Seasoned player looking for a long term group.

Hey guys, I apologize in advance for the long post. I'm a player that has a fair bit of experience with PnP games. I'm most experienced with 3.5, but I have played 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Editions, Pathfinder (only ever really read the material, haven't actually played it), Vampire (2nd and 3rd Editions), Mage (The current iteration and the one previous), Edge of the Empire, Iron Kingdoms, and a smattering of other games that I can't remember off the top of my head. I am available any evening after 8:00pm Pacific Standard Time or on Saturdays (mostly any time). If a game doesn't fall within those time frames and you find me interesting enough to join your game, you can contact me and I can see if it's something that's workable for me, but generally those are the times that work best for me. I am open to almost any setting/system as long as you're willing to help me along if it's something I don't know. I also would prefer a game occur either weekly or bi-weekly; I understand when breaks need to be taken for a GM to write up new material or we all just need to decompress after an adventure or something. I'm the kind of player that values story above almost anything else, including my own character's life. If I feel it'd make the story more interesting, then I'd gladly have my character do something that is heroic, suicidal, or otherwise detrimental to my character. I'm the kind of player who can write up paragraphs of back story for even one shot characters (I have done this before xD). I stay in character firmly while playing and do my very best not to have my character stray from what their instincts may be in a given situation. Due to my love of story, I strongly prefer to invest myself in a long term group, even more preferably from the very beginning (level one, 0 experience, what have you) to whenever the GM decides it's a good stopping point for the game, but I'm open to joining an existing adventure. I've had a hard time finding a group so far that will last; either because the GM gets bored or the group falls apart due to various reasons. These things happen, but I'd like to try to mitigate that as much as possible. My strong preference would be to join a group that either already knows each other or is otherwise composed of mature adults. Many players I encounter in groups are still in that 'eccentric' phase where they're still enamored with the idea that they can do -anything- and will often do things that would usually be unrealistic to a character (to say the least). Or I will play with players that, frankly, make very poor decisions. Again, that's part of the magic of D&D--you can make your own decisions and face the consequences, but it gets tiresome when lessons aren't learned and the group suffers for it. I guess what I'm getting at is that I'd like to play with people who are at least veterans of PnP games, if not the system they're currently playing, and who know when to talk things through as a group and do things as a team effort. My most recent groups were some what sabotaged by lots of petty in-party fighting and a lack of a strong leader figure and/or united purpose in being together, so I'm looking for that too. Don't get me wrong; I don't mind internal politics games where you need to look over your shoulder or another player does secret things a lot. A very basic example of things I don't like: A player makes a rogue and believes that means he needs to rob everyone, including the party. It can be done well, especially if the player is clever, but most players are fairly obvious about it (how many sneaky, shifty types are in the group that could pull off such a heist and has been seen doing it before?). But at the end of the day, if you're going to be in a group of murder hobos, the one rule that should be inviolate is to not mess with the only people who have your back when you're out in a deadly world--or at least you shouldn't be caught if you are going to do that. I'd prefer to treat this like we're all co-writing a story rather than playing a game of Paranoia. tl;dr : Veteran player looking for veteran group/DM that won't let petty things interrupt the flow of the game. I also forgot to mention that I'm still dusting off my PnP skills; I took a break for a few years and am only now just getting back into it on roll20, so I may be a little rusty. Just bear with me. I'll be happy to answer any questions either here or via message if you have any. Thanks for bearing with me so far.

I'm looking for players for a game called Nechronica. Players take the role of zombie girls in the far future of the end of the world. Each girl is different in that they can be mutants, cyborgs, or just really crazy. I have a LFG with more detail. <a href="https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/15631/nechronic" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/15631/nechronic</a>...

Thanks for the post Chris M. I'm not sure that's the right setting for me. I just don't know if I could really get into it enough to create a solid enough character for it. I also don't like the fact that a voice chat service isn't required; I think the game would get too bogged down if you had to wait for everyone to type out what their actions are. I understand why you'd allow that, but I don't think I'd be a good fit for your group.

