Heroica RPG - Quest Masters' Lounge

[JimBee]

Agreed, well done Jeb. I think the challenging battles were great, though I can imagine they'd have gone a lot different if the heroes didn't have such good luck.

Hope to see more from you.

[Rumble Strike]

OK chaps and chapesses, I have a question regarding the Confused effect:

**Confused** for 3 turns, 50/50 chance that target will act against an ally instead of an opponent

Now I have used it thusly:

Roll 1; Odds Confused, Evens Normal = Odd. Dak is confused

Roll 2; 1-6 Party Battle Order to determine target = 1. Knifk is Dak's target (first in the battle order)

Roll 3; Dak -> Knifk = Damage (Knifk damages Dak for 6 points)

Now, because the initial effect was Confused with no health penalty, I think it's OK to have an ally actually damage Dak this round. However, there is an argument to say that it should just be treated as a miss in this instance.

What are Sandy's/other QMs thoughts?

[Scubacarrot]

Besides the way I described in the quest, there could also be a third way, First roll the type of attack, then the confused effect, perhaps that would be the best option, Example: roll is damage, player is just damaged by the monster, but if the roll is attack, there is then another roll, to see if the attack is against the enemy or against allies.

[Waterbrick Down]

OK chaps and chapesses, I have a question regarding the Confused effect:

**Confused** for 3 turns, 50/50 chance that target will act against an ally instead of an opponent

Now I have used it thusly:

Roll 1; Odds Confused, Evens Normal = Odd. Dak is confused

Roll 2; 1-6 Party Battle Order to determine target = 1. Knifk is Dak's target (first in the battle order)

Roll 3; Dak -> Knifk = Damage (Knifk damages Dak for 6 points)

Now, because the initial effect was Confused with no health penalty, I think it's OK to have an ally actually damage Dak this round. However, there is an argument to say that it should just be treated as a miss in this instance.

What are Sandy's/other QMs thoughts?

My only suggestion may be to have the confused hero take damage equal to another heroes level instead of power, otherwise the way you calculated it looks good.

Edited December 3, 2011 by Waterbrick Down

[Flipz]

Hey, guys.

First off, I want to say I understand I won't be able to QM a Quest until I play through a couple, which works out for me because a.) I want to develop Arthur for a bit before I start writing whole campaigns, b.) most of my LEGO is currently in storage and is waiting to be unpacked, and c.) I'm already running another RPG across two other sites (and considering opening up a "branch" here), and with my current schedule, I'd have to temporarily give up playing Arthur to QM both the RPG and the Quest (and as I just said, I really do want to develop Arthur). HOWEVER...

Since you all have actually COMPLETED QM'ing games (as opposed to me just starting them and then players (or me) moving away due to unforseen circumstances), I'd like to ask your advice on a few QM'ing things that would improve not only the current RPG I run, but also any Heroica Quests I end up running in the future.

First, I'm kind of a hands-off GM. I'm not afraid to have an NPC come up and give the heroes a shove if they're not advancing the storyline, but at the same time I'm a firm believer that interaction between PCs should be a driving element in any good RP. Thus, my first question: how can I encourage my players to interact more with each other, instead of only interacting with my NPCs?

Second, my RPG isn't really a stat-based game at all. Now, for PC vs NPC battles, I can handle them just fine; however, since it's looking like a few of my players will be on opposite sides of a "prison break" style scenario, I need advice on how to handle PvP fairly in such a situation.

Finally, how should I, as GM, deal with a missing player when upcoming story scenes involve things that were set up with said player's character? Should I go ahead and control that character as needed for the scene, or should I find a way to direct the players around that particular encounter so it doesn't happen at all (perhaps introducing another, less "significant" reason the players need to go to Location A, and "coincidentally" that's where the players need to be)?

Your feedback would be much appreciated.

--Flipz

[Waterbrick Down]

...First, I'm kind of a hands-off GM. I'm not afraid to have an NPC come up and give the heroes a shove if they're not advancing the storyline, but at the same time I'm a firm believer that interaction between PCs should be a driving element in any good RP. Thus, my first question: how can I encourage my players to interact more with each other, instead of only interacting with my NPCs?

