Heroica RPG - Quest Masters' Lounge

[Scorpiox]

QM and concept of the quest. Reward, not important at all. Except if it's something very special, and reputation might sway me one way or the other.

The reward descriptions are hardly an accurate summary of the actual rewards that one may receive during the quest anyhow, so most of the time I don't pay any attention to them.

[Capt.JohnPaul]

Oh, was it subconsciously picked up? I kind of have been only skimming.

I see you haven't been reading Schools Out recently.

I haven't heard of Schools Out...

[Kintobor]

School's Out is Quest 93. It's one of Sandy's Quests. I'm surprised this is the first you've heard of it.

[Bricksandparts]

Oh, was it subconsciously picked up? I kind of have been only skimming.

That's my guess. It was kinda discussed in the discussion forum.

I haven't heard of Schools Out...

[Capt.JohnPaul]

Ohhhh I feel so stupid now. I know the quest I just didn't recognize it as one for some reason. I thought it sounded like a web comic or something. Move along, nothing to see here.

[Kintobor]

Quest 94: Go Now, In Peace

Overall

I'm pretty pleased with this quest. Honestly, this is probably one of my favourites that I've hosted in awhile. I've been working on and off on this quest for at least four months, coming back, rewriting, and changing things until I finally got a plot that both supplemented the first and built on the characters, while still continuing the story. I consider Grim Grinning Ghosts akin to laying the foundation down, and Go Now, In Peace to kick the plot into gear. This quest was originally going to be a lot different, but quite a few elements remain, including the final fight with the skeletal dragon and Violet tagging along as an NPC. I knew I wanted the quest to have a tonal whiplash right near the beginning to get across that we've moved past 61's lighthearted atmosphere into some rather serious threats. In the end, the quest was a little linear, but I don't mind it so much. The party could've missed reading the journal, or gone straight into the room with the locked door first. There was choice, but not as much as some other quests offer. I was hoping to get some of the original 61ers, or 74ers, but since they're all either on a quest or inactive, I think it was neat setting a new group of heroes into the cemetery setting, since it allowed for some rather different dialogue between the recurring NPCs. Some of the sets could've been better, but I'm pleased with how the Dastan Comet Killer came out. The NPC's were a lot of fun to play, with Amber's sort of two faced personality and Violet's naivety.

Battles

I apologize for the Onslaught. I perhaps should've realized the potential of having a level 30 and a level 11 in the same quest and the varying amount of free hits being dished out. However, the other two I'm proud of. The von Zarovitch battle looked tough, but still rather quick, and the Dance with Dragons was also pretty fair. I perhaps dropped too much loot during the final fight, so sorry to everyone if it seems I splurged on the party. I added Violet to the party to allow the party to have something to interact with and because I really adore Violet. She's just one of those characters I really wish I could use more often, but I can't because she only really fits in the cemetery. I also felt she'd help in clearing out certain enemies with her being a Gravedigger, and because I love the NPC class and think it needs more love.

Characters

I don't think I've seen a group fall apart this bad since 84. Although most of you managed to make amends near the end of the quest, so it's not as bad. It seemed this quest was tailor made for everyone in some shape or form, and I'll go over why in the discussion, as well as analyze some things you did, because us bronies do that a lot or something.

Erik: First of all, welcome back Khorne! I hope you enjoyed the quest, since it seemed to really resonate with Erik. He made a lot of interesting and dare I say thought provoking decisions this quest. Not striking von Zarovitch, his rebuttals to McCreary, he was such a stubborn character, and I think he really stood out. He's a stick in the mud, and I appreciate that in characters. You managed to do prideful and arrogant without it getting annoying, so job well done there. Erik really was a good fit for this quest, and I hope to host you again sometime.

Avalanche: Perhaps you were expecting something different out of this quest with straight undead killing, but I'm glad I brought you along. I love it when party members start turning on each other, and your distrust of Violet and Althior was fun to watch, as well as your eventual decision to believe that not all undead are evil. I also enjoyed seeing how Avalanche's evolved from his first outing, I really love his character as someone looking for more of his people. Keep up the work, and I hope to host you again!

