Jade Stage IRC game - interest-gauging & brainstorming preliminary proto-thread

[Lmns Crn]

The time has come for me to take up the mantle of DM again, at last. I'd like to run an IRC game set in the Jade Stage, and the purpose of this thread is to figure out exactly what to do and whom to do it with.

Here are the things I need:

Players! Ideally, I'd like to have four or five of you fine-quality individuals as players, but I'll open the game to as many of you as I can handle. If you want to play, familiarity with the Jade Stage is not required now, but I will expect you to make use of the resources provided as we go along, in order to become in informed participant. Familiarity with IRC is not required; I'll help you through the basics as we go.

If you're interested, post here, and we'll talk over the details. I won't need a character from you until we decide what kind of game we want to play.

A time slot! We'll decide this for certain once we finalize the roster of players, but we can go ahead and bandy about suggestions now. I'll go ahead and say that Mondays-Thursdays from about 6 PM - 12 AM EST (GMT -5) are probably going to be the only timeslots I can guarantee I'll have open, once my semester begins. We will choose one night a week, about a 3 or 4 hour slot, and meet there regularly. Since we'll essentially be gaming in real-time via chatroom, you'll have to be able to join us at our agreed-upon time in order to participate.

An idea! I have a few half-formed plans. We'll decide together which one to use. Here are a few three-sentence stubs to get the creative juices flowing:

- Battle of Brithen, Part II - Twelve years ago, Formeria added the island of Brithen to its Empire. Now, rebels and insurgents are challenging the Formerian government. You are an elite task force within the Formerian military, sent by the Emperor to quell the violence and restore Brithen to order.
- Locksmiths - You are members of an Entámin cell of the global anti-slavery organization, the Locksmiths. Your task is to disrupt the operations of Ithyrian slavers and free their nonhuman slaves. The government of the United Republics sponsors you secretly and unofficially, but you must act subtly, or risk igniting outright war between the two nations.
- High Crimes in Low Places - Yolek-Ja, the aggregate city: haven to a thousand types of corporate criminals and treacherous thugs. Do you have what it takes to secure a living in this cutthroat iron jungle? Work in the employ of one crimelord against another, expecting intrigue and betrayal as you go.
- The Grand, Spiraling Waltz - The once-grand kingdom of Cardannis is headed for collapse, beset by the threat of bankruptcy, an atrophied military, the predations of hostile tribes, and growing tensions with neighboring nations. You sit on the Vine Circle, advisors to the young Catera queen. Will you be able to lead Cardannis back to its former state of glory, or at least slow its inexorable descent into ruin? Will you be able to seize massive armfuls of power from rival tribes?
- Other Adventures a la carte - I am totally open to suggestions, here. War, politics, crime, exploration-- you name it, and we'll talk.

Maybe I'll add some more options as we brainstorm some more, but that's a fairly varied list, and should be enough to get us started.

[Poseptune]

Posting interest.

I am currently reading Jade Stage (started late last night) to review it. I'm availible most of the time, though for IRC I would have to start after work so anytime after 6pm on weekdays.

[Numinous]

I want in!  I've been drooling over your setting for far too long to miss this.  I don't really have much experience, but I definitely want in.  I don't really know IRC, but I'm sure I can figure it out.

I'll pretty much be willing to play anything, although the battle of Brithen sounds fun.  I just really want in.

[Poseptune]

I cannot choose any one of the ideas you have listed, they all are interesting and I would love to see how they would play out.

[Ishmayl-Retired]

Hey LC,
I'm in.  Any of those nights, as long as we pick one and stick with it (and as long as I can get to bed at a decent hour ;) ), are fine with me.  I particularly like the Battle of Brithen plot, then after that, all of them are of equal interest to me.  The Cardannis plot sounds intriguing, but would it mean we would all have to be dwarves?  Also, I like exploration adventures, so if we decide on a la carte, the exploration plot gets my vote.

Cheers!

[Wensleydale]

I'll join! I've never actually played IRC before, favouring PbP and PnP... but hey, there's a first for everything.

[Túrin]

Just noting that I'm totally jealous of you guys for playing out one of these fascinating campaign hooks in LC's brilliant setting. Unfortunately I won't be able to join because of a lack of free time in general, and the inconvenience of playing between 12 AM and 6 AM (GMT+1) specifically. Have fun all!
:( Túrin

[Poseptune]

Yeah Turin that is one of the things I like about PbP. It is very internationally friendly.

[Wensleydale]

... I have to play GMT, doesn't mean I can't do it.

Edit: Actually it does, if we're doing it over an IM system. Have to count me out. :(

[Hibou]

I would love to join up on the endeavor, but I really wouldn't be suited for it. I'm not very good at meeting times at the moment due to work and countless last-minute duties that arise. For what it's worth, though, if I were playing I would definitely be pushing for a seafaring expedition that's trying to determine if there's really anything out there beyond the water. :)

[Lmns Crn]

I don't really know IRC, but I'm sure I can figure it out.

As I said, lack of familiarity with IRC is not a problem. I expect that most people will be IRC newbies, but the learning curve is rather gentle.