Now this is the question of the age, you'll find that we are a mixed bag in Heroica, some people enjoy the RP aspect, some people enjoy the gaming/winning/looting aspect, so it can really be dependent upon who you choose to be in your quest. A good tip is to look through previous quests or observe the Hall thread and see how different people interact that way you can sort of see how they would be in a quest together. As far as encouraging interaction within quest, I find it's sometimes best to throw in puzzles or riddles that have to be solved outside battle, this forces parties to go beyond declaring an attack and battle stance and really put their heads together. However riddles, puzzles, and dreaded anagrams (another introduction by Zepher) may not be everybodies cup of tea, so that may effect how much your players actually contribute. As Sandy has said before, Heroica is meant to be a simple RPG that people can get into without needing to spend a whole lot of time or effort and that's exactly what it is, some people post every single hour, some people only post every other day, sometimes even less. It's not really hard core gaming, but it is what you make of it.

Second, my RPG isn't really a stat-based game at all. Now, for PC vs NPC battles, I can handle them just fine; however, since it's looking like a few of my players will be on opposite sides of a "prison break" style scenario, I need advice on how to handle PvP fairly in such a situation.

Zepher's Quest #7 is the first instance of PCvPC battles so you may want to take a look at that quest or ask him what he thought ot it. As far as having players on different sides (I'm assuming in a Prison Gaurd vs. Prisoner scenario) it may be rather difficult as most heroes get along outside of the quests and unless there was coercion involved or really good story play, which you may have thought out already, it would be difficult to handle in character.

Finally, how should I, as GM, deal with a missing player when upcoming story scenes involve things that were set up with said player's character? Should I go ahead and control that character as needed for the scene, or should I find a way to direct the players around that particular encounter so it doesn't happen at all (perhaps introducing another, less "significant" reason the players need to go to Location A, and "coincidentally" that's where the players need to be)?

Your feedback would be much appreciated.

--Flipz

If you are referring to PC's then the general trend thus far has been to wait at least 24 hours and if the player is traveling or other things have come up, usually the PC will hand their player over to the party leader while they are gone. Additionally, there haven't been too many quests that are significantly dependent upon one player, perhaps you could clarify a little more.

Hope this helps.

[Zepher]

First, I'm kind of a hands-off GM. I'm not afraid to have an NPC come up and give the heroes a shove if they're not advancing the storyline, but at the same time I'm a firm believer that interaction between PCs should be a driving element in any good RP. Thus, my first question: how can I encourage my players to interact more with each other, instead of only interacting with my NPCs?

I think there are a few ways to get nice character interaction. Putting them up against interesting villains/challenges allows them all to react to it, and then to each other's reactions. Times where they can make choices is always nice as well, they may have different views. Times where they MUST effect a team-mate work well. Finally, yeah, you just got to pick people who are into role playing. I'd never host just a battle quest, so when I pick players, beyond them being at an appropriate power level for the quest, i look for people who have strong characters and who care about said characters.

Second, my RPG isn't really a stat-based game at all. Now, for PC vs NPC battles, I can handle them just fine; however, since it's looking like a few of my players will be on opposite sides of a "prison break" style scenario, I need advice on how to handle PvP fairly in such a situation.

As WBD said, I've done it, but without stats, it's much harder. Just be as unbiased as you possibly can!

I also basically just second everything WBD said.

[Flipz]

Now this is the question of the age, you'll find that we are a mixed bag in Heroica, some people enjoy the RP aspect, some people enjoy the gaming/winning/looting aspect, so it can really be dependent upon who you choose to be in your quest. A good tip is to look through previous quests or observe the Hall thread and see how different people interact that way you can sort of see how they would be in a quest together. As far as encouraging interaction within quest, I find it's sometimes best to throw in puzzles or riddles that have to be solved outside battle, this forces parties to go beyond declaring an attack and battle stance and really put their heads together. However riddles, puzzles, and dreaded anagrams (another introduction by Zepher) may not be everybodies cup of tea, so that may effect how much your players actually contribute. As Sandy has said before, Heroica is meant to be a simple RPG that people can get into without needing to spend a whole lot of time or effort and that's exactly what it is, some people post every single hour, some people only post every other day, sometimes even less. It's not really hard core gaming, but it is what you make of it.

