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Post by amanda on Apr 27, 2005 11:30:33 GMT -5
A fighter named Bussels would be..interesting. I'm considering rolling up a character. However, there are quite a few bunnies already. I don't want the game to get too big, or even know if that's a problem since the game will take place online. Is there a number you'd like to keep the players at, Mike?
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Post by Jeff on Apr 27, 2005 11:33:08 GMT -5
I'll call the Empath, Brightpaw. (If you say it over and over, it sounds like a heart beating.) He'll be a buck. Here are the stats again:
Strength: 6 Speed: 8 Smell: 14 Intelligence: 8 Wisdom: 9 Dexterity: 9 Constitution: 14 Charisma: 12
If I add in the bonus points, it would be:
Strength: 6 Speed: 10 Smell: 14 Intelligence: 8 Wisdom: 9 Dexterity: 9 Constitution: 14 Charisma: 13
That's not so bad. I think I'll just play him like this. If I am the only empath, then you guys will need me and keep me safe. Thanks for the offer of strength Chad, but you can keep it, and we'll both use it!
Maddie will rename Yarrow, but she hasn't yet. Her adjusted abilities would be:
Strength: 10 Speed: 12 Smell: 14 Intelligence: 15 Wisdom: 18 Dexterity: 8 Constitution: 12 Charisma: 9
I will get her to give me a new name tonight.
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Post by CaptAdam on Apr 27, 2005 12:22:41 GMT -5
You are correct Jeff it is suppose to be Brussels, thanks for the spelling.
Also I guess I should state that he is a buck also.
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Post by Jeff on Apr 27, 2005 12:40:25 GMT -5
Amanda,
It would have been interesting! But I was a little worried that the Irony Cat might make a move on little Bus'.
Jeff
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Post by Tyler on Apr 27, 2005 15:11:04 GMT -5
Oakroot the scout will of had one of his front paws mangled by a wire snare. That'll explain his high speed/low dex and make him extra wary of such things.
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Post by mike on Apr 27, 2005 16:17:26 GMT -5
Amanda,
I'm not sure what's going to happen, but it will be horrible if you didn't play. That much is certain. It's interesting to have a large group. All the rabbits don't have to stick together. Because the game is online, any number of diverse things can be going on simultaneously. I'll just make several threads to accommodate any divided action. There may be times when everyone wants to be in the same place at the same time, but rabbits are disorganized and this group will be especially so for reasons that will be clear when we start.
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Post by amanda mcbride on Apr 27, 2005 17:00:27 GMT -5
That's cool and the gang. I'll see if I can locate my dice this evening. I don't think they've been packed. Yet.
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Post by mike on Apr 27, 2005 19:01:41 GMT -5
Okay, this is long and about rules, so please don't get sickened. In a short while, I intend to post the actual start of play. This is just to help get everyone oriented.
Rules are always clumsy in play-online role-playing games. I don't want to bog things down before we start, but I think there are some things worth knowing and some things that are profession specific that reveal options the rabbits surely know even if the players do not. I'm going to leave things unsaid until they came up in the game, with the exception of what follows which is designed to stimulate some exploration of options. You can intuit, I'm sure, that gaining strength levels, for example, increases a rabbit's performance in combat. But I want to cross the bridge with rules as they come rather than going through them all up front and creating mass confusion. So here goes the difficult business of sharing enough rules to play. I'll take them characteristic by characteristic.
STRENGTH: All rabbits take 4 hit points. Declared fighters take an additional point. For every level of strength, a rabbit gains an additional hit point. A good swipe from a house cat can kill a rabbit with no levels (but in this game, even physical damage grants a saving throw for after all rabbits are lucky by nature), so take care while you're young and inexperienced.
Rabbits can jump their innate strength ability in feet.