Throlar: I was a bit weary after some of the things you did back in 77, but it seems you've grown a lot as roleplayer, and you've gotten better at making decisions with the party in mind. Throlar was a fun character, and I enjoyed the little side quest that he engaged in. Despite your disappearance at one point, you were active and your interactions were fun to read, particularly with Erik. The one thing I'd advise is to be careful how you use Meldrim. I understand what you were trying to do, but I think he'd be better off as a character who Throlar interacts with in between quests. Be careful what you do with him, because he could become either a fun addition to the character, or an annoyance to other players. Other than that though, I enjoyed having you onboard, and I hope to see your roleplaying improve as you continue to play, and potentially see you on another of my quests!

Althior: I really dig Althior, and I hope he took something from the quest. His conversation with Violet near the beginning of the quest was really, really damn good. I really get the feeling Althior's trying to show off this cold, hardened exterior, but inside he's lost. I saw it back in 79, and I'm seeing it here. I love the interactions you and Avalanche had, and I also adore the interactions between you and Amber. All in all, you did a great job! I hope you enjoyed the quest, and I hope to host you again some day!

I'll post the side quest up shortly, as well as some of the references, so other than that, I hope you guys had fun, and I hope to host you all again sometime! If others would like to post their opinions it would be greatly appreciate, since I read all of them. See you all next time! -Kintobor

Edited April 18, 2014 by Kintobor

[Dragonfire]

Thanks Kinto for a wonderful quest! Avalanche and I both enjoyed it thoroughly. I didn't expect "straight undead killing" but Avalanche did, and he was pretty surprised at the reality of the quest. Everyone else was great to quest alongside and I also liked the NPCs.

I'd like you to post the side quest, please.

[Kintobor]

Side Quest: The Ante Chamber

Quest 94: Go Now, In Peace, Sidequest

Throlar Wineghilim

134 year old male Dwarven Knight

Level: 10

Power: 22

Health: 7/19

Gold: 413

Equipped: Mopagsaber (WP 12, ice elemental, longsword), Poncanis Shield (SP 5).

Inventory: Remedy, Mace and Chain (Mace, WP 3), Elven Sword (WP 5, longsword) Bedroll, Round Shield (SP 2), Smoke Bomb, Mulled Wine, Phoenix Essence, Potion, Hint Coin (Gives the user a hint about a puzzle or tricky situation. Usable only once. Has no monetary value.)

Throlar slips away from the party as he watches his fellow party members walk down into the unknown darkness. There were some things of interest he wanted to look at...

Lord Duvors, on 24 February 2014 - 04:10 PM, said:

"Not to disturb anyone, but am I the only person disturbed by the lit torch? You know, the one that appears to be made of solid gold?"

Being ignored (as usual) he stayed behind, examining the trophy, the torch on the ground, the bucket, the statuette, the lit torch on the tomb, and the large white spider.

Throlar watches the party head out, examining a few of the things in the antechamber. The so called "trophy" was actually a container. Lifting up the lid, Throlar notices a few possessions still left inside. Examining the torch on the ground, Throlar comes to realize it's an ordinary torch. Looking inside the bucket, the dwarf finds nothing short of dirt... and something shiny! Getting his hands dirty, he finds 1 gold coin! Throlar inspects the statuette, admiring the intricate handiwork that went into it. It depicts a proud knight, an eagle adorning his chest. Typical flashy paladin affair. Throlar moves to the only source of light in the dark antechamber, an incense burner. The aroma is rather calming, somewhat sweet, but who would put that here? And who put it here? Throlar inspects the large white spider. It seems to be simply spinning a web, minding it's own business. It looks at Throlar for a few seconds before shivering and scurrying into a crack in the wall. A cold chill rushes up his spine. He catches something out of the corner of his eye. Slowly turning around, Throlar sees a black, near featureless humanoid figure emerges from the shadows, it's body seeming somewhat etherial. He can make out a feminine shape and a cape, as well as what would be it's hair tied into a ponytail. It moves towards him, making no sound as it does so. The mass gets not ten feet from him before it looks down at him and speaks to him in a beautiful, yet haunting voice.

