GM Signups & Discussion Thread

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

I have 7 players left in my game. It is now guaranteed to end in less than a week. Who is running the next Long Game?

The current top 5 is 

Current List is:

1. @Experience
2. @Steeldancer
3. @xinoehp512
4. @The Wandering Wizard
5. @Ashbringer

@Amanuensis do you want to switch to Tress?

 

 

[Amanuensis he/him]

1 minute ago, A Jo in the Bush said:

I have 7 players left in my game. It is now guaranteed to end in less than a week. Who is running the next Long Game?

The current top 5 is 

Current List is:

1. @Experience
2. @Steeldancer
3. @xinoehp512
4. @The Wandering Wizard
5. @Ashbringer

@Amanuensis do you want to switch to Tress?

I probably will have to, yeah, if we don't have the numbers / time for Termina Abandoned

[TwinStorm He/Him]

12 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

I probably will have to, yeah, if we don't have the numbers / time for Termina Abandoned

Unfortunate, hopefully we can co-GM sometime together tho

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

28 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

I probably will have to, yeah, if we don't have the numbers / time for Termina Abandoned

I vote we run it with three players and see what happens

Edit: I wouldn't be able to use Postman shenanigans very effectively though

Edited September 9, 2025 by The Unknown Hammerer

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

So, my game has 48 or less hours left. Is the plan for Aman to run the Tress LG, or is the plan something else?

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Up to Aman. He can run Tress/something else, or leave his LG signups as extended and pass the buck to someone else.

[Amanuensis he/him]

I have Monday (today/tomorrow) off so can get the Tress rules done. Otherwise we could ask the people like Steel who wanted to run a game but I beat them to the punch

[Araris Valerian he/him]

On 9/14/2025 at 10:15 PM, Amanuensis said:

I have Monday (today/tomorrow) off so can get the Tress rules done. Otherwise we could ask the people like Steel who wanted to run a game but I beat them to the punch

You are clear to run the game if you want to, if you're busy we can look around for someone else.

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

Maybe we should start looking around for other options?

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Aman said in Discord that he'd have rules up in the next day or two.

[Amanuensis he/him]

On 9/21/2025 at 4:25 PM, Araris Valerian said:

Aman said in Discord that he'd have rules up in the next day or two.

For anyone who wants a peek, there are no spoilers:

 

LG108?: A Tale of Rats and Spores

Game Premise

10 years after the events of Tress and the Emerald Sea, you will board The Rat's Tale—a great ship and Sprouter institution that trains recruits how to manipulate spores and navigate the Twelve Seas. Every player is therefore a Sprouter by default, but will be split into ranks that have different capabilities. The majority will begin Novices, some will begin Apprentices, and few will begin as Masters. Apprentices will have a PM with their Master and all Masters will share a doc. Ranks can be progressed via consistent active participation (see: Experience and Promotions).

Player Factions

Royal Loyalists are the innocent, uninformed majority whom justly serve the Verdant Kingdom. They win upon removing all Midnight Cultists from the ship, one way or another.

Midnight Cultists are the corrupted, informed minority who seek to avenge the Midnight Sorceress. They share a doc to freely conspire. They win upon reaching parity with the Royal Loyalists.

Day / Night Cycle

48 Hour Days. Day 1 will not have an execution, but from Day 2 onward, a player must be voted out to walk the plank. Additionally, every Day, there will be X/Y Spores available for players to claim from the Stores (other than Zephyr Spores, which are infinite). Players can only claim 2 Spores each Day regardless of their rank. However, Masters will be able to give an extra Spore of their choice to one of their Apprentices each day via their GM PM. Players can also trade both Spores and Spore Pots via their GM PM during either turn.

24 Hour Nights. During the night, all players have access to three actions: Study: Double your experience gained this cycle; Prepare (Pot): Craft a Spore Pot and gain +5 XP; Sprout (Pot): Expend a Spore Pot to use its effect and gain +5 XP. Giving another player a Spore or Spore Pot is a free action. Additionally, one Midnight Cultist can submit an untraceable kill (they will not leave the cabin, as they will use a Midnight familiar) for their action.

