September Review "Say is that the King?"
- Thread starter mythic
- Start date
Third
Newbie
As before, I had a blast. High point and low point are the same for me, though: I finally gathered the funds, and found a blacksmith, to get my weapon silvered, and then had it shattered a couple hours later. Brad didn't see it, he just heard it. "With mystic force I shatter your (something something)"....."SON OF A BITCH!" And he knew exactly what had happened.
As much as it sucked losing my weapon, especially as I'd just gotten it silvered and I had no backup, it gave me some interesting opportunities as I borrowed a dagger from Faelor and had to fend off an NPC (shannon, I think?) who had a 2-handed sword, while using a weapon not much longer than my hand. Then I met the King, who gave me a gold and told me to get a new weapon. Then for a while I was carrying Garridan's spare sword, before Laurant told me to run to his cabin and grab the 2-hander he had hanging on the wall. I'll give it back as soon as I get a new one!
Highlights:
Cletus' sister Hannah taking a shine to me, and hinting with a remarkable lack of subtlety that she wants to marry me.
Getting angry with the nobles pandering for the king's troublemaking sister and turning my back on one of them, saying "I'm done here."
Fighting JP was a lot of fun, too. I told him before the event, jokingly, that I was coming for him. then, several times, we went round and round when he was an elemental, and I had tons of fun going back and forth with him.
When Mark's giant armored undead got disarmed in the final fight, I grabbed the two-handed sword he'd been using and was about to cut loose with it when he told me it was spirit linked to him. Awww.
When we first tried to stop the cart, I got separated from the rest of the group and went down. I'm laying on the ground, bleeding out, with a marshal (It was dark, sorry, don't know which one) telling me to "make groaning noises", because there were friendlies less than 10 meters away. They didn't hear me though, and left. Then, when I was nearing the end of my bleed count, one of the NPC's from the caravan walked by and healed me. I figured out later it must have been the King, but at the time I didn't question it. I just quietly got to my feet, got my weapon, and then took off as fast as I could down the smuggler's road and out behind the cabins.
Furious George jumping on the table right next to my head as I was falling asleep and scaring the bejesus out of me before I stole his knife and took off with it. Sadly, he got me with an extra-lethal dose of poop and took me out, then took his knife back and healed me. Even if it didn't go my way, it was hilarious.
Andy's shunning undead on saturday morning, and the street thief saturday afternoon, were both great. They kept the whole group of us in the commons engaged and in-game.
Again, I had a great time. Thank you to everyone I fought with and/or beside!
As much as it sucked losing my weapon, especially as I'd just gotten it silvered and I had no backup, it gave me some interesting opportunities as I borrowed a dagger from Faelor and had to fend off an NPC (shannon, I think?) who had a 2-handed sword, while using a weapon not much longer than my hand. Then I met the King, who gave me a gold and told me to get a new weapon. Then for a while I was carrying Garridan's spare sword, before Laurant told me to run to his cabin and grab the 2-hander he had hanging on the wall. I'll give it back as soon as I get a new one!
Highlights:
Cletus' sister Hannah taking a shine to me, and hinting with a remarkable lack of subtlety that she wants to marry me.
Getting angry with the nobles pandering for the king's troublemaking sister and turning my back on one of them, saying "I'm done here."
Fighting JP was a lot of fun, too. I told him before the event, jokingly, that I was coming for him. then, several times, we went round and round when he was an elemental, and I had tons of fun going back and forth with him.
When Mark's giant armored undead got disarmed in the final fight, I grabbed the two-handed sword he'd been using and was about to cut loose with it when he told me it was spirit linked to him. Awww.
When we first tried to stop the cart, I got separated from the rest of the group and went down. I'm laying on the ground, bleeding out, with a marshal (It was dark, sorry, don't know which one) telling me to "make groaning noises", because there were friendlies less than 10 meters away. They didn't hear me though, and left. Then, when I was nearing the end of my bleed count, one of the NPC's from the caravan walked by and healed me. I figured out later it must have been the King, but at the time I didn't question it. I just quietly got to my feet, got my weapon, and then took off as fast as I could down the smuggler's road and out behind the cabins.
Furious George jumping on the table right next to my head as I was falling asleep and scaring the bejesus out of me before I stole his knife and took off with it. Sadly, he got me with an extra-lethal dose of poop and took me out, then took his knife back and healed me. Even if it didn't go my way, it was hilarious.
Andy's shunning undead on saturday morning, and the street thief saturday afternoon, were both great. They kept the whole group of us in the commons engaged and in-game.
Again, I had a great time. Thank you to everyone I fought with and/or beside!
MathGwyson
Artisan
I found this event a little more disorganized than usual - but stuff happens (I was also more disorganized than usual, so this is not saying 'you're doing it wrong' or anything). I suspected things might not go as smoothly when my carfull of people got there an hour later than usual and the staff was only *just* bringing in stuff for the NPC camp (usually the camp is all set up when I arrive at ~6:00)
Highlights;
I liked the 'testing construct' (as someone overheard someone else call it) it really made us think about different groups of organization. After the Barbarian one, I head heard there was a Human one, I went to Isawda and started planning what we need to do if it shows up as neither of us really fight. The best soloution was he stand in front of it while I circle behind. Of course, he went down and I wound up running circles around the table (thanks to Marr, who once again saved someone from a killing blow with his arrow) and eventually tossed a potion in I sawda's direction while the construct was far enough away for Noman to pick it up and bring him back to the fight to finish the job. Not bad for 2 support characters!