Outlaw, I'm in a similar situation, so I believe we can join forces for a greater good, right? I am experienced DM. I've played Pathfinder, D&D v3.5, Numenera, Nobilis, GURPS, and 3D&T in the past. My time zone is UTC-03 and my available gaming hours are during weekend afternoons and nights, wich would correspond to around 8:00a.m. to 8:00p.m. for Pacific Standard Time; The hours are rigid, but negotiable. I have Skype, and use it frequently. You see, I've aways played the role of the DM in my current gaming group, and would love a change of pace. I am looking for a stable and mature bunch, so I can truly build and live another character, without knowing beforehand the ending of the adventure and all it's plot points... as is the curse of the DM. I am very familiar with the unspoken rules of the PnP RPGs, and my experience as a DM taught me the value of a well roleplayed character. Even a rather lackluster overarching story can shine if the people within it, and their interaction with the world and themselves, are interesting and appropriate. The true glory of PnP relies on colaborative storytelling, so it is really fantastic when everyone understands narrative cohesion. At the same time, I am an avid gamer, and I'd love to put some of those good ol' tactical grids to use. I'm not that picky about game systems or scenarios, but I really want to play an adventure book, like Rise of the Runelords (for Pathfinder) or The Sunless Citadel (for D&D 3.5), something classic! Something that was truly meant to be played, you know what I mean? I'm not a fan of homebrews, even though I've made my fair share of them; long, long ago. In short, let's get this party started! TL;DR: Experienced player looking for stable group/DM, joining forces with the Opening Poster to possibly create a new group.

I welcome you Oswaldo! Thank you for your post. I'm hoping that this is the beginning of a group that can differentiate things like 'in character' and 'out of character' and practice other relatively basic, but forgotten, rules of RP. I know I'm guilty of it too lately, of talking out of character and in character at the same time. I'll try to be vigilant about that in this game. Mostly that comes from a sense of feeling rushed I suspect, so as long as we all take a deep breath and focus, it should be okay. It's been a while since I've played a game where the group is comfortable enough with each other that you can afford to spend a little bit of time actually roleplaying out interactions between party members and things like that. In the games I recently played in, I usually just made notes to the DM about where another player and I would have conducted private RP and then we do it later after the game is over. I'm okay with that as an answer for now, especially in the case of just the interaction between two people so as not to bog the game down with only select people being busy. Although if you use something like Ventrillo you could just have two people go off to a separate room while the rest do something else, or something like that. Perhaps someone wants to eavesdrop or what have you? I don't know, it's been a while since I've had a game where that mattered. I'll digress though; I can easily go on and on for a while on a subject if given the proper audience. ;-D I'm okay with adventure books, though I tend to prefer a freshly made sand-box style game if possible. One adventure book set I really want to get into is Kingmaker. Ever since I first started playing PnP games, I've always wanted to try my hand at kingdom building or, at least, influencing a kingdom. I have all sorts of materials to supplement such a setting, such as a handy booklet I found that talks about population numbers, village/town/city/etc. sizes, population make-up, and so on. As a plus side, it isn't too complicated (like, spreadsheets or something that you'd expect out of something like EVE Online). It's a very to the point 11 page booklet with all kinds of rolls that can be made to build random settlements of any size if a GM wants to create a quick, well rounded place. The rant about Kingmaker aside, I'd be okay with any other adventure books so long as the story is interesting and the GM is able to fill in the inevitable blanks that rise up in such material. In your opinion, how many people do you feel is best for a game built around story? It can come at odds with the mechanics of certain systems, such as D&D being balanced around the four player party. It can get hard to handle too many players because everyone wants their turn in the spotlight, but there's of course only a limited amount of time and, frankly, other players get bored if they aren't included. I've had a lot of success with two and three player games, with four getting iffy depending on the personalities of the players. I've seen it attempted--mostly unsuccessfully--to run more players in a campaign, but they run parallel to each other and only infrequently interact. I'd love to see a GM able to make such an idea work, because more people can mean more unique characters and story, but it does get hard to balance the timing of it all. Anyways, I'll stop here and say: I look forward to playing with you. =P

About 20-30 minutes ago, me and a few other newbies, and a first time DM making a campaign banded together for 4th edition D&D, starting at 1st level and a new campaign if you'd like to join us, here is the thread <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1027858/newbie-looking-to-start-d-and-d-4e#post-1028113" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1027858/newbie-looking-to-start-d-and-d-4e#post-1028113</a> . We plan on going the long haul with That Raven Knight's campaign as he wants it to last a long time, the group currently is a little shake-y and we dont have an actual time set up yet and Raven is currently still making encounter maps and what not. but we'd love a seasoned D&D player to coach us newbies and have a good ol' time :D

