WD Euro Evenings DM Sessions Thread - Sleep is for the weak

[Cast_No_Shadow]

Greetings and salutations one and all!

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Cast No Shadow and I have DMed across ALFA's various incarnations and spin offs for longer than I care to admit*. Now, with the grace of ayergo and you lovely people I will be DMing again on good old Waterdeep.

That's great! When will you be DMing?

Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Roughly 20:00 - 24:00 UK time. Right now that's GMT +1, but I'd find some fancy online boondoggle to confirm times in your local region rather than trusting me to translate, know my timezone offset or how daylight savings work. I'm in the UK so its 20:00-24:00 UK/London time.

I'll update this thread with my availability each week so you can plan your time.

Can you DM any other time?

Not really no, as a real life person with grown up responsibilities my schedule is fixed enough that while I can consistently do the above I can't do much else.

What kind of players are you looking for?

Ideally we'll end up forming a core group of consistent players but I understand not everyone can make every week and some people might only be able to make it now and then so a rolling cast of extras are always welcome.

However, I like to run stories that take a number of weeks to resolve and I'd appreciate it if you could use whatever methods are reasonably available to you to catch up on whats happening before hand. Forums, Discord, in game chat it doesn't bother me, and while I am happy to spend half an hour at the start of each session getting everyone up to speed, I'm not sure it's the best use of time that could be spent furthering the story. But it's up to you.

So what's this thread for?

As well as posting my availability. I think it'd be pretty neat if we used this thread to organise ourselves in an OOC way. Any rumors, or relevant information will be posted here by me, I hope you guys join in as well. Where appropriate I'll also start up an IC thread for server wide or news worthy announcements so our group doesn't become too insular.

I don't have endless hours to dedicate to this anymore so getting your input as players (rather than characters) will be helpful for me to focus my time preparing things, for example if we have 3 open 'hooks' on how to progress it'd be good to know what your most interested in pursing so I can prep that 1 really well rather than all 3 to a much more mediocre quality. It's also a good place to get feedback, make requests and call out problems you can see coming eg. "Dude, you have three druids in the group of five and your next plot is called 'kill all the trees, literally burn them down, I'm not kidding here"**.

So what kind of DM are you? What should I expect?

I'm a fairly mixed DM, expect a smörgåsbord board of challenges that require social skills, class specific skills, intelligence and of course bashing things over the head with blunt objects. I try and spread around the challenges so different players can have a moment in the spotlight.

I encourage creative solutions, just because you can't climb this wall, or sneak across the roof of the evil guys lair in the engine doesn't mean I can't make it happen with the DM wand. The more cool, hilarious and/or badass it is the more I like it. With one point of note though, I like it only as much as it doesn't start slowing everything down to the point other players have less fun - diving through a window once is cool, it becoming the main way you enter buildings...well also cool but more annoying.

I describe things a lot. There is often important information there.

Most of the stuff I run works together or links together to form a whole. I put a lot of thought into how the world will work. The plus side is I hope this gives you guys some really great adventures that seem more real and fulfilling with endless possibility[/cheesemode] but it also means sometimes answers to puzzles or mysteries that look clear as day to me, really aren't to you guys. If that's the case and your stuck or frustrated as a group and don't see a way forward shout out in here and I'll reassess. I wont give you the answer on a silver platter but being stuck for a long time is not fun and I don't want to inflict that on you.

Ultimately I want to have fun and I want you to have fun as we tell stories together. Please help make that happen and tell me if I'm getting in the way.

Thanks for reading my long thread I hope you will join me in game!

*Actually, thinking about it, I joined when I was still in school and now I'm married, a father, a home owner, dog owner and even have a job, "man and boy" is an appropriate description.

**I'm so tempted to try and make this work, how many druids do we have?

[Cast_No_Shadow]

CNS Availability this week

Tuesday 19 September - 20:00-23:00
Wednesday 20 September -20:30-24:00

Mostly getting used to things again. Probably run a 'one shot' adventure or spice up what you're already doing. Forgive me my mistakes when I accidentally spawn 30 dragons in the trade ward.

[ImStrokerAce]

Alas, I am off earning a paycheck until next Weds.

[Stormbringer]

GMT -6 here so your 20:00 hour would be my 14:00 hour.. way early for me mid afternoon. Same for Mick
Magile/ SCIKICK would be GMT -5 since he is EST time I think..
ISA/Ari/Fionn is GMT -8 since he is west coast.
Rumple is .... Well Rumple! When it's noon here it's midnight at his casa. So 2 pm CST would be like 10pm his time.. I think.

