Passing of Time, In-Character

I have a huge headache and a lot of pain so this will be summarized, I will clean it up later, but with the crossroads the party is now at I wanted to toss this info out.

In brief, the option for members of the party, individually or as a group, to undertake something long-term with their character (training at a university for example) has some tidbits I'd like to go over. First, if the entire party decides to stop while several party members branch out for weeks or months I will be asking you to keep track of food and room in terms of costs. It won't be high, don't worry. Second, I also want to stress how many non-adventuring activities you could engage in while 'off camera'. Getting a part time job to learn a profession and earn some side money, volunteering as a Magicite-ship sailor to learn some of those trades and see more of the world, traveling the main roads and visiting the cities, visiting the Temples and paying your respects, exploring areas you haven't been to before where you know little of, and so forth and so on. Naturally you could undergo training as well, or meditation to try and hone your skills in slight ways, or even seeking out private masters to take you on as an apprentice for some great skill or knowledge you seek.

Now ultimately all of this stems from a simple irritation as a GM. I've known many GMs who do not treat time, in-game, as a valuable resource. I've always disagreed with that. Too often a GM will say welp you need to spend 3 months doing this, so you do. Now what. Boom, 2 seconds, gone. I don't agree with that. That brings me to point 2.

I would like any characters taking a hiatus of some kind, such as if the party pauses while some people train and you are not among them, to do something. Something to pass the time, the thought of you sitting there in a chair for 3 weeks bothers the hell out of me.

That's it. Feel free to keep it in mind when you consider the massive options that have been opened to you.

Let' sell the big watermelon we got first.

Gonna be able to train after that. If need be. And if some of us leaves.

well form a class progression path Tab dosnt need to go off anywhere so im kind of lucky there unlike anyone that wants to become a freelanser, so im fine with with moveing on as a group but if we have to stop for a time i would take up aprentship as a Blacksmiths as at the min im aiming for Armadomnuls Prestige Class and blacksmithing would go nicely with that.

Sounds good. On a related note, what's your stance on the number of characters someone could potentially have in the game? I've known some to have a "bench" so-to-speak of characters that would come and go as the story progressed. Not to just randomly rotate out or anything - it made since for them to be coming and going. e.g. a paladin joining the party and the evil thief leaving when they were on some church mission. What's your stance on that?

By the way, Whis Kor is training extensively in combat by taking swords to the face.

If we get the chance I'd definiately like to do two things. Train as a Freelancer, and visit the temples. Han isn't going to let the group get away with what it's been doing, and they need to get stronger to do that.

At some point I would like to visit the Life temple. Beyond that there is no real plan. Maybe get a job on an airship, learn how they operate? (For when we eventually get one. )
I would prefer to not separate the group, though I understand there will be times/opportunities which will necessitate splitting up.
If we end up spending time in a town, I'll probably set up shop as a healer. At least temporarily.

I have no problem with multiple characters within reason, the general rule being only one active in the main party at a time, while the other is off doing whatever. I encourage caution in doing so since after a while it does get harder to maintain a degree of group cohesion and any sense of being a group (or dare I say, fellowship) with some members coming and going. Not impossible, just harder.

Oh and I know exactly where Whis Kor is right now, and what he's doing. I bet you can guess too.

Also: I know exactly why I screwed up on the Ranger and I'll work on that tonight.

Won't it be hard to do these things what with us being wanted for war crimes?

Archengeia wrote:I have no problem with multiple characters within reason, the general rule being only one active in the main party at a time, while the other is off doing whatever. I encourage caution in doing so since after a while it does get harder to maintain a degree of group cohesion and any sense of being a group (or dare I say, fellowship) with some members coming and going. Not impossible, just harder.

Oh and I know exactly where Whis Kor is right now, and what he's doing. I bet you can guess too.

Also: I know exactly why I screwed up on the Ranger and I'll work on that tonight.

Right, I'm not talking about just having an entire football team just for the sake of having them; doing what makes sense for the time instead of randomly having them go and leave.

Yes, ruling Sho, I know.

At this point I have no clue what’s going on, If my Character pulls a Gandalf then that’s ok. Or as I posted in another thread, Caladrius can be treat as a common party character in my absents as all parties need healers. If I was to go out then I think most likely my character would be more of the Nomadic Healer, traveling from town to town, city to city healing and helping those in need. At the same time my characters would form a Healers network of like-minded individuals (primarily other healers and or paladin) where he visits.
As for keeping track of more mundane things, food, sleep, it might be better to just charge us a daily fee. That's easy to keep track of and we don't have to get details or what is purchased.