The title was suggested by JP, so direct any hostility his way if you please~
I watched Monster Camp, and I live in Boise. It was a bit of a search to find 'Alliance' instead of 'NERO', but I did manage to figure it out. Portland appears to be the closest Alliance chapter to my residence, so it looks like the OR/WA chapters would get my attendance if/when I can actually make it out that far. I have some experience with role-playing (no, not BDSM), and I did buy a copy of the new rules, which I have read through about 80-85%. I skipped some of the heavy-mechanics chapters, and the effects chapter, but I intend to go read those sections when I have some time to focus on trying to understand them.
I have been reading the forums and websites for the past few days (these, HQ's, and Seattle's), and I have PM'd several players about questions on their posts and questions about the game. I believe my questions would probably benefit other new players. There is not a lot of activity on the board, so I figured I'd throw up a list of these questions so people can a) read and b) comment on them. Any/all feedback is welcome and appreciated! If you feel an existing answer could use additional elucidation, post an additional response.
Please: put the question to which you are responding as a quote or something in your response. This will make it easier for the readers to know what you're talking about.
Any other newbies: feel free to ask questions in here too, and I'll put up the original questions & answers as they are posted.
I'll be updating the original post over time as my questions are answered. Some of these questions are chapter specific, but not answered on the chapter website.
Q: Where does one get the Chapter Backstories for Oregon's campaign?
A: PM the username "Oregonplot" on this board and they should be able to get you something.
Q: What kind of campaign is the Oregon chapter running? High Magic / High Fantasy? Low Magic? Etc.
A: Oregon has somewhat less "epic magic items" and "end of the world plots" than other chapters (it's a matter of flavor more than anything). There's a lot of "everyday" quests (for a fantasy world!); for instance, every spring there's a variety of giant spiders that come out and lay eggs throughout the area that need to be dispatched so the hatchlings don't overpopulate.
There's definitely the big seasons-long storylines that overlay things, but the majority of the plot revolves around the political integration of the area into the Dalkani empire and the regular adventuring needs of the area.
Q: How frequently does Oregon do long-weekend or 5-day events?
A: Pretty rarely. 5-days almost never happen anymore, and long-weekends are very infrequent. Seattle does do a few long-weekend type events, over holidays.
Q: What, in great detail please, is the food situation at an event (for both NPC's and PC's)? Particularly as it relates to special dietary needs (low sodium, low carb, celiacs, etc).
A: The food for NPC's is provided by staff. They will ask for restrictions, but if you have a crazy diet, it is considerate of you to just bring your own food instead of making life hard for everyone else involved
PC's all bring their own food, food survives fine in a cooler for the 2.5 days, and there are usually adequate cooking areas at the sites.
Q: What is the process for character history submission? Please be as detailed as possible.
A:
Q: How hard is it to dual wield? Any tips for improving?
A: Twin shorts takes a great amount of speed, and the ability to track two activities at the same time, kind of like playing piano. When players get started with twin shorts, they tend to use their offhand as a parrying weapon predominantly, and their main hand for striking. Short and long takes a bit less speed, but a bit more control. After a while, you'll get used to striking with both weapons
Tip for improving: Play drums for Rock Band.
Q: How many attendees are there usually? Please break down into Staff/NPC/PC.
A: Oregon
NPC's Maybe 6-8 NPCs for Oregon. Cymryc is the owner and tends to help NPC. NPC's are plot members too, so many will have written mods and such for people to go on, plus the main theme of the event.
Staff: 4-5.
PC's about 15.
Overall about 30-40 people attend Portland events.
Seattle
NPC's: about 12
Staff: 6-8
PC's: about 30
Overall between 40-50 attend Seattle events.
Q: What is the average character level of Oregon's players?
A: The players tend to range in level from 1 to 25, with the middle being around 12.
Q: What are the class archetypes of the Oregon players?
A: Of the 15, only 4 or so are "raw fighters", the rest will have some amount of packet-throwing to them, predominantly earth spells, but some celestial spells and some gas throwers.
Q: How long have the Oregon players been playing, on average?
A: The "average" Oregon PC has probably been playing for 3-5 years, would be my guess. Some, like JP, are pushing 20 years played. Others are brand new.
Q: What is the age-range for players in Oregon?
A: Anywhere from 8 to 45+. The average is probably early twenties.
