Heroica RPG - Quest Masters' Lounge

[Zepher]

I'm with JimBee on this one. I followed Quest 13 quite closely, more closely than I do other quests (all of which I at the very least skim), because quite frankly I thought that somehow it was going to relate back to Zoot, and I felt I should pay attention to all Quests relating to Zoot. I'm glad I followed it, I was very impressed with it! The story was solid, and the character of Sorrow was cool.

I do have a question or two, and one note. Note: Maybe I missed it, but I would be interested in knowing what happened to the man that Sorrow was torturing in the beginning. Secondly, how exactly was the puzzle on the door solved? Were there clues I missed, or was Sarrick just smarter than I am? Finally... well, how did you convince Subacarrot to allow you to kidnap his character?!

[K-Nut]

So wait, what happened to Guts? Is the quest still going on for him? I'm just a wee bit confused about that.

[Chromeknight]

I'm with JimBee on this one. I followed Quest 13 quite closely, more closely than I do other quests (all of which I at the very least skim), because quite frankly I thought that somehow it was going to relate back to Zoot, and I felt I should pay attention to all Quests relating to Zoot. I'm glad I followed it, I was very impressed with it! The story was solid, and the character of Sorrow was cool.

I do have a question or two, and one note. Note: Maybe I missed it, but I would be interested in knowing what happened to the man that Sorrow was torturing in the beginning. Secondly, how exactly was the puzzle on the door solved? Were there clues I missed, or was Sarrick just smarter than I am? Finally... well, how did you convince Subacarrot to allow you to kidnap his character?!

The man at the beginning? We took him back to his town, and gave his wife the medicine that cured her.

The door puzzle? We had a note dropped by one of the skeletons we fought. "Three is the key"

As for the rogue running off with them? That's what rogues do...

Though I've said it before I want to write down some final thanks to Rumblestrike.

The storyline was great, figuring out the best course of action was a challenge without being impossible.

The pictures were good, and even though the sets were simple they conveyed the essence of the scene.

The only glitch in the battles was the skeleton battle, but that was understandable. It was complicated. I re-read my post about it three times to make sure I'd added things up right! Otherwise, I really liked the croc battle and I'm glad the croc got to eat someone! Shame Gorg ended up the chew-toy twice though! I think generally we were fairly lucky with dice rolls and some of the battles which might have been expected to be more difficult, weren't.

And I really liked the characters, both yours and the other players. There was good opportunity for interaction. I hope Nerwen comes across Sorona again. Shame about Fenimor (Jorgvorg), he would have been a definite presence in the quest! I learnt quite a bit about Nerwen (she's a bit bossy!) through this, and the darkness at the end will be a springboard for further character development.

I would definitely quest under you again, and recommend you to my friends!

Perhaps someday I'll have the chance to return the favour and QM Tarn!

PS. I am a little curious about what Haroka and Sonora's stats would have been if we'd fought the last battle, but I quite understand if you'd rather keep them under wraps until their return!

[Scubacarrot]

Now that its over, I also have some things to say about the quest,

First off, I want to thank you, Rumble, for hosting, I had a lot of fun!

The story and characters were great, and I really liked the fact that you went along with my questioning against Sorrow, and other things.

The only criticism I might have, would be that the battles we were in were all pretty easy, and although part of that could be accounted for by lucky dice rolls, I felt that some fights could have been harder (crocodile fight, specials were not anything terrifying, only make the fight longer).

I really liked being on the quest, thanks for picking me, and I would join another of your quests in an instant.

Also, I am kind of curious to see if there is going to be a sequel

[Darth Nihilus]

First of all, I would like to thank Rumble Strike for an amazing Quest. The storyline was one of the best I've seen, and the photography was beautiful. Second, I would like to thank everyone who was in the Quest for allowing my role-play to go on (mostly) unhindered. Third, I would like to thank the dice, which gave me all those beautiful Mugs.

[Rumble Strike]

I thought that somehow it was going to relate back to Zoot, and I felt I should pay attention to all Quests relating to Zoot. I'm glad I followed it, I was very impressed with it! The story was solid, and the character of Sorrow was cool.

I do have a question or two, and one note. Note: Maybe I missed it, but I would be interested in knowing what happened to the man that Sorrow was torturing in the beginning. Secondly, how exactly was the puzzle on the door solved? Were there clues I missed, or was Sarrick just smarter than I am? Finally... well, how did you convince Subacarrot to allow you to kidnap his character?!

