Nationals 2018 favorite moments
- Thread starter Cedric
- Start date
Parzivel
Artisan
- Making a new Scion. She still has new Scion smell (dried blood). #NottooSciontoScion
- The Hunt. When your Healer is throwing Deaths at you, on purpose, it's gonna be a good day.
- Meeting some great new people (Durnik, Jeebus, Vellis)
- Finding out how much I really like some great old people (Toadstone, Rourke)
- "Are you GREAT FIGHTER?? You touch me five time, I OUT. I touch you five time, YOU OUT."
- Getting to wear my belt for once.
- Sound Elemental fight. Quickly obvious that I was a toddler playing with the big kids, and it was such a fun, interesting, mechanical fight. Despite miscommunications and last minute alterations, it looked like it was made that way. Good job plot on the fly.
- Raganzi. There is NO WAY that attitude is real. No one has a hand cut off by the fae, a leg torn off by a tower, gets used as a living shield, and still shines that bright. It's gotta be drugs.
- From the moment Cassie drove up, my happiness was complete. Cassie makes the game better for Will. Arikaya makes the world better for everyone.
- Tough talk with my squire.
- Distressingly rational and calm conversation with Baron Loophole.
- Little Sister. Some say she has a heart of ice, but I know the truth. It is made of pure and bitter darkness the likes of which will end the world.... and I love her for it.
- The Tower. From the moment I heard "We need you guys to NPC in 30 minutes to make this a really hard mod" and then "You can't NPC, we're going on a mod in 30".... I knew it would rock. I don't get to fight my own very often, and they make it HARD. SO GOOD AND HARD. That was my favorite of the weekend.
- The NPCing was so amazing. Specifically acting wise. So many times, I found myself falling a little out of character just appreciating their proficiency. I will find names, and I will make sure they get called out.
- Food. Nice work. I've gushed on you guys in other places, but I really did like it.
- Carrying around a hammer I couldn't use, that had no magical powers, and loving it.
- Talking to Jeebus about mythological Orcs and Ogres.
- Talking to Arikaya about Oaths and Cultures, Cabbages and Kings.
- The smell of burning Orc. The whole bit with the Dryads was so wonderful. The Scions worked so hard to stop the bloodshed that I feel a little nauseous in retrospect. That's just what we do now.
- "Kendrick's Table". heh. That one might haunt me. I didn't get to see much of him this weekend, but I always love the moments I have.
That's all I have right now. Add more as I remember. Thank you, all.
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Leora Wambach
Newbie
Home, bathed, full accounting of bodily pains noted. May I just say...ow. Man, though, what a good game. Most of my favorite moments surround one thing in particular, but I'll branch out here, too. That said, though, I have to start with the most important.
*KAI ALIS!: I have been playing Alliance for nearly five years, and in that time, Alis has steadily grown a deeper love and loyalty for the Scions of Valarion. It has always been something of a bittersweet thing that she was an outsider. Imagine her surprise when she was suddenly informed that she was being given the chance to finally wear colors. And then the hard work of the hunt itself, the edges of nervous energy every time a Scion appeared, and the desperation to succeed; so ******* incredible. Alis finally got her official spot in her chosen family and she could simpy not be happier.
*Kendrick, holy -wow- man. Thank you so much for the intense (even if brief) interactions. You managed to instill a solid mixture of emotions in Alis that was uncertainty, determination and then finally defiance. I really enjoyed our interactions in the hunt, and after.
*Throwing death spells at Parzivel on purpose.
The look of stunned DELIGHT was absolutely wonderful and would have been way better if it had actually worked. Stupid spell shield.
*The exceptionally difficult fight on Friday evening. I was only healing TWO PEOPLE. Went in with almost a full healing pool, walked out having used every single spell in my arsenal AND all of my healing potions. Holy crap. What a well written piece of nonsense. I really loved it. The fights that feel dangerous and scary are my favorites.
*On that note, the scary glowy creatures fight Saturday night is one of my favorites in LARPing history. My understanding is that it was written by Darrin - WELL DONE, MAN! So ******* scary, so tense, so dangerous. I'm literally astonished no one had to rez. Great effects, great work done by the NPCs, and it was even better because of family.
*Meeting the Summer King and the Winter Queen at the fae party, and also getting to be completely and utterly freaked the **** out (OOCly, like BEHIND Alis) by the Redcap played by Will. That was a truly uncomfortable experience and reminds me what a truly fantastic roleplayer he is. Likewise, Paola outdid herself as the winter queen - shades of Melisande Shahrizai, and Paxton was delightfully charming as the Summer King. Well done, all of you.
*The completely wonderful surprise that came when Elevir would absolutely NOT show Alis trust enough to loan a belt but Darius did. Bonkers! Completely ******* bonkers.
*Chats with Sandro. It's so funny how friendships develop.
*The levity of the burnt forest situation and the resulting opinions of the visiting savages.
*Food! Oh my gosh. Thank you for the delicious meats and other things. I appreciate the effort of providing keto friendly options and I look forward to seeing what else you guys can do.
BONUS SECTION OF COOL STUFF:
*I did NOT get dehydrated or sunburn my eyes!
*KAI ALIS!: I have been playing Alliance for nearly five years, and in that time, Alis has steadily grown a deeper love and loyalty for the Scions of Valarion. It has always been something of a bittersweet thing that she was an outsider. Imagine her surprise when she was suddenly informed that she was being given the chance to finally wear colors. And then the hard work of the hunt itself, the edges of nervous energy every time a Scion appeared, and the desperation to succeed; so ******* incredible. Alis finally got her official spot in her chosen family and she could simpy not be happier.
*Kendrick, holy -wow- man. Thank you so much for the intense (even if brief) interactions. You managed to instill a solid mixture of emotions in Alis that was uncertainty, determination and then finally defiance. I really enjoyed our interactions in the hunt, and after.
*Throwing death spells at Parzivel on purpose.
The look of stunned DELIGHT was absolutely wonderful and would have been way better if it had actually worked. Stupid spell shield.*The exceptionally difficult fight on Friday evening. I was only healing TWO PEOPLE. Went in with almost a full healing pool, walked out having used every single spell in my arsenal AND all of my healing potions. Holy crap. What a well written piece of nonsense.
I really loved it. The fights that feel dangerous and scary are my favorites.*On that note, the scary glowy creatures fight Saturday night is one of my favorites in LARPing history. My understanding is that it was written by Darrin - WELL DONE, MAN! So ******* scary, so tense, so dangerous. I'm literally astonished no one had to rez. Great effects, great work done by the NPCs, and it was even better because of family.
*Meeting the Summer King and the Winter Queen at the fae party, and also getting to be completely and utterly freaked the **** out (OOCly, like BEHIND Alis) by the Redcap played by Will. That was a truly uncomfortable experience and reminds me what a truly fantastic roleplayer he is. Likewise, Paola outdid herself as the winter queen - shades of Melisande Shahrizai, and Paxton was delightfully charming as the Summer King. Well done, all of you.
*The completely wonderful surprise that came when Elevir would absolutely NOT show Alis trust enough to loan a belt but Darius did. Bonkers! Completely ******* bonkers.
*Chats with Sandro. It's so funny how friendships develop.
*The levity of the burnt forest situation and the resulting opinions of the visiting savages.
*Food! Oh my gosh. Thank you for the delicious meats and other things. I appreciate the effort of providing keto friendly options and I look forward to seeing what else you guys can do.
BONUS SECTION OF COOL STUFF:
*I did NOT get dehydrated or sunburn my eyes!
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Lenyria
Newbie
Okaaaay. So I have a laundry list of things that stood out to me at this game. I'm sure I'm forgetting SOMETHING, but here's what my addled brain has on a Sunday night after game:
~ That map they created of the land we were exploring, and the system of how to send out scouting missions was really immersive and cool!
~ There were some incredible moments with the dryad grove bit that really got to me. I loved how I was able to build a connection with the dryads, with Durnic, and with Liren. It was one of the first times I was able to incorporate how Mevanwy felt when the Juren had to evacuate their homes, and it really helped me develop her character. Not only that, but the whole set of interactions with the NPC Dryads and then the PC Dryads helped Mevanwy realize she cared more about those groves than she once did. And that was cool to see.
~ Finally making a connection with an Eld, and playing out the evolution from hate to disinterest to cautious colleague and then to possible friend potential. It's been in small moments over time, but this weekend I really saw it.