I like how that creature was clearly balanced for the groups that it was going to face. The Stone Elf one approached - took a few hits - said "You're cool!" and rifted out. Since he was a brand new player - having fought something like what anyone else fought could have been a problem.
The only minor issue with the construct is after the first few waves he did not repeat the shun often. Since the shun is only effective if the target hears the call - I did at one point come out from somewhere to see it and engaged it. I specifically was listening to see if he re-called any kind of shun, but was told by a Marshall "He's shunning non-celestial" I respected that and backed off - but the creature still hadn't re-called it so it technically didn't affect me until he called it again.
I really liked that there were 'low level' events. Math is the type to help anyone so I didn't clue in that it was a low level thing until I got there and saw that it was the 3 newest 'non-fighting' NPCs. It felt weird being there as the one in the most armour (18 at at time) and highest level (although Third was the better fighter). While I was the higest level - most of my BPs are spent in crafting/support stuff, which is probably why Andreas didn't tell me to stay out of the low-level quest, I suspect. (Hitting 'Mary' for 0 normal when I was trying to encourage them to go away confused the hell out of her before I quickly explained OOG that I was 'pulling my punches' and hitting her lightly enough not to do damage.)
Appreciation
I greatly appreciate that the staff recognized that tensions were high all around and decided to end events early on Saturday. After the king told us to get organized and prepare for a huge attack people started getting stressed and snippy. I could not often tell if it was IG or OOG stress - but I suspect it was largely a bit of both (a few of my IG stresses contributed to people's OOG stress so I toned down the RP'd stress but had trouble keeping in my OOG stress - it got VERY confusing. Belinda and Rory both got into minor rows with me that I could not fully tell was IG or OOG or both =Z ) I recognized at a few points the Marshals were stressed too. I was in a state at one point where Math was a bit paranoid and was insisting that anyone entering the tavern announce who they were - and had attacked a few players who didn't. I heard Shawna approaching the door grumbling something about her being a Marshall (I guess someone disrespected her authority?) and was *so* glad I heard that or I would have hit her before realising she was a Marshall.
Anyways, that all said - we were actually grateful that a 'Hold' was called to move the tables back and was not un-called right away. We took that as a MUCH needed OOG break and some of us were holding our bladders in expectation of a giant attack. (This is why we were resistant to get back into it without the hold being called off - most of us were 'out of place' from an IG standpoint because we took an OOG rest)
Negatives
The biggest negative (other than the high stress on Saturday which I already covered) has to be the 'child' that was running through town.
Relative to this before I get into 'wall of text mode' is on page 91 of the book "Monster Size - All monsters are the size of the NPC or phys rep playing the part... for that matter, all players are the same size as their characters as well..." This is why I cringe every time someone (usually Hammish) calls Artie "Wee" This is also why the race is called 'Hobling' - rather than 'Halfling' or 'Hobbit' because the race is NOT smaller than the average human (unless the player is).
If an NPC is supposed to be a child - there needs to be an OBVIOUS indicator of such. There is no time when someone is running around town as fast as he can to say "What do I see?". Math would certainly NOT have been throwing paralysis gas poison at a child! Actually Math probably wouldn't have chased him at all if he had known it was a child. I'm sure a lot of other players would have done things differently if they had known it was a child. And yet Aengus got punished as severely as if it was a child despite the fact that it was otherwise handled as appropriate (other than the prisoner being stored where there are weapons, but it was the most secure location otherwise)
You'll probably need to do a 'census' on this - but I find the 'high silliness' events really break the immersion. Sheep are WAY overdone at this point. I remember flat-out groaning and sitting there not wanting to participate during June's Smurf event before I got 'sucked into' the puzzle box. I know they are done to lighten tension but they are also way OVERDONE as well.
Saturday night - we're currently under the King's orders trying to defend against a wave of undead that outnumber us and along comes... little bo peep telling us we need to protect her 2 sheep. Why? Who knows, but apparently that's more important than a horde of undead.
Lastly, Being Murdered by other players sucks
but that's part of the game and not unexpected based on the way Math's circumstances are developing.
Highlights;
I liked the 'testing construct' (as someone overheard someone else call it) it really made us think about different groups of organization. After the Barbarian one, I head heard there was a Human one, I went to Isawda and started planning what we need to do if it shows up as neither of us really fight. The best soloution was he stand in front of it while I circle behind. Of course, he went down and I wound up running circles around the table (thanks to Marr, who once again saved someone from a killing blow with his arrow) and eventually tossed a potion in I sawda's direction while the construct was far enough away for Noman to pick it up and bring him back to the fight to finish the job. Not bad for 2 support characters!
I like how that creature was clearly balanced for the groups that it was going to face. The Stone Elf one approached - took a few hits - said "You're cool!" and rifted out. Since he was a brand new player - having fought something like what anyone else fought could have been a problem.
The only minor issue with the construct is after the first few waves he did not repeat the shun often. Since the shun is only effective if the target hears the call - I did at one point come out from somewhere to see it and engaged it. I specifically was listening to see if he re-called any kind of shun, but was told by a Marshall "He's shunning non-celestial" I respected that and backed off - but the creature still hadn't re-called it so it technically didn't affect me until he called it again.
I really liked that there were 'low level' events. Math is the type to help anyone so I didn't clue in that it was a low level thing until I got there and saw that it was the 3 newest 'non-fighting' NPCs. It felt weird being there as the one in the most armour (18 at at time) and highest level (although Third was the better fighter). While I was the higest level - most of my BPs are spent in crafting/support stuff, which is probably why Andreas didn't tell me to stay out of the low-level quest, I suspect. (Hitting 'Mary' for 0 normal when I was trying to encourage them to go away confused the hell out of her before I quickly explained OOG that I was 'pulling my punches' and hitting her lightly enough not to do damage.)