I see. I was afraid this would be one of those "unanswerable questions" of GM'ing. Some puzzles, hmm, that give me an idea...

Zepher's Quest #7 is the first instance of PCvPC battles so you may want to take a look at that quest or ask him what he thought ot it. As far as having players on different sides (I'm assuming in a Prison Gaurd vs. Prisoner scenario) it may be rather difficult as most heroes get along outside of the quests and unless there was coercion involved or really good story play, which you may have thought out already, it would be difficult to handle in character.

Well, specifically speaking (keep in mind, this is a sci-fi RP), a character walked into Sickbay with a bleeding wound, grabbed some supplies, and left without letting the (overprotective) doctor NPC treat them. The doctor assigned the other player to bring him back. The two players interacted a bit, and when I realized the first player was going to try to break out of Sickbay to avoid treatment, I decided to turn it into an encounter (players versus semi-friendly but cloying NPCs), just for the added fun. Then some of my more Lawful players started showing up...and I realized I had set myself up for PvP.

If you are referring to PC's then the general trend thus far has been to wait at least 24 hours and if the player is traveling or other things have come up, usually the PC will hand their player over to the party leader while they are gone. Additionally, there haven't been too many quests that are significantly dependent upon one player, perhaps you could clarify a little more.

Hope this helps.

Well, this RPG is sort of a companion to the story I'm writing...the RPG is sort of "behind the scenes" of the actual storyline, and it also supplies me with background events and other motivations for the characters of the story. One hugely helpful point for me was that one player started flirting with this NPC from the story, which gave her a logical reason she would be spurning the advances of a different character in the story (one plot thread involves a love triangle). I wanted to give the player and the NPC some more interaction to explain a later scene (and because the interaction was so great), but then the whole RPG went on hiatus when both I and several players became really busy IRL...I came back, but the other player is still MIA. In addition, because of how I'm planning the story, a plot-critical event now requires an away team with the player and that NPC (along with a couple of other characters). I could re-write that portion, leaving the player's character out, but I'd have to reexamine the NPC's actions and motivations and re-write them accordingly. Alternatively, I could write the player's character's actions (like I do to a limited extent in his cameo in the story), and then return control to him when (if) he returns.

Also, with all the "love plague" discussion in the rules thread, there totally needs to be a "wild goose chase" quest involving several different factions trying to find the source of and control a nonexistent Love Plague. Imagine it as a lighthearted parody of Brickdoctor's Quest 4 crossed with the idea from someone else in this thread of a Quest involving a plague. I would totally play that.

[Waterbrick Down]

...Well, this RPG is sort of a companion to the story I'm writing...the RPG is sort of "behind the scenes" of the actual storyline, and it also supplies me with background events and other motivations for the characters of the story. One hugely helpful point for me was that one player started flirting with this NPC from the story, which gave her a logical reason she would be spurning the advances of a different character in the story (one plot thread involves a love triangle). I wanted to give the player and the NPC some more interaction to explain a later scene (and because the interaction was so great), but then the whole RPG went on hiatus when both I and several players became really busy IRL...I came back, but the other player is still MIA. In addition, because of how I'm planning the story, a plot-critical event now requires an away team with the player and that NPC (along with a couple of other characters). I could re-write that portion, leaving the player's character out, but I'd have to reexamine the NPC's actions and motivations and re-write them accordingly. Alternatively, I could write the player's character's actions (like I do to a limited extent in his cameo in the story), and then return control to him when (if) he returns.

Also, with all the "love plague" discussion in the rules thread, there totally needs to be a "wild goose chase" quest involving several different factions trying to find the source of and control a nonexistent Love Plague. Imagine it as a lighthearted parody of Brickdoctor's Quest 4 crossed with the idea from someone else in this thread of a Quest involving a plague. I would totally play that.