"Do you fear the dark, dwarf?"

---

"Not really, you get used to it living underground, now how about you? Do you fear the dark? And for that matter, are you alive or dead?"

---

An echoing laugh fills the room, the shadowy figure still keeping it's distance.

"I am darkness, Throlar. I am but a mere shadow. A shadow that casts over you, and over your allies that you brought with you."

The incense burner flickers, it's bright light diminishing, making it hard to see the murky figure. Despite his inherently good night vision, Throlar is forced to squint to see the figure, who is now directly in his face.

"Are you afraid of what lurks in the dark, Throlar?"

---

"No, because the things that lurk in the dark are cowardly shadows that only need light to send them away, and Yes, because in a place without light they are terrible and powerful, and can grow strong enough to resist the light, they are contradictions, as are all beings."

---

The shadow moves to Throlar's side, placing one hand on his arm. It sends intense and numbing chills down his neck and his shoulder. He can hardly move. She whispers in his ear, blocking out all other sound.

"Then what, in this instance, do you feel the most? Do I terrify you, Throlar? Does the undead terrify you? Does Althior terrify you?"

---

"No, you just make me feel like a block of ice, the undead? No, unless I'm chained to a wall with no way to escape and one of them is about to kill me, Althor? He's a creep, pure and simple." he said, taking out his Phoenix Essence.

"Don't you think that a little light is needed here?"

And so saying he poured the essence into the incense burner.

---

Throlar attempts to makes his move, but finds it nearly impossible. He uncorks the lid, and lifts up into the air, only for the shadow to cup it's hand over the bottle's lid, shoving it back to Throlar.

"That won't be necessary. I did not single you out to kill you, I'm not that devoid of honour. However, you're suggestions are something I'll keep in mind. Besides, you'll meet me soon enough. All too soon. Everyone fears something Throlar. Even the nord does, as much as he wishes to deny it. And they'll find you Throlar before you find them. Misery adores company.

I've been lingering in here since you're party first came in here. I must say, I didn't get a good look at her when I came in, but your undead friend is certainly rather cute, isn't she, Throlar? What do you make of her? She put up quite a fight when we cut out her heart."

Throlar can almost make out a grin on her face as she whispers to him.

---

"Hmmm... I can't say, she seems... well she seems somewhat romantic, but as she's in love I suppose that's natural, I myself will never love, not in that sense, I don't have room in my heart for that."

"As for Misery, you are right, I am a failure as an ambassador, only one near success and... I recently was in R'kilf where... I killed three people needlessly, and I think that two of them could be said to have been murdered."

He sighed.

"May I go now? I must go see how my companions are getting along."

---

She smiles wickedly. Throlar could even make out a goopey, black substance inside of the shadow's mouth.

"Ah... impulse, followed by guilt. You fear your own self ability, or your lack thereof? Failure... that's what you fear. It's so... poetic..."

The shadow seems to relish in the thought, as it backs away from Throlar, and slinks into the shadows.

"We'll meet soon enough, Throlar. Face to face. Without my shadow."

The shadow disappears into the dark, as the incense candle lights up again, leaving Throlar alone. Just what had he confronted, and who would he meet? Questions filled his head.

---

Throlar watched the shadow go, then, slowly, he raised his right arm and said;

"Ave Umbra, morituri te salutant."

Then he turned around and left, following the passage his companions had taken.

Throlar makes his way down the hallway, torch in hand, curious as to what had just transpired.

---

Throlar Wineghilim

134 year old male Dwarven Knight

Level: 10

Power: 22

Health: 7/19

Gold: 413

Equipped: Mopagsaber (WP 12, ice elemental, longsword), Poncanis Shield (SP 5).

Inventory:

Remedy, Mace and Chain (Mace, WP 3), Elven Sword (WP 5, longsword) Bedroll, Round Shield (SP 2), Smoke Bomb, Mulled Wine, Phoenix Essence, Potion, Hint Coin (Gives the user a hint about a puzzle or tricky situation. Usable only once. Has no monetary value.)

