Heroica RPG - Quest Masters' Lounge

[CMP]

Yes, an excellent first quest. I love the party and their interaction, plus it was nice to see some familiar faces. It was well-put together and I liked of course the final choice at the end there. All quests should end with a big choice in my opinion, and yours didn't disappoint.

The only things I didn't care for were the Dragonlord's inclusion and some of those immense cutscenes. But they're minor issues in an otherwise great entrance into QMing.

[JimBee]

Really nice first quest, Flipz, and well done to all the players as well! A few thoughts:

- I thought battles and perhaps the plot overall was a tad too complicated for Level 1's at first, but they took the challenge in stride and did a great job. I loved the involvement of the Dragonlord, Shadeux, Wolfgang, Dastanese and Rito... even the faries (and the Fey One) and dark druids of the Lost Forest were included. Somehow, the inclusion of all those characters and plotlines never felt too contrived. Everything fit well, and that brings me to my next point.

- I (and surely Doc and Zeph as well) really wanted to see Dastan again. I felt that I filled a good niche with the dragon-centered quest that was 59, and there have been NPCs from Dastan in other quests, but this was the first true return to the post-war scene of Dastan. The politics between the emperors and their people, the characters themselves, the return of the dragons... all of the points we really wanted to illustrate at the conclusion of the Dastan trilogy were reinforced tenfold here. Thanks for contacting me and taking my suggestions into account. I really think this quest as a whole added to the richness of Dastan, and so much more. I've fallen behind on reading 111, but it looks like Khorne is doing the same.

- I liked the interactions between PCs and NPCs. The choices that they could make really added to the realism of differences in opinions and personalities. It's very difficult to adjust a quest to accommodate those who don't follow the plotline, but with enough planning it can be pulled off. I just caution Flipz and the players, however, that it won't always be that way and sometimes compromises have to be made in order to keep the quest on track. Just something to keep in mind.

So, overall the quest was a great read and a fantastic job done by all. Flipz, is that Cathedral quest still in the works? Because I would be very interested in going on it. Especially now that you've proven that you're not all talk about QMing.

(Meaning you had a lot to say about good QMing but never hosted a quest until now).

[Actaeon]

EDIT: The comment was massive, so I put it in spoilers.

First of all, I will say that since this is my first quest, I don't have a ton to base my thoughts on. However, I have read 3 or so quests, and I read a lot of fiction that use LEGOs for visual purposes.

QMing- Flipz, I thoroughly enjoyed the quest!

The story was fabulous and fit really well for my character and left a lot of room for role-play from everyone. I'm glad that the quest really seemed to have a purpose. One quest I read was basically about finding out if the Count was a vampire or not. I loved reading that quest, but it didn't have the same sense of purpose I felt as a reader and as a player throughout #104. I loved how you made the Heroes face a big ethical question and how even before then it was brought up throughout the quest. I think that really helped us newer players really get a feel for our characters. I think that the battle and the decision involving Diana will be a key part of our character's personalities for the rest of the game.

The characters were all great! I actually really liked the cut-scenes, especially when you threw Actaeon and Kiray into the last bit! The battles were really fun as well. The first one felt really easy, but I think that was because of lucky rolling. After that, they seemed pretty balanced. There was a point when I really had no idea if we would win the final battle.

My only complaint is that I would have actually liked to have seen more pictures. I understand that someone else actually did them for you, so I wasn't expecting a ton. However, I feel that the quest really have benefited from more images. I don't know, maybe I'm spoiled because of my time with MOCpages storytelling (which is bascially half pictures half text).

Other players-

Kiray- I really like your character and feel that she is really well defined. From the beginning of the quest, I felt like I knew Kiray, and honestly, I'm not sure how. I enjoyed having Actaeon interact with her. Though some of the interactions were negative, I think that our characters had a good flow. I actually really like that they got into the fight in the Tarban battle. It felt really natural for all three (I'm counting Diana) characters, and I think it helped develop them all. I loved the irony of those three characters sticking together again. I hope we can quest again soon, perhaps this next quest, actually.

Warlen- I'll be completely honest with you, I didn't like your character at all before the quest. He seemed kind of annoying and I didn't think he'd be much of a use. But Warlen surprised me with a lot of depth in his personality. He made jokes, came up with nicknames, and laughed at them both, but he still had a strong sense of justice as well as loyalty. I like how naturally his friendship with Seircon developed. I also how sporadic and rash he is, it really added a lot to the quest. Awesome job!

Siercon- Siercon at first seemed to be a normal mage. He seemed like a nice, very even-tempered guy. He got us out of a lot of fixes and had some fine role-play moments. That last battle, though, he really shined. I loved how quickly he snapped into a decision maker who would not be opposed. I suspect he is involved with something very dark. Either way, I liked how you developed him throughout the quest, and I loved the sense of mystery you developed for him as well.

Germ- Actaeon hates Germ. Honestly, that's not hard to tell. But as a player, I like Germ a lot. He's a selfish coward with annoyingly good come backs. I like how Germ's character really showed during the battles. He got under Actaeon's skin with his logic. Basically, I really respect you as a player (Samuraiturtle) for the character you created. Also, I think it takes a lot of commitment to not gain a level for role-play purposes. In that moment, I really felt like Germ was revealed as a character, and your role-play skills shone. As a player, I think it'd be interesting for him and Actaeon to go on a quest, but I know Actaeon would hate it more than anything in the world.

Actaeon- I'll just critique here, since I can't really say what I did well. The main thing I'm disappointed in is that I completely forgot about the puns. I forgot until half way through the quest, and by then it was too late. It simply doesn't fit into Actaeon's character anymore. Actaeon kind of molded himself after I gave him an outline. Another thing I hope to improve on is choosing when to talk. For some reason I feel the need to post a comment literally every time something happens, but sometimes it just isn't necessary. That's all that's coming to mind right now, but if anyone wants to say anything about Actaeon, please do. I can't get better as a role player if no one tells me what to fix.

Basically, you guys were an awesome party and I really enjoyed questing with you guys. I'd love to go on a quest with any of you in the future!

Well, that was a lot more than I thought I would be writing. Feel free to not read it all. Anyhow, I loved the quest and I think that Flipz, you really did a stellar job, and I am now thoroughly addicted to Heroica because of that outstanding first quest!

Edited September 10, 2014 by Actaeon

[KotZ]

I forgot to add in my thoughts on the players and characters. Flipz, you've already seen my comments in the PMs and on here, so I'll spare you all that.

Diana- She was fun to interact with. I did kind of expect that last bit between her and Kiray to happen, just based off of the comments Actaeon and I had outside the thread earlier, regarding platonic relationships. She was an interesting character and very well written. I actually was annoyed by her in the first few pages because she did seem too "teeny" but grew really well out of that and matured in a very nice fashion through the quest.

Actaeon- You were fun to argue with, and ultimately agree with later on. He seems like a smart character with all of his flaws and faults, something that I wish I could put more into Kiray. For your first quest, you led the party well (when you were conscious). Tarban battle/argument was loads of fun and finally, like I said earlier, when our characters came together and set aside their differences it was so rewarding. I'm really hoping to quest with you again.

Warlen- Like Actaeon said, I was annoyed by you as well in the beginning. Maybe it was that floating skull that got a little confusing to read and keep track of who was who. But it was nice having that dynamic in the party. The impulsiveness was something our party needed that you brought.