Appreciation
I greatly appreciate that the staff recognized that tensions were high all around and decided to end events early on Saturday. After the king told us to get organized and prepare for a huge attack people started getting stressed and snippy. I could not often tell if it was IG or OOG stress - but I suspect it was largely a bit of both (a few of my IG stresses contributed to people's OOG stress so I toned down the RP'd stress but had trouble keeping in my OOG stress - it got VERY confusing. Belinda and Rory both got into minor rows with me that I could not fully tell was IG or OOG or both =Z ) I recognized at a few points the Marshals were stressed too. I was in a state at one point where Math was a bit paranoid and was insisting that anyone entering the tavern announce who they were - and had attacked a few players who didn't. I heard Shawna approaching the door grumbling something about her being a Marshall (I guess someone disrespected her authority?) and was *so* glad I heard that or I would have hit her before realising she was a Marshall.
Anyways, that all said - we were actually grateful that a 'Hold' was called to move the tables back and was not un-called right away. We took that as a MUCH needed OOG break and some of us were holding our bladders in expectation of a giant attack. (This is why we were resistant to get back into it without the hold being called off - most of us were 'out of place' from an IG standpoint because we took an OOG rest)
Negatives
The biggest negative (other than the high stress on Saturday which I already covered) has to be the 'child' that was running through town.
Relative to this before I get into 'wall of text mode' is on page 91 of the book "Monster Size - All monsters are the size of the NPC or phys rep playing the part... for that matter, all players are the same size as their characters as well..." This is why I cringe every time someone (usually Hammish) calls Artie "Wee" This is also why the race is called 'Hobling' - rather than 'Halfling' or 'Hobbit' because the race is NOT smaller than the average human (unless the player is).
If an NPC is supposed to be a child - there needs to be an OBVIOUS indicator of such. There is no time when someone is running around town as fast as he can to say "What do I see?". Math would certainly NOT have been throwing paralysis gas poison at a child! Actually Math probably wouldn't have chased him at all if he had known it was a child. I'm sure a lot of other players would have done things differently if they had known it was a child. And yet Aengus got punished as severely as if it was a child despite the fact that it was otherwise handled as appropriate (other than the prisoner being stored where there are weapons, but it was the most secure location otherwise)
You'll probably need to do a 'census' on this - but I find the 'high silliness' events really break the immersion. Sheep are WAY overdone at this point. I remember flat-out groaning and sitting there not wanting to participate during June's Smurf event before I got 'sucked into' the puzzle box. I know they are done to lighten tension but they are also way OVERDONE as well.
Saturday night - we're currently under the King's orders trying to defend against a wave of undead that outnumber us and along comes... little bo peep telling us we need to protect her 2 sheep. Why? Who knows, but apparently that's more important than a horde of undead.
Lastly, Being Murdered by other players sucks
but that's part of the game and not unexpected based on the way Math's circumstances are developing.
NettoTakashi
Newbie
Hmm, let's see, thoughts...
High Points
Meeting the fae girl "Peach Cobbler," who was ever so happy to have received votes at the previous month's "temporary leader" election, was very nice. That was an awesome little detail that PLOT threw in.
Speaking of which, Isawda (I think) had some interesting comments on said election as we sat near the fire Friday...evening? Things like "this 'democratic' system will never catch on," and something about mobs being less intelligent than individuals, particularly individuals of the well-educated variety. These would be very common views of the time, and to some degree, I think even my OOG self was nodding in agreement.
One thing I found VERY enjoyable was the "Celestial Sudoku" used to find the Words of Power needed for the Ritual to resurrect the Colonel. I wonder what Az'caine would think of an Earth Weaver doing 90% of the work on that? Heh, even got most of the way through the first puzzle before receiving the official number-symbol conversion chart. Yeah, I like puzzles. And the Words of Power turning out to be "Klaatu Verata Nicto" was quite amusing.
One more moment I found amusing: "I come from the flames ONE!" "I come from the WHAT?" This was quickly followed by a rush to join the fray.
Spell Packet training with Frederic was a very nice idea. Need to remember to try some long-distance healing in actual combat.
Low Points
Friday night, I threw a Harm Undead spell at an Undead that was facing away from me, and although I THINK I hit with it (not entirely sure), I don't think the NPC in question noticed or took damage from it. :/ Never did get to use it the second day.
It can be hard to tell sometimes what's Undead and what's not, and if no one asks "what do I see?" right at the start, what's being fought tends to be...unclear. Which is part of why I never got off my second Harm Undead--I didn't want to throw it at something it wouldn't affect, but I couldn't tell what it WOULD affect.
The Quicklings taking their message through Smuggler's Road were not dealt with very well...like, at all. This is more an IG problem than OOG, though--the one put in charge of that kept taking the group away from our assigned task to go help with the Water(?) Elementals (which, at least at first, were THROUGH THE PORTAL, and should have been "not audible").
Other Points of Note
Finding an empty notebook hidden in my cabin was...very odd. Especially since it had a Spell Tag. But no spells. And there were no other casters in my cabin. I later learned OOG who this belonged to, and that it was hidden because it would seem odd for that person to have a spellbook...or so I hear.
I'm SO glad I grabbed my fae doll from the cabin before the big attack, and had her with me. I've brought her into game as a precious item my mother had made for me, and losing her to the Undead would have REALLY sucked.
What was going on with all those Elementals, anyway? Apparently Az'caine was destroying a bunch of elemental nodes for some reason...five of them, by my count. Must be a Celestial thing.
