Thanked Posts

121

General Discussion / Another half-night of sleep thanks to a Chongo-lead Layo adventure.

« on: October 16, 2007, 03:08:22 am »

Just wanted to say, ROCK ON.

Yeah. TPK. We still kicked a lot of booty and explored like crazy and saw some really freakin' cool stuff and made fun of each other and squabbled, etc. Almost made it through, too. So close.

Thanks again, to everyone that made the adventure a great memory.

122

Character Development Quests (CDQ's) / The Troll King - (CDQ/GCDQ)

« on: May 06, 2015, 10:26:45 pm »

Check out my mini-profile under the "Ask a GM" forum to get an idea of what you can expect from me as a GM. I'm in Texas (GMT -5 or -6, Daylight Savings pending). Currently, my times are "by appointment." However, I'm usually around: 9pm CST/CDT - 11pm CST/CDT (Mon thru Fri) 10am CST/CDT - 10pm CST/CDT (Sat and Sun)Current CDQ: 1. Nym2. Andulf3.In Planning: 1. Ulkazzar2.3.4.Backburner: 1. Storold2. Danny3. Tobias4. BorisSpecial project: 1. BeliKeep rockin'.Special Note: Due to possible conflicts of interest, I will not run any CDQs/GCDQs having to do with the Leringard Arms, the Angels Merchant Guild, or the Tower Academy.

123

General Discussion / The sweetest thing.

« on: June 24, 2007, 06:35:01 pm »

This is a reply I made in the "I know some people have been quiet of late" thread, and aside from tooting my own horn, I really feel what I have to say in this reply is hugely important (forgive me; it's pride week). Are you here to "beat" a video game, to level up and explore colored pixels and follow along a pre-set path of +1, to +2, etc.? Or are you here to create story? Are you here to quest?

Hmmm.... seven people on each server at a time? Sounds like the perfect quest party size. =)

That's why I stuck with Layo, and that's why I'll stick with Layo. Quests. Genuine story adventures. Player-run (like story-telling nights) and GM-run (like CDQ's). And even better, Layo has an over-arching world plot that affects and is affected by us crazy adventurers.

Honestly, I'd only ever log in for the quests (and have before in the past when my time was even more limited), if it wasn't that I need to go through the tedium of crafting and business to get my characters' hands on the gear they need to make them better adventurers.

Sure, you can find RP on other servers, other places even than NWN, but I have yet to find any online presence that has the depth, quality, and number of quests offered here. The NWN version of the world, indeed, the whole DnD construct is just a platform upon which to run adventures, to run quests. Truly, I care little about the platform so long as the quests themselves are quality and interesting.

Just for clarity, here's my definition of "quest," as it pertains to role-playing games:
A quest is a plot (a selection and arrangement of events), complete with story and characters, but missing that final and unpredictable piece of the puzzle known as the player character. A quest is planned in advance, and carefully constructed like any work of art. The best quest designers know how to incorporate the classical dramatic forms (tragedy, comedy, and melodrama) and fill their quests with recognitions and reversals. A quest is a free-form drama, not unlike modern comedy improvisationals. However, a quest holds much more meaning for its audience and its characters, and includes more dramatic elements than a comedy improv sketch. These are the quests that make role-play fun and what makes RP a work of art.

It's that definition that has kept me from applying for a quest GM position many times, as I feel I must have the time to really develop and plan each quest I run. As it stands, I've been GMing pen and paper RPG quests for years, and I barely have the time to do that anymore.

As long as Layo is built around story and quests, I will be here. I hardly care about the community drama, the platform (NWN) issues, or how Layo's custom NWN enhancements compares to other NWN worlds.

I'm here to create stories, to be told stories, and to have adventures. The only drama I care about occurs in-game and in-character.

My only hope is that there are others like me (and I think there are) who stick around to keep the story going.

124

General Discussion / Hannah Cole

« on: May 09, 2007, 08:07:37 pm »

In case any of you were wondering where ole' Milty's been the last few days...

Monday, 05/07/2007, at 4:41 pm CDT, Hannah Cole Gilchrest was born. She weighed 8 lbs and 7 oz (not sure what that translates to in kilograms), and she was 20 1/2 inches long.

Two days later, we're both wiped out. And neither of us did the pushing.

Hannah's the little bulge of blankets sleeping on top of me in the attached photo.