Extended Break

[Fabian Benavente]

All,

For those of you that know me long enough, I hope you can tell that the quality of the
turns lately have not been what they used to be. The games are being played very slowly
and that has a direct effect on my interest on them. Roleplaying games in general have
'sort of faded' from my radar screen. There was a time when I would read the forums, read
the roleplaying books, read the fiction books, etc. but I haven't done that in a while. I
am the main culprit that the games have been slow so this email is not point fingers at
anyone. The plain truth is that I have lost interest is spending the time I used to on
this activity.

However, good players ae hard to come by so I don't want to call it quits just yet. I'm
going to take an extended break from running the games until further notice. I may pick up
the games after some time, but there is no guarantee of that so 'don't hold your breath'.
If I do, I'll email you all to see if you are still interested, and we'll see what we do
about it. Just so you know, I have done this in the past with a fair amount of success.

I really want to thank all of you for some great writing/playing and please keep in touch.
May you find another outlet for your creativity.

Game on!

Fabian

[King, John]

After a long talk with both Fabian and Tom today (separately), I feel I should post my thoughts and feelings about this so that everyone can see for a few reasons:
1) I'm a primadonna and you all need to know how I feel (joke, I swear)
2) I've been part of this game for 14 months, and I feel I have a responsibility to it and the other members of the group
3) I have hopes that it will encourage others to get all touchy-feely and want to express their own feelings regarding this, and that we might use this as a means to break through what ever barrier we've come up against.

Wow, that sounded so business-like. And this is a game :) I suppose I should keep that in perspective, but I find it to be more than that on a number of levels.

See, when I read Fabian's email late on Friday evening after a fairly hellacious 11 hour day of putting water into jars (its a lot more taxing than it sounds, particularly when you are at a landfill in Florida with no shade), my first reaction was one of disappointment, but perhaps relief that I would have more free time on my hands. And then I felt angry, at Fabian for giving up, and at me for feeling relief. And then sadness, at the loss of a creative outlet and the worry that I would never further explore Ember's tale. And then I felt a resignation, that Fabian would be set in his ways, and that perhaps it was for the best. And then I felt defiant, that I would create the Tales of Ember and post the prequels, if you will, to Troubled Past at least from one character's point of view, and readers be damned, the emails would come out whether there was an audience or not, whether they sucked or not. And then finally, I felt kinda stupid for thinking all those things in such haphazard order.

And then I went back to feeling guilty for not talking with Fabian about what happened. But I did talk with him today, and I think for the most part it was a good talk. I think we've all had our fair share of "busy" lately. Fabian (sorry bud, I'm going to have to talk about you like you're not reading this for a bit) wants to play this game, but he wants to revisit the old pace. But he thinks perhaps that waiting a bit for everyone to adjust to their Fall schedules might be prudent. Perhaps in a month or two, we can kick things back in gear again. Or, if there is enough popular support, even sooner.

That being said (Fabian, you can start reading again), I have a lot of optimism for where the story was headed, at least for the immediate future of the game. I think I told Fabian, Tom and Gary this, but I think that the break up of the groups into these 2 odd-triple sets thrusts us into an unexpected dynamic that may allow for some unconventional but much needed interaction. Trust me, I'm not one for unending roleplay, I'll take a fight over that any day, but I think roleplay is needed to a certain degree. Some of our group dynamic seems to have faded, and perhaps its our schedules, not having the time to add more substance, or perhaps its something else. That particular point is moot really, this isnt about the laying of any blame. It's instead about preserving a story. A story with potential yet to be tapped, and I would very much like to see where it would and could go. (Can you hear the patriotic music?)

For all the snarkiness wrapped up in this letter, I have a genuine message. I've enjoyed these last 14 months immensely, and I've enjoyed the cast of characters I've read about and the people who penned them. I've enjoyed the character I've crafted and the craft I've labored on, the stories we've weaved and the possibilities of tales yet to come. I hope we can continue. If not now, soon enough. It's no good to force it, but I think we've a talented crew that enjoys what they do.

As Fabian would say:
Actions?

