too might such an absence create voids in continuity or details that are unclear, both of which can be rectified, but acquiring players who all have a similar understanding of what is desired? Even more difficult than it regularly is, which is to say, more than it already need be.

Ultimately, the best stance on a character sheet is one that is purposeful. It has only what is required, removes any superfluous additions, and keeps some amount of mystery to the character. No small amount gripe about "personality" sections of a profile and how it might "spoil" the character because someone should only learn it in game, but it should be information that is generally observable or typical to the character. Why? Set aside a moment for one's own thoughts and think how to summarize another actual person's personality in a paragraph. A set of generalities, is it not? Does it include those finer details? No, but it almost assuredly hits the key notes without spoiling any of the finessed attributes. Even that has a defined purpose in most cases. Thus, as noted before, only what matters should be present, as in if the game is about subtleties and intrigue, it might be wiser to exclude it. For most, in contrast? Almost assuredly better to have it.

As a further addendum, I stand by the notion that a character sheet is a list of information to be reviewed by the master of the topic, a contract of sorts if you would, and what a character and player will be held to. A character, or even a player if as much happens to be the case, should be excluded if they do not meet those standards. A throw of the metaphorical dice on hoping they will abide by nebulous expectations known only by the creator is more often than not a death sentence. Affording a template and concept of the angle deflects some of that threat.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I at times amuse myself with practicing voice acting for no reason, if only because it helps to better articulate speech with pronunciation and annunciation.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Unless those terrible stirges have reappeared, I fear rousing the bats will only alert any potential enemies ahead of it. This is good and bad in one.

Cara's Originally Titled OoC Hangout Thread ♥ (Still)

That is an unfortunate turn of events, @unicorgi. Almost as if it could not have happened any more perfectly to spite your effort. I have not had such an experience but disappointments as those are a common fret of many.