Hey there Austin, thanks for posting. I'll be totally honest with you: I've never played 4th Edition before. The system struck me as too MMO-ish. I think it's a good compromise system to help get new players who are familiar with things like World of Warcraft or other such games transitioned into the wonderful world of PnP games, but there are certain things that long time PnP players like myself may find... off. That being said, I don't mind helping out where I can, though in this circumstance I probably would be of little help to your group simply because I know very little about 4th edition and its mechanics. I'd really be in the same shoes as the rest of your group and would just be along for the ride. I think that since your whole group is filled with brand new players and a brand new DM, you guys might be better served playing with just each other for now and learning as you go. This way no one has any expectations of anyone else; you're all learning and you're going in with that mind set. I don't know how experienced your DM is with PnP games as a player, but he might appreciate working with a new crowd more than having someone who has played a lot of PnP games--especially in a completely different system. I know I've been in plenty of groups where the difficulty of encounters get very difficult for a DM to figure out if one person is a lot more adept than the rest of the group. It can stifle learning and make things unfun for everyone. Not that I myself feel proficient enough to do such a thing (especially in a system I don't know), but I'm just trying to say I might not be a good fit in this situation. I appreciate the offer, but I feel I should decline for now. Besides, if I'm to be totally frank, I'm looking for a more veteran group in part so that we worry a bit less about the rules and mechanics of the game and focus more on the story side of things. People who are experienced have an easier time managing that than a group of newcomers. I hope I don't come across as looking down on newcomers to PnP--I always look forward to seeing new blood come into the mix. I just think that your group is going to spend a lot of time focusing on the rules, how things work, what you can and can't do, etc. I'd be doing a lot of that myself in a 4th edition group. So, at the risk of sounding hypocritical (in the event I wind up playing in a system I'm unfamiliar with), I'd prefer to abstain and look for a more experienced group. I do hope that you have fun with your game and that in the future we can play in a game together, I'm just looking for something a bit different this time. =)

To Austin G. I have to agree with Outlaw on this one. And if I may, I would add that you seem to have a glorious oportunity on your hands to get truly fresh start! To get a new band of misfits to delve into the wondrous rabbit hole of RPGs together! I'd say it wouldn't be as amazing an experience if you had a central person to look up to for info and details. You just need to remember this: the rules obey enjoyment, not the contrary. Learn from each other, keep it simple, and I am sure you will have a memorable time. -------- To Outlaw. You are a very thorough with your posts! Kind of impressive, really. Anyways, I'm glad you accepted my offer. It's good to have company on this road, so to speak. About player to player RP. I'm a big fan of character interactions in PnP RPGs. When one reads a book, watches a movie, or plays a videogame RPG, the characters present in those works are rarelly silent. They interact with each other in unique ways, and more often than not, contribute to building both the world and themselves through this dialogue. I don't like when this interaction is made in private, however, since it deprives the other players of a good chunk of characterization, story, and, most of all, fun. Usually, when I see players wanting to do that is because the interaction would take a long time. But, if conversation is so long that it would compromise the flow of the gaming session, it shouldn't be played out at all, in my opinion. Please don't judge me poorly for this, but I don't trust homebrews of DM's I don't know. It is very hard to make a good story, even more so a good system! That's why I want to keep it nice and familiar, at least for starters, so later we may try something with a bit more homely flavor to it. I like the idea of Kingmaker, though, very epic and unique. As for group size, I'd say 3-4 players is ideal. One person is lonely; Two people is boring, unless they make an amazing duo, like cops, snipers or comedians; Three make a neat triangle, so dispute can be resolved with majority; Four makes a good all-round square, briming with potential, but no to large as to lose focus; Five and up don't really work for story driven games, too many people, too little time. I got to sleep now, I'll check the forums later for any news.