Siercon- I wish you sided with us originally, but hey, you stood your ground and it was really worrying that it was just Diana, Actaeon, and Kiray fighting all those others. I hope to not get on your badside next time

Germ- Kiray really isn't a fan of Germ, maybe because she believes fleeing should be done together, instead of just on an individual level. I think you did well with your character, but character to character, Kiray doesn't trust Germ anymore.

[The Chosen Minifigure]

Flipz, thanks for a great first quest.

For me , this was about developing Warlen's character just as l much as having a quest, and although my comments on the other players will be up soon, I just wanted to say good job with the NPCs, especially Diana!

You gave me a lot of chances to develop Warelen character, both with the NPCs, and the plot developments that led to arguments with other players.

In regards to the Quest itself, i liked looking back and seeing how different the quest could have been.

The only part of the quest I didn't like was the political bot with the Pongasis.

Not due to your fault, but that was a busy couple of weeks, so I kind of skimmed through the dialogue.

Oh, and Kiray! Actaeton! Thanks for your feedback on Warlen. I'll respond here.

In regards to him being annoying, yeah, that's how I do him. If you've seen Doctor Who, you most probably know Captain Jack Harkness. I wanted Warlen to be similar: start off hating him then he becomes a great character.

Also, Kiray, in regards to the Warlen/Quarion confusion, my next step is to develop Quarions Character. What I've got in mind is a (SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!)Ninth doctor style character, irritable but soft hearted to his friends. (SPOILER OVER! GOOD TO GO!)

All in all, thanks for the great Quest, Flipz.

Edited September 11, 2014 by The Chosen Minifigure

[The Chosen Minifigure]

Update: Some questions.

Flipz, what would have happened if...

# We had gone on the boat.

# We had killed the Fairy.

# We had walked away from the pongasis argument.

# Darius had been killed instead of Sirone.

[StickFig]

"To know what would have happened, child?" said Aslan. "No. Nobody is ever told that."

[Pyrovisionary]

"To know what would have happened, child?" said Aslan. "No. Nobody is ever told that."

The lower-case L looks like a capital i , so I read that as sa"Said Asian"

[CMP]

I want to point out that that's also a really unique solution to diplomacy, Flipz. I might consider using it in the future. A tangible effect, but one that can't really be abused.

[Flipz]

All right, time to cast Wall of Text (sorry it took so long--I needed to complete a Long Rest so I could regain my 5th-level spell slots ) and post my thoughts on Quest 104:

The Story (and backstory):

I don't entirely recall when this Quest concept came to me, but I do remember that when it came, it came pretty much all at once, and it all came from the title: Ace Assassin: Dual Dragoons. As is blatantly obvious from the title and banner, this Quest started off as a reference to the Ace Attorney series--in spite of the fact that I hadn't played Dual Destinies at the time.

Originally, the Quest was a lot more straightforward: Dragonlord takes the Heroes to Dastan and introduces them to the Emperor, they find out the Dragoons beat them there, and they race to Domus to try and save it. They fail, but have one last chance: to navigate the mysterious maze known as the Lost Woods [which at the time was just populated by generic forest creatures], where they would face a terrible choice: assist their bloodthirsty companion in committing murder for pride, or risk killing one of their own in trying to stop them.

From there, the Rito Settlement was developed from me wanting Diana to have and then drop a Precision Bow, and then the idea that the Rito would have a store; when I realized how ridiculous it would be to suggest the Heroes go shopping when two rampaging Dragoons were on the loose, however, I came up with the idea of letting the Heroes choose between shopping for better weapons and gaining experience from the battle in Domus. Around the same time, I had the idea to offer two separate methods of transportation to Dastan; I can't remember what exactly led me to offer another choice, but I do remember why I wanted to have the encounter; by this time, I'd come up with the idea that Diana was somehow sabotaging the party by summoning monsters to fight them, and if they decided to kill her the final battle was going to have been one of her devices going off and forcing the Heroes to fight their way out of the Lost Forest before the monsters killed the Dragoons. (The final battle for that option was later changed again, but the players ended up not taking that path. ) The use of the Bostonius and Kinto's characters came after I asked him to build my sets for me, and they ended up working really well.

A lot of this Quest came about from outside input, actually; the politics were, as he mentioned, instigated by one of JimBee's suggestions, and Denerii being an allied NPC came from his desire (and mine) to see Winged Warrior in action (which, by the way, seriously broken class; it either does nothing at all or COMPLETELY DESTROYS EVERYTHING ). Zepher gave me a LOT of EXTREMELY useful notes for writing his many NPCs (and I'm eternally grateful and indebted to him for letting me used them, particularly Phil, Ella, Vipera, and Mallelio), and of course Rumble Strike quite generously allowed me use of not only Tarn, but also Kjorfalneire (who was slated to appear in the second battle at sea)--alas, the great sea beast was skipped entirely.

Probably the most unexpected element of the Quest, however, came from Sandy himself. Believe it or not, The Fey One, the fairies, the Dark Druids, and Rosier the Seductive (Archdemon of Lust) were not originally part of Quest 104; they came about as a result of me asking Sandy what he had planned in the Lost Forest for Quest 100 (since I didn't realize until about the time the Heroes met Emperor Septrine that the Lost Forest I was using from the map of Dastan and the Lost Forest on the map of Babaleth were one in the same). I had just intended to have similar enemies with adjusted stats to achieve a sense of consistency and continuity; he gave me the opportunity to introduce three of his major NPCs. I'm glad he did, however, as The Fey One in particular provided a much smoother ending to the Quest than my initial idea would have given, and of course getting to interact with Germ as Rosier, half-demon to Archdemon, was a blast. Fun fact: from the moment Sandy gave me the lowdown on the Lost Forest, it became possible for the party of Quest 100 to have crossed over into Quest 104 (I actually started reworking some of the Dragoons' stats to allow for rebalancing the battles if things went that way). It didn't happen, of course, but the possiblilty was there.

The Battles:

I'll definitely agree with the statement that the battles were a little complex for a Level 1 party, though fortunately they took to them like a duck to water. One tenet I really tried to adhere to (and it's something that Zepher does a lot) is the use of Mechanics as Storytelling; thus, there were little elements in each battle designed to hint at further information; U'Voros and Kiray starting the fight before they or Tarban could call for reinforcements, Nidawi needing to manually Flee the Druid battle, and the Dragoons being Confused (representing them wanting to continue their battle with each other, as well as them being likely to injure themselves and each other due to their inexperience) were all examples of this philosophy. (A great example of this in another Quest was in 102: the party had three battles in a row with no chance to wait in between, simulating a long, grueling night, and then in the last battle they were Cursed, simulating the room slowly filling with blood; I always like it when enemy stats and status effects have a logical reason instead of just being a balancing mechanic. ) There were actually a couple of secrets missed along the way; had the entire party united against the Dragoons and chosen to focus on Sirone, they might have learned that he was secretly but permanently Enamored with Darius (thus being unable to harm him even in Confusion); similarly, if Actaeon and Kiray had decided to turn on Diana, she still would have been Enamored with them for a few Rounds (I think I had Actaeon at 3 and Kiray at 6, or something along the lines of that ratio).

I think my favorite battle was probably the first one; it wasn't too terribly hard or drawn-out, but still provided an enjoyable challenge. I actually got worse with battles over time; the Druid battle dragged on far longer than I would have liked thanks to me forgetting that most of the party couldn't deal with undead, coupled with Denerii accidentally killing all of the non-undead foes I had intended for the non-Mages. Likewise, the final fight with Velquoriel was way too complicated, even after I pared it down from the original draft. In both cases, I was also using the delay to stall for time while I waited for sets, which in retrospect I shouldn't have done--retconning in the images would have been a better solution. Still, live and learn, I suppose.