Hmm... sounds like quite a conundrum. I think I can speak for the players here in that should a player go MIA they are usually either kicked out by the party or replaced by someone in the hall depending upon the QM. But as I said before most quests are usually not solely dependent upon certain characters for plot development but I can see where your problem is coming from. As a player of no other RPG outside of this one, I guess my only advise would be to turn them into a NPC if you are sure they won't be returning and if they do just hand control back over, you can't detract from your other player's experience based solely upon the possible return of another player. That's my logic but like I said, I don't RP outside of Heroica so I may not be as attached to my characters as some other people might be. Regarding Heroica, I expect that you shouldn't have this issue, most people are willing to put up with a quest for a month sometimes two in special cases. If you extend beyond that without prior warning you may encounter the problem of losing interest as most players want to try new things.

[Darth Nihilus]

Alright, I have two Quests in the works, though they need quite a bit of work before I send them to Sandy. So, I had a few questions for the experienced QMs out there:

1)I want one of my NPCs, who the Heroes meet at the beginning of the Quest, to interact with my Hero. So, I was thinking of waiting for my character to be back in the Hall before I start the Quest, so that I can say that he accompanied the party of Heroes. Would this be acceptable?

2)I was thinking of a fighting-based 'hunting' quest, that is made with the interest of the Heroes gaining XP and items. Then, there would be a large boss battle in the end which, in actuality, would be multiple battles. I mean this like waves of enemies where the Heroes would have time to use 1 item between waves, then after about 3 waves of relatively weak enemies to the final battle, where the large enemy would be surrounded by several weaker enemies. Would this 'wave' format be acceptable?

3) How powerful should enemy's specials be?

4) If I want to have a very powerful enemy, would it be better to have a large, mixed-level party or a small, high-level party?

Those are all the questions I have, and I think that my Quests will be finished in a few weeks or so.

Thank you in advance for your answers!

[swils]

Alright, I have two Quests in the works, though they need quite a bit of work before I send them to Sandy. So, I had a few questions for the experienced QMs out there:

1)I want one of my NPCs, who the Heroes meet at the beginning of the Quest, to interact with my Hero. So, I was thinking of waiting for my character to be back in the Hall before I start the Quest, so that I can say that he accompanied the party of Heroes. Would this be acceptable?

2)I was thinking of a fighting-based 'hunting' quest, that is made with the interest of the Heroes gaining XP and items. Then, there would be a large boss battle in the end which, in actuality, would be multiple battles. I mean this like waves of enemies where the Heroes would have time to use 1 item between waves, then after about 3 waves of relatively weak enemies to the final battle, where the large enemy would be surrounded by several weaker enemies. Would this 'wave' format be acceptable?

3) How powerful should enemy's specials be?

4) If I want to have a very powerful enemy, would it be better to have a large, mixed-level party or a small, high-level party?

Those are all the questions I have, and I think that my Quests will be finished in a few weeks or so.

Thank you in advance for your answers!

I can't speak as a Heroica QM yet, but I can offer a bit of advice from other hosting:

1) Actually, I'm not quite sure what you mean. Do you want Dak to accompany the party of heroes as an NPC for the duration of the quest?

2) Not to be rude, but it sounds almost like you want to hand out items and levels like candy, heh. Rewards are nice and all, but quests should be about the story/journey. Personally, I think going through an entire quest of fight after fight would not only trivialize the leveling system (and likely annoy anyone who didn't get to go on the quest, see: the cursed firesword from the cave sounds quest, and the little uproar it caused, haha), but it would take *forever*. Combat is arguably the most time consuming part of all the quests so far, and if you want to have a bunch of battles, well, that's a lot of "I want to attack this, then wait for up to 24 hours for everyone else to decide who to attack, then do the same thing again. and again. and again." Some may enjoy it, but I don't think it'd make for a very intriguing/interesting quest. And again, levels/items shouldn't be handed out. Make the party earn them, so that they really value those gains.

I like the idea of the wave-based boss battle, but think that it should be one continuous battle with a pause between waves to allow for recovery, so there's still only one XP gain at the end. And if you're deadset on hosting a quest with mostly a bunch of battles, then have the players collect items from those battles, and turn them in at the end of the quest for XP rewards. Might take 4 battles to get enough "Bear Claws" to trade in at the end for a single level-up. Something like that.