"Uhm, yeah, a ghost kinda phased into the Circle of Power and killed the sick sheep...nothing we could really do about that..."
High Points
Meeting the fae girl "Peach Cobbler," who was ever so happy to have received votes at the previous month's "temporary leader" election, was very nice. That was an awesome little detail that PLOT threw in.
Speaking of which, Isawda (I think) had some interesting comments on said election as we sat near the fire Friday...evening? Things like "this 'democratic' system will never catch on," and something about mobs being less intelligent than individuals, particularly individuals of the well-educated variety. These would be very common views of the time, and to some degree, I think even my OOG self was nodding in agreement.
One thing I found VERY enjoyable was the "Celestial Sudoku" used to find the Words of Power needed for the Ritual to resurrect the Colonel. I wonder what Az'caine would think of an Earth Weaver doing 90% of the work on that? Heh, even got most of the way through the first puzzle before receiving the official number-symbol conversion chart. Yeah, I like puzzles. And the Words of Power turning out to be "Klaatu Verata Nicto" was quite amusing.
One more moment I found amusing: "I come from the flames ONE!" "I come from the WHAT?" This was quickly followed by a rush to join the fray.
Spell Packet training with Frederic was a very nice idea. Need to remember to try some long-distance healing in actual combat.
Low Points
Friday night, I threw a Harm Undead spell at an Undead that was facing away from me, and although I THINK I hit with it (not entirely sure), I don't think the NPC in question noticed or took damage from it. :/ Never did get to use it the second day.
It can be hard to tell sometimes what's Undead and what's not, and if no one asks "what do I see?" right at the start, what's being fought tends to be...unclear. Which is part of why I never got off my second Harm Undead--I didn't want to throw it at something it wouldn't affect, but I couldn't tell what it WOULD affect.
The Quicklings taking their message through Smuggler's Road were not dealt with very well...like, at all. This is more an IG problem than OOG, though--the one put in charge of that kept taking the group away from our assigned task to go help with the Water(?) Elementals (which, at least at first, were THROUGH THE PORTAL, and should have been "not audible").
Other Points of Note
Finding an empty notebook hidden in my cabin was...very odd. Especially since it had a Spell Tag. But no spells. And there were no other casters in my cabin. I later learned OOG who this belonged to, and that it was hidden because it would seem odd for that person to have a spellbook...or so I hear.
I'm SO glad I grabbed my fae doll from the cabin before the big attack, and had her with me. I've brought her into game as a precious item my mother had made for me, and losing her to the Undead would have REALLY sucked.
What was going on with all those Elementals, anyway? Apparently Az'caine was destroying a bunch of elemental nodes for some reason...five of them, by my count. Must be a Celestial thing.
"Uhm, yeah, a ghost kinda phased into the Circle of Power and killed the sick sheep...nothing we could really do about that..."
Gotta say i had two hi points.
1) getting possesed by the poltergeist that was just fun. plus it gave me an rp opportunity too develop myself so bonus points. plus the way everyone else reacted it was interesting all around.
2) when we where all expecting a huge attack and i was alone in the tavern watching the back door defenses. I fully expected too die if more than one enemy came through that door. I was shivering conflicted thoughts running through my mind if i died there was a chance i would never find hte arrows answer never find out who keira is. i found myself tearing up and wispering "i swear on my blades i will survive this and find you. find my answers"
as for low points i don't think i had any really worth mentioning. a couple small things where out of place but really in the end i had so much fun with the rest of it that the little bits don't bug me as much now.
1) getting possesed by the poltergeist that was just fun. plus it gave me an rp opportunity too develop myself so bonus points. plus the way everyone else reacted it was interesting all around.
2) when we where all expecting a huge attack and i was alone in the tavern watching the back door defenses. I fully expected too die if more than one enemy came through that door. I was shivering conflicted thoughts running through my mind if i died there was a chance i would never find hte arrows answer never find out who keira is. i found myself tearing up and wispering "i swear on my blades i will survive this and find you. find my answers"
as for low points i don't think i had any really worth mentioning. a couple small things where out of place but really in the end i had so much fun with the rest of it that the little bits don't bug me as much now.
MathGwyson
Artisan
That's hard to do when they are running very quickly, as I stated. I'll start asking every NPC I meet what I see, then, even if it gets to the point of literally 'Ad nauseam'
Also, as a character whose first line of defence is 'run away' - sometimes asking 'what do I see' takes longer than is needed to be able to run away when the act of looking at someone take a lot less time.
One other problem (a pretty major one that I'm surprised I forgot). Need MUCH more warning on potentially migrane-inducing effects.
I remember when Cory said he was needing Strobe Lights donated I said to be careful with those as they can trigger a migraine. He stated on facebook that they give warning before using them. I did not hear such a warning (however the strobe lights were a lot less severe than what I was expecting given the amount of cord and rope requested so it wasn't a big deal.)
While we were warned about the firecrackers - I got the impression that they were more fire & light based fireworks - not the ear-splitting ones that sound like a gun went off next to your head. You can ask anybody that was fighting near me - when those went off I was literally doubled-over in pain, and nearly terrified because every time any of the other light-based fireworks went off I cringed and braced myself because I had no idea which ones were which. I had a migrane for the rest of the day and wanted to hide under a bed with a sleeping bag over my head - much less clean up the cabin.