________________________________

[kirs...@yahoo.com]

As in the Shadow of a Flame, I have no intention of quitting as long as
the game is recoverable. If Fabian needs time, fair enough. I'll be
still here when you get back to writing mood. Just you use your time
wisely and get the second Steven Erikson's book from your local
library, eh?

-Jussi

[Tom Andry]

I for one apologize for my culpability in slowing down the games. My personal life (really my professional life) has made more and more demands on me as of late and I’ve had to pull back my posting quite a bit. A part of me is relieved that Fabian has given us this break as it will give me time to get my schedule into some sort of manageable level where I can squeeze in time for a post or two a week. This saves me having to quit the games altogether (which is where I was quickly headed). More importantly, this gives me hope that I’ll see my characters brought back to life again and not killed off or taken over by another. I know that breaks have happened in other games run by Fabian and that have indeed returned to life so I’m not too despondent.

 

For now I guess it is Life On?

 

Tom Andry

Associate Editor

www.Audioholics.com

Over 1 million readers a month and growing!

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Troubl...@googlegroups.com [mailto:Troubl...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Fabian Benavente
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 8:00 AM
To: Hope-for-the-Childre...@googlegroups.com; Troubl...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Extended Break

 

 

All,

 

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[Fabian Benavente]

Hey people,

I've been itching to start roleplaying again and since good PBEMers are hard to find (God
knows I don't want to explain things all over again to new people if I don't have to), I
thought I'd ask about starting playing again.

I'd like to find out how many of you are willing to retake the old game schedule (recaps
at least twice per week meaning you'll have to post within 48 hours). The game proper
would start in early January at the earlist and, depending on how many people are
interested, we can explore different options.

A - CONTINUE CURRENT ADVENTURE
There are 7 characters in the current storyline (Belkar, Bryn, Ember, Johan, Lan, Leif,
and Mel). I need at least 4 of those people to want (and be able) to play to continue the
current adventure. Please be aware that it will be difficult enough to make whoever is not
playing diasappear (without goung to extrme measures). Assuming that some of you still
want to play then we'll 'finish' (as in 'gloss over') this adventure and ...

B - GET BACK TO THE ESTATE AND CONTINUE CURRENT CAMPAIGN
This will provide a clean break and we can add new players/characters (I know of another
local guy who is new to PBEMs and we can also also mine from Gary's game or post a new
add) to continue the storyline of whomever wanted to continue with their old characters.
Old players can make new characters if desired as the party's dynamic will surely be
changed.

C- START NEW CAMPAIGN
This may be done with old characaters or new characters (probably new characters). If we
do start a new campaign, I'd like to hear what you have in mind to try and 'make it work'.
I'm interested in exploring Xen'drik's and thought that the 'group' could be some sort of
'agency' that gets hired to do different tasks (exploration/retrieval). Characters would
be fairly mid to high level (6-9 level). I'll be doing some reading over my holidys to I
may get new ideas for campaigns.

D - ??? You know I always listen to you...

I'm hoping this email starts the opinions and chatter back and forth so we can build some
momemtum.

Talk to me! :)

L8r,

Fabian
Troubled Past - An Eberron PBEM
http://www.geocities.com/cfbenave/Eberron/Eberron-Page2.htm

[King, John]

I'm in, for whatever.

I'm rather attached to Ember, so I would like to see it through, but
again, I'm good with whatever.

-----Original Message-----
From: Troubl...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:Troubl...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Fabian Benavente

[Kirsdrake]

Ready an' willin', Sah!

Mel/Flask is a funny character and I wouldn't mind playing him some
more (whether we finish the jungle episode first or return to the
estates at once isn't that important to me) but I have dozens of
character concepts I'm itching to try, so if you decide you want to
start a new story, that's fine with me as well.

-Jussi

____________________________________________________________________________________
Any questions? Get answers on any topic at www.Answers.yahoo.com. Try it now.

[Angie Gignac]

Hey guys,

I have mixed feelings about this. I really liked Bryn, and was very
attached to the game we were playing, and it would disappoint me not
to finish the adventure....on the other hand, the momentum is long
gone. I guess I'll go with the consensus on that issue.