[Cast_No_Shadow]

Are the streets still safe?
OOC Note: PC's involved Kree - These notes are meant to make IC organisation easier, I'll try and ensure 'sneaky people doing sneaky things' don't get called out but please shout if you'd rather not be listed.

Despite the deafening silence of the city watch rumors are circulating. The streets are no longer safe at night! Well they never really were but they double, triple, quadruple aren't now! Across town, in taverns markets and homes people talk of the killings.

That veg market stall guy, the one who always eats his bread off that really filthy plate, he says there's been 3 dead all with their throat slit and not a penny stolen, the town crier told you 7 all rich including a Calishite merchant about to leave town with a mighty chest of gold after selling his wares, after you slipped her few coppers Morgag the beggar outside the Copper claims she personally knows 15 of the dead - all beggars and friends of hers - the worst of it, the killer didn't even leave any bodies behind to bury.

The only things everyone seems to agree on is that a woman was murdered outside the Safehaven Inn last night and carried off into the night by a huge brute of a man cloaked in shadow and the city watch aren't talking.

[Senor T]

Welcome back CNS! Can't make it due to my GMT-5 time zone + job + family, but hope you get things rolling during this time slot. Sounds like good stuff!

[Rick7475]

I am home at 3 EST with I believe is 20:00 UK time. I DM, but I can pop in and say hi!

[Rumple C]

The times are early morning for me, which works in quite nicely at the moment. Probably wont be able to jump in until next week though, because ic stuff.

[Cast_No_Shadow]

Trouble down t'docks
OOC Note: PC's involved None - These notes are meant to make IC organisation easier, I'll try and ensure 'sneaky people doing sneaky things' don't get called out but please shout if you'd rather not be listed.

Talk across Waterdeep is ablaze with trouble at the docks. Something has certainly rubbed the ship's captains the wrong way and not an amorous Kraken! A growing number of captains are refusing to allow customs inspectors and watch officials to board their ships and are starting to clog up the berths.

The dockers are on strike (who'd even notice right?) and what cargo is moving is does so at a snails pace. Tempers are flaring and scuffles are breaking out across the ward. Reportedly one particularly tough sailor with a shock of red hair challenged all-comers, he'd apparently knocked out 34 challengers (or random passers by, stories differ) before the watch intervened.

The watch has been doubled across the dock ward in response while Merchants and traders are starting to get nervous.

[Mikayla]

GMT -6 here so your 20:00 hour would be my 14:00 hour.. way early for me mid afternoon. Same for Mick
Magile/ SCIKICK would be GMT -5 since he is EST time I think..
ISA/Ari/Fionn is GMT -8 since he is west coast.
Rumple is .... Well Rumple! When it's noon here it's midnight at his casa. So 2 pm CST would be like 10pm his time.. I think.

Mhm .. and apparently I don't exist. Hmmph.

Anyways, I am Pacific time. I work odd hours (generally 4 PM to 2 AM) and my days off shift every week - I either have 3 day weekends or 4 day weekends, so I will have to look at the times and the make the ones I can.

[Cast_No_Shadow]

All are welcome whenever they can make it. I'm trying to link PC's and players to rumors and plots so its easy for people who can't make every week to get up to speed and be in the right place at the right time since I assume you guys all bump into each other more than you bump into me!

[ayergo]

Huge thanks to CNS for this! Welcome to the team!

[Stormbringer]

GMT -6 here so your 20:00 hour would be my 14:00 hour.. way early for me mid afternoon. Same for Mick
Magile/ SCIKICK would be GMT -5 since he is EST time I think..
ISA/Ari/Fionn is GMT -8 since he is west coast.
Rumple is .... Well Rumple! When it's noon here it's midnight at his casa. So 2 pm CST would be like 10pm his time.. I think.

Mhm .. and apparently I don't exist. Hmmph.

Anyways, I am Pacific time. I work odd hours (generally 4 PM to 2 AM) and my days off shift every week - I either have 3 day weekends or 4 day weekends, so I will have to look at the times and the make the ones I can.

Yes you exist Mik.. I forgot several peeps

[Galadorn]

*snort!* welcome to the club Mik! w00t

[Cast_No_Shadow]

CNS Availability this week:

Tuesday 26 September: 20:00 - 23:00 UK
Wednesday 27 September: 20:00 - 23:00 UK

Hopefully see some people there!