References

-A few DnD ones, the Dastan Comet Killer was inspired by a drawing in a 3.5 edition Monster Manual.

-Count von Zarovitch is named after Strahd von Zarovitch, one of the greatest DnD. If you don't know about him, I recommend looking his backstory up and the whole Ravenloft campaign setting, because it's pretty neat!

-Scary, Jerry, and Thomas Jefferson made more references to quests prior. I know a Night at the Theatre was one off the top of my head, but I can't remember the others.

-The glowing spider in the Antechamber near the beginning was going to be the same one from Luminous passage, mainly from 56 and 86.

-I don't think there was a single MLP reference, and I once again could've thrown in a Giggle at the Ghosties reference.

-References back to C.A.T., with mentioning of Pyro and Emmanuelle.

I think that's about it. If you find any more, let me know. Other than that, I think it's time to wrap up 94. Thank you for participating, I hope you had a good time! -Kintobor

[Dragonfire]

I got the CAT references but none of the others.

[Khorne]

Okay, I'm back home with an internet connection, so I thought it might be appropriate to give my thoughts on the quest (which many people seem to do now )

Quest 94: Go Now, In Peace

Overall

I was pretty pleased with the quest. I've seen some Kintober quests in the past and they were rather well put together, with interesting characters and an equally good story in most cases. I didn't really follow all of your previous quests in detail, so there are most likely some references I missed during this one. I did like to see the return of the skeletons, though. I like the characters, but Eric doesn't, so there wasn't a lot of interaction.

I really liked how much of the quest seemed to revolve around events that had transpired in the north, the land where my character originates from. Even though this wasn't set up a t front, it sometimes made it seem lik it was a tailor-made quest for Eric .

All in all, it was kind of linear, but I didn't really mind. It was a fun quest. Long quests like the Dastan or Baltarok trilogy aren't really my cup of tea (even though the stories are awesome) so I prefer this kind of quest more (for me, personally).

Battles

I didn't really think the battles were that hard. For me, at least. I can't recall a moment where Eric was really in danger, but that's probably because we had heavy hitters like Violet and Althior. If we hadn't had Violet, the undead slaying might've gone a bit more difficult since only Althior was capable of dealing double damage with his diamond.

Characters

This has been (I think) the third party I've seen "fall apart". Often, Eric plays a part in this . The party was split back in #15, when I decided to take the Tritech scientist hostage and later decided to side with the pirates and let Remo escape. Then in #58, I wanted to side with Remo once more, which made Guts doubt and greatly distrust Eric. It's not that I intend to do that before I depart on a quest, but sometimes it just happens .

Eric (me): Eric was his usual stubborn and arrogant self once more. Unlike my last quest, I decided to let Eric seek refuge in his memories of home/home culture more. He's been a wreck and now being part of a quest so related to his home, I thought it'd be only natural for someone like home to see signs of the gods during some events here. I also kind of like how his world views and upbringing make him the gods in other ways than the "standard" "southern" way. It makes him distinct in some way. Many will say his views are wrong and he doesn't understand the way the gods work, but in his eyes all the others are wrong and his people (and by extent him) are right. It made for some nice "clashes" with Throlar and McReary.

Avalanche: I didn't know the character, so I didn't really know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. I like how you were distrusting of having Violet in the party. At first, I thought Eric and Avalanche were going to end the quest being buddies from the North, but Avalanche is apparently not from the North and hates undead. So that was a minor problem .

Throlar: I half read the Brickdoctor quest you were on and was surprised how Throlar was now. I kind of expected you to behave in a way similar to 77, but I was glad you didn't. Eric doesn't like Throlar, at all. Even though they never met before, the things Throlar stated during this quest made Eric resent the dwarf. I like Throlar, though. I like how you established some kind of background "culture" for him and stick to it. Like when you mentioned Titaani burial rituals or when Throlar bids farewell in some language. I don't like Meldrim, though. I don't really get why he's there. Maybe I just missed some things, but I really don't get the point of having him around. Still, I was pleasantly surprised by you and loved the interaction.