~ The Fae party. While I didn't expect them to have me sit next to the king the whole time, and for him to flirt with me.... it was incredibly fun for her to be able to show her confusion about what all the fuss was with these parties. I had really fun conversation with Alis there, and it was a fun moment.
~ The moment where I did exactly what I told others NOT to do, and Mevanwy made a deal with the fae. She thought it out fora very long time, and she made it the most red-lined, cause-filled deal... one that made it so she pretty much didn't have to do anything for them.... and in turn received information about hte Dragon Mage.
~ It was cool to see Plue and Demvarion with their Biata shenanigans, and the roleplay with Demvarion as he informed me that the fae messed with our memories so that we wouldn't know how they got the information about the dragon mage. That was fun.
~ The entire scene where the PCs went to the Living Terminal and donated of their body to rebuild the dryad grove that had been set aflame by one of the PCs. That was incredible, touching, had so much amazing roleplay, and ended with a recovery puddle of awesome.. where 30-ish people who had donated and suddenly felt drained had collapsed into a puddle of cuddles on the forest floor. Then, with Peat singing, it became an incredibly relaxing moment.
~ The really difficult sound elemental battle was really fun!
~ Tivi and Thran, my two REindeeykyn friends... they helped make my weekend incredible! <3 Just by being there and being so amazing at roleplay!
~ Every interaction with Peat. Because all the fun was had
~ The mod where we got to see a hallucinating pair of Reindeer, as well as Peat, Lumi, Jax, Mevanwy, and Lagarde all hallucinating teehee. It was so much fun! The whole group thinking that the best way to open the door locked with a glyph was to lick the glyph.... and then to lick the guy guarding the door... was so great! (Thanks to that NPC for being so engaging and for going wit the flow!) The negotiation of "Physical Roleplay negotiation, are you okay if my character licks you, and I promise I won' ACTUALLY lick you?" was so amusing.
~ That Saturday night battle was amazing. It was so difficult and I was actually scared. It was really well done, and I hope to see more fights force both teamwork and even small-group work.
~ I loved the roleplay regarding the Dragon Mage, and how several of us tried to actually use logic to figure out who the real bad guys were.
~ I loved the puzzle with the "Master"s Lair, and saving the young girl from there for her brother... and freeing all those slaves. It was really good story, and the group was fantastic. That was some of the best tactics I've seen.
~ The ciphers and the ritual at the Fancy Party! That was a really cool thing to be a part of.
~ I loved the story revolving around all those people being trapped in the penance stone, and the play as we were putting in the resources to free them.
~ The "Kiss"toxicate. It was hilarious. And being intoxicated while doing an agility-based mod was great!
~ Carrying Lumi on my back as we challenge the cave-men to see who can hold someone on their backs longer. It took so long we ended up doing squats with them on our backs, and I won!
~ So many caring people being there for me in my times of need <3. Love you all.
~ The late-night discussions about what to do with the shard, and realizing that we are somehow politicking at 3am.
~ The early morning decision to take the dryads to the Shard seed to steal it so we can give it to the Dryads before people can decide otherwise, only to learn that the seed had already been taken.
~ That map they created of the land we were exploring, and the system of how to send out scouting missions was really immersive and cool!
~ There were some incredible moments with the dryad grove bit that really got to me. I loved how I was able to build a connection with the dryads, with Durnic, and with Liren. It was one of the first times I was able to incorporate how Mevanwy felt when the Juren had to evacuate their homes, and it really helped me develop her character. Not only that, but the whole set of interactions with the NPC Dryads and then the PC Dryads helped Mevanwy realize she cared more about those groves than she once did. And that was cool to see.
~ Finally making a connection with an Eld, and playing out the evolution from hate to disinterest to cautious colleague and then to possible friend potential. It's been in small moments over time, but this weekend I really saw it.
~ The Fae party. While I didn't expect them to have me sit next to the king the whole time, and for him to flirt with me.... it was incredibly fun for her to be able to show her confusion about what all the fuss was with these parties. I had really fun conversation with Alis there, and it was a fun moment.
~ The moment where I did exactly what I told others NOT to do, and Mevanwy made a deal with the fae. She thought it out fora very long time, and she made it the most red-lined, cause-filled deal... one that made it so she pretty much didn't have to do anything for them.... and in turn received information about hte Dragon Mage.
~ It was cool to see Plue and Demvarion with their Biata shenanigans, and the roleplay with Demvarion as he informed me that the fae messed with our memories so that we wouldn't know how they got the information about the dragon mage. That was fun.
~ The entire scene where the PCs went to the Living Terminal and donated of their body to rebuild the dryad grove that had been set aflame by one of the PCs. That was incredible, touching, had so much amazing roleplay, and ended with a recovery puddle of awesome.. where 30-ish people who had donated and suddenly felt drained had collapsed into a puddle of cuddles on the forest floor. Then, with Peat singing, it became an incredibly relaxing moment.
~ The really difficult sound elemental battle was really fun!
~ Tivi and Thran, my two REindeeykyn friends... they helped make my weekend incredible! <3 Just by being there and being so amazing at roleplay!
~ Every interaction with Peat. Because all the fun was had
~ The mod where we got to see a hallucinating pair of Reindeer, as well as Peat, Lumi, Jax, Mevanwy, and Lagarde all hallucinating teehee. It was so much fun! The whole group thinking that the best way to open the door locked with a glyph was to lick the glyph.... and then to lick the guy guarding the door... was so great! (Thanks to that NPC for being so engaging and for going wit the flow!) The negotiation of "Physical Roleplay negotiation, are you okay if my character licks you, and I promise I won' ACTUALLY lick you?" was so amusing.
~ That Saturday night battle was amazing. It was so difficult and I was actually scared. It was really well done, and I hope to see more fights force both teamwork and even small-group work.
~ I loved the roleplay regarding the Dragon Mage, and how several of us tried to actually use logic to figure out who the real bad guys were.
~ I loved the puzzle with the "Master"s Lair, and saving the young girl from there for her brother... and freeing all those slaves. It was really good story, and the group was fantastic. That was some of the best tactics I've seen.
~ The ciphers and the ritual at the Fancy Party! That was a really cool thing to be a part of.
~ I loved the story revolving around all those people being trapped in the penance stone, and the play as we were putting in the resources to free them.
~ The "Kiss"toxicate. It was hilarious. And being intoxicated while doing an agility-based mod was great!
~ Carrying Lumi on my back as we challenge the cave-men to see who can hold someone on their backs longer. It took so long we ended up doing squats with them on our backs, and I won!
~ So many caring people being there for me in my times of need <3. Love you all.
~ The late-night discussions about what to do with the shard, and realizing that we are somehow politicking at 3am.
~ The early morning decision to take the dryads to the Shard seed to steal it so we can give it to the Dryads before people can decide otherwise, only to learn that the seed had already been taken.
Lenyria
Newbie
I do have to at least add another one, because this was big for me, but I was really tired last night:
~ I was so excited to get more opportunities to stand up and show leadership potential as Mevanwy. She volunteered to help lead the team to the Compound. It was originally labeled as "Minimum 20 people", and I started organizing just like a Juren would. Eventually we ended up with 50+ people attending, and I was working with Liren and Emaric to hold the leadership sides down. It was really incredible, and I hope I get more chances to step up and be more involved.
~ I was so excited to get more opportunities to stand up and show leadership potential as Mevanwy. She volunteered to help lead the team to the Compound. It was originally labeled as "Minimum 20 people", and I started organizing just like a Juren would. Eventually we ended up with 50+ people attending, and I was working with Liren and Emaric to hold the leadership sides down. It was really incredible, and I hope I get more chances to step up and be more involved.
James Hunt
Newbie
Johan (Studded leather clad warrior and blacksmith) - Exploring the map, I thought the whole concept with the scouts and missions was really cool.
Castlelot (former pirate, now halberd wielding warrior)- Going on tons of mods. My favorite moment was 'taking the initiative', with a little encouragement, and preemptively dispatching a ratman during our encounter.
Kennedy (Diminutive but mischievous hobbling alchemist) - The page's mod was really cool. We were in this cave, and had to challenge the monsters to contests. We did a staring contest, push-ups, jumping, sit-ups, and I did a dance-off. The passwords we got afterwards were really funny.