(Bear in mind here that I have to cover my ears and cringe if a fire truck or police car has it's siren going on the same street that I'm walking on. I have a low decibel-level tolerance. Don't you dare blow that airhorn when I'm standing next to you either - but it's fine for waking me up in my cabin 'cause there's walls in the way
)Oh but that reminds me of another POSITIVE thing that happened in the Sunday fight. Andy was running around swinging '10s' and at one point I remember he looked right at me, and I knew he could take me out in 3 hits, but he actually turned and went after a higher-level player. I VERY much appreciate the NPCs for keeping mindful of level-disparity and OOG combat skill level. Thanks for that!
Also, this was the first time that the name of the event actually made sense to me. When the king came into town and said to Kiera "This will prove who I am..." there were a bunch of us in the trees by the cabins observing and I actually said "Say... is that the King?" I 'mentally' facepalmed when I realised that was the name of the weekend event.
Third
Newbie
MathGwyson said:
That would be true, except he spent several minutes walking around calmly, begging spare coppers from people. Maybe you missed that part, but that's on us for taking his appearance at face value.
MathGwyson said:
I'm not totally certain, but I think a couple NPC's were adjusting their damage on the fly - calling higher damage against more powerful players.
Myhkul
Artisan
Lets try this again, my first post seemed to vanish somehow. ARGH!
Hights:
- I got Andy with a Web! And killed him good! <grin> Maybe an earth caster does not have to be so weak in combat. Maybe if I use what I have with more smarts...(blush)
- It seemed to me that there was much more in game role playing. Everywhere and including around the fire. Thank you all!
- Being drafted as temporary sheriff helped me step up my game and get even more involved. Even if the pay sucks and everyone claims to be a deputy and due wages! (grin)
- Being required to step into the Arcane Circle and being driven to my knees with the pain. Yup! That was a highlight as it helped define who and what Isawda is.
- Role play with nobles who seek to undermine the King. Treason! The idea that two uneducated farmers`votes` would have more value than one educated nobles is silly. And obscene. (grin)
- Role play with Math, both before and after he was found in the ruins. Too bad my real world memory did a bad job of multitasking and forgot a key point he had made. Sorry Justin!
- I like the story arc that lead to the dual clues that told us of danger at dusk both on the smuggler road and the ruins and lead us to see the King revealed. It make if much more or a story and less a series of encounters.
Lows:
- As there was more role playing, breaks were even more noticeable and harder to work around.
- Parsons BEACH was funny. But very out of genre. i have mixed feeling as a result.
- Fortification was a bad idea in the dark. Instead we should have been organizing like we did on Sunday. In general when we are running in the dark, moving large hard object about is a very bad idea. Some folks did suggest that early on, and safety is the number one rule, but it seem to have a momentum of it own,
- The end of the final battle with the fall of the King was a great cut scene. But it did turn the players into spectators. Cool for a major story point, but something (like box text) to be used sparingly.
- The overall event seemed a little thinner. Might just have been the early shut down on Saturday. The prior even may have simply been hard to follow, with fewer NPCs.
- My biggest concern by far was seeing and hearing of disputes among and with the NPCs and Marshals. Marshals should never be ignored, and friends (that is what we are to me) should never yell at each other. Period. Maybe we need to rotate more PCs through the NPC role to keep everyone fresh. If we are upset we need to hold our tongue till we are calm enough to say it civilly. You can never take back an action or a harsh word.
Appreciation:
- All the Marshals
- All the NPCs
- All the players
- The lovely lady that hides out in log (grin)
Hights:
- I got Andy with a Web! And killed him good! <grin> Maybe an earth caster does not have to be so weak in combat. Maybe if I use what I have with more smarts...(blush)
- It seemed to me that there was much more in game role playing. Everywhere and including around the fire. Thank you all!
- Being drafted as temporary sheriff helped me step up my game and get even more involved. Even if the pay sucks and everyone claims to be a deputy and due wages! (grin)
- Being required to step into the Arcane Circle and being driven to my knees with the pain. Yup! That was a highlight as it helped define who and what Isawda is.
- Role play with nobles who seek to undermine the King. Treason! The idea that two uneducated farmers`votes` would have more value than one educated nobles is silly. And obscene. (grin)
- Role play with Math, both before and after he was found in the ruins. Too bad my real world memory did a bad job of multitasking and forgot a key point he had made. Sorry Justin!
- I like the story arc that lead to the dual clues that told us of danger at dusk both on the smuggler road and the ruins and lead us to see the King revealed. It make if much more or a story and less a series of encounters.
Lows:
- As there was more role playing, breaks were even more noticeable and harder to work around.
- Parsons BEACH was funny. But very out of genre. i have mixed feeling as a result.
- Fortification was a bad idea in the dark. Instead we should have been organizing like we did on Sunday. In general when we are running in the dark, moving large hard object about is a very bad idea. Some folks did suggest that early on, and safety is the number one rule, but it seem to have a momentum of it own,
- The end of the final battle with the fall of the King was a great cut scene. But it did turn the players into spectators. Cool for a major story point, but something (like box text) to be used sparingly.
- The overall event seemed a little thinner. Might just have been the early shut down on Saturday. The prior even may have simply been hard to follow, with fewer NPCs.
- My biggest concern by far was seeing and hearing of disputes among and with the NPCs and Marshals. Marshals should never be ignored, and friends (that is what we are to me) should never yell at each other. Period. Maybe we need to rotate more PCs through the NPC role to keep everyone fresh. If we are upset we need to hold our tongue till we are calm enough to say it civilly. You can never take back an action or a harsh word.
Appreciation:
- All the Marshals
- All the NPCs
- All the players
- The lovely lady that hides out in log (grin)
MathGwyson
Artisan
(Some portions removed by polite request as being specific to my experience and not suited to discussion of the event as a whole.)