Thanks for your kind words, Zepher. I had this basic idea for a Quest when I was running Transformers RPGs several years ago, and then the players were working with Sorrow on behalf of Unicron to recapture the Dark Matrix. I pitched it to Sandy that Zoot would be involved (basically Heroica's version of Unicron), but Sandy does not like physical embodiment of Gods, so I moved away from that idea. It's obviously still a very powerful magical item, very much like the Ring of Power from LOTR.

Vres and Jui Halpo will be in an epilogue I will write tonight just to finish off everyone's stories. As Chromeknight said below, the clue to the puzzle door was "Three is the magic number", in this case it was to be taken literally and the gems formed the shape of the number 3. To his credit, Scubacarrot basically got it straight away and PMed me the answer, but waited to see if anyone else would get it.

So wait, what happened to Guts? Is the quest still going on for him? I'm just a wee bit confused about that.

Guts will appear in the epilogue, as I can't kidnap his character and not allow him on any other quests! I thought his interaction with Sorrow was top notch and just threw it out there that he could join the bad guys. I told him the interesting part would have been if he joined Haroka and Sorona and then had to fight his questmates. That would have been something!

we were fairly lucky with dice rolls and some of the battles which might have been expected to be more difficult, weren't.

And I really liked the characters, both yours and the other players. There was good opportunity for interaction. I hope Nerwen comes across Sorona again. Shame about Fenimor (Jorgvorg), he would have been a definite presence in the quest! I learnt quite a bit about Nerwen (she's a bit bossy!) through this, and the darkness at the end will be a springboard for further character development.

PS. I am a little curious about what Haroka and Sonora's stats would have been if we'd fought the last battle, but I quite understand if you'd rather keep them under wraps until their return!

Generally the dice were very kind to you, yes. It was a little frustrating as I tried to ramp up the enemies power and you'd finish them off in one or two goes!

Although I really liked his character, Jorgevorg made the right call in stepping down, as these Quests are time consuming, and it allowed Lordofdragonss to take his place. I am glad you found the quest allowed you to develop your character, and I think you definitely did well as Party Leader and kept up the momentum when it was needed. Thank you for that. Harka's and Sorona's stats will of course remain secret. I may show if the weapon I had created for him though if you want to see it - I was so proud of it!

The only criticism I might have, would be that the battles we were in were all pretty easy, and although part of that could be accounted for by lucky dice rolls, I felt that some fights could have been harder (crocodile fight, specials were not anything terrifying, only make the fight longer).

Also, I am kind of curious to see if there is going to be a sequel

I think the other QMs will agree with me that balancing the battles is really hard. For the Crocodile I didn't want to give it a damage special as well as the other two, but in hindsight none of you were really in any danger from it so that may have been a mistake. Still, it was a good boss battle I think.

There may well be a sequel in the future. I think it's safe to say that Olegaia hasn't seen the last of the Dark General and his Mystic.

The photography was beautiful.

I am glad you liked the photos! Building was the hardest part, to have ideas and to realise them with the bricks I had was difficult.

Thank you for all the feedback so far, I really appreciate it

[Fred Daniel Yam]

I have to scrap my plague quest idea due to similarity to WBD's quest a while back. But I have refined a quest idea so should I pitch now or after quest 17 is over?

[Waterbrick Down]

Has anyone ever considered hosting a quest where potential party leaders give a pitch to a qm that their preassembled party is the right one for the job, as opposed to the normal selection method? Let me elaborate:

-Quest ##

Description: Blah, blah...

Reward: Etc, etc...

Party requirements: A well rounded party of 4 is required, a potential party leader may signup his/her party listing why he/she thinks their party should be selected for the task.

I know this has the possibility of segregating the game into little cliques, but I wondered if it might allow for more commrodary and character development between the characters. Any thoughts?

[JimBee]

Plausible, I'd say. I'd try to limit the number of quests that select their parties this way, though. A lot of new members could potentially be excluded. Though the idea does sound pretty good for character building... I'd like to see something like that at least once, just to see how it goes.

[swils]

I think we'll see some of that happening on its own as time goes on, depending on how large a role reputation plays in future quests. Align yourself with the same house/faction as those you wish to get grouped up with, etc..