As for timing, I'm on holiday and won't be back until the 5th of
January, then I have a major move happening that month and a job
change. All through January I'll be back and forth between two cities,
and probably won't always have my computer with me, so I can't commit
to our old posting schedule of every 72 hours until after the first
week of February.

My other confession is that I started a game of my own a few months
ago, when this game took a break and Gary's started to serious falter.
I found it very tough to give up two games that I was attached to,
both right in the middle of a major scene (no, I haven't given up on
SF, Gary, but you know what I mean). I'm hesitant to risk that again,
so perhaps it would be a good idea to plan a slightly shorter game, so
that we don't have to risk running out of steam before we finish our
big climax.

That's my two cents....
Angie

[Primogen Council]

I'd be willing to play, but I wouldn't mind making up a new character.
I've tried twice now to play a warforged druid but the games have
always crapped out on me- it might be interesting to run an ironwood
bodied 'forged druid with Ember and Bryn.

--
Les

[Fabian Benavente]

Well It looks like I have at least four interested players; there may be others interested
who are a little slow to answer so we'll see.

I'll second Angie's comment about the length of the games and I'll try to make them
shorter (as short as the medium will allow). In any event, starting a new game fits in
with trying to avoid a long campaign but rather have small adventures (stringed together
by a common theme). What we'll do is roll up new characters and I'll run a 'modified'
Voyage of the Golden Dragon.

The basic premise is that your characters will make up some sort of 'A-Team' (John's term
so I take no credit for it). This A-Team will be tasked to do exploration/retrieval work.
As a team I think the playing field is wide open for any type of character. One caveat is
that I do want to keep the group small (no more than 5 characters).

The basic premise of the starting adventure is that you'll be asked to go to Xen'drik by
somebody (not sure who yet) to find and retrieve something (not sure what yet). The what
and who will come from me becoming more familiar with the adventure, the Xen'drik
sourcebook (both on my holiday reading list), and your character backgrounds.

The game won't start until mid January at the earliest and it will start 'slow enough'
such that we wait for Angie to settle down in her real life changes.

What you may want to do now is start working on character concepts (you know the
'appereance, history, personality' part that I like). I will want characters to know each
other enough so that you are able to work as a team but they need not have grown up
together. Maybe a character was on his/her own and just came back and met with old
friends. bear in mind the A-Team concept. Characters will be 7th level so there's plenty
of room to have started in a prestige class if desired.

Let's atart bouncing ideas around. I would prefer that you send ideas to the whole group
so that others can see what type of characters are being proposed so as to avoid
duplication and come up with complementary characters. if more than one players wants to
have the same type of character, I'll have you both write them up and I'll make a decision
on who stays so don't feel like you have to hurry up in your creative process.

Questions?

Fabian
Troubled Past - An Eberron PBEM
http://www.geocities.com/cfbenave/Eberron/Eberron-Page2.htm

[King, John]

OK, before I get sued for copyright infringement, let me be the first to
say that I did not coin "A-Team"

Also, just in case I get a case of the lazies (which I'm prone to do),
can I bump Sarath to lvl 7 and kick some more ass? I thought about
rolling up T'serrina, and reference Gary's game as kind of a prior event
type of thing from an alternate perspective, but I'm not sure I can pull
off penning a woman. They are far too complex an organism for me,
methinks.

Otherwise, I'll look through some of the new source material and see if
they inspire the creative juices to flow (mine have pretty much seized
up in the pipes at this point.)

Thoughts, comments, suggestions? Always welcome.
Thanks,
John

-----Original Message-----
From: Troubl...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:Troubl...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Fabian Benavente

[Kirsdrake]

7th level?

Whee... What to be, what to be... Binder/Warlock/Hellfire Warlock?
Druid/Planar Shepherd? Artificer/Renegade Mastercrafter?
Wizard/Cataclysm Mage? The possibilities are endless!

-Jussi

> Characters will be 7th
> level so there's plenty
> of room to have started in a prestige class if desired.