Templeton (Greying templar with button shield)- Epic event! Here are a few of my favorites-
The map/scout mechanic was very cool, and a great way to organize such a large event.
Thursday's cave mod. Crawling through caverns with hallucinatory mushrooms, I'm still sure the answer to the riddle was 12 Loved jumping chasms with the group roped up, and then seeing Dave shine in his duel with one of the guardians.
The empathy initially felt for the ratmen, they were just like the street urchins Templeton grew up with and later cared for, and the dismay when our encounter went South and violence erupted. Its always good fun when things don't go quite right.
The Fae party was awesome. It felt exactly as a Fae party should, with levity and danger in every discussion. "Five touches, you win grand prize, five touches I win, you lose hand." I'll learn from a red cap any night
And while the most beautiful of Fae were unable to get Templeton out of his armor (he is a bashful sort), the hunt certainly did it! I really enjoyed that, and even more props to the shenanigans pulled by some of the hunters. Exactly what should be expected of pirates
Just kuddos to everyone who played a Fae at the party, my favorite rping of the weekend.
The page content Saturday was awesome. Thank you to Candace, Jenn, and everyone who put that together and led our little ones around while we were off gallivanting. The kiddos had an amazing time, and the 3 I know can't stop talking about it and planning for next time. Plus they buy the cutest stuff with their gold.
The blue/orange cards, thank you Trace and everyone else who contributed to those, especially the orphan cache, my personal favorite.
Listening from outside the dragon-mage's castle to the epic battle within. It was just cool to hear 'By my voice, destruction' and other heavy's being thrown around.
The sadness felt upon hearing the shard would be destroyed, and then the joy when we saved it for the Dryads.
Spending time with Thorgrim and Cinder in the kitchen, serving and washing. You guys are awesome in so many ways, not least of which is the cooking!
Saturday night fight was awesome. I was given both the gifts of death and life during that one. Super scary outsiders!
Lastly, this is my 3rd event, and in a way my favorite so far. Now knowing a few folks, I felt at home in the game. It is just so much fun having people know who you are and call you by name! Templeton and Bladrym's friendship is my bedrock, and many a time I would be lost without him. Hero Toadstone, always a favorite to shoulder up with. Also, my time with everyone in Warchester was a source for great fun, and made this gather special for me.
Again, thanks to everyone in plot/NPC camp who made this happen. The time, talents, love, and energy is amazing. Thanks for making a special place for me and my kids to make-believe in.
Castlelot (former pirate, now halberd wielding warrior)- Going on tons of mods. My favorite moment was 'taking the initiative', with a little encouragement, and preemptively dispatching a ratman during our encounter.
Kennedy (Diminutive but mischievous hobbling alchemist) - The page's mod was really cool. We were in this cave, and had to challenge the monsters to contests. We did a staring contest, push-ups, jumping, sit-ups, and I did a dance-off. The passwords we got afterwards were really funny.
Templeton (Greying templar with button shield)- Epic event! Here are a few of my favorites-
The map/scout mechanic was very cool, and a great way to organize such a large event.
Thursday's cave mod. Crawling through caverns with hallucinatory mushrooms, I'm still sure the answer to the riddle was 12
Loved jumping chasms with the group roped up, and then seeing Dave shine in his duel with one of the guardians.The empathy initially felt for the ratmen, they were just like the street urchins Templeton grew up with and later cared for, and the dismay when our encounter went South and violence erupted. Its always good fun when things don't go quite right.
The Fae party was awesome. It felt exactly as a Fae party should, with levity and danger in every discussion. "Five touches, you win grand prize, five touches I win, you lose hand." I'll learn from a red cap any night
And while the most beautiful of Fae were unable to get Templeton out of his armor (he is a bashful sort), the hunt certainly did it! I really enjoyed that, and even more props to the shenanigans pulled by some of the hunters. Exactly what should be expected of pirates
Just kuddos to everyone who played a Fae at the party, my favorite rping of the weekend.
The page content Saturday was awesome. Thank you to Candace, Jenn, and everyone who put that together and led our little ones around while we were off gallivanting. The kiddos had an amazing time, and the 3 I know can't stop talking about it and planning for next time. Plus they buy the cutest stuff with their gold.
The blue/orange cards, thank you Trace and everyone else who contributed to those, especially the orphan cache, my personal favorite.
Listening from outside the dragon-mage's castle to the epic battle within. It was just cool to hear 'By my voice, destruction' and other heavy's being thrown around.
The sadness felt upon hearing the shard would be destroyed, and then the joy when we saved it for the Dryads.
Spending time with Thorgrim and Cinder in the kitchen, serving and washing. You guys are awesome in so many ways, not least of which is the cooking!
Saturday night fight was awesome. I was given both the gifts of death and life during that one. Super scary outsiders!
Lastly, this is my 3rd event, and in a way my favorite so far. Now knowing a few folks, I felt at home in the game. It is just so much fun having people know who you are and call you by name! Templeton and Bladrym's friendship is my bedrock, and many a time I would be lost without him. Hero Toadstone, always a favorite to shoulder up with. Also, my time with everyone in Warchester was a source for great fun, and made this gather special for me.
Again, thanks to everyone in plot/NPC camp who made this happen. The time, talents, love, and energy is amazing. Thanks for making a special place for me and my kids to make-believe in.
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p.richard
Scholar
Where do i begin...
1. The bleeding eye hunt. Nothing went right. From the "no camp fire" at the last minute, to the tiki torches breaking, to the food taking forever to cook, and so on. But we rolled with the punches and then ended up having some awesome encounters with everyone. I truly enjoyed the spirit of the game and watching people grow a relationship and community with each other. Special thanks to the npcs for that portion of the event.
2. Npcing all day friday. I loved npcing! So much fun behind the scenes. And so much laughter and joy. I ALMOST npced the whole event after that shift. Almost.
3. The friday night mods with the orcs and other utah folks. Seeing our dysfunction and suffering. It was sad. But it helped us grow as a group and we learned what to do better.
4. Tiatar. All of them. From playing the "youre dead" gane with the squire, to the brotherly bromance with Emeric, the love i have for the baron and baroness, and just... all the adventures we went on. It was amazing. I cant wait to get more of that.
5. The food! Thorgrim and Cinder are amazing. And the roleplay in the kitchen was so much fun. If you guys ever need a bouncer... i am your orc.
6. The whole setting. Seeing so many people. And interacting with old friends from all over the nation. Making new friends from all over as well! Travelling will happen to those chapters, this is certain.
7. The burning of the woods. This one is hard for me. Not only did it show Bones that he has much more work ahead of him as a leader, but it showed him the consequences of anger and hate. Watching his newly founded member go of and do something so drastic, that potentially put the whole town at risk, really tore Bones up inside. Roleplaying that was super emotional. And it only came to a head when he sacrificed himself to the dryads in hopes to help the town. Then, the circle Spectre and instead of beating him to death... embrace him as a brother and tell him how much he means to the tribe... it was so awesome. I only wish i could have gone to the groves and helped with the lufe essence.
8. Taking out my anger on that dominus golem... and beating it senseless with most of my skills. Whew... what a fight. And to see the town work together to fight it. Awesome.
9. The whole community. I really love this game and i adore how it protects and helps cultivate a beautiful and awesome setting. Everyone is so inviting and excepting. It makes me proud to be a member. This event really showed what NATIONALS is all about. I know i have made lifelong friends by coming to this game. Well played.
Paul Iverson
Aka Thousand Bones
1. The bleeding eye hunt. Nothing went right. From the "no camp fire" at the last minute, to the tiki torches breaking, to the food taking forever to cook, and so on. But we rolled with the punches and then ended up having some awesome encounters with everyone. I truly enjoyed the spirit of the game and watching people grow a relationship and community with each other. Special thanks to the npcs for that portion of the event.
2. Npcing all day friday. I loved npcing! So much fun behind the scenes. And so much laughter and joy. I ALMOST npced the whole event after that shift. Almost.
3. The friday night mods with the orcs and other utah folks. Seeing our dysfunction and suffering. It was sad. But it helped us grow as a group and we learned what to do better.
4. Tiatar. All of them. From playing the "youre dead" gane with the squire, to the brotherly bromance with Emeric, the love i have for the baron and baroness, and just... all the adventures we went on. It was amazing. I cant wait to get more of that.