That said, I could see it being an interesting option in a quest where perhaps two groups are pitted against each other, either directly or indirectly.

[Flipz]

I think we'll see some of that happening on its own as time goes on, depending on how large a role reputation plays in future quests. Align yourself with the same house/faction as those you wish to get grouped up with, etc..

That said, I could see it being an interesting option in a quest where perhaps two groups are pitted against each other, either directly or indirectly.

Indirectly, definitely. Heroica NEEDS its own "Head of Vecna" incident.

Hmm...actually...

[JimBee]

With Quest 18 just about wrapped up, I will post my final comments here.

First off, thanks to all of you who participated in the Quest and also to those who followed along. I really hope it was as much of an adventure for you all as it was for me.

I had a great time QMing for the first time. I'm glad most of it worked out the way I had planned. I know I made quite a few errors when running the battles, but I hope to get better with that (and I have, I've become more familiarized with the rules and mechanics tenfold).

One thing I would like to comment on is the decision of the party to not rely entirely on the Magic Compass. I designed the island maze so that the compass would point to a direct path to the final destination (Atticus). On this path were all of the battles (that took place on the island), and the loot was distributed throughout the rest of the maze as a reward for not using the compass. There was one missed chance of loot, which was 3x Smelling Salts that could have been dug up on the beach after the Sand Worm battle.

Also, in case anyone didn't get this, Quest #18: The Storm was mostly a tribute to Shakespeare's The Tempest. Many story elements were borrowed from it, as well as the name. Fun fact.

If any of the players or members who followed along would like to comment, please feel free to do so.

[CMP]

I enjoyed the Quest. It was a big roleplaying (and experience hoarding ) opportunity, and the last fight with Atticus had me holding my breath whenever I read a new response from you. I especially applaud you on the puzzle door, though I would've liked to see a few more, possibye less complicated ones. Great job, and I hope to have you a QM again sometime.

The Sword of Decay is gone, right?

[Zepher]

Also, in case anyone didn't get this, Quest #18: The Storm was mostly a tribute to Shakespeare's The Tempest. Many story elements were borrowed from it, as well as the name. Fun fact.

Noticed it almost as soon as your ships crashed. I loved the reference.

Highly enjoyable Quest, JimBee! Great characters, and I loved how the characters you were hunting weren't the villains (or at leas the bosses) in the end. And one escaped. I like it when life is messy, sort of, and you had a great messiness to the quest's story. Events sort of "happened", but it was still a great narrative.

[JimBee]

I enjoyed the Quest. It was a big roleplaying (and experience hoarding ) opportunity, and the last fight with Atticus had me holding my breath whenever I read a new response from you. I especially applaud you on the puzzle door, though I would've liked to see a few more, possibye less complicated ones. Great job, and I hope to have you a QM again sometime.

The Sword of Decay is gone, right?

Thanks! I tried to include more puzzles and decision making, such as when you could buy the telescope, the maze, and to decide whether or not to fight Atticus, but I realize this quest was heavily battle-based.

Nope, the Sword of Decay is still in Alf's inventory and works the same way.

Noticed it almost as soon as your ships crashed. I loved the reference.

Yay! Or, should be "I would hope so", a theater fanatic such as yourself.

Highly enjoyable Quest, JimBee! Great characters, and I loved how the characters you were hunting weren't the villains (or at leas the bosses) in the end. And one escaped. I like it when life is messy, sort of, and you had a great messiness to the quest's story. Events sort of "happened", but it was still a great narrative.

Thank you. Yes, I felt the quest was pretty "railroaded" at times... I will have to be sure to give the heroes more opportunity to make the decisions next time.

[CMP]

Nope, the Sword of Decay is still in Alf's inventory and works the same way.

Really? We need to rip the ornamental gems out of weapons more often! That's an awesome weapon effect, by the way. I felt the item-giving wasn't overt, but when it was, it was often interesting. I wish Portia sold Flash Bombs... I also liked the telescope mini-story, though I also thought it would really tie into the quest somehow. It reeked of side plot.

[Masked Builder]

It was a great quest Jim! And I did see your reference there. Had I not been nearing my 4000th post I would have taken part in the gem challenge but it was not to be. Oh well.