I try to be as thorough as I can be to make sure that I'm understood. I especially take great pains on the internet because emotion doesn't often translate, so it is even more critical to make myself clear lest I be misunderstood. Then again, posting large posts like I do tends to make people think I'm a pompous ass, but I suppose nothing is perfect. ;-P I agree with you largely on the player to player interactions. They're a critical component to a game that often is glossed over for the sake of expediency. I feel a lot of the really petty in party strife comes from other players' lack of understanding of what a character is doing in a game. People too easily just let things slide that would totally mess with the moral codes or what have you of their characters because "we're a party." On the one hand, I like to see a group working together for common goals, but on the other I like to see there be a bit of conflict between people who clearly have different goals/morals/cultures/religions/etc. I've had games with two clerics of different gods getting into philosophical debates all the time (often quite hilariously), I've had characters who were acting like total creeps towards other characters (a game with a summoner who had an odd attraction to a tiefling in the group was funny), and one of my more recent characters who I made as controversial as possible to a) shake up a game I was entering after the start and b) to show how IC and OOC are different things, involved a 17 year old female necromancer. It took the party about four months in game to finally figure out what she was, and while a lot of the dramatic effect was lost since most of the original party members quit, it was still very satisfying seeing the shock that other people had that this innocent, morally righteous little waif was in all actuality a necromancer. Anyways, I got off point, because she actually wound up getting involved in a romance with another party member because she was secretly undergoing a ritual that was going to turn her undead, and she realistically didn't want to die without experiencing certain things. She basically sneaked into this other character's room and told him that she didn't want to die a virgin (we just abstracted that part; I don't feel that every detail needs to be RP'd out, so long as we can all agree certain things happened). Her secret regarding her rituals was kept safe because the whole city is going through an apocalyptic type event, so it could easily just be regarded as her fear of dying that way. The reality is that she knew that undead no longer could feel the same things that living beings could. She viewed this character for a while with longing because he represented a different life that she could have had if her life had been more normal. I could really talk for a long time about just this character because I really like her, but I'll stop here for now. I just wanted to use that as an example of the kinds of characters I can make. I don't feel any particular shame in playing characters of different races, beliefs, alignments, ages, or even genders. I think that a character is a character; it isn't me, it's just part of the story. Some people get tripped up over this and feel that they'll be made fun of or something for choosing something that is too different from who they are. I'll tell you, I'm a straight male and I feel no shame from playing a teenaged girl character or treating her like a teenaged girl would act; emotional and immature in some cases. It's nice to flex the old imagination and put yourself in a different set of shoes to experience something different. I play what I feel would be good in a given situation or whatever character idea is burning to come out of my head. I recognize that not every player--in fact, probably very few--have this level of dedication to a story, nor do I expect anyone else to do anything so outlandish. All I want is a group that wants to work together to create a grand story, and if that means that their characters are rivals, at odds, friends, or even lovers, then that is okay by them. What happens in character, stays in character and doesn't extend to out of character. Just because our characters are fighting, doesn't mean the players have to too. I don't judge you poorly for having different beliefs than me in this regard. This is probably just a difference of experience. Sure, I've had more than a few settings that were either boring or total garbage. Sometimes creative differences can get in the way too. I was in a group a couple of months ago where I really enjoyed the characters in it and even the setting, but the GM ruined the setting (in my opinion) by making every NPC near god like. This was a Vampire the Masquerade game. My character, an 8th generation Ventrue with potence and other disciplines, was entirely incapable of hurting this NPC that was made a target by the currently reigning Prince. My character was ordered to kill this guy and he did everything possible to hurt him and couldn't even inflict one point of damage on him. Point blank shots to the face repeatedly with shotguns, stabbing him with swords while using potence, hitting him with a 1960's Rolls Royce (my character had five dots in resources), and even literally dousing him with gasoline and setting him on FIRE did nothing. I felt that aside from the NPCs being made too overwhelming, the system was great and the RP was enjoyable. The GM refused to tune down the NPCs, and that's his right as a GM, but if the mechanics stifle the story, is that really interesting to play? I'm not sure if that story was on topic or not, but I guess my point is that I've had a great deal of success with home brewed settings (that necromancer I described above is in a campaign that is entirely home brewed by the GM). I'm open minded enough to do whatever the group wants to do in any case. Most of my early D&D campaigns were done in my school's library whenever we all had time, but there were only ever a couple of us available at any given time. I've had times where I've been the only character in a campaign and a lot of campaigns with just myself and another person. I don't find such games that unusual; often times stories only have one or two main characters. The challenge comes more on the mechanics sides of things there, but a good GM can balance that out no problem. I think three is the idea number with four being okay so long as we're all mostly mellow and able to get along well. Anything more will require either rotating out players on certain sessions (like the whole group represents a mercenary guild or something and only certain people go on certain jobs), or that running parallel thing I mentioned in my other post. Sleep well.

Just as an update to you Oswaldo, I may have another player who fits the bill for what we're looking for. All we really need at this stage is a GM who is equally story minded to the rest of us. I already included the one player you invited in that other thread, so that puts us at four assuming we can work out scheduling for all of us. Let me know what you think.

I'll join in with this; RP-lover, Pathfinder experience and somewhat mature. UK-based, GMT timezone, hopefully that is manageable. Skype me if you like: sethwinternight

Welcome aboard Chris! I think that all four of us should have a chat at some point soon to discuss the particulars of what we're looking for and then we can set up a separate post specifying exactly what we're looking for in a GM. This will also allow us to get to know each other a little bit better and what exactly we're looking for from a game. Being RP lovers doesn't mean we all like the same kind of RP, so it's good to know more so we don't accidentally step on each others toes. Sound good to you guys?

i'm down for that :)

I'm in, here's my skype: opln2000 I'm usually available on skype during weekdays, from around 21:00 - 2:00 UTC.