5. The food! Thorgrim and Cinder are amazing. And the roleplay in the kitchen was so much fun. If you guys ever need a bouncer... i am your orc.
6. The whole setting. Seeing so many people. And interacting with old friends from all over the nation. Making new friends from all over as well! Travelling will happen to those chapters, this is certain.
7. The burning of the woods. This one is hard for me. Not only did it show Bones that he has much more work ahead of him as a leader, but it showed him the consequences of anger and hate. Watching his newly founded member go of and do something so drastic, that potentially put the whole town at risk, really tore Bones up inside. Roleplaying that was super emotional. And it only came to a head when he sacrificed himself to the dryads in hopes to help the town. Then, the circle Spectre and instead of beating him to death... embrace him as a brother and tell him how much he means to the tribe... it was so awesome. I only wish i could have gone to the groves and helped with the lufe essence.
8. Taking out my anger on that dominus golem... and beating it senseless with most of my skills. Whew... what a fight. And to see the town work together to fight it. Awesome.
9. The whole community. I really love this game and i adore how it protects and helps cultivate a beautiful and awesome setting. Everyone is so inviting and excepting. It makes me proud to be a member. This event really showed what NATIONALS is all about. I know i have made lifelong friends by coming to this game. Well played.
Paul Iverson
Aka Thousand Bones
Siren Aspen
Newbie
Oh goodness, where do I begin?
This was the third time ever I've played Alura, the white healing goatkyn, because normally I NPC Colorado events. You may have seen me being affectionate towards my mate Nevrin, the archer Ravenkyn, and otherwise trailing along behind him. I had such a brilliantly fun time! Here's a couple that stood out to me in no particular order:
- going to the gate with Baron Morningtide and interacting with the construct-knight there. The role-play, the general attitude, slight bickering with Bones, the puzzle which was surprisingly difficult, and getting permission to touch the hand of the Knight and understand him more. Stone elves are so neat and I loved how Paul Sr. played that out. It was a great mod. Thank you Taylor as well!
- going into a tunnel with the Tiatar collective (absolutely amazing getting to actually PC with you all!) and ending up with the sweet ratman Wehan who I hope gets to Acarthia safely! Also, debating if I wanted to touch the bone construct and whether or not it would take my fur with it.
- heading up to the tavern from the tent in the midst of the ratmen battle, becoming surrounded by about three of them and standing nearly perfectly still. They stopped, I said "I'm terribly sorry for getting on your way. May I please pass peacefully?" To which they kind of superst and after a second one of them asked "ratman trade?" It qaw a great moment of just "did that really happen?" And usually being on NPC side, I could hear the momentary grinding of gears because I didn't want to fight.
- during the sound wave battle, being an actual healer, getting people up and out, honestly it was one of the highlights of my weekend. This battle had such fun mechanics and I'm so glad to have been there to see it! Well done guys!
- the fae party was pretty cool, definitely had a level of ambience that I wasn't expecting, and the lighting outside was wonderful. The person playing the violin, Faust I believe, is also a fantastic musician and should be very proud.
- meeting a few people who I was greatly looking forward to, such as Captain Roberts, Baroness Tiatar and her husband, Baron Darius (Baron loophole,) and meeting Captain Lagarde who is someone I've been dying to meet in character. Also, meeting new friends such as Tivi and Thran the reindeerkyn, all the Calgary folks, and generally getting to be known. I am so excited to PC again.
- during the big battle Saturday night, watching Roberts go running past in fear one direction, then the other, then having him be dragged into the tavern by Nevrin and having to charm him to break the fear. Such a great moment!
Also, thank you to everyone who commented on the masks Nevrin and I were wearing, Miguel made them both and has done such a fantastic job! All of the compliments and comments about how sickeningly cute we are were also greatly appreciated! Many adventures from behind the scenes and between the lines of this nationals event will be seen in my comic, The After LARPers.
[Edit:] also, being attacked by a tired and run down ratman who had been getting attacked by Nevrin and Lucien and Aden, and standing still so he missed all of his attacks until I could charm him. Then checking to make sure he was ok once he was dead. Goodness, I love our npcs.
This was the third time ever I've played Alura, the white healing goatkyn, because normally I NPC Colorado events. You may have seen me being affectionate towards my mate Nevrin, the archer Ravenkyn, and otherwise trailing along behind him. I had such a brilliantly fun time! Here's a couple that stood out to me in no particular order:
- going to the gate with Baron Morningtide and interacting with the construct-knight there. The role-play, the general attitude, slight bickering with Bones, the puzzle which was surprisingly difficult, and getting permission to touch the hand of the Knight and understand him more. Stone elves are so neat and I loved how Paul Sr. played that out. It was a great mod. Thank you Taylor as well!
- going into a tunnel with the Tiatar collective (absolutely amazing getting to actually PC with you all!) and ending up with the sweet ratman Wehan who I hope gets to Acarthia safely! Also, debating if I wanted to touch the bone construct and whether or not it would take my fur with it.
- heading up to the tavern from the tent in the midst of the ratmen battle, becoming surrounded by about three of them and standing nearly perfectly still. They stopped, I said "I'm terribly sorry for getting on your way. May I please pass peacefully?" To which they kind of superst and after a second one of them asked "ratman trade?" It qaw a great moment of just "did that really happen?" And usually being on NPC side, I could hear the momentary grinding of gears because I didn't want to fight.
- during the sound wave battle, being an actual healer, getting people up and out, honestly it was one of the highlights of my weekend. This battle had such fun mechanics and I'm so glad to have been there to see it! Well done guys!
- the fae party was pretty cool, definitely had a level of ambience that I wasn't expecting, and the lighting outside was wonderful. The person playing the violin, Faust I believe, is also a fantastic musician and should be very proud.
- meeting a few people who I was greatly looking forward to, such as Captain Roberts, Baroness Tiatar and her husband, Baron Darius (Baron loophole,) and meeting Captain Lagarde who is someone I've been dying to meet in character. Also, meeting new friends such as Tivi and Thran the reindeerkyn, all the Calgary folks, and generally getting to be known. I am so excited to PC again.
- during the big battle Saturday night, watching Roberts go running past in fear one direction, then the other, then having him be dragged into the tavern by Nevrin and having to charm him to break the fear. Such a great moment!
Also, thank you to everyone who commented on the masks Nevrin and I were wearing, Miguel made them both and has done such a fantastic job! All of the compliments and comments about how sickeningly cute we are were also greatly appreciated! Many adventures from behind the scenes and between the lines of this nationals event will be seen in my comic, The After LARPers.
[Edit:] also, being attacked by a tired and run down ratman who had been getting attacked by Nevrin and Lucien and Aden, and standing still so he missed all of his attacks until I could charm him. Then checking to make sure he was ok once he was dead. Goodness, I love our npcs.
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- Meeting so many amazing people. This really showed me the variety and possibilities in every character. It also let me interact with and learn the nuances of certain races that are lacking in my home chapter (Utah) seeing as we're only just starting out.
- The Bleeding Eye in general. Getting to fight and hang out with them was amazing.
- Spectre burning down the forest and me trying very hard during breakfast to save the reputation of the Bleeding Eye by trying to explain "Spectre was the only one who burned it down, Bones did not approve, please do not blame the Bleeding Eye as a whole"
- The Living Terminal life giving thing. It was a very interesting mechanic and role play experience.
- The big fight Saturday night. The Utah peeps got such a good dynamic going and it was awesome.
- Though not many people saw it my mom set up a tiny party for the Utah people as my little graduation send off but she did it all IG though the advice given to me was applicable OOG too and that made both me and my character very happy.
Durnic
Knight
- Learning that Dwarven babies don't need to have swaddle blankets -- you simply wrap them in their own beards.
- The Tower of Doom(tm). Both times. Absolutely an incredible fight by all in both instances. Props to absolutely everyone involved. The fights that grind me down overtime are the fights I love the most.
- The burning of the forests and all of the crazy and amazing interactions and RP that came from him. I could go on about this one for a long, long time but if you were there then you understand where I'm comin' from. Notables would be Lirrin, Mevanwy, Wyrmwood, Karzel and Blackthorn.
- The nobles mod where we met the Emperor -- holy ****. Seriously every single part of that mod was well done and amazingly immersive. I loved every single second of it, even when I was under scrutiny. I wanted so badly to get it all done on Sunday night because I knew I was leaving early in the morning on Sunday to head home. I would love to hear how it all went by someone who was there on Sunday! Was the Emperor played by a real actor because it sure as hell seemed like it. I was sucked into that mod hard.