I want to make a special note about the PvP: I really, REALLY enjoyed both building and running that segment. The PVP rules were actually from one of my tests for my now-cancelled Cathedral of Mercutio Quest, and I quickly adapted them when I realized that there was no way in hell that these Heroes were going to come to a decision together. I've always loved the idea of building enemies with Heroes' rolls as their Specials, as Heroes really are the scariest things other Heroes can face; I hadn't, however, considered straight-up PvP as a way to implement this. The Dragons' rolls were completely improvised, but I'm pretty happy with the results. Obviously some of the clauses need more work, but I'm fairly convinced that multiplying Heroes' HP (as opposed to dividing damage) is the way to go with PvP.

Loot:

I think I was somehow both generous and stingy on this Quest. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to get loot just right; I either gave too much (the first battle, the Druid battle) or not enough (Tarban, killing Sirone). It was extremely frustrating, I can tell you that much.

The Rito Settlement shopping ended up being a lot more generous than I'd intended; I played Diana like a PC there, justifying it to myself by saying, "Oh, well they're just stealing from their eventual payout later" (since Diana's inventory would have been dropped if you'd killed her, including her Belt and the Precision Bow she bought). Only they weren't, because they didn't kill her.

I did give out quite a bit of rep at the end as well, but in this case it felt more justified; the Shadeaux rep, of course, was promised as long as the Heroes kept at least one Dragoon alive, while the Wolfgang and Winged Warrior rep was a reward for the choices each character made along the way (and as a sort of way to make up for me taking twice as long as I'd expected to finish the Quest ). Additionally, both Wolfgang and Winged Warrior rep are too rare in my opinion, so hopefully this will help spark a little more demand for the Beast Warrior and Winged Warrior classes.

(...huh, did not realize until just now that both classes end with the word "Warrior". Cute. )

Characters (NPCs):

As much as I loved getting to play Zepher's NPCs, I really sucked at voicing them; the same goes for Dragonlord and Kinto's characters, unfortunately. I keep forgetting I'm not a good actor, so I keep taking on roles that are way beyond me when I'm making/poaching NPCs. Special apologies go out to Chromeknight and JimButcher for Denerii; she was by far the most underutilized and poorly-played amongst my cast.

Obviously, I put a LOT of work into Diana; I'm glad most of you seemed to like her, but I'm also glad she sort of got on people's nerves as well. She was meant to be a very human but also very polarizing figure, and I think she did her job in that regard. She's the sort of Wolfgang character I wanted to see; relatable, reasonable, and yet also capable of some really dark things. As lovable as she is, she is also a killer-for-hire who killed her own mother by poison because her mother didn't approve of her life decisions; perhaps Diana was justified, but she still chose murder over the alternatives, as she did with Sirone. She's one possible result of a legitimate Wolfgang mindset, and I tried to drop hints to her affiliation throughout the Quest (though it seems it was a surprise right up until The Reveal ).

Darius and Sirone got a lot less work, though I did come up with a decent amount of background material (fun fact: Dyric Rone is responsible three times over for everything that happened to poor Sirone; I look forward to the full picture eventually being explained to him ), including a tragically unrequited love triangle with Bellanotte Shadeaux (Darius was enamored with Bellanotte, Bellanotte was enamored with her tutor Sirone, and Sirone was enamored with Darius). Kreika and Velquoriel, on the other hand...eh. I didn't really understand them, which was maybe a good thing, as it made them seem a little alien like a creature with such a detached understanding of mortality would be--and yet I can't help but feel I could have done more to make the two unique. I also think Kreika's Heel-Face turn was much too quick, though in one sense it had to be if I didn't want my Heroes worried he was going to turn around and kill them.

I am rather pleased with including Mallelio, however (he was originally just a cameo that led the players into Drakencourt and then led them from Domus to the Lost Forest; I included him when I realized I was going to have to kick Daeth and thus deny the party their healer). Although, as I said, I butchered his voicing, I'm VERY happy with his performance in battle; a gemless Sage is basically only good for healing, which was a lifesaver in keeping the battles balanced when Daeth disappeared from the face of the earth. I expect to see more gemless Sage shenanigans from other QMs in the near future.

Choices:

I'm really glad my players made strong, bold choices in this Quest--it wouldn't have held together without them. Killing Tarban, killing Sirone, letting Domus get razed without a fight--all of these had far-reaching consequences, and all of these choices spoke volumes about the Heroes who made them. I love that the Heroes chose to fight each other, even though--or perhaps especially because--I hadn't expected it. I love that Kiray pushed what was originally a sequel hook with Tarban into an actual fight, that Germ ran off into the woods and met an archdemon. They definitely jumped the rails, but almost always did it in a way that was respecful and genuinely stemmed from an understanding of the world I had placed them in and a desire to have an impact on that world. Improvisational QMing is a challenge, to be sure, but I was happy to adjust my plans a little to allow my players to leave fingerprints on the china.

That said...you people are insane. Admittedly, I do drop a lot of hints and clues, but sometimes a minor reference is just a minor reference.

Update: Some questions.

Flipz, what would have happened if...

# We had gone on the boat.

# We had killed the Fairy.

# We had walked away from the pongasis argument.

# Darius had been killed instead of Sirone.

*You would have had two battles at sea before arriving in Dastan (instead of the one battle you had in the sky), but Darius and Sirone would have leveled-up by one Level as well (this happened for the Tarban fight as well, since it was optional).

*The fairies would have been the ones chasing you out of the woods instead of the druids, and you wouldn't have gotten to meet The Fey One (or rather, e would have been leading the charge against you without introducing himself).

*Tarban would have lived to see another day, perhaps another Quest, and would have continued to plot to take over Dastan.

*That one's a little trickier; obviously, you would have fought Kreika instead of Velquoriel, but more than that the NPCs would have reacted slightly better. Mallelio and Denerii would still have been furious, but Sirone could have explained the situation to them in a way that would have appeased them somewhat. He would not have mentioned his brother nor his parents except in the most vague terms, but instead would have hinted to Count Shadeaux that he had an important matter to discuss; he would have taken a leave of absence from the Shadeaux to find his brother instead of quitting outright. I probably wouldn't have granted extra rep in that case; the divide in the party would not have been as sharp, and Diana would have been happy Kiray and Actaeon stuck by her but livid that Sirone would stick with the Shadeaux.

And the unasked question:

*If Diana had been killed, she would have stayed alive just long enough for a few last words; giving the note to Kiray would have been her last act. The mini-Vibrataphone would have fallen from her pocket and activated, and the Heroes would then have been attacked by the Dark Druids, pulled into the Faerie, and then tasked with defending the portal from the incoming undead; the Druids would have focused on the Dragoons, and the goal would have then become "keep them alive" a lot more than it was in the fight versus the Dragon.

I'll go ahead and post this now and begin working on individual player analysis shortly.

I want to point out that that's also a really unique solution to diplomacy, Flipz. I might consider using it in the future. A tangible effect, but one that can't really be abused.

Thanks; it's partly inspired by Athena Sykes from Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, but was also brought about from my own frustration at trying to find ways (as both a QM and a player) to make Diplomacy relevant. When I first thought of the idea, I wondered if it might be too much, but then I realized that characters with Animal Talk get automatic translations for animals' speech when applicable, so why not let the Diplomats get something similar for regular speech. (And as an added bonus, it stacks well with Animal Talk, meaning that Wardens' two Job Traits can actually be used in unique ways compared to their fellow Rangers and Knights instead of being superfluous. )

[JimBee]

now-cancelled Cathedral of Mercutio Quest,

What?! Nooo! We won't even get to see the MOC that has taken all this time to build?