Spores, Pots, and Sprouting

All Spore Pots require 1 Zephyr Charge and N Secondary Charges to prepare, where N is the rank of the effect. If a Sprouter of a lower rank attempts to prepare or use a Sprout Pot of a higher rank, there will be a chance of failure.

Zephyr and Zephyr

1. Novice: Create a PM with target that expires in 1 Cycle.
2. Apprentice: Create a PM with target that expires in 2 Cycles.
3. Master: Create a Group PM with up to three targets that expires in 2 Cycles.
4. Expert: Create a PM with up to three targets that never expires.

Zephyr and Verdant

1. Novice: If your target leaves their cabin, block their action.
2. Apprentice: If your target leaves their cabin, block their action and the action of their target.
3. Master: If your target leaves their cabin, block their action, the action of the target, and the action of everyone else who targets them.
4. Expert: If your target leaves their cabin, imprison your target until you decide to release them, blocking all actions from and to them.

Zephyr and Sunlight

1. Novice: If your target leaves their cabin, discover their target.
2. Apprentice: If your target leaves their cabin, discover their target and action.
3. Master: If your target leaves their cabin, reveal their target and action in thread.
4. Expert: If your target leaves their cabin, reveal their alignment in thread.

Zephyr and Crimson

1. Novice: You will fail to safely prepare this into a Pot, inflicting Wound on yourself. Wounded require 1/2 of active players to vote for them to be healed or they will die at the end of the Cycle.
2. Apprentice: If your target leaves their cabin, inflict a Wound.
3. Master: If your target leaves their cabin, inflict a Fatal Wound. Fatally Wounded require 3/4 of active players to vote for them to be healed or they will die at the end of the Day.
4. Expert: If your target leaves their cabin, kill them!

Zephyr and Roseite

1. Novice: Shield yourself with crystal, protecting you from one action.
2. Apprentice: Shield any target, protecting them from one action.
3. Master: Shield any target or yourself, protecting from all actions.
4. Expert: Shield another player and yourself, protecting from all actions.

Zephyr and Midnight

1. Novice: Investigate target's stock. Cannot be Detected or Blocked.
2. Apprentice: Steal one random Spore or Pot from target's stock. CbDoB.
3. Master: Steal two random Spores or Pots from target's stock. CbDoB.
4. Expert: Steal all Spores and Pots from target's stock. CbDoB.

Experience and Promotions

Every Cycle, players can earn +10 XP via active participation (+5 for 5 discussion posts, +5 for 5 roleplay posts, which can be 5 posts total or 10 separate). Studying doubles the amount of XP you would gain that cycle (10 to 20, 6 to 12, etc). Preparing Pots, Sprouting Pots, and Cultist Kills all earn +5 XP. This means the max any player can get is 20 with Studying or 15 with a night action. Upon gaining an amount of Experience within a Rank, players will be automatically promoted the next Day, which will be announced in the thread.

• Novices promote to Apprentice upon earning +50 XP. Masters will have the next Day to pick in their doc who will get a PM with them in the Night.
• Apprentices promote to Master upon earning +60 XP. A new Master Doc will be made in which the old Masters must decide on a single Apprentice to give each newcomer.
• Masters promote to Experts upon earning +70 XP. In order to become an Expert, Masters have to declare a specific Spore they wish to specialize in. From then on all activity XP will count for this, but only actions involving the relevant spore will earn XP.

Optional Roles

• King’s Mask: Begins the game as an Expert for all spores. Can belong to any Rank and either Faction.
• Spore Eater: A gestator of spores, you do not need Pots to use abilities of your related affliction... at a cost. Can belong to any Rank and either Faction.

Edited September 23, 2025 by Amanuensis

[KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him]

26 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

For anyone who wants a peek, there are no spoilers:

 

LG108?: A Tale of Rats and Spores

Game Premise

10 years after the events of Tress and the Emerald Sea, you will board The Rat's Tale—a great ship and Sprouter institution that trains recruits how to manipulate spores and navigate the Twelve Seas. Every player is therefore a Sprouter by default, but will be split into ranks that have different capabilities. The majority will begin Novices, some will begin Apprentices, and few will begin as Masters. Apprentices will have a PM with their Master and all Masters will share a doc. Ranks can be progressed via consistent active participation (see: Experience and Promotions).