- Ratmen best trade!
- The Ratment in general, honestly. All of the NPCs did an incredible job of making sure that they brought life to their ratmen (and their pets!). Getting to RP with them and buy our way into things instead of just killing them was super enjoyable. This included watching Polare tell stories to the ratmen about a castle full of dragons and dragon riders with horns made of shinies and mint and chocolate!
- Swinging for Banish against some of the Fae in the Dragon Mage's tower. That fight went quick.
- Early morning shenanigans with the plants that were crawling all over the outside of our cabin on Friday. "Good morning!"
- Seeing the difference in the game between the PNW and Denver. In the PNW we have a lot of spell effects and a lot of NPC casters. It was very cool to see so many people swinging pipe at this event.
- All of the Stupid O'Clock conversations in our cabin. Those got wild.
- Seeing Baron Morningtide and Baroness Evelyr again. I enjoyed our interactions together, even if they weren't extended.
- The blue/orange cards were really really cool. Oregon will be stealing this idea, sorry!
- Being a wood folk and not being flirtatious I think threw a lot of people off, which was hilarious.
- The story of my first kiss, told to my cohorts as we investigated some blue cards. Told completely off of the cuff without any previous thought into something like that.
- Durnic leading a spirit through the circle for the first time! I didn't even have a story prepped. Ten minutes sure feels like a long time; much longer than when you're the spirit being lead through.
- Kumari allowing me to borrow an extra kimono for the Fae party. I looked fabulous because of her.
- Teaching the Ratmen about chocotacos. Yes, it happened. Yes, it was as awesome as it sounds.
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- The Dragon Mage's first meeting with the town, 10 minutes after lay-on. Really helped me stop stressing and get things rolling! Lots of fun interactions with many different groups of players, especially Eli instigating ****
- Thursday Night Orc Party! Super fun, I wasn't able to stay for long but I enjoyed every minute that I was there for
- Thursday night hanging around as the tower mod was getting ready, lots of fun inside NPC camp preparing for that one
- Friday, the first run to the living terminal with just the dryads. Really good roleplay, very fun moment!
- Then, the sound elemental mod, which turned into a town fight. Not everything ran exactly as planned, but we made it work in the end and it turned out great! Sad that the sound effects got drowned out by people fighting, but what can you do!
- Fae party!! Always a staple of a good Denver event, it was even more spectacular with all of the travellers. The fae party turned out fantastically due to Dia Campbell and Mike Paxton's writing, and all of the great NPCs. I'm glad so many people were able to attend and find something interesting for them to do
- Waking up Saturday Morning to find out what the Orcs did to the forest last night, and getting to run some -VERY- fun stuff because of it. Major kudos to the amazing NPCs playing angry dryads, and to Thousand Bones for the great roleplay that came out of it!
- Stepping outside of NPC camp to see a veritable army of PCs wanting to give body to the Living Terminal to undo the damage done by one person. This scene made my entire event!!
- The Dragon Mage's meeting with Morningtide and others, super fun conversation to roleplay in!
- The riddle door, and the library! Lots of fun stuff here, and some very interesting roleplay with the three Biata and the Home Stone.
- The Dragon Mage's first death, super anti-climactic for me to go down so quickly, but props to the rogue with the speedy waylay as soon as my magic armor dropped! It was a killer team sent in for the dragon mage and they did it with style.
- The Dragon Mage's second appearance lasted much longer, and definitely put much more fear for the rest of the PCs out there. A very fun fight interacting with lots of different PCs on the field there.
I'll edit more in as I remember more, this definitely isn't all of them!
Josh Voorheez
Adept
Every moment I had really!
Thursday night meeting a true tribe of Orcs was amazing. Actually being selected by a member to assist them on their hunt was a huge honour and not something I expected at all.
The revelry before and after the hunt on Thursday helped me meet people
Friday fae party was everything I ever need at night. It was amazing and tested Jinn in a few ways. He doesn't hold much trust in the fae and to hold back from food, drink, and company as much as he did to watch and gain information was hard for him. But it was amazingly fun.
Fighting along side the orcs at the sound fight was great. The mechanics were super fun to work with
Waking up Saturday thinking that Jinn was ready to jump into battle and start laying monsters in the ground made him feel like ha was back home. He helped run scouting missions and get groups together.
But finding out that the forest had been lit up totally threw him off. His first thought was that more action needed to be taken before we were attacked i.e. attack first, but talking with Feydra made him realize that we needed to repair the damage not make it worse. This brought him back to how he was when I first started a year ago, and I really needed that. It was so nice to be filled with hope and remembering what his purpose is in the world.
the amount of people donating their own life force was beautiful, the cuddle puddle of recovery was great, and letting people into the dynamic that me and kumari (cheetah sarr) have was funny
The night fight with the outside was fun! I don't get to go into steath mode that, even my horns go dark. I'm the rogueiest Templar ever.
Every moment of role play I had with everyone was so much fun. This weekend did so much for me as Jinn that you guys don't even know!
I can't list every moment because there are just so many. But seeing the effort and emotion being put into the story's and the roleplay just made me so happy. Plus making all my new friends who keep saying they needed a pocket Jinn warms my heart a lot.
Thursday night meeting a true tribe of Orcs was amazing. Actually being selected by a member to assist them on their hunt was a huge honour and not something I expected at all.
The revelry before and after the hunt on Thursday helped me meet people
Friday fae party was everything I ever need at night. It was amazing and tested Jinn in a few ways. He doesn't hold much trust in the fae and to hold back from food, drink, and company as much as he did to watch and gain information was hard for him. But it was amazingly fun.
Fighting along side the orcs at the sound fight was great. The mechanics were super fun to work with
Waking up Saturday thinking that Jinn was ready to jump into battle and start laying monsters in the ground made him feel like ha was back home. He helped run scouting missions and get groups together.
But finding out that the forest had been lit up totally threw him off. His first thought was that more action needed to be taken before we were attacked i.e. attack first, but talking with Feydra made him realize that we needed to repair the damage not make it worse. This brought him back to how he was when I first started a year ago, and I really needed that. It was so nice to be filled with hope and remembering what his purpose is in the world.
the amount of people donating their own life force was beautiful, the cuddle puddle of recovery was great, and letting people into the dynamic that me and kumari (cheetah sarr) have was funny
The night fight with the outside was fun! I don't get to go into steath mode that, even my horns go dark. I'm the rogueiest Templar ever.
Every moment of role play I had with everyone was so much fun. This weekend did so much for me as Jinn that you guys don't even know!
I can't list every moment because there are just so many. But seeing the effort and emotion being put into the story's and the roleplay just made me so happy. Plus making all my new friends who keep saying they needed a pocket Jinn warms my heart a lot.
Izzy
Newbie
- Within minutes of the event starting learning that one of last handful survivors of Aelenterre had died her last death at the past gather you missed, and then being devastated, upset and angry at poor Ember for the majority of the event.
- The Tower of Doom/Pain mod part 1, being pushed beyond the limits of the team and having to run away. Really glad I got to experience all the highs and lows of that fight. Cynder and Lumi, I feel we represented ourselves very well for being the lower levels of the team.
- Alis joining the Scion Family.
- Being handed a certain Baron’s belt.
- Handing over leadership of the Scions to Parzivel. May he lead us down a interesting road full of victory.
- Tavern team, the food was oh so good, the breakfast casserole really stole the show. You all really put everything into making sure everyone was fed good filling meals. Thank you, I know the work it takes to pull this off and you did a great job.
- The Scions saving the Ratmen on a mod by threatening to kill anyone who let a Ratman die.
- Tower of Doom/Pain mod part 2, but this time on the NPC side. Great to see the PCs adapt to what we had learned the first time and still get really pushed hard this time.
- Tevas declaring he was tired and heading to bed, I encouraged him, so that the rest of us might have a chance with the ladies. Tevas taking a long look back and forth begins singing “All by my self” and at that very moment two darling lady Dryads run up asking if they were safe now. Tevas taking a slow double take before melting into a puddle as his laughter joined all of ours. Leaving two darling Dryads a bit confused. Once Tevas regains his composure he sweeps the Dryads away to the tavern for a drink, unbeknownst to him that Peat had made extra special drinks. All this managed to keep Tevas awake for a very important fight later, and there by saving everyone.