Characters (NPCs):

Special apologies go out to Chromeknight and JimButcher for Denerii; she was by far the most underutilized and poorly-played amongst my cast.

I thought it was alright. Her character has been a little inconsistent between Chromeknight and I (mostly because CK is a better roleplayer), resulting in a determined-yet-playful personality overall. I thought you portrayed her well.

*You would have had two battles at sea before arriving in Dastan (instead of the one battle you had in the sky), but Darius and Sirone would have leveled-up by one Level as well (this happened for the Tarban fight as well, since it was optional).

For choices and behind-the-scenes consequences like this (and also Phil fighting the dragoons on his own side quest). This is something really cool and consequences of choices in quests don't always have to be immediate or even apparent to the players at the time. I'd like to see more of this.

As for WW, I'm aware that it's broken. I've been trying to make improvements to it but I guess there hasn't been much call for it since no PC has chosen that class (Pretzel is the only one who can currently). One of my suggestions was changing the SHIELD roll.

[samurai-turtle]

104 Thoughts

The first impressions of the game is a "choose your own adventure books". (For those who do know what they are: you choose option A go to page 50 or option B go to page 175.) But, the only other RPG I played are "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Warrior/Quest".

Characters

Actaeon - I do not think Germ like him when he firs meet him. He was making bad puns in the hall to him. And then he turned into a Bossy little fool later. Plus the puns just disappeared. I think it is safe to say Germ will punch Actaeon's face in if he see him again.

Diana - She comes off as over power on this quest to me. She seem like the only one to kill off any thing she wanted. Germ felt like he could of done not a dam thing and the battles would of had the same results. Plus Germ thinks she is dangerous now. And if he sees her he is probably going to kill her.

Kiray - She did not seem to have much interaction with every one else. It seem the only time she notice Germ is when he was acting like a jerk. I think he just started ignoring her for that reason.

Warlen - Germ told him: He comes off like a @$$ clown but he is better than that. The best comparison I can think of is, you do not expect much out of them but they pull some thing out of their rear that is awesome.

Siercon - At first he is an enigma. But, then he starts to shows his leadership abilities.

Mallelio - I think Germ just scared him a little bit. But, i do not think would mind hanging out with him again.

Deneril - She surprised Germ with the Winged Warrior bit. And I guess we will see if these two will or when they meet up again.

Daeth - I do not get why or how someone "forgets" they are trying to play a game like this. I am curious if any one tried to contact him?

Germ - I was not trying to make him a big jerk. But, it some how turned in to it. Of course he was never going to be "mister nice guy". But, I guess some people just dragged it out of him.

Battles

1 - This was more like knocking the rust off for me. But it did seem like a lot players in this fight and they all seem to used their specials.

2 - The in fighting was annoying. And more proof that Diana was overpowered she killed every thing.

3 - Was i the only one thing the Fairy was going to attack know mater what? Then it seems like ever one jumped down Germ's throat.

4 - The PvP fight I did not like it for a few reasons. 1) It got a little confusing. Because some thing look like they got over looked. 2) And most of the players are kind of new to the game. And I was I am going to put in this completed untested new thing into the fight. 3) The overpowered Diana comes back and kills the guy in the first round (maybe the second). Which leads to.

5 - The Dragon Battle. Germ felt like: He was unneeded. And not liked by certain people. He also saw a good probably of defeat. Plus, he felt bad for the dragon did not want to kill him off. So he just ran off.

[Actaeon]

Actaeon - I do not think Germ like him when he firs meet him. He was making bad puns in the hall to him. And then he turned into a Bossy little fool later. Plus the puns just disappeared. I think it is safe to say Germ will punch Actaeon's face in if he see him again.

Yeah, Actaeon would definitely fight him too. As for the puns, I forgot about them (as I mentioned before). I regret that.

[The Chosen Minifigure]

My thoughts on the others:

Actaeton: Warlen didn't like him at first, having classed him as a "Control Freak" type of person. However, he ended up liking him a lot, if not completely trusting his judgement.

Germ: Warlen is dubious on Germ, not thinking he should have fled, and not liking his attitude, yet being easygoing, I think it will take Warlen another Quest to hate him. Right now, dubious.

Kiray: As I never really interacted with her, I don't have an opinion. Sorry.

Sirecon: What can I say? Warlen really admires Sirecon. He likes his general nature, and, quite aside from them both being mages, they share similar core principals. Besides, he's the only one not to mention annoyance at Warlen's joking!

Quest-ions

I'm not ready to host a quest just yet, but I do have some questions:

#1: Can we travel to the future? I'm imagining a sort of steampunk world.

#2: How short can a Quest be?

#3: Experienced quest masters, how hard is it to host a Quest?

[Duvors]

#1: Can we travel to the future? I'm imagining a sort of steampunk world.

#2: How short can a Quest be?

#3: Experienced quest masters, how hard is it to host a Quest?

#1: Not likely, depends on what Sandy says in this case.

#2: As short as you want it to be.

#3: Can't answer with any authority, but from what I've heard I'd say very.

Edited September 14, 2014 by Lord Duvors

[Palathadric]

By the way, I'd like to add in case I've forgotten that the party was just great in Flipz quest. Fun interactions and very entertaining to read overall.

Also, man, I forgot just how awesome Siercon is.

[Zepher]

Okay, 104. I'm going to give rambling thoughts - if I had more time, I may organize them, but I don't and I really want to get them out there before they become irrelevant or obsolete.

First off, I'd like to thank Flipz for returning to Dastan. I feel that no one would be surprised if I were to say Dastan is close to my heart. I love the characters there, and I love the setting. I love that, like Eubric, we have been offered the opinion of many QMs (hell, Khrone just landed and I'm already loving it). I believe I have spoken in the past as to the beauty of this games mythos - with multiple visions (and some inconsistent ones) I feel in many ways we are building a sort of "oral legend" - not all accounts are the same, but they all have the same voice at the core, the same values, some similar ideas, etc. The more people who approach something (an idea, a land) the more fleshed out it becomes.

Flipz, I think you handled my characters admirably. I sent you a critique (hopefully as constructive as I hoped and not at all critical) after the very first exposition bit, but I'm not sure I even should have. I was happy to have someone else voice them. I think you did them all a great service. Again, I don't think I'd shock anyone if I said I love all my Dastan NPCs as they've all been around for a while now (Phil since my very first quest ). But enough about me - this was a Flipz quest (the first!) and we should discuss that!

So, story: it was a little difficult for me to see how clearly it was told because you gave me an outline beforehand. So, I felt it was crystal clear... but even with that, I think there were some parts that may have been confusing if I didn't know exactly what was happening. There were a LOT of threads to follow. Dragonlord and Diana, Rito v. Dragoons, Dragoons v. each other, Dragoons in love with Bellanotte (that story line could have easily been abandoned or pushed into a follow up quest), the Fey One... it comes down to another critique I had of Pie at the end of Dark of the Moon. Sometimes when there's too much shoe horned in just because we appreciate the lore, it starts to muddle things instead of high lighting them.