Player Factions

Royal Loyalists are the innocent, uninformed majority whom justly serve the Verdant Kingdom. They win upon removing all Midnight Cultists from the ship, one way or another.

Midnight Cultists are the corrupted, informed minority who seek to avenge the Midnight Sorceress. They share a doc to freely conspire. They win upon reaching parity with the Royal Loyalists.

Day / Night Cycle

48 Hour Days. Day 1 will not have an execution, but from Day 2 onward, a player must be voted out to walk the plank. Additionally, every Day, there will be X/Y Spores available for players to claim from the Stores (other than Zephyr Spores, which are infinite). Players can only claim 2 Spores each Day regardless of their rank. However, Masters will be able to give an extra Spore of their choice to one of their Apprentices each day via their GM PM. Players can also trade both Spores and Spore Pots via their GM PM during either turn.

24 Hour Nights. During the night, all players have access to three actions: Study: Double your experience gained this cycle; Prepare (Pot): Craft a Spore Pot and gain +5 XP; Sprout (Pot): Expend a Spore Pot to use its effect and gain +5 XP. Giving another player a Spore or Spore Pot is a free action. Additionally, one Midnight Cultist can submit an untraceable kill (they will not leave the cabin, as they will use a Midnight familiar)

Spores, Pots, and Sprouting

All Spore Pots require 1 Zephyr Charge and N Secondary Charges to prepare, where N is the rank of the effect. If a Sprouter of a lower rank attempts to prepare or use a Sprout Pot of a higher rank, there will be a chance of failure.

Zephyr and Zephyr

1. Novice: Create a PM with target that expires in 1 Cycle.
2. Apprentice: Create a PM with target that expires in 2 Cycles.
3. Master: Create a Group PM with up to three targets that expires in 2 Cycles.
4. Expert: Create a PM with up to three targets that never expires.

Zephyr and Verdant

1. Novice: If your target leaves their cabin, block their action.
2. Apprentice: If your target leaves their cabin, block their action and the action of their target.
3. Master: If your target leaves their cabin, block their action, the action of the target, and the action of everyone else who targets them.
4. Expert: If your target leaves their cabin, imprison your target until you decide to release them, blocking all actions from and to them.

Zephyr and Sunlight

1. Novice: If your target leaves their cabin, discover their target.
2. Apprentice: If your target leaves their cabin, discover their target and action.
3. Master: If your target leaves their cabin, reveal their target and action in thread.
4. Expert: If your target leaves their cabin, reveal their alignment in thread.

Zephyr and Crimson

1. Novice: You will fail to safely prepare this into a Pot, inflicting Wound on yourself. Wounded require 1/2 of active players to vote for them to be healed or they will die at the end of the Cycle.
2. Apprentice: If your target leaves their cabin, inflict a Wound.
3. Master: If your target leaves their cabin, inflict a Fatal Wound. Fatally Wounded require 3/4 of active players to vote for them to be healed or they will die at the end of the Day.
4. Expert: If your target leaves their cabin, kill them!

Zephyr and Roseite

1. Novice: Shield yourself with crystal, protecting you from one action.
2. Apprentice: Shield any target, protecting them from one action.
3. Master: Shield any target or yourself, protecting from all actions.
4. Expert: Shield another player and yourself, protecting from all actions.

Zephyr and Midnight

1. Novice: Investigate target's stock. Cannot be Detected or Blocked.
2. Apprentice: Steal one random Spore or Pot from target's stock. CbDoB.
3. Master: Steal two random Spores or Pots from target's stock. CbDoB.
4. Expert: Steal all Spores and Pots from target's stock. CbDoB.