3) IMO, Powerful. This ties in with #4 a bit, but if you have a mixed level party, try to avoid one-shotting the lower levels as a result of someone else's action (IE, Lv10 monster with a cleave attack on a roll of 6, Player A has 20HP and rolls 6, so everyone in the party takes 10 damage, including Player B, who only had 10HP to start with), but don't make them so weak that higher levels can shrug it off. Scaling attacks work really well (perhaps a special that deals half the target's current HP as damage, with a minimum of 1, to prevent it ever becoming truly useless), or caps on damage based on some factor ("If this attack would deal more damage than the target's max health, it reduces their HP to 1 instead"). Alternatively, toy around with status-effects, repositioning, etc. There's a ton of ways to come up with powerful, creative specials besides just stacking the damage on.

4) Base the enemies around the party, not the party around the enemies. Everyone wants to be remembered for "That really tough bigbadboss that nearly wiped the floor with the party", so if people start building parties around the encounters, lower level players will be excluded and discouraged. Scaling damage, or creative use of the environment in a battle setting are great ways to keep it accessible to everyone. See that giant Steam Golem up ahead? Well, he may run on steam, but he's not rust-proof. Just so happens that there's a few pressurized water valves around the room, and each requires a certain strength (read: Power) to turn (Consider the valves as separate enemies, Level 0, with varying HP values. Their HP regenerates each turn, so you effectively have to OHKO them to "turn" them). Being made of metal, this golem is fairly impervious to low-damage attacks, so low-level players can't really fight through it's inherent SP. Now, if they take a turn to open a valve, it will spray the golem with water, causing a bit of damage from the sudden impact, AND cause him to rust up for a few turns, removing his SP. Okay, so the party opened one valve, and is taking a whack at him now that his defenses are down... but he's still a giant-frickin-golem. His punches hurt. Now your higher level party member can go open a second valve, and this really causes him to rust up--his attacks are now dealing 1/4 of what they usually do! All of a sudden, *everyone* can really participate in the fight, AND people will remember the encounter for having been so imaginative and out of the ordinary.

[Tanma]

...well I will have to look out for any future quests from swils, he knows what he is doing.

[CMP]

...well I will have to look out for any future quests from swils, he knows what he is doing.

I agree. That sounds like the best boss fight yet. And it doesn't even really exist.

[Flipz]

I can't speak as a Heroica QM yet, but I can offer a bit of advice from other hosting:

3) IMO, Powerful. This ties in with #4 a bit, but if you have a mixed level party, try to avoid one-shotting the lower levels as a result of someone else's action (IE, Lv10 monster with a cleave attack on a roll of 6, Player A has 20HP and rolls 6, so everyone in the party takes 10 damage, including Player B, who only had 10HP to start with), but don't make them so weak that higher levels can shrug it off. Scaling attacks work really well (perhaps a special that deals half the target's current HP as damage, with a minimum of 1, to prevent it ever becoming truly useless), or caps on damage based on some factor ("If this attack would deal more damage than the target's max health, it reduces their HP to 1 instead"). Alternatively, toy around with status-effects, repositioning, etc. There's a ton of ways to come up with powerful, creative specials besides just stacking the damage on.

4) Base the enemies around the party, not the party around the enemies. Everyone wants to be remembered for "That really tough bigbadboss that nearly wiped the floor with the party", so if people start building parties around the encounters, lower level players will be excluded and discouraged. Scaling damage, or creative use of the environment in a battle setting are great ways to keep it accessible to everyone. See that giant Steam Golem up ahead? Well, he may run on steam, but he's not rust-proof. Just so happens that there's a few pressurized water valves around the room, and each requires a certain strength (read: Power) to turn (Consider the valves as separate enemies, Level 0, with varying HP values. Their HP regenerates each turn, so you effectively have to OHKO them to "turn" them). Being made of metal, this golem is fairly impervious to low-damage attacks, so low-level players can't really fight through it's inherent SP. Now, if they take a turn to open a valve, it will spray the golem with water, causing a bit of damage from the sudden impact, AND cause him to rust up for a few turns, removing his SP. Okay, so the party opened one valve, and is taking a whack at him now that his defenses are down... but he's still a giant-frickin-golem. His punches hurt. Now your higher level party member can go open a second valve, and this really causes him to rust up--his attacks are now dealing 1/4 of what they usually do! All of a sudden, *everyone* can really participate in the fight, AND people will remember the encounter for having been so imaginative and out of the ordinary.