Another highlight I forgot about - dancing with the fairy's on Friday and getting to meet Peach Cobbler who people voted for last month. To bad that 'mean old man' (their words, not mine) scared them away. While the fairy dances are among the 'over-used sillyness that's starting to feel immersion breaking' I like that they inverted this one such that people saw the fairys and FLED. I heard Lisa say "Aww they ran away I'm so sad" (previously the fairy's would chase us down and tag us with fae curse) so Math turned around to talk with them.
Another highlight I forgot about - dancing with the fairy's on Friday and getting to meet Peach Cobbler who people voted for last month. To bad that 'mean old man' (their words, not mine) scared them away. While the fairy dances are among the 'over-used sillyness that's starting to feel immersion breaking' I like that they inverted this one such that people saw the fairys and FLED. I heard Lisa say "Aww they ran away I'm so sad" (previously the fairy's would chase us down and tag us with fae curse) so Math turned around to talk with them.
Being part of the indoor fortification effort - I made VERY sure that there was enough space to maneuver around tables and chairs. Some of the areas were packed way to tightly and I said 'no we got to move this out to make space for fighting in for OOG safety reasons' and even after that it didn't look totally safe. I was not at all surprised when Cory nixed it.
Thank you, that's how I'm starting to feel about sheep ('recurring jokes' can get old very fast when they are overdone EVERY event) and fairy dances (except the ones on Friday - that was more fun)
I had a good weekend. The mix of roleplay and fight was good. Thank you to everyone for making this possible
I agree the Goblins going to the beach were an anachronism but since this is a world of fantasy I don’t see why not. Maybe they simply travelled back in time and did not even know it.
I do not see the joke in Bo-Peep. She is someone living in the area who needs some help. You can either help her or refuse.
I do not think the fey are a joke either. Fey folk are known to play pranks on people. They also help good people. They proved their benevolence to your group many times already.
I agree the Goblins going to the beach were an anachronism but since this is a world of fantasy I don’t see why not. Maybe they simply travelled back in time and did not even know it.
I do not see the joke in Bo-Peep. She is someone living in the area who needs some help. You can either help her or refuse.
I do not think the fey are a joke either. Fey folk are known to play pranks on people. They also help good people. They proved their benevolence to your group many times already.
This is the first weekend that actually tired me out properly.
I loved the Fantastic RP moments With Possessing Mar, being attacked as the little Goblin girl for my peppermint, and a certain ‘puppy’ looking at said goblin and backing away quickly saying “what the hell is that?!”. There have been several times in the past where I have had to grab something in the tavern, or go to the bathrooms to wash off, and a PC will say something like “ooh, a strong breeze seems to be in the area.” I am really happy that people focused more on ignoring me while I was invisible and got into the moment. I also appreciate the people who treated the Goblin tourists scenario the same way their character would if they encountered, for instance, a group of biata dressed to the nines on their way to a masquerade who were too busy bickering to notice they were completely lost.
I also got a kick out of Bow Peep charging in to help the town and (accidentally) hooking her crook around my claw and ripping it off. It may not have been planned, but it made her look ridiculously bad ***. You want a reason why you should help townsfolk that seem to be a nuance? Well here’s your answer; you never know what tricks they might have up their sleeves.
As much as we may have had issues with people feeling helpless during the battles this weekend, I think it helped people to get into the right mind set. Just when all hope seems lost, the King finally returns, and is taken away from his people just as quickly. If this was really happening to you, you would feel angry, desperate, and ripped off, so why not use that as motivation? Same thing goes for the Fairies. You never really know what you’re in for with them, and get nervous when they’re around because they are capable of making you dance if they see fit. You can either think of this as an annoying gimmick, or you can think of it the way you would if you were really in that situation, and start trying to find ways to use them to your advantage.
On the other side of things, It has already been mentioned; but my biggest problem this weekend was listening to marshals and NPCs argue over rules. I know that there are several cases where things have not been considered until they come up, and that’s fine, but if you have an opinion that differs from someone else you do not need to yell it across the field.
I loved the Fantastic RP moments With Possessing Mar, being attacked as the little Goblin girl for my peppermint, and a certain ‘puppy’ looking at said goblin and backing away quickly saying “what the hell is that?!”. There have been several times in the past where I have had to grab something in the tavern, or go to the bathrooms to wash off, and a PC will say something like “ooh, a strong breeze seems to be in the area.” I am really happy that people focused more on ignoring me while I was invisible and got into the moment. I also appreciate the people who treated the Goblin tourists scenario the same way their character would if they encountered, for instance, a group of biata dressed to the nines on their way to a masquerade who were too busy bickering to notice they were completely lost.
I also got a kick out of Bow Peep charging in to help the town and (accidentally) hooking her crook around my claw and ripping it off. It may not have been planned, but it made her look ridiculously bad ***. You want a reason why you should help townsfolk that seem to be a nuance? Well here’s your answer; you never know what tricks they might have up their sleeves.
As much as we may have had issues with people feeling helpless during the battles this weekend, I think it helped people to get into the right mind set. Just when all hope seems lost, the King finally returns, and is taken away from his people just as quickly. If this was really happening to you, you would feel angry, desperate, and ripped off, so why not use that as motivation? Same thing goes for the Fairies. You never really know what you’re in for with them, and get nervous when they’re around because they are capable of making you dance if they see fit. You can either think of this as an annoying gimmick, or you can think of it the way you would if you were really in that situation, and start trying to find ways to use them to your advantage.
On the other side of things, It has already been mentioned; but my biggest problem this weekend was listening to marshals and NPCs argue over rules. I know that there are several cases where things have not been considered until they come up, and that’s fine, but if you have an opinion that differs from someone else you do not need to yell it across the field.