- Having my back guarded by a stone elf during the assassination ratmen fight while everyone else was off fighting in the mages tower. During that same fight having Connor walk up asking why I was alone guarding the Stone, as he slowly notices I’m the only one standing in the light but most definitely not alone with Lagarde, Blue and family all around me hiding in the darkness.
- The outsider/spider fight, Starting off the fight with at least 4 arcane deaths rebounding off the walls around me with loud thuds, oh and one rebounding off my chest, thanks Ian. Great way to start off a really creepy fight were we could never really settle into a feeling of being safe till the very end. Thank you to the wonder Scion team I had which I really believe is the only reason I didn’t get sent to the rez circle a number of times in that fight.
- All the new relationships and friendships made during the event, everyone one was amazing.
- To all the writers, plotters, marshals, GMs and NPCs you are all heroes in my book. You ran a great event likely at the cost of your bodies and minds. I hope this week brings you much needed rest and relaxation.
RedVirus23
Newbie
Where to start!? Oh man, I guess we'll start with the biggest highlight:
1. THE HOMESTONE. We only have 2-3 biata at any given event in Denver and thus don't really get much biata plot. It was super cool to put some emphasis on that piece of Demvarien's heritage, as his biata nature often gets overshadowed by his father's legacy and its influence on him. Demvarien was elated for hours afterward, recounting to all the people he loves that he got to touch it and so happy that Wulfgar suspected he was under some kind of game effect. As a side effect, this experience also brought him much closer to Jax and Plue.
2. Going on so many adventures with my House. Tiatar doesn't usually do the mod-grinding thing, and it was cool to be able to do so this weekend. The whole mechanic with the map was also really well done.
3. Mentoring conversations with Baron Morningtide, Master Rork, and Emaric. Demvarien learned a LOT this weekend about what he still has to learn, and that there is far more to wearing a belt than simply trying to do the right thing. On a tangential note, I also learned that I'm able to take criticism of my character and not take it personally as a player, which is a way I haven't been tested yet as a newer LARPer and something I'm relieved to be able to do.
4. Taking an NPC shift for the Ratman battle Friday night. I had a ton of fun with that roleplay and will try to take NPC shifts during town battles again in the future.
5. The fight on Saturday night. Demvarien got good practice leading a small squad of the Destined, and as a bonus, I got to watch my dad growl helplessly at me from his NPC role as I hit something like four of his six lights in the maze.
6. The Tomb of the Emperor. For me, there was this great moment of "Of course they cast him" when the lights came on and I saw my dad sitting on the throne, and he really, really nailed that scene.
7. Demvarien and Vandathron had great interactions this weekend. The brothers Corinthus are gradually figuring out how they work best in tandem, both in battle and as people. He did great work helping me with the Destined, too.
8. Shoutout to Thran and Tivi for some FANTASTIC character design.
9. Alura and Nevrin were great. I rarely get to interact with Siren and Miguel as player characters.
10. The Fae Party was so great, and a real emotional rollercoaster for Demvarien. He showed up in the first place to watch Vandathron and was super uncomfortable and refused to take his armor off when asked. Then he met Plue and she gave him chocolate, and his night turned pretty good up until the whole ordeal with the dancer. It was a really tense moment of Demvarien wondering what the right thing to do was, and afterward wondering if he should have grabbed his sword and shield and intervened at the risk of certain death.
11. Being clever in response to the Fae King altering our memories of his information by giving my memory stone to Vandathron before he did so, and then Van picking up on enough weird inconsistencies and suspecting alterations to Dem's memory to get him to look through it for what had really happened.
12. "You're dead."
13. Warchester's hospitality was just as wonderful the second time around, and part of me is sad that I won't be rooming with them anymore come next event. Shoutout to Josh/Thorgrim and Karlee/Cynder for the excellent food, as well.
1. THE HOMESTONE. We only have 2-3 biata at any given event in Denver and thus don't really get much biata plot. It was super cool to put some emphasis on that piece of Demvarien's heritage, as his biata nature often gets overshadowed by his father's legacy and its influence on him. Demvarien was elated for hours afterward, recounting to all the people he loves that he got to touch it and so happy that Wulfgar suspected he was under some kind of game effect. As a side effect, this experience also brought him much closer to Jax and Plue.
2. Going on so many adventures with my House. Tiatar doesn't usually do the mod-grinding thing, and it was cool to be able to do so this weekend. The whole mechanic with the map was also really well done.
3. Mentoring conversations with Baron Morningtide, Master Rork, and Emaric. Demvarien learned a LOT this weekend about what he still has to learn, and that there is far more to wearing a belt than simply trying to do the right thing. On a tangential note, I also learned that I'm able to take criticism of my character and not take it personally as a player, which is a way I haven't been tested yet as a newer LARPer and something I'm relieved to be able to do.
4. Taking an NPC shift for the Ratman battle Friday night. I had a ton of fun with that roleplay and will try to take NPC shifts during town battles again in the future.
5. The fight on Saturday night. Demvarien got good practice leading a small squad of the Destined, and as a bonus, I got to watch my dad growl helplessly at me from his NPC role as I hit something like four of his six lights in the maze.
6. The Tomb of the Emperor. For me, there was this great moment of "Of course they cast him" when the lights came on and I saw my dad sitting on the throne, and he really, really nailed that scene.
7. Demvarien and Vandathron had great interactions this weekend. The brothers Corinthus are gradually figuring out how they work best in tandem, both in battle and as people. He did great work helping me with the Destined, too.
8. Shoutout to Thran and Tivi for some FANTASTIC character design.
9. Alura and Nevrin were great. I rarely get to interact with Siren and Miguel as player characters.
10. The Fae Party was so great, and a real emotional rollercoaster for Demvarien. He showed up in the first place to watch Vandathron and was super uncomfortable and refused to take his armor off when asked. Then he met Plue and she gave him chocolate, and his night turned pretty good up until the whole ordeal with the dancer. It was a really tense moment of Demvarien wondering what the right thing to do was, and afterward wondering if he should have grabbed his sword and shield and intervened at the risk of certain death.
11. Being clever in response to the Fae King altering our memories of his information by giving my memory stone to Vandathron before he did so, and then Van picking up on enough weird inconsistencies and suspecting alterations to Dem's memory to get him to look through it for what had really happened.
12. "You're dead."
13. Warchester's hospitality was just as wonderful the second time around, and part of me is sad that I won't be rooming with them anymore come next event. Shoutout to Josh/Thorgrim and Karlee/Cynder for the excellent food, as well.
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This event was pretty awesome, and I'm so glad I got to see it from both sides! The highlights for me:
Ratmen. Playing a ratman art dealer, and a ratman puzzle solver (and weeping over poor dead String bean), let's not forget being the ratman in charge of the ticking house who tricked the non ratman "bomb experts" into taking the stupid bomb, fixing his wall, telling him about the dragon with mint and chocolate horns AND giving him the idea for Ratman ChocoTaco. Ratman is best trade.
The tower of pain part one. The planning was awesome, watching the PC's try and climb the tower and make a small miscalculation with their subjugate was awesome, not even really getting to pop as my *fun* golem was less awesome, but I hope everyone had fun!
Once I got in character the tavern puzzles were super awesome, I loved watching everyone work together. A special shout-out to the Mystic with the light up pink horns for gleefully killing himself to get us out.
Ratmen again! Going out to play the Ratman lottery while everyone around me was trying to murder them was so much fun! Also super profitable, getting that worthless paper (formal scroll) for a shiny new metal stick (dagger) was the highlight of my event.
Going with Tiatar to the hallucination pool and going for sweet sweet loot despite knowing exactly what the hallucination was going to be. I was a bit surprised that Elwin's friends in the group didn't seem to know what was about to happen, it's not like his fear of boats and water isn't well documented....
Remember what I said about the highlight of my event? I meant the highlight that didn't involve the pages. Uncle Elwin got to give the future generations a couple of lectures and some practice before leading them into a cave and promptly falling victim to an intoxicate (Which was a welcome thing after herding five under 12 for a few hours.) Drunk Uncle Elwin stumbled and "helped" the pages along. Having a nine year old yell " Just drink it (an antidote) YOURE DRUNK!" is one of those special experiences.
The kids made out like bandits and loved every minute of the page content. A big thank you to everyone involved with the page stuff.