3. In my ideas for things I could possibly use for a Quest down the line, I have an enemy with a special that "teleports" it behind the party, which means that, essentially, all attacks from/against that enemy for that turn are treated as if they came from the opposite row. This would require some interesting strategy from party, especially if players are low on health. (Note that the monster's health is rather high but its actual attack strength is relatively weak, as a super hard-hitting enemy that could, in theory, force a weak foe to the front row would be impossible to deal with effectively.)

4. I actually have a similar enemy concept for that, it involves an enemy that is far away from the party and so can't be targeted by melee weapons. Players could damage it with ranged attacks and spells, but those only equipped with melee weapons can attack the fireballs it shoots to reflect them back; in essence, it would look like:

Example critter

Type: Flying + ???

Level: ???

Health: ???

Ether: ???

Power: 0

Special: Cannot be hit by melee attacks; if attempted, creates 1 Fireball. Also creates 1 fireball whenever it would deal damage.

Special II (if a 6 is rolled): creates 1 Super Fireball

Drops: ???

Example critter fireball

Type: ???

Health: 1

Power: 8

Special: if destroyed by a hero, the critter that spawned it takes 10 damage. Is destroyed automatically at the end of the turn after it is spawned.

Special II (if a 6 is rolled): explodes in midair, dealing 10/# of living heroes damage to each Hero and destroying itself.

drops: nothing

Example critter super fireball

Type: ???

Health: 5

Power: 8

Special: if destroyed by a hero, the critter that spawned it takes 25 damage. Is destroyed automatically at the end of the turn after it is spawned, dealing 4 damage to all heroes

Special II (if a 6 is rolled): explodes in midair, dealing 25/# of living heroes damage to each Hero and destroying itself. Heroes hit have a chance of becoming Confused.

drops: nothing

As I see it, the more different actions the heroes have to take, and the more different the strategies they have to come up with, the better the quest is for everyone. Autopilot fighting is rarely fun.

[swils]

(snip)

As I see it, the more different actions the heroes have to take, and the more different the strategies they have to come up with, the better the quest is for everyone. Autopilot fighting is rarely fun.

Nothing wrong with some autopilot strewn throughout. Most MMORPGs employ frequent use of "trash mobs" to populate the dungeons. What fun would it be if you walked in the front door, fought a boss, and left? Bah on that! Especially in a game that uses dice rolls, the random factor can lead to some hectic situations, even in fights not meant to really be challenging. It's that danger that adds flavor. Of course, those fights should be mixed in with problem solving and story telling. (I find myself saying this next bit quite often) Sandy presented Heroica RPG to have a fairly simple, inviting groundwork. I think that should be the focus, especially for combat. If -every- encounter started having all these advanced mechanics, not only would it get confusing, or would people not be as assured about hopping into combat, but I think things would get tedious awful quick. It's the combination of the creativity, and uniqueness of the encounter that really set them apart. Don't throw new mechanics all over just because you can. Save up your ideas for those really memorable one-time fights. (I don't mean to say your ideas were doing that, Flipz. I actually rather liked them, and even have plans for a fight that is very dependent upon player positioning, myself. This was meant to be a general warning )

Oh, and yes, be afraid. Be very afraid. Excited, but afraid. I might not tell you up front what those valves do--they'll just be sitting there in the battle, and someone will either have to put 2+2 together, or throw caution to the wind and see what happens when they attack one of them. Careful, the pipes they control are awfully tangled, one of 'em might even open up towards the party! Oh, and if you find yourselves fighting a Water Elemental while slogging through a series of flooded hallways, you *might* want to think twice before striking it with anything that carries an electrical charge..

