@Akragth Hey would it be ok for Branner to start with making a handmade recurve bow instead of the shortbow, recurve then long bow route? He's a hunter so he should be able to make a simple recurve bow and some arrows with a knife. He may not be the best at archery (though probably better than the average folk) but he can get better.

Also, didn't know about the knifes, just thought we all had nothing but the clothes on our backs to start with.

EDIT: Gonna write up a post, will edit if you have a problem

@WanderingJester You have whatever is on your char sheets

And there's no real reason to include a recurve bow. I know that they behave different to a regular bow, but for this RP I kept the sheets simple, and just had ''bow'' because i wanted to avoid having multitude of redundant weapons. I could have made the list far longer, like my previous RPs, but it's basically a waste of my time

Just a regular longbow it is ^_^ (I just like to think a longbow as a regular bow *Shrug*)

Though, IRL, they're nothing alike in their handling or performance. Not sure a longbow would even be a particularly good hunting weapon

But in terms of this RP, they're similar enough.

__

On to your latest RP post, you may recall that the city walls were very well guarded. How are you sneaking out, exactly? And how did you find the string, or some feathers/something to make the fletching from?

I don't mind characters going off hunting, but that wasn't something that was on offer as a thing to do at this time.

@Akragth haha, try telling the English and the Welsh that. Been hunting with those bad boys since the weapons were conceived.

In terms of the guards, I don't understand why the guards would bother someone going out of the city, since they're already inside before. I would understand that they might give Branner some trouble in regards to getting back into the city, but wouldn't they just assume he's either leaving (great for the people still in the city, more coins and territories for the rest who's staying) or that he's already a citizen within the city (at least someone who's allow to be in the city in the first place)?

In terms of fletching, a few cultures in history have been known to use arrows without them (hunters in New Guinea). Arrows can fly without fletchings attached, just not very accurate/stable beyond a short range. I was hoping that Branner can either find prey that's within comfortable striking distance or shed feathers from one of the avians in the nearby forest to make fletchings out of. As to the string, I just assumed that they (like other junk items in most RPGs) are just laying around the trash of villages (especially major cities) and no one will really miss them if Branner just got a meter or two of the stuff.

As to the options given by the gm for stuff to do, I like to think of them as more of suggestions. If they really are the only two things available, then it really limits the experience of an RP and reduce it more to a video game RPG where the actions are limited what the designers can put physically into the mechanics of the game itself. RPs can do what games can't do by allowing the player to do anything he/she wants so long as it still obeyed the basic laws of physics and reality within that realm, that's what I found RPs to be appealing.

Still this whole thing isn't an argument or attack, just a presentation on what my understanding was with the RP itself. Just let me know in a reply about what you want me to change and I'll edit the post (though I will stand on the "more than just the options the gm gives us" point, Branner'll simply start wandering around in one direction until he hits a city wall or something).

I didn't say they weren't used to hunt. I said I'm not sure they'd be that great at it. Not to a fairly average user.

It's not been shown that they're willing to let anyone out.

The problem I have isn't in the action, but in the making of the weapon. It essentially lets you bypass having to buy the bow, which in turn is a tad unfair to the others. Is it a bit abstract to say he has to buy one? Maybe. But it's the only real way to keep it fair to everyone else.

Normally they are suggestions, but at this stage they're orders. Is it video gamey? Maybe. But it's early days, and not without reason--because your character is starving. The idea that he'd bypass the purchased food to go out and hunt, or that he even has the concentration/time to make the bow whilst so hungry, is unrealistic in my view.

Regardless of that, the RP requires a GMs input anytime a player moves into unexplored territory and anytime they attempt to succeed at a given task.

@Akragth I abstain on all points, except for the orders. Like I said, just putting in my input. I still don't see the order part, people still have a choice in regards to what they do, even during the point of death (a lot of POWs died of torture, including starvation instead of obeying "orders" from their captives. I understand it's different with the current situation at the RP, however my point stands). I don't see why it gives an advantage to Branner versus the other characters, such as if Alma got her hands on some minerals and a basic hammer she'll conceivably be able to make weapons for other players, as well as the fact that Branner isn't some super human who can single handedly take care of everyone in the house (even with the bow), but like I said I abstain on the point. I'll cut all the parts except for actual options versus suggestion part of the duo objectives.

There's no way it's impossible for Branner to wander away from the group, either intentionally or unintentionally from just being confused due to starvation, away from the two "objectives." I understand that RPs require input from GMs, but there is a difference between maintaining a believably and realism of the world versus locking players in a linear path of progression that's more or less a multi-authored fanfiction, even during the early stages of the game (just like the possibility of getting lost somewhere because one of the characters really needed to use the restroom. It is technically unexplored territory but is it really unreal?). There's a reaction portion that GMs have to consider to any unexpected actions that may or may not follow what the GM had in mind for the RP, even if technically whatever the GM said is law (Like if suddenly a lightning bolt struck Branner and killed him, even if I don't believe I'll still have to just roll with it).