Well, my favorite kind of RP is one that is integrated seamlessly into the game. For example, let's say my character is cowardly. If a combat situation arrives, he won't move in and charge the frontlines, he would try to stay away from danger, and avoid his enemies if possible. His stats and skills would try to reflect his prefered way of engagement and the backstory would support both his present personality and mechanics. I dislike the segregation of "RP moment" and "Game moment". It's a RPG after all, so roleplaying and gaming should integrate the experience.

I agree with you one hundred percent Oswaldo. If you're playing a coward, then he should be a coward all the time. I treat combat as an extension of role play, much like war is an extension of diplomacy. Many people--myself included--will often focus on the sheer mechanics of a combat encounter rather than trying to get overly creative. There are many reasons for this, but I'm hoping in this group we can try to relax a bit, slow down the pace of the game--including combat--and try to make something that is interesting. I guess we'll see how it turns out in any case.

Wow. I'd love to be y'all's GM, sounds like a really great group, you'd be fun to run through one of my games. At the moment, however, I've got one regular game going on Sunday nights, and a series of one-shots I run at semi-random intervals. I'm not sure I can commit to yet another fulltime group! However, if things get desperate, let me know. I would be more than happy to run, not a one-shot, but at least a short series of connected games of some sort or another. My schedule, free as it is, is only temporarily so... I'm not sure enough of what the future holds to commit to anything three or four months in advance, so I can't offer a long-term game like you're looking for. But. I love RP, especially in terms of how characters react to situations. Sometimes these are combat situations, sometimes they ain't. But a group of players who bother to take the five freaking minutes needed to come up with a real character, with backgrounds and motivations and ideas of their own, is soooooo much better than a group who sees their player as a d20 with a sword at one end! I run Pathfinder, and have quite a few ideas as to a low-to-middle-level game or whatever. I"m also always open to suggestions from the players as to what they want to do; I treat my worlds as sandboxes with certain elements that are, not pre-determined exactly, but more that everything in the world is there for a reason. If it's just a simple kobold or a fearsome dragon, they too (just like the players' characters) have motivations of their own and a reason to be there... even if nobody, especially me, knows what those reasons might be! Wish I could offer you more (and have a reasonable chance of fulfilling that offer) but, hey, the offer I can make is out there. -Phnord PS: Welcome to Roll20, and good luck! q;}

Hey Phnord, thank you for your post. I appreciate your offer. I'd hate to make you feel stretched thin; things like that lead to GM burn out. We as a group are definitely looking for a long term campaign so that we can add another epic story to our belts. My fondest memories are almost always from campaigns that went on for months and involved lots of story arcs, tragedy, success, and the character growth that comes from all of that. I personally take every character I make seriously and it seems to me that my fellow group members also invest heavily in their characters. It's always disappointing when a campaign comes to an end prematurely, either due to a GM getting bored/burned out, party members squabbling, or just real life events taking away too many people. Some of these things are unavoidable and real life should absolutely take priority, but it still leaves you feeling a bit sad when you don't know how the story might have ended. All I set out to do with this thread was to try and mitigate as much of that as possible and hope that we could forge a group that could play together for at least one epic campaign, if not more in the future. I really enjoy Pathfinder in concept mostly because I really like 3.5 and from all I've read Pathfinder is just a better, more refined version of 3.5. I like the ideas you listed; it reminds me of some old Warcraft d20 campaigns I played back in the day. Such a huge world with so much potential for adventure. Too bad WoW ruined it. xD I'll digress there. I tell you what Phnord: if you ever free up, please keep us in mind. Like I said, I'd hate to force you into a situation where you aren't sure you could keep running a game long term, and that's really what we'd prefer to do at this time. Thanks again for the offer though.

I'm part of a very experienced group that has been playing together for over 10 years. We recently lost 2 players which brings down to only 3. We are toying around with the idea of bringing our game online so we can expand our player base. It seems like the two of you would be a good fit. The three of us are all over 25yo, and prefer heavy role play over mechanics. The only caveat is that two of us work early mornings and could not play at night. We currently play 1-6 EST on Sundays and are running the Pathfinder campaign Wrath of the Righteous. Please let me know if you're interested and we can chat further!

Additionally here's a link to our obsidian portal page for the campaign. The adventure log is quite extensive, and can give you a good feel for the game. <a href="https://wrath-of-the-righteous-16.obsidianportal.com/adventure-log" rel="nofollow">https://wrath-of-the-righteous-16.obsidianportal.com/adventure-log</a> Portal

Thank you for your post Joanna! I think that we'd be better served to discuss the details of your campaign via PM. I'm posting this just so that no one thinks this thread is dead or that I'm ignoring you. =)