The. Food. Was. Amazing. I'm still thinking about it.
Ratmen. Playing a ratman art dealer, and a ratman puzzle solver (and weeping over poor dead String bean), let's not forget being the ratman in charge of the ticking house who tricked the non ratman "bomb experts" into taking the stupid bomb, fixing his wall, telling him about the dragon with mint and chocolate horns AND giving him the idea for Ratman ChocoTaco. Ratman is best trade.
The tower of pain part one. The planning was awesome, watching the PC's try and climb the tower and make a small miscalculation with their subjugate was awesome, not even really getting to pop as my *fun* golem was less awesome, but I hope everyone had fun!
Once I got in character the tavern puzzles were super awesome, I loved watching everyone work together. A special shout-out to the Mystic with the light up pink horns for gleefully killing himself to get us out.
Ratmen again! Going out to play the Ratman lottery while everyone around me was trying to murder them was so much fun! Also super profitable, getting that worthless paper (formal scroll) for a shiny new metal stick (dagger) was the highlight of my event.
Going with Tiatar to the hallucination pool and going for sweet sweet loot despite knowing exactly what the hallucination was going to be. I was a bit surprised that Elwin's friends in the group didn't seem to know what was about to happen, it's not like his fear of boats and water isn't well documented....
Remember what I said about the highlight of my event? I meant the highlight that didn't involve the pages. Uncle Elwin got to give the future generations a couple of lectures and some practice before leading them into a cave and promptly falling victim to an intoxicate (Which was a welcome thing after herding five under 12 for a few hours.) Drunk Uncle Elwin stumbled and "helped" the pages along. Having a nine year old yell " Just drink it (an antidote) YOURE DRUNK!" is one of those special experiences.
The kids made out like bandits and loved every minute of the page content. A big thank you to everyone involved with the page stuff.
The. Food. Was. Amazing. I'm still thinking about it.
Traceroo
Rogue
From the backstage perspective, and mostly about ratmen:
Trace Moriarty
2018 National Event Plot Team
- Bri Bedore, a first-time LARPer, owning the character of ratmen as their captain in a trade mod on Thursday night. "You! Expendable ratman! Give me the box!"
- Friday morning: Explaining IC to the young pages that I, as Tess the juncture spirit, am a ghost trapped forever in the big rock. "Have you tried a Release spell?" Alex, played by 7ish year old Lily asks. Impressed, I probe further, "Do you know what the Release spell does?" Only to be schooled by Kennedy, who looks like he's about 5, in addition to the others in the group that it's good for getting rid of Pin, Bind, and Web! These kids are operating on a whoooole different level than I gave them credit for! Wow!
- Playing a ratman at dinner on Friday night:
- Accidentally beaning someone squarely in the back of the head with an orange packet, and just waving like a fool and smiling cheerfully as the ratman, like I meant to do that... and everyone seems okay with that....
- Helping out the tavern by clearing plates IC as the ratmen, and occassionally demanding "trade" of tips for it, providing a little dinner entertainment
- Friday night ratmen field battle:
- Hearing a collective "OH ****!" from town as 30 sets of glowing red eyes approached them out of the darkness...
- Watching the encounter switch back and forth from field battle to swap meet
- Overhearing several near-PVP conflicts as someone attempts to trade with the ratmen, and then others cut down their trade partners, "Hey! I'm trading here!!"
- Having to round up the ratmen NPCs 1-by-1 since they were having so much fun out trading, they wanted to continue!
- Tess the juncture spirit: So many great character interactions with different factions. If you were a little shady and totally agreed that her sentence was absolute b.s., she was happy to clue you in on some of the loot cache opportunities in the area. Loved the reactions from different PCs with those hints!
- Saturday night (glowing) field battle:
- Testing the "peas and carrots" susurrus effects in the darkness, and practicing the waving arm movements with glowbands for maximum awesomeness! Our NPC crew is so INTO making things cool, it was a great experience to work out the theatrics together!
- Extra preparations for longer rests between repops, slower fighting, more safety markers over dangers, all to make up for the late hour of the field battle, and what we anticipated would be a high adrenaline event, possibly with safety issues in everyone's haste... without one single Hold called!
- Maze Teams: PCs were ON this like white on rice! I was so impressed with PC organization on that!!
- Apology: A player who felt that he had been abrupt with me as the Marshal for the Maze, and seriously went out of his way to find me to apologize after the event. It wasn't necessary in the least bit as his behavior really was fine in the first place, but the extra courtesy really touched me; thank you.
- MOAR RATMEN:
- NPCs coming to me throughout the weekend with more ideas for ratmen vignettes and follow up since they were so INTO the ratmen culture. (Best traders!)
- 3:00 am Saturday night as the last Plot Team member comes back to the cabin, and starts to tell the rest of his about his last encounter. All he gets in response is: "Ratmen?... Ratmen!... Ratmen best traders!" from 3 of us
Trace Moriarty
2018 National Event Plot Team
Aden Corso
Newbie
This was an amazing event for me, and a chance for some incredible roleplay and character development for Aden. A lot of emotional highs and lows for him, which is always so fun to play.
All in all, it was a great event for me, and one of significant character growth for Aden as he learns more about who he is and who he wants to be. Though he may have had shady beginnings, and though his own desire to survive has been his guiding star for a long while, he is now beginning to shape himself into a true and proper hero.
- Being selected to join in on the hunt, then being paired with Aikoll, who happens to be one of Aden’s oldest acquaintances since being forced into the life of an adventurer. Aden’s initial shock at being chosen, when in his mind the orcs have only viewed him as an annoyance, was a delightful thing to play out, as was his being pleasure once it was proven how very useful he was during the hunt.
- Being able to use Aden’s skills to full effect! It was so great to be facing so many varied foes, including ones that an alchemist can be useful against. Though I ended up (literally) throwing several platinum worth of gases away…
- Exploring all of the blue cards. It was so great to see hundreds of different skills, abilities, and traits being used to further our understanding of Voridium.
- Watching Brother Faux and Aikoll negotiate with a bunch of fishy fishmen, looking over my shoulder at Thousand Bones and Dry Rot, shaking my head, and preparing my gases for their inevitable betrayal. Then falling in the water and being mangled by sharks, who continued to take bites out of me once I was dying, then being skewered by a spear and pulled out of the water and being revived, then gassing the s*** out of the treacherous fishmen. THEN being slipped a love potion… only to see Warbird first.
- Dunking my head under the spigot to keep cool at midday, though the sun has definitely left me red…
- Escorting the brilliant Laura Bedore as Baroness Katherine von Heisel of Veldan and Koval Friday evening, introducing her to the local nobility, talking politics for hours with them, and getting to roleplay Aden’s growing loyalty to a cause outside of just surviving.
- Developing Aden’s relationships with several different figures of authority - and morality, while Aden tries desperately (and almost subconsciously) to establish his own moral compass. Aden, possessing a very clear and strong sense of ethics, nonetheless finds himself musing out loud about performing immoral acts, though he has yet to wander down those darker paths. Puck, Thousand Bones, Dry Rot, Alura, Baroness von Heisel, all were subject to Aden’s questions on how to do right and how to be ‘good’.
- Being dropped by Spectre for insulting his mother, and being able to roleplay Aden’s increasing frustration in his lessons of How To Properly Interact With Orcs. Bones called him a good man. I’m not crying you’re crying shut up. Then, going on a grand adventure in a marathon mod-clearing map exploration, culminating in being 15 seconds from being sent to the circle, watching Spectre’s resurrection, and jokingly offering the orc an intoxicant. This, perhaps, was a bad idea.
- Awaking in the morning to an army of dryads and adventurers seeking to come into the Bleeding Eye camp and kill us all was definitely an unexpected consequence to the above. Watching the intense roleplay between Bones and Dry Rot (including nearly giving a few disrespectful characters a waylay…), and trying to convince the dryads that this was not an act of deliberate malice against them.
- Using the shower in the orc camp to wash my hair. Soooooo nice. I felt like a new man.
- Being part of the assault on the ratmen compound, and witnessing teamwork like I have never seen on a mod. The idea of splitting into dedicated teams, each with their own goals, took us far, though some poor souls might have benefited from letting the trap-clearers do their job a bit more.
- Sneaking up behind ratman assassin Derek and getting a successful waylay.