Regardless, I (and by extension, poor Branner) allowed my character to wander in a random direction for food in the city. If the consequences of that action is the young hunter being ambushed by bandits/muggers on the streets and killed, that's just something that I'll have to live and play with. If it happened that he wanders into one of the two objectives, that's fine. But to say he can't wander at all is a bit much for me. Sorry if it seemed that I'm just being anal about all this. I just really enjoy this RP and would like to experience the world to the full, so the only reason I'm pushing hard is because I find the experience limited by the current "objectives/orders."

Most RPs give orders, and have fixed objectives. Not many give actual freedom like this one will, like my Dreadhaven RP did.

I've explained why the current objectives are what they are, and I've explained why it's unrealistic for characters to be straying from that at this time. The NPC is literally giving the players money to buy food, and eat. It makes no sense to say ''boy I'm hungry, but no sir I don't want your legitimately paid for food that you're offering to me right now. I'd rather go and spend two hours making arrows from stuff I found, to fire from a bow that might work, to possibly kill an animal, and then have to cook it up.''

And that's without the question of where he found the materials, how he got out the city or how he intended to re-enter.

If it limits your experience that I'm requesting these two things be completed before people go and explore, then so be it. It's a temporary situation that this is a linear path, and is no different than many of the RPs here to be honest. But imo, you could have instead simply started on your way toward completing the task, and it could have been completed by now--making this a total non-issue.

Meh it's true if we got the ball rolling and the starting objectives done then we can start doing our own things, but honestly with the daily updates, I doubt it'll be any faster even if a few people got started on tasks (not a problem with daily updates, I understand people have RL stuff to handle, and I respect that). And true most RPs have an overarching objective (get this, kill that, bring back this guy alive, save the world), but wouldn't the overarching objective in this one to simply survive and prosper? And in those RPs you can still do crazy things like vent the atmosphere of a ship to kill everyone in the immediate area without a sealed suit, without having immediate fixed objectives like "go to the bakery and then see what happens." More of a matter of knowing what to do without someone telling you how to do it.

Is it unrealistic for someone starving to have a panic attack and run away? Maybe, but it's not unheard of. And no, you kind of haven't explained why people can't just freak out and punch the smithy in the face (physically possible, though unwise). The only explanation you gave is that people are starving, but as far as I know starvation doesn't make people into mindless zombies that follow orders, though it's easy to entice them to do what you want with food and such. I understand that you probably have a written out story that follow the directions before and like I said I really like this RP due to the potential to really have amazing immersion, but also accounting for unexpected is important imo.

I honestly don't really know why I typed all of that since it seems that we just have to agree to disagree. Maybe it's my enjoyment of this RP that's got me talking (or at least the potential it represents). At the end of the day, Branner wandered off due to an onset of temporary psychological breakdown due to starvation, and if the consequences is that he dies or something else undesirable happens to him, then so be it. *Shrug*

EDIT: People don't make sense, especially when they're starving to the point in which you described. And I will admit you make a lot of sense with the archery vs immediate food source thing, but I've already conceded that point that you're correct in my last post (thus eliminating my reply of "go out for two hours and make arrows"). The only thing I'm saying is that it's not unthinkable/impossible for people to do things unexpectedly/irrationally, even if in this case of "people giving you food when you're physically starving." Someone might have freaked out (like Branner here) and ran away before you finish saying "dinner's ready!"

I'll admit that sadly I was not following the Google doc thread and thus did not know that Branner already had a knife. I'm not used to having a publicly used inventory where it's my responsibility to check what my character has on his persons and thus I'm in no way the best (or even one of the better) RPer in this forum. Therefore I just had Branner followed an NPC so that he could get his hands on some material to start bettering the current conditions of the group in his own way.

As to the sense part, I edited my last post with an address to that. But the point was: People don't make sense, especially if they're starving. My stance isn't that the actions are correct or rational but rather to present a freedom for people to be incorrect and irrational.

Trust me, I'm not trying to "school" anyone on anything, but merely pointing out what I see in light of my (limited) perspective. But if you're really only just trying to keep everyone together a little longer, I'll just roll with that. I had feared that the current situation is indicative to how the rest of the RP's going to play out, since I didn't know your current intentions with it (all I knew was that Daveth keeps telling everyone to do this and that really). I'm not sure what you meant exactly by "posting in hysteria," but I think I've got a good enough sense to get a picture myself just by reading some RPs gone wrong in the past.

This whole conversation, so as to not seem like we went through a page of wall texts for no purpose what so ever, for me was to converse upon the idea of: I don't agree with what you're doing, but I'm willing to allow the freedom of you doing that thing. Just to give you my perspective (since the medium of internet communication is very limited and miscommunications can and do happen often) so we better understand one another. I saw the linear path when our characters just ran through a forest (three parts ordeal), barred entryway into the city (two parts ordeal), find and explore shelter (two parts ordeal) and now another pawn and gather materials (so far a two parts ordeal). So do you understand where I got the idea that our characters were locked in pre-written path of story that was beyond our (the players') control?