Roleplayed events visible ingame or just imagination?

[Evilar]

Hi all I'm new and I have a question about the events that are being described in the taverns in roleplaying.

1. For example here http://bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=35525&start=90 when the Head DM is talking about some outraged nobles after the war, etc. can I go see those noble at this tavern or is just something I am suppose to imagine?

Thanks.

[Tantive]

Those rumours by DM's and players are usually generated after the effect of an ingame event/moment. They are not always exclusively ingame things however.

[Evilar]

Those rumours by DM's and players are usually generated after the effect of an ingame event/moment. They are not always exclusively ingame things however.

Thanks for the answer. So only sometimes the events/moments occur or in cases with NPC's that is their general reaction to recent events even though you may never seen them react that way, is that the way it goes?

[AlwaysSummer Day]

Usually it means that has already occured. If you go there you might see nobles but no DM will be actively controlling them. So simply put yes you need to imagine it however keep it all IC. A character who doesn't frequent that tavern likely didn't hear it.

[[DM] Seren]

Tantive has it right. Generally, we use the forums to express the impact and effects of our events on a large amount of people over a large area. Doing it in game would be difficult, especially if it is in areas players are unlikely to frequent.

Sometimes I do forum posts that lead up/accompany a plotline/event I am running. I might even make a forum post during an event if such would turn out to be needed.

[Evilar]

Thanks for all of the answers. So role playing In-Character has be done only on the forums? What about when you are in the game, doesn't that count?

[DM Ditto]

IC roleplaying is also done in game. Some storyline effects that are in forums aren't shown in-game for various reasons, but they are there.

Write-ups of events are done on the forums both to allow players who weren't present to have an inkling of what has happened so far, and to leave a paper trail in case somebody wants to follow up.

[Evilar]

Thanks DM Ditto. I thought you were yelling at me with the Purple text but I see your Avatar is purple so I get it

I am having some trouble grasping this because I have yet to find any DM'd games from the server on Youtube.
I have seen some videos with a player running around solo but noting that is obviously being run by a DM, do any exist? Thanks

[DM Ninox]

This server is based on the premise that players roleplay their characters in-game with or without DM presence. There is much you can do in game even without a DM present to oversee you. You can join up with fellow adventurers and go to one of the many NPC populated dungeons and make your own adventures, or complete some of the NPC quests around town, or even hang around a local inn and chat to some of the local PC figures who might also be there.

When DMs are online, though, that makes the storytelling far more interesting. The DM team runs a Metaplot for the server, which means an overarching plot into which link all of the subplots run by the DM team. This year the Metaplot is "Reconstruction & Recovery", which is a flow on from last year's "Army Eternal" plot, whereby much devastation was wreaked across the Sword Coast.

If you like any of the subplot themes in this year's Metaplot, get involved! Write up some in-character posts on the forums if your character would, say, want to investigate some matter or wants to donate money or time to one of the many causes happening this year.

Some suggestions:

Baldur's Gate Orphan Crisis
Baldur's Gate Reconstruction Efforts
Sword Coast Intrigue Plots
Sword Coast Relief & Recovery
Recovery of the Plagued Wilds

Don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions!

[Evilar]

This year the Metaplot is "Reconstruction & Recovery", which is a flow on from last year's "Army Eternal" plot, whereby much devastation was wreaked across the Sword Coast.

If you like any of the subplot themes in this year's Metaplot, get involved! Write up some in-character posts on the forums if your character would, say, want to investigate some matter or wants to donate money or time to one of the many causes happening this year.

Good points on the Metaplot, which would be a logical jumping off point for myself but I have some more questions first:

1. How are PC normally introduced into the world of BG (I assume you have to submit an application with your character sheet but as far as plot, How much lore does he or she know? (Or allowed to know)?

Obviously one doesn't just spring up out of the ground. For one reason or another I came to the Sword Coast but I want to be sure that my knowledge isn't excessive because I could probably read a lot of the lore in the next week and have WAY no more OOC knowledge than I would be allowed to use.

To reiterate:
1. IC how do I obtain any knowledge of the Metaplot and did I come to town with it?

2. How of my ooc reading of lore can I feasible integrate in my Player character.

Thanks!

[DM Ninox]

These are great questions, Evilar! I applaud your enthusiasm.

In part it can be sourced from your character's actual background and whether they are a 'local' or from a more regional location, and this can be justifiably obtained 'OOC' from IC rumour posts.