Edit: Now if only I could get my hands on my lego collection back home to do some actual set building... grumble

Edited December 9, 2011 by swils

[Flipz]

*snip*

If -every- encounter started having all these advanced mechanics, not only would it get confusing, or would people not be as assured about hopping into combat, but I think things would get tedious awful quick. It's the combination of the creativity, and uniqueness of the encounter that really set them apart. Don't throw new mechanics all over just because you can. Save up your ideas for those really memorable one-time fights. (I don't mean to say your ideas were doing that, Flipz. I actually rather liked them, and even have plans for a fight that is very dependent upon player positioning, myself. This was meant to be a general warning )

*snip*

Edit: Now if only I could get my hands on my lego collection back home to do some actual set building... grumble

Oh, yes, moderation in everything. My statement was aimed at the quest in general, not just fights; Brickdoctor did a really good job of mixing roleplaying with battle in Quest 4, and, for example, the fight at the end blended both together. There was a variety of tone; it wasn't a long string of just fights or a long string of just roleplaying, the two were balanced perfectly. That's what I meant by the last statement; even roleplaying can end up on autopilot if it goes on for too long without any advancement.

As for your edit, that's my problem as well, I moved several months ago and my LEGO collection is still somewhat disjointed. I've found a lot of things I would need for photographing a Quest (chief among them the minifigs from the Medieval Marketplace set and the Kindgoms Advent calendar), but I'm also missing a lot (spare parts in tans and browns and greys, and especially a place to actually photograph stuff).

[Darth Nihilus]

I can't speak as a Heroica QM yet, but I can offer a bit of advice from other hosting:

1) Actually, I'm not quite sure what you mean. Do you want Dak to accompany the party of heroes as an NPC for the duration of the quest?

2) Not to be rude, but it sounds almost like you want to hand out items and levels like candy, heh. Rewards are nice and all, but quests should be about the story/journey. Personally, I think going through an entire quest of fight after fight would not only trivialize the leveling system (and likely annoy anyone who didn't get to go on the quest, see: the cursed firesword from the cave sounds quest, and the little uproar it caused, haha), but it would take *forever*. Combat is arguably the most time consuming part of all the quests so far, and if you want to have a bunch of battles, well, that's a lot of "I want to attack this, then wait for up to 24 hours for everyone else to decide who to attack, then do the same thing again. and again. and again." Some may enjoy it, but I don't think it'd make for a very intriguing/interesting quest. And again, levels/items shouldn't be handed out. Make the party earn them, so that they really value those gains.

I like the idea of the wave-based boss battle, but think that it should be one continuous battle with a pause between waves to allow for recovery, so there's still only one XP gain at the end. And if you're deadset on hosting a quest with mostly a bunch of battles, then have the players collect items from those battles, and turn them in at the end of the quest for XP rewards. Might take 4 battles to get enough "Bear Claws" to trade in at the end for a single level-up. Something like that.

3) IMO, Powerful. This ties in with #4 a bit, but if you have a mixed level party, try to avoid one-shotting the lower levels as a result of someone else's action (IE, Lv10 monster with a cleave attack on a roll of 6, Player A has 20HP and rolls 6, so everyone in the party takes 10 damage, including Player B, who only had 10HP to start with), but don't make them so weak that higher levels can shrug it off. Scaling attacks work really well (perhaps a special that deals half the target's current HP as damage, with a minimum of 1, to prevent it ever becoming truly useless), or caps on damage based on some factor ("If this attack would deal more damage than the target's max health, it reduces their HP to 1 instead"). Alternatively, toy around with status-effects, repositioning, etc. There's a ton of ways to come up with powerful, creative specials besides just stacking the damage on.

4) Base the enemies around the party, not the party around the enemies. Everyone wants to be remembered for "That really tough bigbadboss that nearly wiped the floor with the party", so if people start building parties around the encounters, lower level players will be excluded and discouraged. Scaling damage, or creative use of the environment in a battle setting are great ways to keep it accessible to everyone. See that giant Steam Golem up ahead? Well, he may run on steam, but he's not rust-proof. Just so happens that there's a few pressurized water valves around the room, and each requires a certain strength (read: Power) to turn (Consider the valves as separate enemies, Level 0, with varying HP values. Their HP regenerates each turn, so you effectively have to OHKO them to "turn" them). Being made of metal, this golem is fairly impervious to low-damage attacks, so low-level players can't really fight through it's inherent SP. Now, if they take a turn to open a valve, it will spray the golem with water, causing a bit of damage from the sudden impact, AND cause him to rust up for a few turns, removing his SP. Okay, so the party opened one valve, and is taking a whack at him now that his defenses are down... but he's still a giant-frickin-golem. His punches hurt. Now your higher level party member can go open a second valve, and this really causes him to rust up--his attacks are now dealing 1/4 of what they usually do! All of a sudden, *everyone* can really participate in the fight, AND people will remember the encounter for having been so imaginative and out of the ordinary.