[Quarryman]

With Quest 18 just about wrapped up, I will post my final comments here.

First off, thanks to all of you who participated in the Quest and also to those who followed along. I really hope it was as much of an adventure for you all as it was for me.

It was great, and it made me level 15, yay! (So glad we decided to fight Atticus instead of accepting his offer. )

Also, in case anyone didn't get this, Quest #18: The Storm was mostly a tribute to Shakespeare's The Tempest. Many story elements were borrowed from it, as well as the name. Fun fact.

My knowledge of Shakespeare is sadly lacking, so this I missed completely.

If any of the players or members who followed along would like to comment, please feel free to do so.

In general you did very well, the battles were for the most part decently challenging, though I feel the quest really proved what a ridiculously powerful combination Blind+Seal is, doesn't matter if the enemy is level 100 if you can just blind it, seal it, and blast it to pieces.

The thing that really bothered me is probably impossible to do anything about, that is, the timezone difference. It's difficult to try to do anything when you only get feedback once a day.

One thing I'd like to know though, but you might not want to answer it, would we have caught Dmitri if we had accepted Atticus' offer?

[Rumble Strike]

JimB, just wanted to say that I enjoyed reading your Quest. I thought it was well put together in terms of scenery and story and I really liked your representation of the Phoenix. It was good to see you offer a choice to the Questers at the end. I always think that allows people to really think about the overall consequences of their actions.

I have a sneaking suspicion that we may yet see Atticus again.

[JimBee]

Thanks guys.

In general you did very well, the battles were for the most part decently challenging, though I feel the quest really proved what a ridiculously powerful combination Blind+Seal is, doesn't matter if the enemy is level 100 if you can just blind it, seal it, and blast it to pieces.

Which is why I think these need to be limited somehow, definitely. It was incredibly hard to balance battles with these.

The thing that really bothered me is probably impossible to do anything about, that is, the timezone difference. It's difficult to try to do anything when you only get feedback once a day.

That was a big disappointment. On weekdays, literally you were logging off when I was logging on.

One thing I'd like to know though, but you might not want to answer it, would we have caught Dmitri if we had accepted Atticus' offer?

Hm, can't say for sure.

Now I think Namrrya needs to visit the training room.

[Flipz]

A thought on Scrolls: Perhaps certain combinations of Effects should not be allowed to combine? I don't think we should eliminate all combos (i.e. Stunned + Poison, Poison + Seal, etc. are perfectly reasonable), but a few are game-breaking (Blind + Seal) and some just don't make sense or otherwise conflict (Blessed + Poison, for example). I think that if two Effects come into conflict, both are removed. Example: A Blessed hero is poisoned. Instead of the healing and poison effects erasing each other, both effects just vanish (a semi-IC explanation would be that the Blessing acted as a one-time Special Guard against the poison). Likewise, a Hero tries to put a Stunned enemy to sleep, but instead the Stun effect vanishes allowing his allies to take damage if they fair their rolls (the neural shock of the Stun is counteracted by the soothing effect of Sleep, removing both). An IC explanation for disallowing Seal + Blind might be that you can't magically interfere with more than one part of the face at a time.

Alternatively, QMs can counteract Hero-side Effect combos by abusing them with their own monsters.

[Sandy]

If anyone has willingness to host a quest, right about now would be a good time to present me with your ideas.

There's suddenly plenty of people without a quest, loitering in the Hall. Scheherazade needs to wax the floors so she wants them out.

[Etzel]

I've started working on a new quest, but I still need some more time to finish up the preparations. I want to have as much as possible prepared this time.

This quest will be a bit different then earlier, much more focused on mystery solving then battles. I plan to have a maximum of 3 battles and it will only be a small group of 3 heroes.

I'll get back with more detailed pitch when I've got more done.

[Masked Builder]

I would love to do a quest but with my mafia game coming up I want to put all of my time there. I will however, finish work on The Legonator's quest so he can get his going.

[swils]

I'm still toying with ideas, mapping plot events... making progress, for sure, but it's slow going, even moreso with pressures from school and such. I may have to push back my initial guesstimate (woah, that doesn't get spellchecked? Awesome!) by a fair bit. Also, how would you feel about another quest hosted using digital scenes? While I'd much rather have actual MOCs made up, it's just not feasible til at least the summer.