The Cardannis plot sounds intriguing, but would it mean we would all have to be dwarves?

extremely[/i] fun for political drama of the backstabbing variety, but that'd be humans-only. Likewise, we could do Imperial politics, which would be more open to diversity (but non-liriss would be severely disadvantaged, due to their obviously inferior warmblood pedigrees), and Republics politics are not as conducive to hands-on player involvement (because the Senate doesn't get much done, unless you count arguments.)

But again, I'm pretty flexible with ideas at this point in the creative process. If the group consensus is that playing a political game = good, but playing in Cardannis = bad, we'll simply figure out another way to make it happen.

Unfortunately I won't be able to join because of a lack of free time in general, and the inconvenience of playing between 12 AM and 6 AM (GMT+1) specifically.

ever[/i] involved a Dutch gentleman and an Austrian genius (remind me to tell you all the story of the Mysteriously Immolated Trolls some time-- a direct product of Austrian ingenuity.)

Anyway, if I could run in early afternoon here, late evening for you, I would, but my schedule simply doesn't make that possible right now. My deepest apologies.

Actually it does, if we're doing it over an IM system.

We're using IRC, which is essentially an IM system. Unlike a PbP game, we'll all meet in a chatroom together and conduct the game that way. The system has its advantages and disadvantages, but one of the tougher parts of it is that everybody needs to be able to meet at the same time, unfortunately.

[Wensleydale]

Well, this is my last post on this thread. :(

[Numinous]

Just a warning, in the dead of winter I may be required to miss a game or two, but not too many.  basketball games and such.  but I should be clear for most of the time.

[Lmns Crn]

Everybody misses a game or two. It's no big deal. We usually play anyway, unless multiple people are missing, or something really earthshaking is going to happen. If you miss a game, you'll be given a summary of what happened and/or a chatlog when you return.

[Lmns Crn]

Getting Started in IRC - The Basics

First, you'll need an IRC client: the program you use to access the IRC networks. You can use any number of IRC clients, but I prefer and recommend mIRC for windows users. You can use any client you like, though if you use one other than mIRC, I will be less useful for answering questions. We do not all have to use the same client to play the same game.

Install mIRC or some other client and start it up. You will be asked to enter a couple bits of information (email address, preferred nickname, etc.), and you will be asked to choose a server. Your nickname doesn't matter for now; they are easily changed, and we will be changing them frequently.

The server you want to join is MagicStar. From the Select Server list, click the Add button. You're creating a new list entry for MagicStar. In the dialogue box, fill in the information as follows:

Description: MagicStar (or however you want to label it.)
IRC Server: irc.magicstar.net
Port(s): 6667
Group: MagicStar

Password: (leave this field blank.)

#lcgame[/b] (channel names always start with #.) Go ahead and join the #lcgame channel.

(You can also join a channel by using the /join command in the chat box. From any channel window on the MagicStar server, typing "/join #lcgame" will open a new chat window in the correct channel. Or if you prefer, you can set your mIRC options to automatically join #lcgame whenever you log on to MagicStar.)

You will probably be the only person in #lcgame when you log on. Take the opportunity to experiment with things.

Chatting:
Typing in the input line at the bottom of the page is pretty basic; the Enter key displays what you've typed in the channel window, for everyone in the channel to see. You can also use the up and down arrow keys to go back to things you typed earlier, to input them again (which is useful for complicated dicerolling, and other things.) You can't start any line with a slash (/), because that defines IRC commands.

Emotes:
Use the command "/me" to use emotes. For example, if I type: "/me organizes the stuff on his desk into neat stacks of books and papers.", the chat window will display:

* LuminousCrayon organizes the stuff on his desk into neat stacks of books and papers.

Changing your nickname![/b]
This is very easy. Type "/nick Somename" to change your nickname; whatever you type after /nick becomes your new nickname. Note that you can't use spaces in a nickname, but you can use underscores; "Luminous Crayon" doesn't work, but "Luminous_Crayon" works fine.

It's worthwhile to have at least two nicknames that you frequently use: one general one, and one for each character you play. So if your character's name is Enton, for example, you'll change your nick to Enton at the start of each session, to signify that you're in-character.

Register your nicknames!
This is really easy, and it prevents people from usurping your nicknames, or from impersonating you. Once you've changed your nickname to something you're happy with, type "/ns register [password]" to claim that name for your own.

Whenever you log back in with that nickname, the server window will say, "Hey you! That's a registered nickname! What's the password?" This is where you type "/ns identify [password]", to prove that it's really you.

Might as well go ahead and register something, just to get the hang of it. I registered LuminousCrayon just now, so you can't have that one. :)

Rolling dice!
This is easy to do, but the command is complex. We'll use /roll to roll dice. The command has four parts:

/roll xdy+z #lcgame (description)

/roll 1d20+5 #lcgame Hey guys, this is my spot check.[/quote]-RPGServ:#lcgame- (Roll for LuminousCrayon [1d20+5]: 23) Hey guys, this is my spot check.[/quote]
Looks like a natural 18; not bad.

Practice rolling a few times, to get the hang of it.

I know this looks like a huge amount of stuff, but it's easier to get the hang of if you try it a little. If you're interested, we can arrange to hang out in #lcgame sometime so I can walk you through some things.