BUT, let's look at the good, and then a bit of the bad. The Dastan bits really did feel fantastic. I loved the stuff in the capitol. Tarban was an interesting inclusion - it felt a little black and white, but sometimes that's how things are in the real world. It wasn't a moral dilemma, but not everything has to be. Like I said, I think you handled the politics well, and the characters involved too. I liked the introduction to the Dark Forest too. The Dark Druids are cool, and it is a nice thread to see that I'm sure someone else (or you) will pick up. The Fairies were cool too! Really let us dip our toes into the water. I loved the way that Phil treated the heroes at Domus, and I have some stuff for the new leader of the Dragon Knights (assuming you're alright with it) so I'm glad you introduced her and we can flip flop the tables with me voicing someone you came up with. I like characters who are dismissive of heroes (as long as they're mixed in with supportive cast) and she felt very justified.

I liked the Dragoons too. They were cool character design, and cool character.

The Dragonlord... I'd actually have to disagree with Pie. I really liked that he was included. I'd like to see more of the Veterans. I like seeing them take an active role. And I think you played him well. It was interesting to explore his relationship with the Shadeaux - they aren't exactly allies, but by necessity they sort of are as well. I like that, and I like that it was brought to the front. I think where things got clunky was him coming with the heroes... it felt weird that he sort of just said "good luck" once they arrived in Dastan. The Dragonlord, as played by Sandy so far (and, heck, what do I really know about the Dragonlord, this is for Sandy to comment on) seems a man of severe action. So that felt dishonest. I'm extremely glad, however, to see him featured. Sandy has a ton of characters, and they're all cool, but there are so many to juggle I feel that some of them come off as archetypal... which is also awesome, but it's nice to see someone else add dimension as well. There are simply too many key players for Sandy to handle it all on his own.

So, some bad things (still tinged with good). The Fey One was a very cool addition... but too much (I felt). We have a ton of lore here, but like I said at the beginning, it begins to muddle the message of the quest if you just start to toss stuff in. Just the Fairy would have been cool - let the Fey One come next time. Same could be said for the Demon of Lust. Again, cool lore, not really quest specific, and sort of muddled things up. I think it was cool to have someone other than Sandy introduce a demon (if I were head of Heroica... and again, Sandy, I respect all the choices you make but still feel I can voice a different technique I would follow... I would have let someone else introduce a few demons, a few veterans, even some houses... I think there's too many for any one person to flesh out from beginning to end... and I think Sandy is pretty willing to let people flesh stuff out, but I imagine people feel that they must wedge them into quests instead of focus quests on them, so perhaps that's on us instead of Sandy: as I said, this is rambling).

The biggest issue I had, beyond the enormous amount of lore, was the Dragoon's rationale for leaving the Shadeaux. Pitched to me, it sort of made sense, but somehow it looked all weird and convoluted in quest. Red Dude wanted to impress Purple Dude because Purple Dude's brother had a problem but they couldn't talk so Purple Dude chases Red Dude so Red Dude tries to kill Purple Dude because Purple Dude is confused but still his best friend? Seems like a lot. I don't know. Also why wouldn't the Shadeaux just go grab Purple Dude's brother? They have the money, and Purple Dude is important to them. It needed more force behind it, I felt.

Finally, a note on early quests both for a QM and a PC. It relates back to lore. With more experienced PCs, you can throw more lore at them, because chances are there will be more for them to grab onto. I don't have an issue throwing three houses into one quest for a more experienced party, because chances are high one or two heroes will know one or two houses. With new heroes, they probably won't know them. That's just an example. Same can be said for vast number of NPCs, political conflict, demons, religions, etc. The more experienced the party (heroes and players) the more they have to latch onto. If you give them all this info at once, it becomes a sorting job. If they already know the info and present it to them with new info or a new lens, they are able to see how it ties into your specific plot instead of just trying to keep up.

I think (and you may shoot me for saying this, because I feel we differ here in opinion) you gave the heroes too much freedom. The Demon Germ was a cool character, but was incredibly distracting reading the quest because he had a myriad of extra stuff going on... and the side quests often felt totally unrelated to the main quest. I'm also still incredibly confused by the whole deal with Siercon and the letter from Ella. Seriously, what the hell happened there? What did any of that mean? Why'd he fake the letter? Why'd Mallelio buy it? Why'd Ella only give it to him? Enormously confused.

Still, over all an awesome awesome quest. I think we were all on the edge of our seat to see what happened, and you didn't disappoint. I look forward immensely to what you have to offer.

And Diana was awesome. That I think alone would have been enough to justify the quest. I wish she hadn't murdered her mother... but she is the first even semi fleshed out and sympathetic character from the Wolfgang we've seen, which is something we've been told to trust in for years. I'd list Warlbarten as well, but she just suddenly took a turn for the evil. This is the first time I've still disliked a Wolfganger, but at least felt they're opinion is backed up, and they're three-dimensional, and they've got a sincere alliance with some heroes beyond "we can offer you gold if you suddenly think our crusade is justified".

Congrats. :thumbup:

[Flipz]

*lots of sweet advice*

Yeah, I definitely agree that I got a lot of plot bloat going on. It's one of my weaknesses as a QM--the thing that pretty much killed the Cathedral of Mercutio Quest in vitro and nearly killed me over the course of this Quest. One of the reasons I was able to convince myself to launch this Quest was that it would be relatively light (and thus manageable), and then once I committed I ended up adding more and more and more without getting rid of anything else. A lot of the bloat came in the Lost Forest section, I think, and that's probably because that was where I was least prepared--originally (as in the VERY first drafts), it was going to be a lot more video game-y with just "random encounter X" and "random encounter Y" with only mild lore regarding the woods themselves. When Sandy told me about the druids and the fairies, I latched onto them and tore right into it, perhaps biting off a little more than I could actually chew. I do feel that having lore in the woods (instead of just battles) was a positive, but I could have done a much better job of presenting it.

Figuring out how to present the Dragoons' story was problematic for me as well. I ultimately decided to just force the players to go in blind and find out the consequences afterwards. A lot of their actions were influenced by things the players never got to see (like the love triangle, which was barely referenced by Bellanotte's reaction but only explained here in the QM Lounge). That's something I'm definitely going to address in Darius' next Quest--some of the history he's been through. Regarding the Shadeaux not taking in Sirone's brother: for one thing, Sirone never told them--the other guards just got bits and pieces of news that quickly got distorted into rumor; for another, I don't really see Noctus Shadeaux as the sort of person to pay a whole lot of attention to his employees' personal lives--if his own son Nuitan could get away with having a friendship with Lyren, the son of his greatest enemy, then why would he care about the family issues of a talented but otherwise unremarkable guard? As you said, though, only Sandy really knows if I played his NPCs accurately.

Regarding Ella's letter--ask Siercon. The original letter was simply meant as foreshadowing (I kept it nonspecific so it would work for either ending, and then tied the fairy lore to that hook so the fairy business wouldn't be completly out of left field, but it ended up not really helping) meant to be given to Siercon and shared with the rest of the party (I was trying to nudge him into interacting more with the other Heroes ), and then Siercon decided to try and pull a sting with it.

And Diana was awesome. That I think alone would have been enough to justify the quest. I wish she hadn't murdered her mother... but she is the first even semi fleshed out and sympathetic character from the Wolfgang we've seen, which is something we've been told to trust in for years. I'd list Warlbarten as well, but she just suddenly took a turn for the evil. This is the first time I've still disliked a Wolfganger, but at least felt they're opinion is backed up, and they're three-dimensional, and they've got a sincere alliance with some heroes beyond "we can offer you gold if you suddenly think our crusade is justified".

Congrats. :thumbup:

I'm so glad people like Diana--I put so much work into her, and it seems to have paid off. As for her mother, well...perhaps she shares your wish. Or not. Only time will tell--and honestly, Diana herself may not even understand her own feelings on the matter. With her, portraying a three-dimensional Wolfgang character was extremely important to me, and I really hope the trend continues into the future.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, looks like I'm re-typing my players' analysis from scratch.