Thanks for the advice, here are my counter-answers:

1)No, I just wanted him to accompany the Heroes out of the Hall as an NPC, then return to the Hall once they arrive at the beginning location of the Quest, just so he can interact with one of my other NPCs.

2) I meant a 'hunting' based Quest, where the Heroes track the animal, then battle it. This would go on for a while, until the boss battle.

3) Thank you, that will really help with my storyline.

4) I agree, and that is a really good example. The puzzle-based enemy battles might be something that would show up as well.

[UsernameMDM]

Looks like yours truly will be hosting a quest soon. Hope there are enough level 1s around for a good beginner's quest.

[TheBoyWonder]

Sandy, I have sent a Quest proposal, and am working on some sample pictures.

[Zepher]

Capt.JohnPaul, as is custom, I would like to critique your quest.

Pros - You were a fun QM, and I certainly can't take that away from you. You were positive the whole time, made fun of the characters the right amount, put up with my incessant complaining about the speed, etc. You also had some real nice pictures, and I enjoyed the quest as a whole. Further more, I'm aware that hosting (having just started by second quest) takes up a TON of time and energy, and I appreciate everyone who hosts, you included. Thanks so much!

Cons - I won't rag on you for the time anymore, you know that it was a long quest. Not that I'd be opposed to a three month long quest, but with only a little under 40 pages, it felt really slow, and we didn't do much. I will offer a way to improve, however, as I don't want to just complain and not offer help. In the future, I would be more careful about how many options you give. For example, the last option of returning to Cathargo could have been cut... there wasn't anything else to do, so why give us the choice. Also, some puzzles weren't puzzle so much as... events. The red v. black tiles... there was no way to "figure that out", so it wasn't a challenge so much as a guess. This game has enough luck already, let us make tough choices, it will spice it up for us.

Once more, thank you, great job, room for improvement!

[Fred Daniel Yam]

Okay, I have refined my Quest pitch and hope to PM Sandy after Quest 17. So, question, can players obtain items from a pickaxe like a shovel?

[Sandy]

So, question, can players obtain items from a pickaxe like a shovel?

Why not, but it was initially meant for breaking down barriers such as cave-ins and cracked walls.

[UsernameMDM]

Looks like all the level 1s are gone. I will update my quest to reflect that.

[JimBee]

Since feedback on quests is more for this topic, I'll post here.

Well done, Rumble Strike. I think your quest was very successful. It had the choice-making and puzzle-solving aspects, as well as a good amount of battles. There's not really much I can provide as far as criticism goes, I'm in the same boat as you when getting a hang of all of the rules and details that come with QMing.

Hope to see more from you.

[Rumble Strike]

Thanks Jim, I appreciate your comments.

I think the choice aspect was one of the things that really stood out to me in some of the early quests. It blew my mind that the Donny Dozenhands quest ended with the heroes covering up for the Wolfpack. That wasn't how it was supposed to be! Yet Sandy as QM allowed it. Flexibility is key. And I wanted to bring large elements of that into my quest. Even the early stuff, whilst not being traditional "puzzles", was choice based on how best to get information or deal with the inhabitants of Ve'er, whilst still keeping the story moving.

It was asteep learning curve in terms of following all th erules for combat etc, but I think I got better at that as the quest went on.

You can aklso tell how different my early builds were to my later stuff, and how much more confident I became as doing MOCs for the Quest. It's the first time I've made my own stuff for many, many years, and it showed, but I think I got better as it went on, with the mine entrance and puzzle door my favourites.