FOR BARRAYAR OOC

HEY GANG!! As I design the missions for the Star Gate hijacking plot (EXCITEMENT), there are a few things I need to know pertaining to your plans for your characters so I can better tailor the event. So please take a few minutes to reply to a couple of quick questions so I can make note in my plans. If you're not sure yet, you can just respond with "undecided", because that's still helpful for me to know.

1. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Are you planning to have your character die or miss their opportunity to board the Star Gate ship during June II? (Please keep in mind the caveats as mentioned in this post re: character death and a potential sequel game)
   
2. Are you planning to have your character seriously injured during the hijacking?
   
3. Can your character pilot a spaceship?

ETA: As an FYI, there'll still be opportunities for character death & missing the opportunity to use the Star Gate in July I, even if they do board the ship. Being on the ship does not mean they have to go home -- they can be there just to help, if they're planning to stay.

Thanks, gang! As always, feel free to ask if you have any questions!

HEY GANG it's yr friendly neighborhood mod again. It's time to talk about endgame (again), since it's coming up real fast! I'd like to talk about two things in this post: the endgame narrative, and the implications of character death and staying behind. Based on the poll results, I've put together a loose endgame narrative for the next month and a half. It was a three-way tie on what kind of Star Gate to have, so as a tiebreaker I'm going with space-based Star Gate because it fits in more neatly with the rest of the poll results. People near-unanimously voted for uniting the factions and hijacking/stealing the Star Gate, and WOW a surprising number of you guys are down for killing your characters or trapping them on Barrayar. And as for the DNA plot, the majority voted for the destruction of the samples, although this option does not preclude exposing Sei. Anyway, here's roughly what I've come up with:

( plans ahoy )

Just an update on the app queue – this has been mentioned here and there, but I wanted to officially state that applications will be permanently closed after April. The game's relatively short length and plot format doesn't lend itself well to late-game additions, and at the current rate it looks like the plot will probably wrap around July, so April is the last month for apps.

There are currently three spaces available in our cast, and people are welcome to submit to the queue all through April. However, at the end of April, any apps still in the queue will not be considered.

An exception is made for PCs who have dropped and wish to come back. Provided there is space in the cast, those players can bring back the PCs they dropped (but not app a new one).

The plot is ramping up more every event, so if you want in on this action, now is the time! As always, please feel free to contact me at runawayballista if you have any questions.

HEY ALL IT'S YR HEAD MOD HERE with a variety of announcements, questions and comments!

Firstly, the game's app queue system is now open for submissions; however, as it states, no apps will be considered until April. The app queue works on a first-come, first-serve basis; once a spot in the game opens up, the next app in the queue will be reviewed for consideration.

There's been a lot of informal discussion about what kinds of missions people have been enjoying and tying in player plots to further CR or character goals. As always, I encourage feedback regarding events and what you'd like to see more of, or what you don't want to see more of, but I especially encourage you guys to come to me with any player plots you might want to run. Player plots bring a lot of extra life to the game, not to mention making the experiences and impact more tailored to your individual characters. If you come to me with a player plot you'd like to run, I will do my best to make it happen and tie it into the game plot if possible! I cannot guarantee I can make every wish come true to the letter, but I will do my best to work with you on any player plot ideas. So please do come to me -- even if it's not something you want to run right away, or you're not 100% sure what you want to do -- don't be afraid to hit me up to discuss ideas. I'm always happy to help facilitate CR and character development.

On the topic of missions, I want to get a sense of how many people are interested in having their characters act as informants or handlers. Piotr is looking to cultivate informants out of any exotics sympathetic to the Barrayaran cause, because intel on the inside could be a vital asset. If anyone on the Cetagandan side has been thinking about having their character act as an informant, please let me know (preferably in this post)! This is not a signup or a commitment, nor is this a cutoff; I just want to get a sense of how many people are interested in this. Similarly, if those of you on the Barrayaran side are interested in having their characters act as handlers or points of contact for informants, I'd like to see a show of hands too! The amount of intel the Barrayarans receive on Cetagandan inside operations could have a serious impact on the plot.

Characters acting as informants will be subject to regular rolls to keep their operations under wraps, much like double agents. However, the difficulty for informants is quite a bit lower, as they aren't infiltrating so much as exploiting what they have access to.

And lastly, a few changes to the loyalty perks page: the Cetagandan side "Double Agent" was changed to "Informant", and the Barrayaran Side "Officer's Commission" was raised from 20+ LP to 30+ LP.

