This was the first time I aided in a giant regional/national plot team and it was a blast! I told the team afterwards that I am going to miss our 2-4 hour plot meetings through facebook video. Not to mention bugging them with crazy ideas for stories and random plots and modules. Whew... I will miss that.
Anyways, here are all my favorite moments. Enjoy!
1) Whoever is the older gentleman that sets up your monster camp? Give him a raise. Because that man is gold in every way. Thank you, nameless sir, for your kind words and your amazing attitude during the event. You are the true hero of this game.
2) All of the NPCs. Seriously... there was a handful of people who had never played before. And they roleplayed with the best of them. It was truly astonishing how awesome you all were and your eagerness to get out there in any role we were offering. Simply amazing.
3) The Veteran NPCs! Wow! You folks know how to make people feel welcomed! I have no doubt in my mind that 90% of your new NPCs will be coming back simply because you showed them the ropes and got them involved. That is amazing! Keep that stuff up!
4) The Plot Team. My work with you was amazing and I am grateful for the chance you gave me by trusting my growth over the years and allowing me to show you my new and improved mentality. All the hard work, the blood, the tears, the laughter... it was truly a most amazing experience. I am just so proud of the work we did. Thank you so much.
(now for the PC stuff)
5) The opening scene. Being able to orate the intro to an audience of 122 people? That was nerve wracking and amazingly enjoyable. I stumbled over the part a few times, but to be able to grasp everyone's attention all at once and show you all what you were about to walk into... and then taking you to all the realms, and watching as people rushed to my side for information! AND to have Ghost Crow there to play off of... body movements, cawing, angry jabs at my side. Whew. Crazy fun! I loved it so much!
6) Watching the first wave of Lost Ones and Vanished enter the town and starting to attack the players. A few dropped and the Vanished were on them like flies to sugar. I could hear the Vanished NPCs say "I enter your mind, do you except!?" and the players being afraid and answering "Um... uh... no?" and then the Vanished simply killing blowing the heck out of folks. Im telling you folks, the mind effects were a lot of fun. Ask all the Biata and Stone Elves!
7) Being GRILLED for information when I came in as Opeliun the first time. Wow. And you folks had some good questions! Not only was it a blast to play that character for the weekend, but to see your reactions to the council's demands, were just priceless. And having 4 people give up portions of their spirits to aid Opeliun in their quest to die... that was amazing as well. More on that in a bit!
8) The Council looking for a Benevolent Healer, a Brave Warrior, a Masterful Celestialist and........ the Cunning Rogue. Ha! Poor Brother Kune. He got the shaft so much. All 26 members of the Council hated him. And it was very obvious. And I loved it.
9) Having the low level hunter mod on Thursday Night. And watching the players have issue with killing the Lost One who was simply trying to gather supplies to leave the realm, since Veska was dead. Only to have the players kill him in cold blood AFTER they got all the information from him. Whew... intense.
10) The FOOD! So good! All meals! Amazing!
11) The 36 Hunters coming to meet the High Shaman and the High Huntress. And then setting them up on 3 separate modules for the "Destined", "The Forged" and "The Exalted".... and then listening to the debate of not wanting to kill savage lizardfolk. Ugh... and so the story of protecting the egg came to be.
12) The Hunt for the White Stag. Setting up the clues across the campsite and having the players return 3 hours later! (And here I thought I put the clues in easy to find places!?) Only to find the white stag and have it run off. Whew. Poor PCs. I am so sorry.
13) The Displacer Beast Quest. So I had some trouble on how to entertain players of high level. After 2 weeks of thought, I came up with this module. A hyper intelligent creature that watched the PCs approach its lair. It set up small traps (sand pit and cliff face) and then fought the PCs with a unique ability to keep the players on their toes. It is a shame that I messed up my leg for this one. But on the plus side, the players gave me a 10 out of 10... which is awesome! I hope you enjoyed that unique module!
14) Thieving Magpies. Holy smokes. That was so entertaining to watch the players have to deal with creatures that stole... EVERYTHING! Paste of Stickiness would have saved the day on that one! Whew! But to watch the players lose all of their gear to these birds, and then try to trick them with coins and silvered weapons... and then stealing their gear back... AND THEN fighting them off and collecting loot? Whew. Fun stuff!
15) The Infamous Clicking and the Roleplay Description Holds. Yeah, in Utah we do description holds, where we describe an area effect. In this situation, the realm/shard itself was alive and trying to eat all of the memories and happy thoughts of the PCs. To watch the players roleplay all the messed up things that were taken from them... it was just good. And, it was one way for just ONE person to entertain the masses and give some fun things for the Biata/Stone Elves to do. Good times, folks. And wow... great roleplay!
16) The Egg Conundrum. Waiting 90 minutes to start our Veska fight was a bit annoying for the plot team (who had other things they wanted to do) but it was also a great chance to see roleplay at its finest. And to use my acting chops to show pure desperation on the Lost Ones of Veska... it was just nice. And when the time was up, and the High Shaman and the High Huntress left the area... to have the PCs rush to us and say "FINE! We will do it!" and then summoning the protector, and cracking open the egg, AND TO HAVE A PC USE A SACRIFICE ON THE BABY!? WHA? So much fun! Of course the Veska fight was great. But man... that roleplay though... Mmmmmm
17) More Vanished. Yum
18) And more Opeliun roleplay. Seriously, sitting down and exacting the price for the magical items that Opeliun was offering was fun. To have players be like "Yup! I will give you the memory of my parents! I hate them" and then to have Opeliun be like "So a defining characteristic of your personality is the relationship you have with your parents. If we remove that, then you will not be the same. You will in fact, be quite the different person. The Council is eager to take this memory to see what you will become!" and then the player is like "Huh, you are right. Nah, I am good!".... so much fun! And then people willing to give Opeliun their life essence just for information!? Wowza.
19) Volley Combat! Oh man... that was a fun fight. Forcing players to look up while the rest of the NPCs moved into you to fight? Siege Weapons are a blast folks! And then to have the PCs find said siege weapons and use them against the NPCs... and then use them against the inner wall of Cidra's fortress? Yaaaaassss!
20) Being the Waterboy and making sure people had sips of water while on hold. A nice touch to the rough combat.
21) Having Opeliun come in and by my voice heal, and by my voice protectives. He fulfilled his duty! He made a promise!
22) Opeliun going crazy since the council split their vote on supporting Cidra. Ugh. And then just dealing with the after effects.
23) 26 killing blows. 26 Vengeance.
24) Watching the Council be destroyed....... and the players making a new council of 26. Taking all the memories, lore, history, etc from inside Aziraphel (sp?) and spreading it throughout the new council... and then letting it go into the shard, thus giving back the memories of the Vanished!? What... the... hell... Players you be super intelligent. You win with that move right there!
25) And finally, watching Ben play Captain Marcus from the teaser, slowly regaining his memory of Onwen... and then the players putting him to rest.
26) OH! One more... going to the auction and watching Petra/Creepy run up to the table and be like "I want that. But I come from a poor shard. This is all I have. Can I please have that?" and the rest of the Auction being like "We will bid for you!" and pulling in like... 16 gold for the item she wanted? Whew... crazy.
I am sure there is more. But holy smokes. This was a great event! I can't wait for Nationals in 2020!