SPEED: Rabbits mostly hop in a loping gate that covers very little ground. Their next gear up, so to speak, is to bolt. There's little middle ground. For the purposes of the game, movement is assumed to be in the casual loping manner which covers only 10 yards per minute as each rabbit sniffs, roots, checks for the closest cover, keeps an eye out for clover, and otherwise hops in a rather unmotivated fashion. For purposes of getting somewhere, rabbits can encourage each other to move a little faster, but they need to remind each other to allow their naturally cautious speed to give way to a more focused journey. In this unusual mode of travel, rabbits will cover from 10-50 yards per minute. If a raiding party wants to reach the garden and get home on the same evening, this mode might work best. The intelligence of the rabbits rather than their speed will determine how well they remain on task. Bolting rabbits tend to take the most efficient course to safety. Rabbits are not marathoners, but sprinters. Bolting requires a rabbit to be rested and fed to sprint at maximum efficiency. Here innate speed plays the main role. The rules express the distances covered as an abstraction used in combat segments. Let me say that rabbits with innate speeds of 17 or 18 bolt five times faster than those with speeds of 3 or 4. The other abilities fall on a continuum with the demarcations at 5-8, 9-12, and 13-16. Like rabbits, predators are efficient too, so often speed is a simple matter of the slowest rabbit in the group unless a brave runner wants to allow his or her comrades a head start or a fighter wants to turn and face the danger (unwise in the early going).
SMELL: Using herbs can unleash some exciting advantages. The beneficent parts of plants that rabbits can use to their advantage varies. The location (ball, root, stem, leaf, flower, nettle, berry, mushroom, and dust) of the useful part of the plant must be learned or explored through trial and error. Once the location is known, then a preparation must be applied (remove dirt, lick surface, pick off bugs, squeeze, dry, wet, chew, crumble, and treat with another herb) to unlock the herb's power. 0th level herbalists know how to lick and wet, but must gain levels to try the other preparations. Non-herbalists can only lick. The best way to learn, again, is with the help of another herbalist who is older and wiser. Failing that, trial and error is best. I'll share a little more with our herbalist after the game begins.
INTELLIGENCE: Some men trap rabbits, although many traps are meant for some other creature but pose a danger to rabbits. Based on innate intelligence, rabbits may be aware of clues that a trap is present. Once this determination is made, it behooves a rabbit, especially a scout, to engage that trap in order to spring it without doing harm. It's more fun not to know the rules for disabling traps since trial and error figures in. Also, at low level , the non-scouts especially might just want to remember where traps are if they see any and avoid that area.
Intelligence figures importantly in languages. Animal languages come in three types. There's the hedgerow patois spoken by many prey animals. All rabbits have some facility with this language, but only simple thoughts can be communicated and then mainly concerning predators. Not all prey animals find it in their interest to engage in mutual aid. There are rabbits who wish they're fellow prey animals ill. A bobcat with a belly full of marmot is a bobcat that isn't hunting rabbit. These form the minority, however. Most mice, marmots, and others can be counted on to do their bit. Second come the Ordinal languages. Animals of like type share a common ordinal language. Wolves, coyotes, and dogs can communicate rather sophisticated ideas in their ordinal language, Canid. All rabbits speak Common Lagomorph allowing them to talk with hares and jackrabbits. The familial language of rabbits is Lapine, spoken only by rabbits. Rabbits can learn to speak the ordinal and even familial languages of other animals. Most efforts at persuasion or attempts to enthrall must happen in the familial language of the animal in question. Efforts at deception and disguise are hugely aided by command of familial languages as well. Likewise, other animals can learn to speak Common Lagomorph and even Lapine. Learning an animal language is less challenging than learning a human language and takes less time. To learn a language, a rabbit needs a teacher. Teacher and pupil need a common language to use as a starting point. Learning mouse can be rather an easy business. Find a mouse (any mouse as they all speak the hedgerow patois), offer some service a mouse might value in exchange for the lessons, and in not too many days you'll be speaking mouse. Finding a bobcat willing to share the secrets of even his ordinal language of Feline takes far more doing, but the advantages may be far greater.
More in the next post.
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Post by mike on Apr 27, 2005 19:03:46 GMT -5
WISDOM: The rules favor 0 level seers by granting them advantages that they will lose on earning a 1st level. It's an elegant rule to get the fun started and demonstrate that oracles favor beginners. The things seers can attempt at 0 level include: having a vision of the future (as with divinations in D&D these can be misleading), instilling fear in creatures with whom the seer shares a common familial language, feigning death to fool predators and foes (ideally tried after receiving a blow or when the target of the deception is not looking). With levels, there are other astonishing things seers may do. Non-seers are welcome to attempt these things too and may need to out of desperation, but will not likely be so successful as specialists. A good innate wisdom score helps.
