GM Announcements

[Boogiepop]

Pregame

To help players acquaint themselves with the board, posting, and more importantly, find their character personality/voice (very important), we will be running a pre-game starting from Saturday, November 1st and ending with the start of Day 1 on Tuesday, November 4th. This is entirely optional, of course.

Please remember that since it is Day 0, absolutely no rolling will be done here. If you or your character puts themselves in a situation where rolling is required for resolution, something has gone wrong.

To keep things light and manageable, as is the purpose of Day 0, only two thread/topic participations will be allowed per character. How participation will differ whether your character is a guest/visitor or a local/resident.

Guests and Visitors of Shiawase Island
All Guests and Visitors will likely be travelling to Shiawase Island via space shuttle, the preferred and fastest means of travel on the Green Carp. Many will be connecting to their destination on the Skycarp and passing by the shuttle terminal. One of your two allowed threads must be here.

A small reminder about Time Slots, here. Do not create another thread here if one already exists!

Your remaining allowed thread can be anywhere on the island. Take this opportunity to show your character post-landing on the island and acquainting themselves before turning in for the night. Perhaps a quick bite at the local izakaya? Or some late sightseeing?

Locals and Residents of Shiawase Island
Locals and Residents of Shiawase Island, those who have been living on the Island before the start of the game, may have two threads anywhere on the island.

One of those two threads may take place anywhere from the present to the month of Monkey (Late Summer) 3124. It is currently the month of Dog (Late Autumn) 3125, for context. They can take this opportunity to have a flashback scene and cement their character's connection to the island. This could put the character in a time before Governor Yasuki Ayame's rule, an admittedly quieter time in the island's recent history.

Also, who knows what small tidbits can be gleaned from the island's past?

It is recommended to communicate with your fellow locals if you wish to participate in this manner, especially when the number of locals is admittedly small.

[Boogiepop]

Regarding: The Use of AI Art

From the desk of Boogiepop

This is concerning the use of AI Art and my position on it. Personally, I can’t say I’m in favour of images generated by AI.

I will start by saying that the creation of art is a difficult process, requiring talent, learned skill, and time invested into fine-tuning that craft. It can be easy to take those factors for granted when admiring the finished product. Commissioning of art is admittedly expensive, understandably so with all of these factors put together and an artist being tasked to draw something outside of their personal portfolio. Even as someone who has been commissioning art for probably 15 years by now, I understand it's an interest that few have and/or not something I expect anyone to do without difficulty when it comes to procuring custom art, especially in today's economy.

AI generative tools are trending easily at the moment, providing an easy means to generate custom images. While much of it looks questionable, it does continue to get "better". However, my issue with the medium is not a matter of aesthetics but ethics, both when it comes to environmental impacts and questionable data feeding. I personally don't find myself in favour of this medium and cannot be supportive of any images generated with AI. That's my stance. Instead, I would encourage others to consider fair use of art, especially when done so in a non-profit setting, such as this one. If possible, it would also help to note the source of the art. I understand the internet is a large place, and it is a habit I wish to pick up more over time.

There won't be any enforcement done regarding the use of AI images. It has made its way to many avenues on the internet, it is difficult to avoid, and can be hard to detect. However, I do implore people to exercise some consideration and refrain from any deliberate use within this game, please and thank you.

-Boogieop

Art by haetchi

[Boogiepop]

Small adjustment and reminder to the Bidding Roll metagame.

All non-Crab with Gentry, an advantage that generates Bid Points, will have them only generated upon the once-per-session Bidding Roll (regardless of pass or fail, you will generate your Gentry Bid Points, to be clear), to streamline the process. It is there where you will decide where your Gentry-generated points will go toward, along with any Bid Points earned from the once-per-session Bidding Roll.

Non-Crab are not allowed to bank these Bid Points for later.

Crab Clan samurai (and ronin) are allowed to bank these Bid Points, but please remember they must be spent at the end of Sessions 2 and 3.

Also, I would suggest people make a thread in their PF to roll and assign their Bid Points.

[Boogiepop]

Day 0 Start

Day 0 will start shortly within the hour. Please remember to check this announcement where we've laid out the rules of Day 0.

A reminder, since this is a soft open, you are only allowed two threads on Day 0.

Another reminder that with the game underway, the focus of the GMs will be on the board first and discord second. While it may be easy to field questions or comments on discord, I can't guarantee that I will see them. So, I ask that any questions or issues be posted on this board. Public questions may also help others in the future when they might use the handy search function to see if their own questions might have been answered.