__________________________________________________
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[Fabian Benavente]

John,

No, you can not bump Sarath to 7th level because he's going to die at 5th level :) and
because we'd had enough of him.

There are a lot of possibilities out there. The characters don't necessarily have to be
explorers. They could be plenty of other types. Come up with somehting you want to play
and we'll help you with the backstory to tie the character in to the 'A-team'. :)

L8r,

Fabian
Troubled Past - An Eberron PBEM
http://www.geocities.com/cfbenave/Eberron/Eberron-Page2.htm

[Angie Gignac]

Hey guys,

 

I was about to ask Fabian for some character advice, but I think I'll ask you all, as Fabian wants us to do this publicly, and 5 heads are better than one (unless you're fighting monsters, of course). The problem is that I'm on holiday with no computer and no source material, but of course my mind has fixated on working on a new character. Not that being on holiday is a problem, but you know what I mean.

 

Here's all I know so far. I want to play a spellcaster of some sort. I really enjoy playing sorcerer-type classes, so that I don't have to keep picking my spells every morning. I'd rather have full access to fewer spells than limited access to a bunch. I'd like to try a prestige class, as I've never done that before; in fact, most of my characters have been pretty plain-jane as far as class went.

 

I've actually got a bit of a dilemma. I like my characters to be multi-purpose, and am not so much into the front-row fighting (as I'm sure you've figured out from watching Bryn and Amelia). However, I don't want to keep playing the same character over and over again. Does anybody have any ideas of cool sorcerer-y prestige classes that will allow for some combat ability, but also has potential for some more interesting, non-combat skills/spells/abilities?

 

I won't be back home until the 5th of January, but I'd like to have a solid character concept by then, even if I can't get my character sheet made until later. Any ideas would be appreciated. I look forward to starting this new game with you all!

 

Cheers,

Angie

[King, John]

There was a prestige class that I borrowed a featr from for Sarath, it was the Dagger something stance, but there are a couple of different prestige classes related to it. I will try to look it up and the source and get back with you.

________________________________

From: Troubl...@googlegroups.com on behalf of Angie Gignac
Sent: Fri 12/22/2006 11:40 AM
To: Troubl...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Hello? Anyone there?

[Fabian Benavente]

Angie,

It would help if you could narrow down what sort of other ability you wanted your
character to have (i.e., sorcerer/thief, sorcerer/warrior, etc.):

For example there's Enlightened Fist from Complete Arcane that combines sorcerer/monk.

L8r,

Fabian
Troubled Past - An Eberron PBEM
http://www.geocities.com/cfbenave/Eberron/Eberron-Page2.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: "King, John" <john...@golder.com>
To: <Troubl...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2006 11:44 AM
Subject: RE: Hello? Anyone there?

[Kirsdrake]

Right, go public... I'm building a Warlock-based character, ironing out
the details with Fabian (Curse you for resisting my Master Plan!).
Anyway, with that sorted out... sorcerer PrCs.

Mage of the Arcane Order is a classic; gives a sorcerer a bit more
options regarding limited spell selection. And Sharn for one has two
orders that would fit the ill.

Then there's Fiend-Blooded from Heroes of Horror. A sorcerer who
gradually becomes a Half-Fiendish creature. Dark, but not necessarily
evil...

Heartwarder from Faiths and Pantheons isn't really meant for a
sorcerer, but it works very, very well with one, particularly if you
want to go crazy with Enchantment spells. Just have to adabt it to
Eberron (Replace FRs Sune with an Eberron deity of love and replace the
required deity's prferred weapon).

Warshaper from Heroes of Battle is a fun one; buff the whole party with
one spell.

Incantatrix is THE powerhouse for a wizard, but the metamagic mayhem
taken to the power of two works for a sorcerer as well. Particularly
with the feat that allows a sorc to apply metamagic feats to his spells
without increasing the casting time.

Play a Changeling and you can try out Recaster. I love that one, but
never have managed to try it out.

Right, and don't forget Bloodline feats from the Dragon managize, if
Fabia allows those. One bonus spell known for every spell level,
depending on what creature's blood you have flowing in your vein.

-Jussi