Actaeon - I'm really, really glad I picked you as Party Leader. One of the main qualities I wanted from a PL was the ability to be active in both senses of the word--not just someone who was online frequently, but also someone who would take the time to observe the details of the world and setting and make informed choices. I was very impressed by how quickly you picked up the game lore, and of course I loved the interaction between you and the NPCs.

Your weakness is the game mechanics. Don't worry, we all started there--eventually you'll be able to formulate more in-depth strategies and assess the value of loot to different people just like the rest of us. Also be careful of over-activity; you did well here, but I'd advise you to be careful of accidentally "talking over" other players--it's something I did a lot of when I first started as well, so I understand how easy it can be to slip into that trap.

Kiray - You and I barely interacted on Quest 66, and then you disappeared for a while, but I'm VERY happy you returned and joined 104. I really enjoyed getting to watch Kiray open up a bit and develop over the course of the Quest, especially as you started to take the initiative and actively drive towards Kiray's goals. You were probably one of the best-balanced players on the Quest in terms of roleplay-versus-mechanics, and, like Actaeon, your interactions with Diana were pure gold.

Siercon - Siercon! I'm so pleased we managed to lure you back to Heroica. I was a bit worried about your activity at first, but you pucked up steam in the middle, and by the end you came back in full force. One thing I like about Siercon is that his storyline is simple and yet meaningful--we know what he is now, but we still don't entirely know what that means. You played your zeal towards House Shadeaux admirably, and your attention to the battles was perfect. I really want to see more of Siercon in the future--here's hoping you're back for good.

My big note to you: play a little more with your fellow players! I had a lot of fun chatting back and forth with the NPCs, but I would have liked to have seen a little more between, say, you and Warlen or you and Germ.

Warlen/Quarion - I'll admit, I was a tad worried about Warlen at first--comedic relief is great, but I worried he'd quickly get bored with the fine minutiae. From what I saw, though, you did a superb job on seeming goofy and silly, but then zeroing straight in on the heart of the issue when serious matters were at hand--well done. I definitely picked up the Jack Harkness-esque nature of Warlen, though I'll also agree that I couldn't quite get a good read on Quarion. You seem to have a fairly well-developed backstory for them, but now I'd love to see you flesh it out more, and also polish the telling--as many people have told me, it's usually better to tell backstory in pieces, rather than chunks. I'd really hoped to get a little more interaction between you and some of the NPCs (particularly Ella and Denerii), but that's a minor nitpick; you're doing quite well overall.

My biggest concern with you may seem nitpicky, but it will actually help you out a lot in the long run: at several points, I couldn't tell Warlen and Quarion apart. I'd recommend using a different text color for one of them, or else putting in their little individual character avatars above their dialogue (the way that I and other QMs do NPCs). It'll help a whole lot in helping other players to differentiate them, which will help them help you develop them both more.

Germ - Germ, Germ, Germ. I probably felt the most lost when trying to handle Germ out of all of the PCs. Firstly, I do think there was a language barrier--there were times when I just couldn't understand you, and it seems like there were times when you couldn't understand me. Also, based on a lot of the character details you revealed over the course of the Quest, it seemed like there was quite a bit of subtle nuance that got lost in translation, and again I think that went both directions. I really wish I could have done more to bridge that gap, as it's proven to be an issue at times in my real-world life as well. You did seem to get the short end of the stick in both dice rolls and loot, but hopefully that was offset somewhat by the out-of-battle loot; I did try not to let it happen too often, but at the same time I tried to reward you for thinking outside the box. One thing I really want to emphasize: I LOVE your character concept. It's simple, but really well done--I don't think a lot of people really grasp the fact that you're playing a truly Evil character in a Dungeons & Dragons sense, and you take that lack of understanding and run with it...sometimes a little too far.

I think what you should probably work on the most is playing along with others, and the QM. Trust is important in the player-QM relationship, and sometimes that can get strained when one or the other decides to jump completely off the rails of the normal play of the game. I'm a fairly lenient QM when it comes to players breaking off into side-Quests, but most others aren't as willing to improvise, and some will be outright offended. Try to remember that your QM is a person just like you are, and he or she wants to play the game just like you do; the goal of an RPG is to play along with your GM and your fellow players, not to play against them.

Daeth - I don't know what happened to turn you off of my Quest, but if it's something I said or did, I'm truly sorry. Cutting Daeth out of the Quest was an extremely hard decision, but ultimately I had to do what was best for the Quest and the players, especially when I knew they had important decisions to make. While I'm happy I got to bring along Mallelio for more of the ride, I really do wish I could have had an actual player in his place.

That should be everybody! Thanks again for joining me, I had a great time hosting you all! I'm looking forward to see what you go on to in the future.

[Sandy]

Sandy has a ton of characters, and they're all cool, but there are so many to juggle I feel that some of them come off as archetypal... which is also awesome, but it's nice to see someone else add dimension as well. There are simply too many key players for Sandy to handle it all on his own.

You've said this before, and now you see how I am willing to reach out and let others control my NPCs for a change. It's not that I wouldn't be intimidated to give my NPCs into other people's hands anymore - because I still am a bit -, but at least Flipz did a tremendous job.

I'd list Warlbarten as well, but she just suddenly took a turn for the evil.

That's an odd thing to say. She certainly didn't "suddenly turn evil", she had to resort to desperate measures because the heroes were planning to betray her faction. She obviously doesn't like what she has to do...

And please, don't make me discuss #100 before it's over more than this!

[Zepher]

You've said this before, and now you see how I am willing to reach out and let others control my NPCs for a change. It's not that I wouldn't be intimidated to give my NPCs into other people's hands anymore - because I still am a bit -, but at least Flipz did a tremendous job.

I think it's more than fair to have trepidation about giving NPCs to other people. I'm scared of doing it too. I probably should have bolded this part too:

...and I think Sandy is pretty willing to let people flesh stuff out, but I imagine people feel that they must wedge them into quests instead of focus quests on them, so perhaps that's on us instead of Sandy: as I said, this is rambling.

I think that the duty (and failure - not that it's a major failure, but a minor one at least) at this point falls more on us other QMs.

I also just watched the episode of Bob's Burgers where Bob goes to a conference with all his forum buddies and they think he's a bit of a jerk because he never uses "lol" or an emoticon when he's teasing someone... so in regards to "Warlbarten's sudden evil turn" I will include a . But yes, no further discussion of 100 yet.

[K-Nut]

Quest #100 had its ups and its downs for me. Overall, I enjoyed the quest, but there were some parts (mainly the fault of the party leader and the party's bickering) that suffered a bit. I thought it was very, very well done.

First off, when the quest started, I knew that the party was going to be one of the coolest that any quest has had. I'll get to the party on its own later, but I think that had to be one of the highlights for me. Paired with the story, this is one of the coolest quests anyone has hosted. I absolutely loved the story, and it kept me interested at every turn. Seeing Roland Emeraldo come back was really cool, though Althior has no idea who he is. It's really nice to see this huge, overlaying continuity going on. I suspected that Orokai was Wolfgang from the start, and the thought of Walbartan being Wolfgang crossed my mind, but it still kind of surprised me once we got to the Wyrd Tree. My favorite part of the quest was definitely inside the tower. Over the long time the quest took, I had many suspicions of what to expect from the keeper. At one point I even thought it was Baba herself for some reason. Maybe it was because I typed Babeleth once as Babaleth. Getting in there and seeing how decrepit of life and joy it was was really cool, and the Keeper of Memories was awesome too. I really wish to have gotten some more time with her before Walbartan came rushing in.