Hey all and welcome to For Barrayar! We'll be getting the OOC info/signups post for the first half of February's plot up soon, as well as the February Game Update (which details the weather and each side's status and resources for the month), but in the meantime, please feel free to introduce yourselves and get your mingle on! Tell us about yourselves, what you're looking forward to and what you're hoping to do in this game, and just generally get down and friendly with each other. And if you haven't joined the Discord server and would like to, hop on in.

The February I log will go up on the 1st. And if you haven't had a chance to look at the culture pages and want some extra reading material, those go into more depth about the Barrayarans and the Cetagandans.
ETA: The log will probably go up on the 2nd due to time constraints because the OOC post went up late and I unfortunately have a day job.

Also, please note the tagging system -- all of your characters should already have tags (and if they're missing, please let me know), and there are also location tags for the guerilla camp and the Cetagandan base, so please use those for your logs too!

welcome to barrayar.
It's the dark of night when you come to in the foothills. Snow on the ground, chill winter wind whistling. A steep mountain range towers just ahead, its peaks illuminated by the light of two moons. Whatever you last remember, it isn't how you got here, and you feel oddly jetlagged, slightly queasy.

And you're not alone. There are seven other people close by, all looking equally lost and confused. But before any of you have a chance to figure out what's going on, the soldiers arrive.

Welcome to For Barrayar! We are so very excited to kick off this game with such a fantastic opening cast. The game will open on January 2nd, when the intro logs are posted. In the future there will be only one log per event, but just for the opening, there is a separate intro log for the Barrayaran and Cetagandan sides each.

For now, you can take a look at the opening status quo, which lists the weather conditions and status of resources on both sides for the month of January. There will be a game update like this one posted every month. And if you haven't had a chance to look at the culture pages and want some extra reading material, those go into more depth about the Barrayarans and the Cetagandans. (The Barrayaran page is almost done, I promise!)

Also, please note the tagging system -- all of your characters should already have tags (and if they're missing, please let me know), and there are also location tags for the guerilla camp and the Cetagandan base, so please use those for your logs too!

Feel free to introduce yourselves and meet your new fellow players and get hype for game launch. We're also happy to answer any questions you might have. Mingle away, my friends.

Please also check out these SWEET ATMOSPHERIC PLAYLISTS that Ammay made for the game:

Barrayar ⚔ Cetaganda ⚔ The Invasion

ETA: I realized there were certain parts of the game that weren't made clear in the game info and it got lost in the mad rush of me being sick and running through the first app round, SO! It was also partly because until reserves, I thought only people I knew would be joining and they'd been privy to some of the info as we were developing the game and asking for feedback. And then reserves happened a whole bunch of people I didn't know joined, which was AWESOME, and I only just realized today that this wasn't clear to everyone, so firstly, I apologize! And I will also be updating the FAQ & premise with this information. But here are some things that I don't think I made explicitly clear in the game info:

The metaplot has an endgame. This is not an indefinitely-running jamjar; this is more meant to be a short, plot-heavy game that will run less than a year (the goal is around 6-8 months, but, given how DWRP goes, may run a little longer).
Part of the metaplot is about finding a way home. This is the endgame. The WAR!! stuff is absolutely a large part of the plot -- it is one of the major driving forces behind it -- but the endgame you're working toward is a way home (although if your character decides they'd rather stick around after the end of the game, then they are absolutely free to do that). This is going to be discussed in more detail in the next plot post, but WORMHOLE BUSINESS is the root cause of all this, and both the Cetagandans and Barrayarans have their own agendas and incentives for getting to the bottom of it. How it is investigated, and how the solution comes about, will be very much influenced by IC action. The endgame is about going home, but the way that happens is halfway in your hands, folks. After the first month of the game, this will be a very present concern ICly.

This means there will be plenty else to do for characters who aren't inclined to fight, especially for those with more Science-y pursuits, HOWEVER! I don't want you to think this means there will be LESS options for wartime fightytimes than previously advertised. There will still be tons of opportunities for that. It just won't be the only kind of opportunity available to you. But the goal isn't to help either side win the war, because otherwise we'd be here for another ten years, and let's be real nobody wants that.

ANYWAY, I apologize again for the lack of clarity. I'm going to update all the relevant info pages, and if you have any questions, by all means, please ask!