Experience and Promotions

Every Cycle, players can earn +10 XP via active participation (+5 for 5 discussion posts, +5 for 5 roleplay posts, which can be 5 posts total or 10 separate). Studying doubles the amount of XP you would gain that cycle (10 to 20, 6 to 12, etc). Preparing Pots, Sprouting Pots, and Cultist Kills all earn +5 XP. This means the max any player can get is 20 with Studying or 15 with a night action. Upon gaining an amount of Experience within a Rank, players will be automatically promoted the next Day, which will be announced in the thread.

• Novices promote to Apprentice upon earning +50 XP. Masters will have the next Day to pick in their doc who will get a PM with them in the Night.
• Apprentices promote to Master upon earning +60 XP. A new Master Doc will be made in which the old Masters must decide on a single Apprentice to give each newcomer.
• Masters promote to Experts upon earning +70 XP. In order to become an Expert, Masters have to declare a specific Spore they wish to specialize in. From then on all activity XP will count for this, but only actions involving the relevant spore will earn XP.

Optional Roles

• King’s Mask: Begins the game as an Expert for all spores. Can belong to either alignment.
• Spore Eater: Begin the game as a spore gestator. You do not need Spore Pots to use abilities of your relevant Spore, however, there is a cost. Can belong to either alignment.

Sounds like a very fun game, but alas, I won't be active enough to play until mid October.

[Seonid he/him]

So, it's been a while since I've been around these parts. 

Hypothetically speaking, and without making any commitments, how long is the wait on the MR list?

[Araris Valerian he/him]

52 minutes ago, Seonid said:

So, it's been a while since I've been around these parts. 

Hypothetically speaking, and without making any commitments, how long is the wait on the MR list?

Hello! 

Currently the MR list has 22 entries, but Joe ran the last game at slot 17, so potentially as few as 5. We seem to be running MRs about once every two months, though I will say that myself and the other mods could probably be doing better at getting new games running after each one ends.

A ballpark estimate would be 10 months, though if you have a limited time window I would possibly be willing to let you use my slot (14th) which could significantly reduce that time. 

[Seonid he/him]

10 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

Hello! 

Currently the MR list has 22 entries, but Joe ran the last game at slot 17, so potentially as few as 5. We seem to be running MRs about once every two months, though I will say that myself and the other mods could probably be doing better at getting new games running after each one ends.

A ballpark estimate would be 10 months, though if you have a limited time window I would possibly be willing to let you use my slot (14th) which could significantly reduce that time. 

10 months might actually be enough time lol. Go ahead and sign me up. I have no idea what for - I don't even know what the norms are for games anymore. I'm probably feeling something simple-ish to get back in the swing of things.

Depending on whether my job shuts down (I'm an American government employee these days, and the government might well run out of funding this year), I might even have time to sign up to play a game sometime.

[Amanuensis he/him]

4 hours ago, Seonid said:

So, it's been a while since I've been around these parts. 

Hypothetically speaking, and without making any commitments, how long is the wait on the MR list?

Seonid! Welcome back

Edited September 25, 2025 by Amanuensis

[Seonid he/him]

42 minutes ago, Amanuensis said:

Seonid! Welcome back

Thanks! Glad to see some familiar faces around still. So many of the ones I remember haven't been on the Shard in years (according to their profiles).

What does the SE scene look like these days?

[Araris Valerian he/him]

18 minutes ago, Seonid said:

What does the SE scene look like these days?

Most of our games tend to have 10-12 players. Related to that, the rules we've been running have tended to be less complicated than some of what we had 5+ years ago (though occasionally we get some awesomely weird stuff like Fifth's Alice in Wonderland QF or Steeldancer's bodyhopping Olympics game). We still get a fun crowd each year for the Anniversary Game return to Tyrian Falls. And Kas made fun banners for signatures which have been drawing in a steady stream of new folks recently.

[Seonid he/him]

8 hours ago, Araris Valerian said:

Most of our games tend to have 10-12 players. Related to that, the rules we've been running have tended to be less complicated than some of what we had 5+ years ago (though occasionally we get some awesomely weird stuff like Fifth's Alice in Wonderland QF or Steeldancer's bodyhopping Olympics game). We still get a fun crowd each year for the Anniversary Game return to Tyrian Falls. And Kas made fun banners for signatures which have been drawing in a steady stream of new folks recently.