General setting questions and mechanical rules (such as school tech or what to roll) should be asked here. At the moment, it will be also where we will be entertaining NPC requests after Day 0.

Event questions will have a separate thread and be dedicated specifically to that day, so that they don't get lumped together in a primordial blob. A Day 1 thread for Day 1 Events and such.

Finally, hello and welcome! Let me thank you for returning to Banner. An extra thank you to those who are joining us for the first time. I'm happy that you're giving us a try. Enjoy the game, everyone!

[Boogiepop]

Day 0 is now starting!

[Boogiepop]

Days

Day 1 and the official game will be starting in less than 24 hours from now, on November 4th, North American morning Eastern Standard Time.

You can keep posting on the previous 'Day' even when the Day changes, especially if there is still much to do in the scene. It is suggested, however, that the scene could move towards a possible conclusion for all parties involved.

Keep in mind that all dice and rolling activities cannot be done on days past, save for every specific situations allowed by the GM. This will be a non-factor for Day 0, but will apply for the future Days. Rolling for events and Bidding Rolls for activities on that day cannot be done once the Day has been flipped.

[Hatoful GM]

Gossip and Rumors

A line has been added to the rules for Gossip and Rumors, stating that all rolls and rumor posting for an IC day need to be completed the night before that IC day ends. I gotta sleep!

[Boogiepop]

Game Start

The 'official' start of the game with Day 1!

[Hatoful GM]

Event Rolls

Going forward, please post your Event Rolls in your Event Post instead of your Personal Forum.,

[Boogiepop]

Events

Going forward, we still aim to close Events approximately 12 hours before the day flip (approximately 10 pm EST) as a general standard.

There's a bit of math and winner declaration we want to complete so that we can smoothly flip to the next day.

[Boogiepop]

Experience Points and Events

Just a small reminder, experience points spent come into effect on the next day after they are spent. They do not come into effect on the same 'day' (as in it needs to wait for the day flip).

This is the same for Event winnings, they do not come into effect until the next IC 'day'.

[Hatoful GM]

D3 is the last day of Session 1!

Make sure you get your bid rolls done before D3 closes, which is about 12 hours before D4 begins.

[Boogiepop]

End of Session 1

Another obligatory reminder here!

D3 is the last day of Session 1!

Make sure you get your bid rolls done before D3 closes, which is about 12 hours before D4 begins.

The event is scheduled to close in approximately 13 hours from now, that is closed and locked for editing. Please consider that for all fluff posts to be written.
The same goes regarding the Once-Per-Session Bid Rolls.

Once you miss your window, you will not be able to go back!

In approximately 24 hours from now, Day 4 and Session 2 will begin.

[Boogiepop]

Day 5

Just trying to catch up on a few things! The start of Day 5 should still be tomorrow, but there will be a slight delay of a few hours from our usual start time.

[Boogiepop]

Fantasy Fight Qualifiers

I will be wrapping up Fantasy Fight Qualifiers in around or less than 10 hours from now. Please get in if you wish to compete!

[Hatoful GM]

D6 is the last IC day of Session 2. Bid rolls need to be completed before the end of the session. Exceptions will not be made this time.

[Boogiepop]

Day 6

From the desk of Boogiepop

Hello everyone!

We are approximately at the halfway point of the game, and I want to thank everyone for their participation here. Everyone has been great so far, showing much appreciated patience with the GM team, and incidents are at a low.

I'm happy and having fun, albeit busy. And, I hope everyone is doing well and also having fun. Let's make it a great next 6 'Days' of gaming! Thank you for being a part of Banner of the Stars!

-Boogieop

[Boogiepop]

Day 7

Day 7 will start a few hours later than our usual time (I didn't set a time but I have been like clockwork on most Days). A combination of Weekend sleep-in morning (if I give myself that luxury) and a bigger day to set up.

Thank you for your patience!

[Hatoful GM]

Oshidama:

This is an event which requires everyone to complete their rolls before the next round of rolling can commence. Please be a good citizen of the game and complete your rolling as soon as you are able.

Thank you!

[Boogiepop]

Day 8

There will be a day extension for Day 8 to facilitate more IC time and/or Thanksgiving activities for our fellow American players and co-GM!

The change is as follows...

(November 25th to November 28th, day flip on November 29th)