DEXTERITY: Carrying objects is not the forte of rabbits. All rabbits may carry one object up to the size of a large apple or small head of lettuce in their mouths. Declared mavericks rather amazingly can carry two such items. Carrying other objects is often a matter of rubbing them under fur and hoping they're still there when the destination is reached. Such things might include herbs, morsels (although rabbits aren't usually good at restraining themselves when delicious edibles are discovered), perhaps a small stone.
Assuming disguises, especially those of other animals, is a favored deception used by rabbits. These rules are modified enormously by the role playing that goes into preparing the disguise. Mavericks have a substantial advantage in this department, but all rabbits may try.
Cheating and stealing depend on dexterity class. At 0 level, rabbits have a 0% chance of success, but declared mavericks gain +20% on all their efforts.
Climbing is keyed to dexterity levels. At 0 level, a rabbit may climb 4 feet.
CONSTITUTION: Each constitution level grants and additional hit point to the rabbit who has it. Constitution also governs energy expenditures and other important functions that I'm going to set aside until the game is rolling.
Empathic healing is the province of declared empaths only. An empath may absorb to himself or herself one hit point of damage by laying on paws. This does not increase until the seventh level of constitution is achieved. After ten minutes, the absorbed damage disappears from the empath. An empath may perform this sort of healing as many times per day as he or she has hit points. So a 0th level empath may absorb one hit point of damage from a friend four times per day. Certain bad, aggressive rabbits will reverse this process and cause damage by laying on paws. If this is done too often, these naughty rabbits lose their ability to heal completely and can only do harm.
Grooming is something human players find easy to overlook, but for rabbits it is crucial. The health of a warren depends on rabbits devoting time to grooming especially after a rabbit returns from some adventure. No one wants ticks or fleas infesting the burrow. Empaths are especially skilled at grooming, but all rabbits should participate.
CHARISMA: Rabbits are social and susceptible to persuasion. Efforts to persuade are expressed by percentile roles. Languages, special offers, and the request being made modify the die roll. All efforts enjoy a base 10% of success with declared storytellers enjoying a +20% modifier. These attempts cannot be made on PC rabbits, only NPCs.
Charisma is key to mating. Males my initiate attempts at mating once per day from May 15th to September 15th.
Storytelling is crucial to rabbit society. Storytellers aren't the only ones who tell stories, but they have the greatest proficiency. Before 5th level in charisma, only storytellers may enthrall an audience and even there the probability is low. Rabbits and other animals (but the story must be told in their familial language) who are so enthralled will act as the storyteller's faithful friend trying to aid the storyteller until one of two things happens, the enthralled creature is injured, or the creature sleeps or otherwise loses consciousness. A storyteller can gain some important influence through such persuasive powers.
I've been trying to think how a game that can be die roll intensive might be streamlined for online play. I'm tempted, and this may sicken you all, to do a good amount of die rolling myself. That way, when you want to try something, I don't have to write back "okay, roll a d20 and tell me what you got" then we all wait a day until you log on again. What I'll try is more like this. "I'm going to try and persuade that blue jay to teach me his familial language. I've gathered four earthworms in my fur and promise to bring him four more each day. I say in Hedgerow Patois, 'friend blue jay, I have four earthworms for you and will bring four more tomorrow and the next if you'll teach me what your singing means and how to sing like you." I calculate the percentages and tell you what they are, roll, and we go from there with the blue jay's reply based on the persuasion roll. If this seems wrong, then we can try something else. I won't be able to describe everything your rabbit can see or smell. I'll try to include a large amount of description, but if you're looking for something specific, you'll have to ask about it.
Okay, I'll try to answer any questions, but I think this document might best serve as reference after the game has begun and your rabbit wants to try some of the above. Shortly I'll post a little back story and introduce what you know about your surroundings.
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Post by mike on Apr 27, 2005 19:23:31 GMT -5
Some bookkeeping next.
I have modified stats for every rabbit except Amanda's. I need names from Amanda and Maddie. I have genders for no rabbits. Who is a buck and who is a doe? Apart from obvious biological functions in procreation, there are really only two important differences. Only bucks may initiate mating. Does do most of the burrow designing and digging. Bucks can try to help, but they tend to lose interest quickly and left on their own might well just move into abandoned burrows or live above ground in makeshift scrapes. No does, no new construction.