Althior: I remember Althior as a fun guy, joking around with Finnegan, so I was surprised to seem him as a brooding Necromancer . I probably missed too much of his story to fully know what's going on, like why Althior is undead and all. Both are characters are rather more of the silent, brooding types so there wasn't that much interaction, even though I would've loved to get to know some more of Althior. I do kind of miss the old Althior, though, but I can totally dig the new one as well .

Phew, that's it. I had a great time, so thanks to the party members for playing and the QM for hosting. Loved it.

[Bricksandparts]

What do people, especially my own questers, think of the action system I am using? I'm thinking I'll use it in future quests, but would like some input on problems and such that I may be able to improve.

[Duvors]

Throlar: I half read the Brickdoctor quest you were on and was surprised how Throlar was now. I kind of expected you to behave in a way similar to 77, but I was glad you didn't. Eric doesn't like Throlar, at all. Even though they never met before, the things Throlar stated during this quest made Eric resent the dwarf. I like Throlar, though. I like how you established some kind of background "culture" for him and stick to it. Like when you mentioned Titaani burial rituals or when Throlar bids farewell in some language. I don't like Meldrim, though. I don't really get why he's there. Maybe I just missed some things, but I really don't get the point of having him around. Still, I was pleasantly surprised by you and loved the interaction.

Thank you for your comments, I'm trying to improve on 77 because I know that my roleplaying there was awful, and I'm glad that I seem to be succeeding. The language was supposed to be Titaani, and if asked Throlar would have stated that it was a traditional phrase meaning 'you are brave'. I'll save an explanation of Meldrim for another post.

[Flipz]

What do people, especially my own questers, think of the action system I am using? I'm thinking I'll use it in future quests, but would like some input on problems and such that I may be able to improve.

I was going to save this for the end of your Quest, but: Honestly, I hate it. It feels like it's taking away any kind of roleplaying or strategy and reducing even the most minute things to "try to roll a certain number of 1's and 2's in a row". It's just slowing things down and artificially inflating the length of your Quest; how long have they been trying to get into the building at this point, something like 2-4 weeks? That's way too long, and there's been way too little happening in that timespan. Bottom line: If we wanted to be playing D&D, we would be.

[Palathadric]

Another thing is that I think you need to make sure that your heroes understand what's going on. Sometimes they seem kind of clueless, but maybe that's the way I'm reading it. I don't think I would enjoy the style very much, but perhaps your questers feel differently. You really want to watch out that your quest doesn't drag on too "artificially long" as Flipz said, because then it just gets boring and doesn't encourage the heroes to post a lot. Again, I'm not sure how they find the quest. Maybe I'm just speaking from an outside perspective, but sometimes it seems like they're just thrown into a situation and have no idea what they are supposed to do at all.

[Bricksandparts]

I was going to save this for the end of your Quest, but: Honestly, I hate it. It feels like it's taking away any kind of roleplaying or strategy and reducing even the most minute things to "try to roll a certain number of 1's and 2's in a row". It's just slowing things down and artificially inflating the length of your Quest; how long have they been trying to get into the building at this point, something like 2-4 weeks? That's way too long, and there's been way too little happening in that timespan. Bottom line: If we wanted to be playing D&D, we would be.

Another thing is that I think you need to make sure that your heroes understand what's going on. Sometimes they seem kind of clueless, but maybe that's the way I'm reading it. I don't think I would enjoy the style very much, but perhaps your questers feel differently. You really want to watch out that your quest doesn't drag on too "artificially long" as Flipz said, because then it just gets boring and doesn't encourage the heroes to post a lot. Again, I'm not sure how they find the quest. Maybe I'm just speaking from an outside perspective, but sometimes it seems like they're just thrown into a situation and have no idea what they are supposed to do at all.