• Local Character Background
  You are quite welcome to actually roleplay a Baldurian citizen or even a citizen of a location that exists in our server game world (eg. Ulgoth's Beard, Beregost, Nashkel, Soubar, Roaringshores). In this case it is rather likely that your character would have heard local rumours about the wars of last year, and now the recovery from said wars, in a local pub, or on the docks, or from passing travellers or caravans. Such rumours may be accurate and factual (eg. I heard the walls of Baldur's Gate were breached and still are) or complete exaggerations (All the lands and forests are haunts of the spawn of the hells!).
  
  Regional Character Background
  Alternatively, your character may have come from a region outside of our immediate server game world but still extant in server lore (eg. Waterdeep, Athkatla, Impiltur, Neverwinter, or other regional countries such as Cormyr, the Dalelands, Calimshan, Chessenta, the Sea of Fallen Stars, etc). In this case it is still likely one had heard rumours about the wars in the West on the Sword Coast, but such rumours are more prone to contain factual inaccuracies and exaggerations due to the distance travelled from the original source (Chinese whispers and all that!). It is also entirely possible to have no IC knowledge about such things at all until one has arrived in the region!
  
  Summary
  You are entirely free to determine exactly how much of the IC rumours your character is aware of. We will not make hard or fast rulings on these kind of things. However, keep in mind we now have extensive Lore skills in game. An investment into Lore: Local would give your character a justifiable understanding beyond common knowledge, and for argument's sake I consider common knowledge to be what may be found in a DM rumours thread, but not necessarily a Players rumour thread (as player rumours tend to contain far more detail).

Your character is free to pursue any rumour leads IC with other players, and such knowledge may then be treated IC (but may not necessarily be accurate!!!). If you wish to pursue knowledge from NPCs and there are no DMs online to help you, either make a post on one of the Rumour Threads or send a PM to the ADM & DM teams (if you want to keep your actions private) and we will get back to you about it.

It's basically up to you as a player to decide how much knowledge your character has about local rumours and RP accordingly, although this can also be reflected mechanically with the various Lore skills we have on the server now. As a non-enforced RP guideline, the more ranks your character has in Lore: Local, the more IC knowledge they should be able to both acquire and retain about local happenings.

[Evilar]

although this can also be reflected mechanically with the various Lore skills we have on the server now.

Thanks for that thorough response but I am a little unclear about the lore skills you have set up on the server. Are you saying that on my character sheet there is a score I can designate for lore knowledge and that score correspondences to how much lore I know?

[DM Ninox]

There is a degree of correspondence of effect, yes. Obviously how much your character knows about a certain specialist field of Lore is up to you, but spent ranks represent understanding in a given field (and certainly apply in DM events where you may be asked to roll them).

For example, one would expect a druid to have a thorough knowledge of nature and this is represented mechanically in game by taking ranks in Lore: Nature. Exactly what level of knowledge that entails is really up to the player, though. Perhaps that druid is a specialist in pine forests and would know little of a tropical jungle, despite having many skill points in Lore: Nature. That kind of thing is for the player to decide.

However the same druid may live a completely isolated life and know nothing about history (0 ranks in Lore: History) or areas apart from their own (maybe one or two ranks in Lore: Geography to represent their knowledge of their local area). The more ranks you take in a field of knowledge, the more acceptable it is to roleplay being a specialist in that field. A fighter with 0 ranks in Lore: Arcana should not be able to dicipher a complex arcane formula, neither should a wizard with 0 ranks in Lore: Dungeoneering be able to recall that Black Puddings split in half unless they are destroyed with fire.

Basically, if your character has no specialist training in a field of knowledge you are limited to what would be common knowledge about that subject (eg. what a common person on the street would know). I'll make some enquiries with the DM team and see if we can come up with a provisional guideline for what 'Common' knowledge entails for each given field of Lore so that it is a little less abstract.

However, there is also knowledge fairly gained IC. If your player fights a green dragon and gets choked by its acrid gas breath and survives to tell the tale, they do not need to take ranks in Lore: Arcana (it deals with dragons) to know from that point on that Green Dragons have gas breath. A wizard, however, might have a thorough understanding of Green Dragon Breath before the fact and prepared his spells for the fight with the dragon accordingly. His knowledge training was acquired before the fact via skill investment in Lore: Arcana, but gaining knowledge after the fact of having fought a green dragon is equally valid and requires no skill investment (it is something your character has experienced personally).