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Post by Tyler on Apr 27, 2005 19:47:24 GMT -5
Oakroot is a buck.
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Post by Thanin on Apr 27, 2005 19:49:55 GMT -5
I'm tempted, and this may sicken you all, to do a good amount of die rolling myself. This is the best way to go. And Stormrunner is a buck.
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Post by Tyler on Apr 27, 2005 19:56:02 GMT -5
Unless there's some objection, Nick has accepted the invitation to play. He is: Sprinkles the buck Herbalist strength: 7 speed: 10 smell: 9 intelligence: 12 wisdom: 15 dexterity: 11 constitution: 8 charisma: 10
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Post by mike on Apr 27, 2005 20:45:11 GMT -5
Nick's more than welcome and so is Sprinkles.
Here's an attempt at an opening. I expect some questions but mostly would like to get the rabbits considering their initial situation.
A few general points before getting to some specifics. Rabbits tend to feed at dawn and dusk and are most active around these times. If they have a preference for roaming abroad, they favor night to day. By and large, I will assume you are feeding at the usual times. Rabbits engage in a few favored amusements: seeking tasty morsels, making and taking dares, playing blossoms (a game concerned with gathering flower blossoms, bringing them to a base, and laying them end to end with the longest line of blossoms winning, this game is often played for stakes), and of course storytelling.
The eight rabbits in the game are littermates. Your father, Streamweed, is a runner. His mate and your mother is Laurel, an herbalist although also a skilled storyteller. A rabbit couldn't enjoy a better pair to introduce them to the world. Streamweed's daring has become the stuff of legends. Many nights saw him slip off down the hill and into the woods with his friend Chervil, a cousin to the litter who has become the balladeer of your father's accomplishments. Chervil is a smallish rabbit with a quick wit and a faithful devotion to your father. He doesn't reside in your burrow, but he has been a frequent guest. He was born two springs earlier and while a cousin, seems a much older and wiser relation. Often Laurel has begged him not to fill her kits' heads with lies about their father, but Streamweed always seems pleased to be the central figure in Chervil's tales. Pretending to sleep in some burrow corner, your father could easily be detected raising an eyelid to inspect the effect Chervil's tale was having on the young audience. Other times some detail might be unknown to Chervil, and Streamweed would proudly reveal the missing detail even though his addendum put a hitch in Chervil's spellbinding oration. The themes of Chervil's tales are familiar to all young rabbits. Streamweed and Chervil's summer raids on the surrounding gardens constitute the bulk of Chervil's repertoire. Tales of their deceptions of the barnyard cats and slow, plodding farm dogs often left the youngsters in rapt admiration for a rabbit who seemed to them more than a father, but a legendary hero. Peppered among these stories are tales of Streamweed harmlessly outsmarting the small neighboring warrens that appear every mile or so through the surrounding hills. The more daring the tale, the more Laurel would fret about the effect such stories might have on the young ones. She always counsels caution and makes stricter rules and provisions on their movements after one of Chervil's visits coupled with a successful tale.
In addition to Streamweed, Laurel, and Chervil, you know a few other rabbits. Uncle Slumberflower, Streamweed's brother and Chervil's father lives not far away. On rare days when Laurel is busy with herbs, it's possible to sneak off and reach Slumberflower's nearby warren where he lives alone since his mate stopped running last year. Uncle Slumberflower generally favors telling the classic stories of the epic tricksters, but mostly he enjoys lounging in the sunlight on stone, his legs stretched long in a posture of extreme relaxation that comes with great accomplishment. Flattery can usually pinch a story off of him, but he expects some edible tribute. Chervil, like his father a bachelor, shares Slumberflower's burrow. In the event of a crisis, Laurel has reluctantly advised her kits to make their way to Uncle Slumberflower's burrow until things are set right again, "but don't let him tell you what to do. Like all your father's relations, he's as crazy as a hare and has less sense than a jackrabbit. Just wait, and I'll come for you."
You've heard mention of other brothers and sisters from Streamweed's litter, six more to be precise, who live in the area; but few have ever visited and none in your memory.