Laurent Justeau
Newbie
>flexs the digits<
Well since Laurent in fine tradition is stuck in a "hurry up and wait" situation time to get the review typed up. Besides helps me organize the thoughts of the in-character write up as he prepares a lot of ibga.
Phew! Quite the weekend indeed. You know I think the townies and all have quite forgotten how mistrusted the Imperials were oh so long ago. Mind you the arrival of those disgusting power-mad Darkin elves helped. :shades: But since then it is great to see how the Imperials now are a core function of Parson's Breach. And playing out all those interactions keeps us coming as we sometimes really don't know just where the character is going to take us.
High Points.
- Okay sorta a low point from Laurent's view as it meant he had to "go to war" with his elemental fire brothers...then had to play it out that he just couldn't bring himself to attack them, or even defend himself. But as a player I loved it. Nice to see that there are indeed some lines that character won't cross, and breaking an old oath is one of them. And the young one shows promise! Old perverted one was surprisingly gentle humping my leg... :hahaha:
- Forming up the teams for the elemental quests. It actual became a good training exercise for the group in figuring out how to best fight as a real "battle-squad" in dealing with the bigger threats. Also it was good to see the team chosen "changed up" a few times, so more characters learned how to work together.
- Imperial House. I am starting to think we're drawing all the celestial to us! lol Mind you the addition of the Wolfkin to the team is most welcome by us, as it's not the same without our long missed Slash the Snake-kin. I am very much though approving how that is becoming it's own mini-plot. The Imperials like this kingdom and its people who gave them a home. Interesting to see the interest the Court is starting to have in them and their influence. Just as long as the Imperials remember they are to support the legal authority of the land. :whistle: And plot gets to put up with all that ibga going on...well it is a living kingdom.
- Sergeant? Poor Aengus, life is proving so hard for the laddie. Could we at least see him having a great tumble in the hay? Laurent though is >facepalm< over now being stuck with the rank. So much for enjoying the vacation from authority. Wrap that up with being placed into the Circle for the Arcane Sanctum and well, he's starting to feel like he's back in Destiny...oh except for the citizens actually working together and cooperating that is! :yes:
- Wibble wobbly....wow that is a LOT of back-logged magic items to be identified. :shock: I had to start coming up with ways to spend the time...writing a lot of songs and catching up with notes I found! :hahaha: But good to see the town jumping at the chance, as this was a "whoops oversight" it seemed last game or so.
- "Ze King is an IMBECILE when it comes to fighting tactics!!!" Sorry but that after had me laughing so hard considering things. :funny: I am reminded of the difference of Pullo and Voreneous. Pullo I'd trust in the bar-room brawl to have my back, Voreneous though is the Centurion that is going to get the century victorious through the fight. That made the last battle all the more memorable for me, especially the King having to order the Home Guard...damn a lot of Imperials there...to withdraw, or we just were not leaving his side.
Low Points
- >facepalm< Swear my ears are magnets. This time the tri-horn did the trick and ate the hit. Well done. Players themselves have to keep policing their hits...it's better though. Not perfect, but better. So this is not the low point it's quite been.
- Tavern battle, actually there were two of these. The 1st one I think went as well as it could. Smart for the Marshall to switch lights on for better visibility. 100 percent that was very smart to do at one point. The 2nd one though, the one after the King told us to "prepare for a siege", yeah. :zonks: Not as good. I get that the idea is to use the tables and all, and outside I know that became a whole "choke point", very literally. Valid tactic, and in the day, maybe. At night, honestly I don't think the skill level is there, yet. And I agree in the end safety has to always come first.
- No Borat. Hang on.... :shock: This should be in High Point. :funny:
- Has no one been paid?!? Swear Laurent is going to end up handing a whooper of a bill in the capital :whaa: Actually this makes more of a good RP thing than a low point, there has been a little honest "whoops" here and there. So it plays well with why Laurent is now suddenly in charge. :hahaha: Think he may have a certain Orc go around and make sure the book is balanced.
- Magic Items. Okay, now I have a valid finger wagging. I think plot is now starting to come up with a "better solution" for this now that more items are coming into game and being ID by this game having poor Laurent go and "do the hookie pookie" in the circle. repeatedly, again, and again, and yet again....Okay maybe I don't have to RP it so much but I'm going by some fine examples set for me. :thumbsup: Plot sees this as a bad choke point, and someone noted for the 1st time I had to "break character" to explain it to them. It is being addressed, so it is a Low Point that will soon be lost in the Mists. :sweat:
- Not enough singing around the camp fire! :tears: What, I like that part, a lot! :funny:
It was great to get fully engaged this event, and the best part was helping get some of our new players fully engaged and welcome! Third now knows the Imperial armoury is at his disposal at a pinch, Ejip wants to follow the Imperial path of enlightenment, and of course I can't sing enough praises for the Wolfkin...and his poor abused tail! I find this is becoming one Larp where we all can bring a lot to the forefront, and the nature of the players; along with the characters; is aiding that. Not all Larps work that way. (Ask the Orc of how she felt in one particular larp....b-o-r-e-d. And if you say she brought nothing to the table...yeah be prepared to run, fast. Or learn what it's like to be strangled with one's own entrails. :ninja: )
Actually all the players and Npc bring sparks of wonder to the group, yes even the lost goblin family. Reminds me, I have to figure out where all those squirrels went running off to... :blink:
Okay I can hear the snoring inside the barracks guard office, so time I took a page out of the mighty Az'Caine and applied a little fire-ball as a wakey wakey... :whistle:
Just someone tell the returning Magistrate not to get too much of a headache on his return? :mer:
Well since Laurent in fine tradition is stuck in a "hurry up and wait" situation time to get the review typed up. Besides helps me organize the thoughts of the in-character write up as he prepares a lot of ibga.