Q: Which classes/races does the Oregon campaign feel could use more representation, in terms of PC's?
A: Artisans, however, you should focus on playing something fun and exciting to you. That way you stay interested in the game instead of getting bored with a character you don't enjoy.
Q: How hard is it for a noob to join an existing campaign of higher-level players, and feel useful?
A: The answer depends entirely on your ability to role-play. If you feel like playing a 'lone-wolf' then it could be very difficult. If you're character is very gregarious and a team-player, it should only require a few well roleplayed encounters with established parties to join up. It might also help to bring skills to the table that would balance a party, rather than being a clone of the most commonly played race/class combo in the Chapter.
Q: How late do games run?
A: The events usually run from around 9pm on Friday night to noon or 5pm on Sunday. Whether or not they run stuff from like 3am to 9am depends largely on the wakefulness of the PCs, but some events have occurred where at least one NPC had to be awake at any given time. The end time of the event depends mostly on what arrangements the owner has made. Seattle ends at noon because it saves them a couple hundred dollars to do so, Oregon ends later. After the event is over, there's usually about four hours left for cleaning up site, cabins, taking showers, getting makeup off, etc.
Q: Do I have to stay up past midnight if I am sleepy?
A: Never. However, lots of interesting stuff can happen when the sun goes down during an event. You can participate, or not, at your whim.
Q: What is a typical 2-day weekend like?
A: Friday night will have Opening Announcements, basically welcoming everyone and thanking them for showing up. Your NPCs and plot team will be identified, as well as marshals (people to go to for rules disputes). If there are any site-specific comments to be made, this is when they'll do them (i.e. advising you as to what the site smoking policy is, letting you know if there are any nearby areas that out of bounds, and so on. Ideally, there should also be any "rules-of-the-event" announced as well as some description of what has led up to this event. "Rules-of-the-event" cover anything that is not normally in the rulebook, is not an Alliance-wide rule, and is in use for the event. It shouldn't happen often, but it does occasionally, from the simple ("This event you may here the carrier 'Pain'. It works just like the 'Drain' effect in every way, but you act like you're in pain") to the very complex ("Everyone will be given a colored headband. You can only see and interact with people of the same color headband as you.") Once OA is done, they'll call "Lay On", meaning the game has started. NPCs will be taken away by the plot team and given their immediate assignments, PCs will either finish putting on their makeup or start roleplaying.
The specifics of the event will vary. Some people like to start the game with big fight, some people like to end it with one. The most basic is that players start interacting with one another and the world around them, NPCs go find out what they should be doing.
Q: How many points does backstab cost for an Adept? The rules book is very confusing about the 'selling back' wording.
A: The true total cost is 18 Build Points for an Adept. 4 x 3 for the 4 Back Attacks, and then 6 to pick up the actual Back Stab, which erases the 4 Back Attacks. You do not get any Build Points back when they're 'sold back', they are just part of the payment.
Q: How many points does it cost to go from a single weapon skill (say One Hand Edged), to Weapon Mastery? Again, the 'sellback' is mentioned but is not very clear
A: In this case, the 'sold back' skills are completely refunded during the purchase of the overarching skill. Thus, going from one-handed edged to weaponmaster for a fighter takes only 2 more build points.
Q: What are the upfront fees to play your first game as a PC? NPC?
A: PC's in Oregon pay the event fee, which varies depending on the length of the event. NPC's pay $0 in Oregon.
Q: Can i just watch instead of play?
A: Yes, but don't be a distraction. Since NPC'ing is 100% free, why not just NPC (provided you are of an appropriate age to NPC, and not just be a page)?
Q: I see that Body Points are pretty hard to come by as a PC, but death appears to be fairly rare (as opposed to unconsciousness). How many body points does a monster have, and when they hit 0 are they dead, or just unconscious?
A: 30-50 would be the average range for a typical monster, sometimes as high as a couple hundred if it's a super-cool monster isn't unreasonable. You should never expect a monster to have 75,000 hit-points.
Q: My professional job is < x, y, z >. Does the chapter need any help with anything that I can lend my professional experience for aid?
A: There are lists on the forums that ask for donations of time, skill, or equipment. Check there to see if you can be of service, and to see the Goblin Point value of said needs.
Q: How much fun do you have doing this? Please be both qualitative and quantitative in your response.
A: See below. Short answer: At its best, this game can provide not just a weekend's worth of solid entertainment, but stories I'll be able to share for years.