The NPCs in this quest were great too. From Peri to Walbartan to even The Seneschal and Glimda, it was really cool to see how flawed all of these characters were. I loved the idea of a Pongcanis being thrust from her tribe because she was simply too kind. The rest of the NPCs besides the Fearsome Four were all great, simply because of what Babeleth had turned them into. Any city under the rule of the exiled Dastanese Emperor has to be corrupt, and seeing all of the characters on this quest have ulterior motives that stemmed from a bit of corruption and strayed from the original mission was great. Even Althior, who I try to play as a moral hardass these days, really had other motives than getting the info on Babariccia (though I was really tempted to get rid of those, seeing as the suspense of not knowing who she is is killing me). :grin:

There were two major parts of the quest that bothered me, however. One was that in the middle, the quest seemed very, very slow paced (at least to me). We were in Vega for a long time and really didn't do all that much. Half the time was bickering over how to get out of the city, which, as PL, I think I really should have done a much better job handling that. Really wish we could have just spent our reward at Vega, though, but the choices we made really prevented that. Another issue I had (which I really don't have that much of one now) was the Golem battle, mainly the Seneschal himself. Had I known that that would have been the final battle of the quest, I wouldn't have been so worked up about it at the time. Having him be immune to all effects and Ethereal was really a pain, especially (for me) the ether sapping. Without those Blinding Bombs we'd have been screwed, but somehow we managed to make it out. Again, now that I see that it was in fact the boss battle, we could have been much better prepared for it.

Characters:

Eric/Khorne: To be honest, Eric has to be my favorite Player Character in the game. The way you play him and his thoughts is perfect. Either Zeph or WBD said it perfectly in how Eric wants the world to bend to him. I didn't see much of that in Quest #94, but I definitely saw it here when we were at the Wyrd Tree and when we were in the tower. Althior would hate questing with Eric again, but I would love it. Maybe not now since I've had a bit of Nord overload from these last two quests, but still.

Sarge/Pyro: I've never really seen Sarge in any other quest, and getting introduced to the character in here was a real delight. Sarge seems like a really cool character from what you posted as him and what you have about him on your profile. Definitely as immoral as the rest of us, but you played it off in a really unique way that I really enjoyed. It's also nice to get some older folks in this young mans game, so that's always an appeal. I'd like to quest with you again, too, some day.

Nur/Jebediahs: I don't think Althior and Nur have ever really talked besides the casual aside in the hall. Nur seemed like a really cool, quiet character. He seems very comical, too. I laughed really hard when you had Alfred dress up as Nur and at this point. I think Nur is all about the ulterior motives and never the job at hand, as seen when he returned to the Mud Pit. That's another really cool, really different type of character to have.

Throlar/Lord Duvors: I'll be honest here, Althior hates Throlar. He comes across as a totally stuck up character who doesn't take anyone's actions into account. There wasn't much of the on Quest #94, but there was a lot of it here. That's a neat type of character to have, but the way you played him didn't work with the party. I think Zeph told you this after Quest #77, but I'll say it again. The whole point of Heroica is that you go off in quests and work together to get the job done. It's a team effort, and I'm not entirely sure you've grasped that yet.

Avalanche/Dragonfire: I don't have much to say here, seeing as you dropped out of the quest very early, but all I can say is that I really wish you hadn't. After what went down at the end of Quest #94 with Althior and Avalanche, I really would have loved to see them interact more. It would have been very cool to see how they clashed when the question of morals came into play. I really hope you come back some day so Althior and Avalanche can continue where they left off.

I do have a few questions about some of the options, too:

• First off, what would have happened if we had been permanently effected by the Mutant God? Was there going to be a way to remedy that? Or were you subtly trying to get us to move along?
  
• What would have been in the Chateau Des Coeurs, had we chosen to enter? Something similar to the V-cards from Quest #12?
  
• Had we chosen to enter, would there have been anything of note in the Gingerbread House?
  
• Also (I'm kinda slow) what was the optional battle you mentioned that would have happened
  
• Finally, can we be expecting a bomb store anytime soon?
  

Overall, I really enjoyed Quest #100. Definitely one of your best quests, Sandy, and it was an honor to be a part of it. Definitely looking forward to where the story goes from here.

[Endgame]

I enjoyed watching Quest 100 - as Heroica's first dive into the triple digits, it was a great read. It had a lot of really high ups, but also a few downs, and it highlighted some underlying problems in the main story.

First of all: babeleth was fantastic. Everything from Vega to the marshlands to the mutant's territory to the tower was executed wonderfully. The builds were huge, detailed, well photographed - a tie with 93, in my mind.

You handled the party splitting up very, very well. Pacing may have suffered, but the amount of tolerance you had for something like that happening was much higher than almost any other QM. For that, I applaud you.

The overall story had a few nice twists and turns as well. I thought the stroy began to droop near the end (but the epilogue saved it to a degree, but more on that later.) The stroy definitely hit its peak as the Four revealed their identities.

Individually, I thought the battles were good... But simply out of order, really. You had the Fateful Four as a good starter, which escalated into the downright brutal mutant battle, to the Buwarkheen battle, to the Golem battle. I thought the battles were well balanced this time around individually, but ultimately they didn't fit into the curve well. I know that isn't your forte, however, so I'll stop harping on you for it.

I think 100 exposed some issues with the strcture of the main story, though.

-I feel as if the lot of the big choices in your quests have something in common, Sandy: Both choices rarely have impact on the main story. 58 was, in terms of your hosting portfolio, 7 quests ago. 58 had a fantastic choice: Nemo or Reno. No matter what choice, the plotline would be changed irreversibly, and so would Eubric. In some of your decisive choices, hoever, the choice is either advancing the main plot... Or recives lots of loot, and just postponing it. Sometimes, Sandy, I feel as if the quest design involves some plot being lost at the very end of the quest, only to be discovered later. This was fine, but in Quest 100, the stage had already been set - let the show go on! No need to keep pushing these plot details further and further back.

-The Wolfgang are kind of in a no man's land of sympathy. You have Ulric's view, who is sympathetic enough... But then it's never shown through him or his minions. We've never seen the Wolfgang do anything nice, per se. And then you have Baba, who is even admitted by the blindly loyal Walbartan to be bad news, and she's the one shown doing stuff that affects the plot. It's like the Wolfgang is trying to be dragged in two directions, and has become ineffective as a result.

[Pyrovisionary]

I was overjoyed when i found out I had been picked for Quest #100, it did not disappoint.

I have an awful memory for things, which is advantage when playing an old man like Sarge but a pain in the big behind when looking at things in retrospect. What I can say though is that I enjoyed Quest #100 thoroughly. I especially loved the sense of agency we got from deciding the fate of the tower, and indirectly Eubric. The story was well done and the characters well fleshed out. Walbartan was a zealous Wolfgang fanatic but she was still nice at heart, Peri was a romantic but also extremely defensive, etc. Or that's at least what I got from them .

So everything you did was great Sandy. As Knut pointed out Vega was a bit of a contrast with the pacing of the rest of the quest but like I said, bad memory.

Onto the party. I loved the party dynamic, though it was mostly quarreling and that held us up until after Vega. I feel had we not lost avalanche the quest would have gone differently, mainly because one of us would have had a conciounce to hold us back! Nonetheless Sarge likes arguing (It probably being an annoying trait ) so I'm sorry if I did to much of that. But as the ragtag bunch of mercs we all ended up as, it was alot of fun!

