Fever Enigmatic [PBP Mystery Campaign - Full]

Centered in Friendship Gardens and treating both Friendship is Magic and G1 as canon (barring the things broken by Season 4), regular ponies try to discern the cause of a recent mysterious outbreak that had come and gone.

PBP
Ability system
A few custom rules here and there, such as an altered skills system
More plot/story focused than combat heavy, though there will be some fights
Potentially shorter overall campaign length pending on how things are discovered
Plot will take place in Friendship Gardens

Cast:

Personal GM Style

...Is this possibly the campaign you mentioned to me over PM?

Maybe, but there's any number of things that could have come up in PM conversation.

As many have likely noticed (and, if I'm judging correctly, have felt about the same about), I've been kind of burnt out on Pony Tales lately. I think maybe taking part in a new game, with new skills and a new plot-focus, might just be what I need to get back into posting.

Consider me interested.

Well, after thinking it over, I like building characters, and I'd like to give the new stuff a shot.

One question though, would I be able to house rule Magical Tricks in?

For what kind of character? I'm willing to be lenient with Magical Tricks but I'm not bringing back Magecraft or the old version of the Element of Magic. Against standards of sanity, I will allow the old Element of Laughter renamed as Virtue of Chaos but only one player may have it and I'd need to clear the character first.

Boons will not be given out at standard level intervals. Instead, they will be granted via plot based events. Destinies will be given out at levels 3, 6, and 9. Not sure what 4, 7, and 10 will get. Might be ability points, I dunno.

Posting my personal GMing quirks list. Some will wind up different due to campaign structure. Plus, I probably need to update it at some point.

Actually, thinking it over, I decided against Magical Tricks. Character concept changes, you know.

So, should we post characters, yet?

I finally have a character concept I'm happy with for the campaign, so I'm officially in. I need to flesh him out more before I post him, though. I should also probably run him by you directly, but I'll flesh him out a little more before doing that, too.

There seems to be interest so yes, you can go ahead and start posting characters. I'll likely have more specific questions for each character/player as things ramp up.

Okay, I'm getting my rough draft for the character ready, just need to clarify a few things for the new system

Do we still get trainings in the new system?

If I choose a Companion, how does stating him work?

And speaking of my Companion, if I take Companion, I'd like him to be in-universe a buffed mook, something my character (whose a conjurer) made that ended up sort-of sentient, and that she refuses to unsummon now, since it's like he's alive. Is that ok?

mjh6 wrote:Do we still get trainings in the new system?

Yes.

If I choose a Companion, how does stating him work?

Same as in the Abilities system.  Pay 3 points and buy the extras to buff it up.  No freebie points but also no cap outside of the base 30.

And speaking of my Companion, if I take Companion, I'd like him to be in-universe a buffed mook, something my character (whose a conjurer) made that ended up sort-of sentient, and that she refuses to unsummon now, since it's like he's alive. Is that ok?

If someone takes Companion instead of Mook, I actually prefer that they be a full character instead of cannon fodder so your proposal is ideal.  The character should actually matter to those around them.  I've always hated the easy resurrections aspect since it's a permanent character.

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For those needing the info, the name of the town for the campaign is Friendship Gardens.  It's even more small town than Ponyville and I'll get more detailed details up soon enough.

okay, here is (currently backgroundless) Summer  Wishes with summoned companion Winter Dream

I'd like to say she's lives in Friendship Gardens, would that be ok?

also, since I'm having trouble saving images from the new pony creator, here is Summer's ponycode
iW0008SycnF/yIT00//UQqp1837003e0000dW0v01Vp/C/t//2161x02C81x02C

And Winter
aW0SS6mExXu/yIT1uLNIvun18370031////ZSS/01Vp/C/t//20

Those names sound suitably like candy colored horses.  I was able to save them so I can upload the images for you at some point.

I'd prefer the players be residents of the town.  Will make a lot of things easier though I'm fine with a few being newcomers.

However, a lack of background earns a Prim Hemline dismissive tail swish.  I may know what you can do but how am I to do horrible things to you showcase your greatness without knowing who you are?

Backgrounds added now, for both of them. And there always was going to be a background, I just had a hard time pinning it down. Summer shifted around a lot.

Oh my, this character shall be fun. There's so many things I can do with this.

As far as the illness, it will not start until the campaign starts. Feels more organic that way.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RIMwmlEEzTB4Y-Qq4HY8p1d4T9flTvu_clUpgSex0ak/edit#
Everyone, meet Sunset Stroll.
Note that he is not a healer in combat, so that spot is still open.

Due to...circumstances...I wasn't able to get the full write up of Friendship Gardens.  However, there is one quirk I'll outline--politics.

The parcel of land that would become Friendship Gardens was won through a bet.  The original mare sought to make a quiet haven that residents and visitors could feel safe and welcome in.  Most ponies are well meaning despite their bad days.  However, no chances were to be taken.  The family is bound to uphold this principle and due to that, the town does not hold elections.  Almost like a monarchy, control and ownership of the town is passed down through the family line.  In fact, all land in the town is actually owned by the current "mayor" with housing and businesses on generous leases.  In lieu of a town hall, most meetings are held in the mayors house since it's the largest structure in the town.

Apologies- I've been much busier than I'd like the past few days, may still be next couple. Get stuff up soon as I can.

Perfectly understandable.

First half of the Friendship Gardens setting info up. Will be doing a second half with the NPCs.

Not allowing the swap since with Abilities, a cutie mark/expert skill is a freebie as is.

However, there are two house rules I'm implementing.  One is that the Element of Generosity can be used to negate the critical failure status of a natural 1.  The reasoning is that it requires a Magic Point, can not be directly taken by Companions, and you can not use it on yourself.  I am likely to make this option available across all of my campaigns.

Two is this change to the Element of Magic:

Magic – Magic
Choose five abilities each worth 3 points or less at character creation. When you activate Magic, you may pick one of the abilities you chose. You or an ally you can see gains access to that ability for the next 10 minutes.

It's a subtle change that allows it to fill the gap left by the loss of the Evolution destiny by also allowing the Element of Magic to be used on an ally.  I've actually officially proposed this before so it's something I'd very much like for it to be official.

I'll have to think about it. It's a maybe pending on his build and backstory. Also remember that I'm also offering the option for a CM to act like a FK for a concept rather than a specific skill.

It depends, actually. Applejack, despite above average strength, is arguably a variant of a jack of all trades character since she's good at a lot of tasks around town and she tends to be rather perceptive. However, she overtly has a variant of FK [Apples]. There's a few different ways to do jack of all trades characters so it'll simply come down to specifics in a character and build.