I watched Monster Camp, and I live in Boise. It was a bit of a search to find 'Alliance' instead of 'NERO', but I did manage to figure it out. Portland appears to be the closest Alliance chapter to my residence, so it looks like the OR/WA chapters would get my attendance if/when I can actually make it out that far. I have some experience with role-playing (no, not BDSM), and I did buy a copy of the new rules, which I have read through about 80-85%. I skipped some of the heavy-mechanics chapters, and the effects chapter, but I intend to go read those sections when I have some time to focus on trying to understand them.
I have been reading the forums and websites for the past few days (these, HQ's, and Seattle's), and I have PM'd several players about questions on their posts and questions about the game. I believe my questions would probably benefit other new players. There is not a lot of activity on the board, so I figured I'd throw up a list of these questions so people can a) read and b) comment on them. Any/all feedback is welcome and appreciated! If you feel an existing answer could use additional elucidation, post an additional response.
Please: put the question to which you are responding as a quote or something in your response. This will make it easier for the readers to know what you're talking about.
Any other newbies: feel free to ask questions in here too, and I'll put up the original questions & answers as they are posted.
I'll be updating the original post over time as my questions are answered. Some of these questions are chapter specific, but not answered on the chapter website.
Q: Where does one get the Chapter Backstories for Oregon's campaign?
A: PM the username "Oregonplot" on this board and they should be able to get you something.
Q: What kind of campaign is the Oregon chapter running? High Magic / High Fantasy? Low Magic? Etc.
A: Oregon has somewhat less "epic magic items" and "end of the world plots" than other chapters (it's a matter of flavor more than anything). There's a lot of "everyday" quests (for a fantasy world!); for instance, every spring there's a variety of giant spiders that come out and lay eggs throughout the area that need to be dispatched so the hatchlings don't overpopulate.
There's definitely the big seasons-long storylines that overlay things, but the majority of the plot revolves around the political integration of the area into the Dalkani empire and the regular adventuring needs of the area.
Q: How frequently does Oregon do long-weekend or 5-day events?
A: Pretty rarely. 5-days almost never happen anymore, and long-weekends are very infrequent. Seattle does do a few long-weekend type events, over holidays.
Q: What, in great detail please, is the food situation at an event (for both NPC's and PC's)? Particularly as it relates to special dietary needs (low sodium, low carb, celiacs, etc).
A: The food for NPC's is provided by staff. They will ask for restrictions, but if you have a crazy diet, it is considerate of you to just bring your own food instead of making life hard for everyone else involved
PC's all bring their own food, food survives fine in a cooler for the 2.5 days, and there are usually adequate cooking areas at the sites. Q: What is the process for character history submission? Please be as detailed as possible.
A:
Q: How hard is it to dual wield? Any tips for improving?
A: Twin shorts takes a great amount of speed, and the ability to track two activities at the same time, kind of like playing piano. When players get started with twin shorts, they tend to use their offhand as a parrying weapon predominantly, and their main hand for striking. Short and long takes a bit less speed, but a bit more control. After a while, you'll get used to striking with both weapons
Tip for improving: Play drums for Rock Band.
Q: How many attendees are there usually? Please break down into Staff/NPC/PC.
A: Oregon
NPC's Maybe 6-8 NPCs for Oregon. Cymryc is the owner and tends to help NPC. NPC's are plot members too, so many will have written mods and such for people to go on, plus the main theme of the event.
Staff: 4-5.
PC's about 15.
Overall about 30-40 people attend Portland events.
Seattle
NPC's: about 12
Staff: 6-8
PC's: about 30
Overall between 40-50 attend Seattle events.
Q: What is the average character level of Oregon's players?
A: The players tend to range in level from 1 to 25, with the middle being around 12.
Q: What are the class archetypes of the Oregon players?
A: Of the 15, only 4 or so are "raw fighters", the rest will have some amount of packet-throwing to them, predominantly earth spells, but some celestial spells and some gas throwers.
Q: How long have the Oregon players been playing, on average?
A: The "average" Oregon PC has probably been playing for 3-5 years, would be my guess. Some, like JP, are pushing 20 years played. Others are brand new.
Q: What is the age-range for players in Oregon?
A: Anywhere from 8 to 45+. The average is probably early twenties.
Q: Which classes/races does the Oregon campaign feel could use more representation, in terms of PC's?