Khorne/Eric: You can portray your character's thoughts in a wonderful way as many of us picked up, and Eric has his own rather unique opinions, which in turn makes him a unique character. I know Sarge and Eric got off to a rocky start but they united in their dislike for Throlar. I don't know what it is about eric but he's so... I can't put my finger on it but he's got his view on everything as a norseman and as compared to evry other character it's incredibly original and very effective. Like with Peri, he claims his undying love then after eloping regrets it.

Althior/Knut: I don't know what to make of Althior, he seems like a not bad person making morally dubious choices that he justifies are for the better, but nonetheless feels guilty for. I'm not good with assessong characters but he was consistant throughout and took responisbility as leader; Which meant he had to keep Sarge from killing Throlar. Sorry bout that. I think as two of the higher level characters in the hall we'll be questing again soon, and I can't wait!

Nur/Jeb: Sarge and Nur had very little interaction on this quest but my observations of him as a player have been fantastic! He's such a quirky character, and is very entertaining to read! I don't think any character would react to a situation like nur, like in the golembattle when I wasn't paying attention and did nothing for a round.

Throlar/Duvors: I'd very much like to lie and be nice but I won't . Throlar was difficult, stubborn and annoying. That was all I saw of him and he could be perfectly amazing in other quests but Sarge didn't get on with him and so I never saw his good side. That may have been my fault somewhat though . And back in the hall he seems completely calm and I'm surprised why he isn't angry. I just think this wasn't the right sort of party for throlar what with us being morally ambiguous and him... A white knight in comparison. The arguing probably ruined it for the other party members and for that I take equal blame and apologise. Nonetheless, when he's calm he's well roleplayed and quite reasonable I can't deny.

Sarge/Me: Roleplaying has never been my strong point and Sarge hasn't advanced much staistically so I'll talk about the former; He argued too much with Throlar which must have been annoying; I once again am sorry! battle actions were often brief and under-roleplayed but I am rather pleased with his little bit with the keeper. I should have sent him off to Salmanda or something but honestly greed got the better of me . I hope he was consistant the way though but he sucked up a bit to Eric at the begining so he wouldn't have to fight an argument on two fronts as it very much were.

Sarge/Pyro: I've never really seen Sarge in any other quest, and getting introduced to the character in here was a real delight. Sarge seems like a really cool character from what you posted as him and what you have about him on your profile. Definitely as immoral as the rest of us, but you played it off in a really unique way that I really enjoyed. It's also nice to get some older folks in this young mans game, so that's always an appeal. I'd like to quest with you again, too, some day.

Flattery will get you everywhere Knut I'm glad I didn't start with the Male teenage rogue, because it gives me the chance to have my being grumpy and forgettful reflect on my character with a useful scapegoat of age.

Edited September 28, 2014 by Pyrovisionary

[JimBee]

-I feel as if the lot of the big choices in your quests have something in common, Sandy: Both choices rarely have impact on the main story. 58 was, in terms of your hosting portfolio, 7 quests ago. 58 had a fantastic choice: Nemo or Reno. No matter what choice, the plotline would be changed irreversibly, and so would Eubric. In some of your decisive choices, hoever, the choice is either advancing the main plot... Or recives lots of loot, and just postponing it. Sometimes, Sandy, I feel as if the quest design involves some plot being lost at the very end of the quest, only to be discovered later. This was fine, but in Quest 100, the stage had already been set - let the show go on! No need to keep pushing these plot details further and further back.

-The Wolfgang are kind of in a no man's land of sympathy. You have Ulric's view, who is sympathetic enough... But then it's never shown through him or his minions. We've never seen the Wolfgang do anything nice, per se. And then you have Baba, who is even admitted by the blindly loyal Walbartan to be bad news, and she's the one shown doing stuff that affects the plot. It's like the Wolfgang is trying to be dragged in two directions, and has become ineffective as a result.

I couldn't help thinking these same thoughts throughout the quest as well, though less so about the second point. The narrator of the main story arc in this game, Sandy, has a story to tell that may or may not change over time, but I have a feeling he has known already (at least to some degree; a rough idea) what that ending to the story will be. It's a pitfall that's hard to avoid for any QM or game designer, but I agree that it would seem more authentic if the choices actually changed something. If the heroes had chosen to complete their mission for Heroica, what would the Wolfgang lose in the grand scheme of things? It doesn't seem like they would lose much. There'd probably still be a Wolfgang quest in the future and a following arc where they try to take over Eubric, as has been the plot so far.

Would things actually change? It's a difficult question to answer for any of us, maybe even Sandy himself. But I definitely agree that the consequences should have been more apparent. They got a ton of gold and Wolfgang rep for switching sides, don't you think the Veterans would be upset enough with them to consider kicking them out of Heroica? Of course that's not realistic for the game and the players can't be punished that way for being given the option to fight with the Wolfgang, but some kind of penalty should have been incurred in my opinion (other than the loss of the quest reward).

As for the Wolfgang's portrayal, I felt that Warlbatan and the others were good, genuine characters, and reflected the goals of the Wolfgang better than we've ever seen before. With the exception of maybe the Foundation Day Ball quest, we've only seen ruthless thugs and the mercilessness of the Wolfgang. Maybe that's a good thing, since thugs don't necessarily share the views and intelligence of their leaders rather than following blindly and act as muscle. But before this quest, I definitely thought it was hard for any halfway moral character (hero) to follow the Wolfgang. The change with that in this quest was surprising, but appropriate now if not ever.

Those criticisms aside, I did really enjoy following 100 and I felt that it effectively moved the plot along in a significant way. The NPCs were diverse and entertaining. I loved seeing Roland again, thank you Sandy for putting him in at my request. I like the way he's developed. In my eyes, he's never been an evil man (on the contrary his actions in the Dastan Trilogy were for "justice"), but seeks to achieve his goals in a less moral or twisted way. His role in developing Vega is largely a good thing for Babeleth because it acts as a center of commerce where there used to be just a swamp. But it's also a hive for crime and indecency where he rules as something like a king. It reminds me of how Louis Kaestner and Nucky Thompson raised Atlantic City from the muck in pre-Prohibition era U.S. (any Boardwalk Empire fans here?). So, well done with that Sandy. I also liked Periwinkle a lot. I'd like to see Khorne develop Eric in some way with her in the future.

Lastly, well done to the players. Eric was magnificent, and is also one of my favorite PCs. He's so arrogant but can usually back that up with a strong fist or defiance, and I love reading what he has to say. And he doesn't disrupt quests, but still seems genuine (Flipz said something about this a while ago). Althoir was a good leader, but I'm a little lost on who he has become at this point. Is he still a moping undead necromancer, or has he gone back to his old ways? Or something completely new? It was a little hard to tell. Nur was hilarious as always, and I agree with K-Nut that it's cool how he kind of goes to the beat of his own drum. Sarge is consistent, and I like reading him. Have him and Pretzel ever been on a quest together? They'd be great. And although Throlar didn't complete the quest, I have to give him credit for sticking to his guns (and also applaud Sandy for allowing this - it was a big decision to make and it would have been unfair to force the whole party to pick one side).

Overall a great read, and I look forward to the next part of this arc.

[Endgame]

Good points all around, JimB.

I think this time its especially glaring though, because if the information about Baba really was anything remotely important, it's going to crop up in some form later. I think that is what I really meant by one choice just "postponing" the main storyline: the reward is 1000 gold (That's more than my second character will probably get before she hits Level 15), and the penalty is just having to wait the arc a bit more.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Endgame