I see what you're saying. Like I said, I'm not sure if I plan to continue to use this system, and if I do, I'll definitely need to think some things out. However, part of the reason for the time it's taken is the current lack of participation. Normally this isn't much of an issue, since players can control other people's actions, however, it seems all of my questers are busy right now. Also, the parkour I've tried to introduce may be the main issue. I think it's just causing the quest to be confusing. Where the party is, what they have to do, and where they're supposed to get to. I'm realizing that an RPG like this isn't necessarily the best place to try to incorporate it, mainly due to lack of ability to explain the terrain and long periods of no feedback.

Another thing though: I'm not sure if the problem really is lying so much in the actions rather than the situation or the inactivity. I agree that at some points, the action system just didn't make sense. The reason I implemented it was to try and make riskier decisions actually a thing to consider, without putting them out of the realm of possibilities.

[Sandy]

What do people, especially my own questers, think of the action system I am using? I'm thinking I'll use it in future quests, but would like some input on problems and such that I may be able to improve.

All I have to say is why can't you host a quest the normal way for once. I already told you when I gave you this new chance at hosting that I don't want to see any more needlessly complex additional mechanics that confuse your players, did I not?

[Waterbrick Down]

What do people, especially my own questers, think of the action system I am using? I'm thinking I'll use it in future quests, but would like some input on problems and such that I may be able to improve.

While somewhat interesting for more challenging tasks, I think there's no need for it (aside from adding extra complexity) for simple things. These are heroes we are talking about, they should be able to climb 10 feet without any risk, jump over a chasm, search a body thoroughly, etc. I know there is a small chance that they could fail at these things in real life, but we're talking minuscule percentages here more suited to a 1/100 chance as opposed to a 1/6 chance. Time is always a factor as well. If a hero wants to climb 100 feet quickly, then yes we're talking about some risk, but if they don't really care about time and are instead trying to be careful, well then they're just as capable of accomplishing that with as much risk as their 10 foot climb would have taken. We can assume that in a lot of situations if the heroes are just willing to sacrifice the time then there is really no need to roll for a risk of failure, because they are eventually going to get.it. Best to skip past the accomplishing of the deed and move on to the effects of taking the amount of time that they did. In summary, it's an interesting mechanic for stuff that's super challenging or risky or stuff trying to be accomplished very quickly, but other than that it diminishes the idea of how "heroic" and capable our heroes actually are and when it comes to offering players a choice between the realistic and mundane versus the amazing and fantastical I'd rather err toward the latter.

[Endgame]

To make up for it, I think there should be a SPRING FLING event! MORE FREE PRESENTS!!!

Actually, I have a relatively simple idea for a Heroica Event: Byblos's Backlog.

Say, in the Library, a list of cryptic couplets or something:

A dastardly gas floats through the air

Triple the foes is quite the scare!

This refers to the Death Progg's gas gimmick. Head to 36, and you'll find a puzzle edited into the Death Progg battle (using a spoiler tag, maybe?) with Sandy's Heroica Master powers. Solve it, PM in the Quest and the answer to the puzzle, and you get some loot.

It'd require some gear, some couplets, some puzzles, in a picture, but probably not as in-depth knowledge of every NPC like Gorgmas Tidings.

When the event ends, all the puzzles could be deleted and the quests restored to their original form.

Just an idea.

[Bricksandparts]

All I have to say is why can't you host a quest the normal way for once. I already told you when I gave you this new chance at hosting that I don't want to see any more needlessly complex additional mechanics that confuse your players, did I not?

While somewhat interesting for more challenging tasks, I think there's no need for it (aside from adding extra complexity) for simple things. These are heroes we are talking about, they should be able to climb 10 feet without any risk, jump over a chasm, search a body thoroughly, etc. I know there is a small chance that they could fail at these things in real life, but we're talking minuscule percentages here more suited to a 1/100 chance as opposed to a 1/6 chance. Time is always a factor as well. If a hero wants to climb 100 feet quickly, then yes we're talking about some risk, but if they don't really care about time and are instead trying to be careful, well then they're just as capable of accomplishing that with as much risk as their 10 foot climb would have taken. We can assume that in a lot of situations if the heroes are just willing to sacrifice the time then there is really no need to roll for a risk of failure, because they are eventually going to get.it. Best to skip past the accomplishing of the deed and move on to the effects of taking the amount of time that they did. In summary, it's an interesting mechanic for stuff that's super challenging or risky or stuff trying to be accomplished very quickly, but other than that it diminishes the idea of how "heroic" and capable our heroes actually are and when it comes to offering players a choice between the realistic and mundane versus the amazing and fantastical I'd rather err toward the latter.