A: Artisans, however, you should focus on playing something fun and exciting to you. That way you stay interested in the game instead of getting bored with a character you don't enjoy.
Q: How hard is it for a noob to join an existing campaign of higher-level players, and feel useful?
A: The answer depends entirely on your ability to role-play. If you feel like playing a 'lone-wolf' then it could be very difficult. If you're character is very gregarious and a team-player, it should only require a few well roleplayed encounters with established parties to join up. It might also help to bring skills to the table that would balance a party, rather than being a clone of the most commonly played race/class combo in the Chapter.
Q: How late do games run?
A: The events usually run from around 9pm on Friday night to noon or 5pm on Sunday. Whether or not they run stuff from like 3am to 9am depends largely on the wakefulness of the PCs, but some events have occurred where at least one NPC had to be awake at any given time. The end time of the event depends mostly on what arrangements the owner has made. Seattle ends at noon because it saves them a couple hundred dollars to do so, Oregon ends later. After the event is over, there's usually about four hours left for cleaning up site, cabins, taking showers, getting makeup off, etc.
Q: Do I have to stay up past midnight if I am sleepy?
A: Never. However, lots of interesting stuff can happen when the sun goes down during an event. You can participate, or not, at your whim.
Q: What is a typical 2-day weekend like?
A: Friday night will have Opening Announcements, basically welcoming everyone and thanking them for showing up. Your NPCs and plot team will be identified, as well as marshals (people to go to for rules disputes). If there are any site-specific comments to be made, this is when they'll do them (i.e. advising you as to what the site smoking policy is, letting you know if there are any nearby areas that out of bounds, and so on. Ideally, there should also be any "rules-of-the-event" announced as well as some description of what has led up to this event. "Rules-of-the-event" cover anything that is not normally in the rulebook, is not an Alliance-wide rule, and is in use for the event. It shouldn't happen often, but it does occasionally, from the simple ("This event you may here the carrier 'Pain'. It works just like the 'Drain' effect in every way, but you act like you're in pain") to the very complex ("Everyone will be given a colored headband. You can only see and interact with people of the same color headband as you.") Once OA is done, they'll call "Lay On", meaning the game has started. NPCs will be taken away by the plot team and given their immediate assignments, PCs will either finish putting on their makeup or start roleplaying.
The specifics of the event will vary. Some people like to start the game with big fight, some people like to end it with one. The most basic is that players start interacting with one another and the world around them, NPCs go find out what they should be doing.
Q: How many points does backstab cost for an Adept? The rules book is very confusing about the 'selling back' wording.
A: The true total cost is 18 Build Points for an Adept. 4 x 3 for the 4 Back Attacks, and then 6 to pick up the actual Back Stab, which erases the 4 Back Attacks. You do not get any Build Points back when they're 'sold back', they are just part of the payment.
Q: How many points does it cost to go from a single weapon skill (say One Hand Edged), to Weapon Mastery? Again, the 'sellback' is mentioned but is not very clear
A: In this case, the 'sold back' skills are completely refunded during the purchase of the overarching skill. Thus, going from one-handed edged to weaponmaster for a fighter takes only 2 more build points.
Q: What are the upfront fees to play your first game as a PC? NPC?
A: PC's in Oregon pay the event fee, which varies depending on the length of the event. NPC's pay $0 in Oregon.
Q: Can i just watch instead of play?
A: Yes, but don't be a distraction. Since NPC'ing is 100% free, why not just NPC (provided you are of an appropriate age to NPC, and not just be a page)?
Q: I see that Body Points are pretty hard to come by as a PC, but death appears to be fairly rare (as opposed to unconsciousness). How many body points does a monster have, and when they hit 0 are they dead, or just unconscious?
A: 30-50 would be the average range for a typical monster, sometimes as high as a couple hundred if it's a super-cool monster isn't unreasonable. You should never expect a monster to have 75,000 hit-points.
Q: My professional job is < x, y, z >. Does the chapter need any help with anything that I can lend my professional experience for aid?
A: There are lists on the forums that ask for donations of time, skill, or equipment. Check there to see if you can be of service, and to see the Goblin Point value of said needs.
Q: How much fun do you have doing this? Please be both qualitative and quantitative in your response.
A: See below. Short answer: At its best, this game can provide not just a weekend's worth of solid entertainment, but stories I'll be able to share for years.
