Thank you! I hope to be a good contributor. 
p. 173, Top right corner "Defender". That might save Viola's life. That grog is her shield grog, isn't he? I know I'm meddling, but like every meddler, I believe, it's only for the best if I do that.
Why don't you play said grog and show us how that works?
Scott
Done
To do my own bit of meddling...note that as a grog (without Ferocity) Theodoric doesn't have confidence points. If he did have them, you can choose whether or not to use them after the roll (and given the roll would have beaten the attack total anyway, presumably not have chosen to do so in this case).
I use the Coyote Code dice roller: coyotecode.net/roll/ , although it does play up on me a bit sometimes, so if people have a suggestion for a better one I'd be interested.
Ah, my mistake, too much world of darkness, glad it doesn't change anything. And thanks for the roller
I don't use one because I don't see the point: the main object of online rollers is to prevent cheating, but it's not very hard to cheat with them. Therefore, I simply trust everyone to be honest, though I'm not at all offended when anyone else wants to use one.
Scott
When do we want to bring people in IC?
I feel it probably makes some sense to intoduce the newly gauntleted magi at tribunal, but this runs into the problem that we are (were?) expecting that to be a fairly quick high level story, to be followed by a couple of year's timeskip.
The Tremere indicated in 1228 that the Tremere Architect would be dispatched to the covenant "before the snow falls", so that implies an Autumn 1228 entry for Darkwing's character at least.
Also: when do we want to start playing OOC?
I think the tribunal still works, but I'm also happy giving players the option to introduce their magi at any point between the tribunal and the point to which the existing magi are advancing. I'd rather avoid having any real stories before that point, though some dialogue and a few minor journeys in the background (as part of the advancement log) are fine.
Why don't we see if we can get character creation wrapped up by the end of next week? Keep in mind though that we Americans are going to be delayed a bit by Thanksgiving.
Scott
So I peek in on the IC threads so they clear the red circle.
I really thought I was in the wrong game and we were talking about Startrek for a second.
Note that you don't generally need to reroll initiative each round - just at the start of the fight.
The fairie fight seems to be stuck. It isn't Theodoric's turn, is it?
Yes it’s his turn, the maga has just told him to strike Lady Ghouri
I've further read into the Mongols, or tartars, as they were called in Europe at the time of the game. It has totally changed what I thought I knew.
here are a few thoughts. This is Mystic Europe, so the timeline and, well, everything, may be different.
In 1223, there was the three day battle of the Kalka, which was basically at the doorstep of the covenant (Kipchak/Russian duchies lost. About 6 Russian dukes were killed in battle or by being wrapped in a carpet and kicked to death - a standard procedure for killing nobles without spilling blood). The Mongols had a deal with Venice: They got detailed intelligence, including maps, of Europe, in exchange for the destruction of Sudak, a Genoese city on the Krim peninsula.
The purpose was to explore, plunder, and punish the Kipchaks for a (perceived) alliance with Choresm.
Genghis Khan died in 1227, which meant it took them some time to reorganize their leadership (4 sons, 4 parts).
1237-1240, the tartars came back to Europe, conquering most of Russia. They beat and massacred the European armies at Liegnitz (Bohemia) and Muhi (Hungary). If it hadn't been for the death of Genghis Khan's successor Ögedai, Europe would most likely have been conquered. As it was, the leader turned back to participate in the selection of a new Khan. In this war, the Kipchaks fought on the Mongol side.
The Mongol empire was nomadic (felt tents called Yurts, horses, camels, sheep and goats), but it was not barbaric. 13th century Mongols used the printing press, paper money, a clever system of post messengers. They had conquered the biggest land empire ever. They believed in Tengri, the shamanic worship of endless blue sky and ancestor worship including genghis Khan, but actively furthered all religions by exempting them from taxes. There was, Bhuddism, Islam, (Nestorian) Christianity, Confucianism etc. The Mongols basically founded Tibetan lamaism by proclaiming the first Dalai Lama. In 1307, the Catholics established an archbishopric in Khanbalik (=Beijing). They were scientifically more advanced than Europe at the time. The forced craftsmen and scientists from all over their empire to resettle to spread their skills and knowledge. Like the Order, they didn't just kill, but offered peoples to join or die before an invasion. The scorched earth tactics were only selectively used as a propaganda tool to convince others to join peacefully.
Yes, I've been keeping the main dates in mind...but if you'd like to handle Mongol-related stories, be my guest.
Scott
Did the 1223 battle happen?
Yes, absolutely.
Scott
I hadn't realised there was a recent battle quite so close by (although after a bit of research, it looks like the exact location is a but uncertain but it was probably at least 50 - 100 miles away, so close-ish, but still several days' / weeks' journey away).
Would Gregorius have found out about it in his attempts to increase his local Area Lore score? It's specifically "Don Delta", so may be a bit outside its scope.
As you can see at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Kalka_River, the Mongols conducted what a lot of historians refer to as a "reconnaissance" in 1221-1223--it covered much of the Caucasus, and the northern Black Sea, including the Genoan outpost of Soldaia on the Crimean Coast. Given the size of the campaign, it's hard to believe that the Order, especially the Theban Tribunal, would have missed it.
Scott
I've thought about your offer of running Mongol stories. On the one hand, I'd like to, on the other hand, I couldn't play my character in them. All in all, I'd rather be a player for the next 6 or so months - and then run something that is not Mongol based.