As for other creatures, the woods are home to deer, birds, squirrels, mice, voles, moles, and other small prey animals in abundance. Salamanders, snails, garden snakes, and tree frogs abound in the moister depths of the woods. Raccoons and skunks appear often enough on the fringes of the clearing where your home burrow stands. They don't seem the least bit interested in you, and Laurel wouldn't tolerate you becoming interested in them. For threatening animals, crows seem abundant and often take an unfortunately avid interest in the movements of Squeeksfur, who like most runts must remain aware of the proximity of both safety and siblings. A bobcat has prowled through the clearing sending everyone to cover more than once. His scent has become familiar and frightening enough that most rabbits keep a sharp lookout during the late evening and early morning. When a rabbit sees and sometimes merely hears danger, it will thump warning with its powerful hind legs. The sound of such a thump will send all rabbits bolting for the nearest cover.
As for your surroundings, I want to post a map which I'll try to get to Tyler on the hope that he'll know what to do to get it to everyone. The burrow itself has three entrances, although almost all coming and going takes place through the main one. It is located at the base of a rock pile overgrown with blackberry brambles. Blackberry roots twist here and there throughout the burrow and must be periodically bitten back to keep runs passable. The other entrances are really for emergencies only. The less coming and going, the more effective these secret portals to warm, dry safety. The rock pile is nestled in a clearing. Woods surround the clearing. The entire area resides on a gently sloping hillside with the rock pile itself on level ground. The sun rises down slope from the clearing and sets up slope.
As spring has commenced, Streamweed has been increasingly inclined to head down the slope with Chervil to examine the progress at the farmhouses that lie on the flats below the hillside. He has been especially concerned with finding evidence that a certain house will have a garden. It didn't last year, much to your father's disappointment.
Last night, a very surprising thing happened. Your mother and father didn't come home from evening feeding. The last time anyone can remember seeing them was early evening. They were loping into the denser grasses near the down slope pine forest, but even that detail is hazy and disputed. There's no sign of trouble, fur or blood, so everyone feels sure that all is perfectly well, but this does mark an unprecedented situation. Streamweed has been away before overnight and often, but never Laurel.
As our story begins, it's a fine, early spring morning. Young clover has made furtive appearances here and there amidst sunny patches surrounded by grass. Crocuses are throwing up their first shoots in the shady perimeter of the clearing. Nesting scrub jays scold their neighbors the squirrels who cluck their defiance with twitching tails between forays to locate last autumn's treasures. Beetles make their methodical way through the grass, moving so slowly that all thought of their having a destination seems preposterous. Everywhere a heavy dew lingers lending the air itself the crackle of moisture. It's a perfectly normal morning except that your parents are nowhere about. I think I'll stop here and let the rabbits takeover to discuss their situation or engage in other rabbit endeavors.
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Post by Jeff on Apr 27, 2005 22:41:52 GMT -5
Maddie has renamed her doe Seer "Autumn." Brightpaw is a Buck.
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Post by Tyler on Apr 28, 2005 13:39:20 GMT -5
Oakroot most often spends his days trying to make sure that the areas that his bretherin tread are free from worry. He often scolds them to avoid treks back and forth from the gardens, but to no avail. His brush with the snares of man has made him cautious beyond his years. This morning, knowing good and well that some silly rabbits will be trapsing off to see where our parents have gone, he'll look around in that direction, clearing the way for those that cannot, through warning, be dissuaded.
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Post by nick on Apr 28, 2005 17:31:06 GMT -5
Sprinkles is oversleeping.
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Post by Jeff on Apr 28, 2005 18:20:06 GMT -5
Mike,
I was wondering whether you wanted to set up a new forum, like the Bible Study group has, for your B&B game.
Jeff
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Post by CaptAdam on Apr 28, 2005 18:22:53 GMT -5
Brussels is out for moring breakfast, while keeping an eye out for his brothers and sisters. Always alert to the dangers day time brings. As he enjoys his clover he sniffs the air for any scent of the Bobcat. Even a fighter knows the value of running for cover.
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Post by amanda on Apr 28, 2005 20:57:22 GMT -5
Clover (doe)
Strength: 12 Speed: 13 Smell: 15 Intelligence: 12 Wisdom: 5 Dexterity: 13 Constitution: 11 Charisma: 12
Clover will be an herbalist. [sorry it took me sooo long, guys]
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