- Talking for an hour plus with Puck, Blue Wolf, and later Dry Rot on the concept of cosmology, and postulating the hypothetical creation, organization, and impact of quasi-religious institutions without using any religious terminology.
- Telling the orcs ‘This one is mine,’ when facing a giant spider while they yelled at Aden to get back behind them during the battle with the Outsider, then killing it with a single blow and hearing the resulting cheers. Aden stood up for himself more in general, and in many ways grew more confident, especially when other people were in danger.
All in all, it was a great event for me, and one of significant character growth for Aden as he learns more about who he is and who he wants to be. Though he may have had shady beginnings, and though his own desire to survive has been his guiding star for a long while, he is now beginning to shape himself into a true and proper hero.
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Loki
Newbie
What a crazy event! It definitely had its ups and downs, particularly with getting injured, but despite that this was still one of the best events I've had!
On that note, a few of my favorite moments:
A giant thanks to plot and to NPC camp for an amazing event, as well as a thank you to all of the new travelers I was able to meet! May we meet again!
On that note, a few of my favorite moments:
- The hunt! I am so overjoyed that I was able to participate in that, and absolutely heartened that Squire Connor, Rork, and Nevrin all agreed to stand with me, only to have our groups instantly get swapped. Kudos to Aden, Lucian and Sausage for helping me out. Like I said, you were not who I chose but if I picked again, you three would definitely be on my list of choices.
- Getting to deal with sharks and the fortune elemental with all of the Bleeding Eye! I ended up vanishing shortly after the hunt, and was so happy that y'all dragged me along on Friday, even if it was a mess. Aden is definitely stuck in my mind as "Lover Boy" now.
- Asking a fortune elemental how feeling lucky actually felt. That was amusing (and useful)!
- Tivi the bait deer. I'm slowly learning who not to eat, and I'm glad I'd just eaten breakfast.
- "SquAikoll." Thanks Rivervale, I <3 you too.
- Showing up late to the 'fancy' party, only to find that everyone was locked inside. Being fashionably late was great, right, Brother Faux?
- Introducing Brother Faux to Lagarde and Captain Roberts. What a wonderful mess I created, I'm going to happily step waaaaaaaaaaaaaay over there now.
- Leading the group to the library! I appreciate every opportunity I get to lead, and our group was absolutely fantastic. Because, well, "Doorian." I loved being the non-nerd bird, and I'm so happy with everything we got out of that.
- "Okay Ratman, want a trade? -flexes talons- You stop trying to steal my stuff, and I won't eat you." "...good trade."
- "I guess the stone has poor Knight vision." - Squire Vellis
- Both times I got to see the Emperor. The energy and emotion involved in both parts were wonderful and touching, I was so honored that I was able to be a part of it. Seeing the Emperor's actions and hearing his words is going to be a huge influence on this squire.
- #BRATSQUAD
- The archaeological healing sword of awesome was a ton of fun! Interacting with Phineas all weekend was a delight as well.
- The "blood on your beak" conversation with Squire Connor. Yep, he didn't notice.
- "You're the best squire EVER!" Thank you Tess, I can only hope I'll live up to your words!
- The super long walk with Tevas! It was wonderful to just take a break and relax for a little while.
- Watching a little bit of sparring practice with Dame Arikaya, Parzival and Nytillit, and then being taught how to eviscerate with poor Phineas standing in as my slicing target. Getting that kick just right so I don't get blood all over myself is hard.
- Everything involving my work with the map on Saturday. I woke up that morning with my neck hurting quite a bit, and from a safety perspective I chose to take on a role I saw was lacking the day before- someone to coordinate the different groups trying to explore. I appreciate everyone who let me take charge of coordination, and I heartily appreciate all of the compliments I received for doing so. Being a squire isn't always about leading from the front and charging into battle; sometimes it's about staying behind and making sure information is shared. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to step into that role, and it really made everything worth it. Shoutouts to Jinn, Lirren, Kumari, Johm, Squire Kendrick, Lucian, Tevasti, Plue, and everyone else I got to interact with more because of that.
A giant thanks to plot and to NPC camp for an amazing event, as well as a thank you to all of the new travelers I was able to meet! May we meet again!
Samyania
Scholar
- The overall arc of the event was impressive. I imagine it's rough to keep a long event from being a series of days that essentially feel the same, but there was a sort of narrative progression of feeling to the whole shebang, from the initial flush of discovery, through the frustrating clown show of Friday, to the final pulling-together and surprising efficiency of Saturday night and Sunday morning.
- INFORMATION. I love having the feeling of a deeper world behind just the few days we get to be our PCs, and Voridium definitely felt deeper than we saw. Every time I sat down in the tavern someone would come up, tell me they'd heard me and hand me a piece of paper. Even though VV's combat abilities were half totally useless (undead-related), this is still one of the times I've felt most crucial.
- I hope at least one or two people read enough and talked to the spirits and golems enough to get a bigger picture, but I loved the subtleties of the world so much. On the surface, you have: Rich and successful kingdom defeats the Fortannis-wide plague of necromancy (and most elemental problems, but nooooo, nobody thinks those are real threats, the only threat is necromancy), thereby eliminating problems and leading to a golden age, until outsiders attacked. But reading the letters and talking to people, other things start to crop up and make it clear that there's so much being left unsaid: The (rare!) biata bitter underclass, left out of nobility through the requirement of constructs; the Penance Stones full of entirely humans given occasionally absurd sentences by the unquestioned stone elf leadership; the first, last and only stone elf emperor; the fact that the only mention of hoblings in the entirety of the texts was that a building questionably smelled of them, despite the woods being full of evidence of their presence and craftsmanship. Cynical me loved the unwritten absences and imbalances of privilege in the history.
- This was the first time Lady VV actually was doing noble things, and it was an interesting shift of priorities and observable power. There was of course the noble mod, where I'm pretty sure I could have overwhelmed the guardians of the emperor's tomb with titles alone, having been called upon to essentially speak for my noble house despite being the newest to attain any rank.
- After the gutting realization that poor innocent Larienne had been taken by the ratmen on Friday, having a tavernful of people actually jump up to defend the Penance Stone on Saturday was almost a revelation. Spirits are priority alpha forever for psychopomp VV, and having so many people actually listen to her concerns was amazing. Bonus props to everyone who stayed around the Stone for the whole time it took the ratmen to leave. You're my new favorite fluffballs.
- The emperor was physically painful to watch in his passion and sorrow. VV is used to being called out for being overly expressive, so seeing an ancient of her kind openly expressing his anguish broke her heart a little.
- VV tends to have that elf superiority complex, so it was an experience to have people around that she trusted enough to hand off the things she found most important. Squire Aikoll gets the spirit job done!
- I think I explained the Maelstrom to two separate groups of people, and that's always a great story to horrify the masses and make people paranoid of biata.
- Extra thanks to Hera, Arc, Stevaan and Phedre for being the people VV grabbed on the way out of the tavern and accompanying her on a surprisingly safe but excruciatingly long trek for the rest of the Code.
- Watching Lirin take command on the things she cared about was great, as was following up her presentation on the Outsider problem, and watching people listen, absorb the information and actually get everything (sort of everything?) we needed done in time was great. Leadership is terrifying, but someone's got to save the ghosties.
- Cornering Lord ("HE DOESN'T OUTRANK ME SO I CAN ARGUE AS MUCH AS I WANT") Finther for a three-hour law argument was even more satisfying once Eleanor resurrected and VV found out he'd been exactly as insincere as VV had suspected.
- Finally following through on the impossible mission of getting a mist-touched scroll generally considered worthless and handing it off to someone in need. Must be that largesse people tell me about.
- Finally sort of actually meeting Nytillit, when Parzival got tired of waiting for VV to finish torturing Lord Finther and dumped an unconscious human on me. VV hardly ever uses her mental abilities unless there's a great need, and wow is there a whole lot of great need there. Also, having two friends try (separately!) really, really hard to get the go-ahead to stab poor traumatized Nyt right back.
- It was very good to meet *Gebous, and it went in steps like this: a) who is this idiot running off ahead b) we're going to have to save his idiot life c) oh god we're all dying d) oh my god he just saved all of our lives e) don't say "praise Jeebus(sic)" aloud
- Being the go-to for information gathering, distillation and dissemination, as well as resurrections, was amazing. People got VV for VV things!! Just amazing.
- Finally blowing my nose on Sunday.
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