Oh, the AG! I'm definitely gonna sign up to play in that. I'm taking a couple weeks off around the end of the year anyways. 

Other than that, sounds interesting. 10-12 isn't a whole lot, but it's enough to run fun games.

Also, apparently someone forgot to revoke my mod powers when I retired...

Edited September 25, 2025 by Seonid

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

I would like to sign up for a Mid Range game. I'm currently listed as #17 in line, but I ran that game already.

[Amanuensis he/him]

I have 7 players left in my game. It is now likely to end next week (two max). Who is running the next Quick Fix?

The current top 5 is:

1. @StrikerEZ
2. @Steeldancer
3. @DrakeMarshall
4. @KelsierApologist
5. @The Unknown Hammerer

 

Edited October 11, 2025 by Amanuensis

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

I can, but I'd rather get the one after next

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

On 10/10/2025 at 8:45 PM, Amanuensis said:

I have 7 players left in my game. It is now likely to end next week (two max). Who is running the next Quick Fix?

The current top 5 is:

1. @StrikerEZ
2. @Steeldancer
3. @DrakeMarshall
4. @KelsierApologist

Well the Long Game has ended, so we should definitely figure out who the next Quick Fix Game Master is. I have Direct Messaged these 4 on the Discord, and will report back if they decline.

EDIT: StrikerEZ and Steeldancer have officially declined. Drake Marshall is in the process of figuring out whether or not he'll be able to run a game.

EDIT2: Drake Marshall has accepted.

Edited October 13, 2025 by A Jo in the Bush

[Araris Valerian he/him]

With Drake running the QF, I think we should get a general idea of who might be interested in running LG 109. A bunch of folks near the top of the signup lists aren't very active, which makes finding the next GM take a bit longer. The estimated time to post signups for the LG would be ~2 weeks depending on when Drake's game starts (a QF with 12 players would last less than a week). The current LG list is

1. @Experience
2. @Steeldancer(twice)
3. @xinoehp512 (and again later)
4. @The Wandering Wizard (and again later)
5. @Ashbringer (and again later)
6. @Elandera
7. @Aeoryi
8. @KelsierApologist (twice)
9. @TwinStorm

If you are on this list and think you are interested/able in running the next game, let me know. If you are on this list and would like to be marked inactive (meaning you won't get pinged anymore until you request to be marked active again), please let me know that as well. Once the QF starts if I still haven't heard from anyone then I'll start pinging folks on Discord.

I'd also like to thank @A Jo in the Bush and others for helping keep things moving along . I can't access my google account from where I'm at, but when I can I'll update the GM spreadsheet, adding/removing Joe from the MR list and adding Seonid.

Edit: The spreadsheet has been updated

Edited October 16, 2025 by Araris Valerian

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

On 10/15/2025 at 6:58 PM, Araris Valerian said:

With Drake running the QF, I think we should get a general idea of who might be interested in running LG 109. A bunch of folks near the top of the signup lists aren't very active, which makes finding the next GM take a bit longer. The estimated time to post signups for the LG would be ~2 weeks depending on when Drake's game starts (a QF with 12 players would last less than a week). The current LG list is

1. @Experience
2. @Steeldancer(twice)
3. @xinoehp512 (and again later)
4. @The Wandering Wizard (and again later)
5. @Ashbringer (and again later)
6. @Elandera
7. @Aeoryi
8. @KelsierApologist (twice)
9. @TwinStorm

If you are on this list and think you are interested/able in running the next game, let me know. If you are on this list and would like to be marked inactive (meaning you won't get pinged anymore until you request to be marked active again), please let me know that as well. Once the QF starts if I still haven't heard from anyone then I'll start pinging folks on Discord.

I'd also like to thank @A Jo in the Bush and others for helping keep things moving along . I can't access my google account from where I'm at, but when I can I'll update the GM spreadsheet, adding/removing Joe from the MR list and adding Seonid.

Edit: The spreadsheet has been updated

How’s this going?