I understand, I feel though that it is being downplayed, however. I understand that the mechanic was not very practical as Waterbrick has pointed out, however, it was a simple mechanic. The reason I was asking here was to see how people viewed it, and I have my answer. It was not a practical idea. One of the main problems arose, however, when I introduced it to the parkour in the quest. Part of this was the fact that it did not fit very well in the circumstances because of the layout, making images, and showing possible solutions. I'm not going to be incorporating the action rolls in the quest anymore because of the criticism it's received. When I created it, I didn't view it as a wholly new, confusing mechanic. It was simply a roll to decide how effective an action is.

[Palathadric]

For a game where everyone's together and actions can be discussed and decided quickly it may be fine, but I just don't see it as mechanic that you can have in an online game with three players in different time zones. It just drags things out too long.

Of course your questers may feel differently, I don't know. I hate ruining others fun.

[Bricksandparts]

For a game where everyone's together and actions can be discussed and decided quickly it may be fine, but I just don't see it as mechanic that you can have in an online game with three players in different time zones. It just drags things out too long.

Of course your questers may feel differently, I don't know. I hate ruining others fun.

No, I agree. I just didn't really realize that when I started the actions. I'm going to remove the rolls because of how long it's causing the quest to take and because of objections to it.

[Waterbrick Down]

I understand, I feel though that it is being downplayed, however. I understand that the mechanic was not very practical as Waterbrick has pointed out, however, it was a simple mechanic. The reason I was asking here was to see how people viewed it, and I have my answer. It was not a practical idea. One of the main problems arose, however, when I introduced it to the parkour in the quest. Part of this was the fact that it did not fit very well in the circumstances because of the layout, making images, and showing possible solutions. I'm not going to be incorporating the action rolls in the quest anymore because of the criticism it's received. When I created it, I didn't view it as a wholly new, confusing mechanic. It was simply a roll to decide how effective an action is.

I wouldn't say it's confusing. It's actually a beautifully simple mechanic and was used extensively in the Heroica Writeboard, but like Palathadric commented it doesn't quite fit Heroica due to the amount of time it takes. Perhaps an alternative is to offer your hero's multiple options or let them each make a suggestion and tell them what would the effect be for such a plan. I.e. give them: Option A where it will take a lot of time but they'll reach their objective safely, Option B where they can save time but will probably take 10 Damage acquired by being more risky, or Option C where they can save a whole lot of time but they might lose some consumables or health or even ether doing so. In a normal RPG complete freedom is manageable and time negligible, in a forum based one, giving flexible options is generally a better alternative and a time saver.

[Duvors]

Actually, I have a relatively simple idea for a Heroica Event: Byblos's Backlog.

Say, in the Library, a list of cryptic couplets or something:

A dastardly gas floats through the air

Triple the foes is quite the scare!

This refers to the Death Progg's gas gimmick. Head to 36, and you'll find a puzzle edited into the Death Progg battle (using a spoiler tag, maybe?) with Sandy's Heroica Master powers. Solve it, PM in the Quest and the answer to the puzzle, and you get some loot.

It'd require some gear, some couplets, some puzzles, in a picture, but probably not as in-depth knowledge of every NPC like Gorgmas Tidings.

When the event ends, all the puzzles could be deleted and the quests restored to their original form.

Just an idea.

I for one think that that is just too complicated.

[Endgame]

I for one think that that is just too complicated.

For the organizer, or the actual participants? It's pretty much just a scavenger hunt to find and solve a riddle.

[UsernameMDM]

For the organizer, or the actual participants? It's pretty much just a scavenger hunt to find and solve a riddle.

Both. Plus I could see only maybe a handful of players participating. Maybe.