Phew! Quite the weekend indeed. You know I think the townies and all have quite forgotten how mistrusted the Imperials were oh so long ago. Mind you the arrival of those disgusting power-mad Darkin elves helped. :shades: But since then it is great to see how the Imperials now are a core function of Parson's Breach. And playing out all those interactions keeps us coming as we sometimes really don't know just where the character is going to take us.
High Points.
- Okay sorta a low point from Laurent's view as it meant he had to "go to war" with his elemental fire brothers...then had to play it out that he just couldn't bring himself to attack them, or even defend himself. But as a player I loved it. Nice to see that there are indeed some lines that character won't cross, and breaking an old oath is one of them. And the young one shows promise! Old perverted one was surprisingly gentle humping my leg... :hahaha:
- Forming up the teams for the elemental quests. It actual became a good training exercise for the group in figuring out how to best fight as a real "battle-squad" in dealing with the bigger threats. Also it was good to see the team chosen "changed up" a few times, so more characters learned how to work together.
- Imperial House. I am starting to think we're drawing all the celestial to us! lol Mind you the addition of the Wolfkin to the team is most welcome by us, as it's not the same without our long missed Slash the Snake-kin. I am very much though approving how that is becoming it's own mini-plot. The Imperials like this kingdom and its people who gave them a home. Interesting to see the interest the Court is starting to have in them and their influence. Just as long as the Imperials remember they are to support the legal authority of the land. :whistle: And plot gets to put up with all that ibga going on...well it is a living kingdom.
- Sergeant? Poor Aengus, life is proving so hard for the laddie. Could we at least see him having a great tumble in the hay? Laurent though is >facepalm< over now being stuck with the rank. So much for enjoying the vacation from authority. Wrap that up with being placed into the Circle for the Arcane Sanctum and well, he's starting to feel like he's back in Destiny...oh except for the citizens actually working together and cooperating that is! :yes:
- Wibble wobbly....wow that is a LOT of back-logged magic items to be identified. :shock: I had to start coming up with ways to spend the time...writing a lot of songs and catching up with notes I found! :hahaha: But good to see the town jumping at the chance, as this was a "whoops oversight" it seemed last game or so.
- "Ze King is an IMBECILE when it comes to fighting tactics!!!" Sorry but that after had me laughing so hard considering things. :funny: I am reminded of the difference of Pullo and Voreneous. Pullo I'd trust in the bar-room brawl to have my back, Voreneous though is the Centurion that is going to get the century victorious through the fight. That made the last battle all the more memorable for me, especially the King having to order the Home Guard...damn a lot of Imperials there...to withdraw, or we just were not leaving his side.
Low Points
- >facepalm< Swear my ears are magnets. This time the tri-horn did the trick and ate the hit. Well done. Players themselves have to keep policing their hits...it's better though. Not perfect, but better. So this is not the low point it's quite been.
- Tavern battle, actually there were two of these. The 1st one I think went as well as it could. Smart for the Marshall to switch lights on for better visibility. 100 percent that was very smart to do at one point. The 2nd one though, the one after the King told us to "prepare for a siege", yeah. :zonks: Not as good. I get that the idea is to use the tables and all, and outside I know that became a whole "choke point", very literally. Valid tactic, and in the day, maybe. At night, honestly I don't think the skill level is there, yet. And I agree in the end safety has to always come first.
- No Borat. Hang on.... :shock: This should be in High Point. :funny:
- Has no one been paid?!? Swear Laurent is going to end up handing a whooper of a bill in the capital :whaa: Actually this makes more of a good RP thing than a low point, there has been a little honest "whoops" here and there. So it plays well with why Laurent is now suddenly in charge. :hahaha: Think he may have a certain Orc go around and make sure the book is balanced.
- Magic Items. Okay, now I have a valid finger wagging. I think plot is now starting to come up with a "better solution" for this now that more items are coming into game and being ID by this game having poor Laurent go and "do the hookie pookie" in the circle. repeatedly, again, and again, and yet again....Okay maybe I don't have to RP it so much but I'm going by some fine examples set for me. :thumbsup: Plot sees this as a bad choke point, and someone noted for the 1st time I had to "break character" to explain it to them. It is being addressed, so it is a Low Point that will soon be lost in the Mists. :sweat:
- Not enough singing around the camp fire! :tears: What, I like that part, a lot! :funny:
It was great to get fully engaged this event, and the best part was helping get some of our new players fully engaged and welcome! Third now knows the Imperial armoury is at his disposal at a pinch, Ejip wants to follow the Imperial path of enlightenment, and of course I can't sing enough praises for the Wolfkin...and his poor abused tail! I find this is becoming one Larp where we all can bring a lot to the forefront, and the nature of the players; along with the characters; is aiding that. Not all Larps work that way. (Ask the Orc of how she felt in one particular larp....b-o-r-e-d. And if you say she brought nothing to the table...yeah be prepared to run, fast. Or learn what it's like to be strangled with one's own entrails. :ninja: )
Actually all the players and Npc bring sparks of wonder to the group, yes even the lost goblin family. Reminds me, I have to figure out where all those squirrels went running off to... :blink:
Okay I can hear the snoring inside the barracks guard office, so time I took a page out of the mighty Az'Caine and applied a little fire-ball as a wakey wakey... :whistle:
Just someone tell the returning Magistrate not to get too much of a headache on his return? :mer: