Heroica RPG - Quest Masters' Lounge

[KotZ]

Which brings me to a point I've been wondering for some time: Do you think quest hosting has gotten harder over time, QMs who have hosted 1+ times, and in what ways/why?

I've only hosted 2, so I may not be the best to say but I'll give my opinion.

It's both. You get experience and learn the mechanics to where you don't always have to look back at the class pages to know what is what for what character/class. You learn to get a knack for dialogue, storytelling, etc. Things become simpler and it's great t have other QMs in your quest.

It does get harder though. I don't think between QMs, but individually. I think as the game has gone on, QMs (generally) want to make their next quest bigger and better and more involved than their previous one. I know I'm guilty of it. So eventually it seems like, well where do we go after Quest XYZ where we fought Bad Guy 123 and saved Princess ABC? Especially in the quests with arcs. It's ourselves putting the pressure on ourselves to make a more difficult quest because we hope it will engage the players.

Just my thoughts.

[Endgame]

Yeah, that's why 134 is a complete step back from my previous work. There will be an exceedingly vague reference to another one of my NPCs, but its going to be a one and done. Meet new people, find the problem, end the problem, drink and be merry.

As much as I joined hosting it, the Progg and Syndicate arcs were tough on their own. Tying them together for the Lifespark/Reaper arc was pretty brtual, and really not something I'd like to undertake again.

[Lind Whisperer]

Well my first quest is live. Wish me luck and keep me honest.

Luck. Don't worry, you'll do fine.

[Sandy]

Which brings me to a point I've been wondering for some time: Do you think quest hosting has gotten harder over time, QMs who have hosted 1+ times, and in what ways/why?

Of course running battles have become more complex since people moved onto the higher classes and own many items that need to be taken into equation. But quest hosting itself has gotten easier now that I'm on my 25th quest to host (counting FoG) - I've developed a certain routine to it.

As you've seen, I like to sometimes push the boundaries of the quests and deliberately make them harder for me. Sometimes it succeeds, sometimes it's a trainwreck, but it's always refreshing to learn what more can be done within the context of this game and what can't. I recommend all experienced QMs to push yourselves sometimes, too.

[CMP]

Which brings me to a point I've been wondering for some time: Do you think quest hosting has gotten harder over time, QMs who have hosted 1+ times, and in what ways/why?

Of course running battles have become more complex since people moved onto the higher classes and own many items that need to be taken into equation. But quest hosting itself has gotten easier now that I'm on my 25th quest to host (counting FoG) - I've developed a certain routine to it.

As you've seen, I like to sometimes push the boundaries of the quests and deliberately make them harder for me. Sometimes it succeeds, sometimes it's a trainwreck, but it's always refreshing to learn what more can be done within the context of this game and what can't. I recommend all experienced QMs to push yourselves sometimes, too.

Those are basically my thoughts. After two or three Quests you tend to have a decent grasp on what to do and what the players want and how to structure things.

[Kintobor]

Quest #131

Okay, Lind, I've got a lot I want to say, so I'll get straight to the chase. Your quest was alright, but there's room for improvement, which is totally fine. This is your first quest, and it's meant to be a learning experience. I can tell you learned a lot, which is good, so I'll get to what I thought was good, what could use improvement, and all the other stuff.

The Good:

-The Sean Cole battle was functionally well thought out, for the most part, but there is room for improvement. First of all, yes to Sean Cole having bleeding. If you want to irritate knights and high SP heroes, bleeding and poison are your friends. Some of the enemies were also interesting. The one rogue-like character expending his throwing knives was good! Enemies who's drops reflect their stats are always awesome.

-I liked the theming, for the most part. I don't think Heroica's had a spaghetti western-esque quest, and the idea of a Magnificent Seven styled story with heroes being hired to take out bandits was cool.

-The Geode drops. I actually really like these. I think it'd make for nice drops in the Fields or certain rock enemies. I like these as a whole, and I want these to stick around.

-The variety in species. I know this may seem trivial, but I dug the amount of races used. It made it feel like a fantasy setting, and you used some unloved races, like the Locustoids, the Fenarians, Arachnoids, and perhaps others as well.

The Not So Good

-The opening spiel/non-canon explanation as to how we got to the coach station. It was really confusing. As a Golden Rule, avoid non-canon as a QM. It made you look unprofessional, and it was unnecessary. You could've used that opening to add atmosphere and help visualize the setting, but it felt wasted.

-Guns blahblahblah. We've already complained about this, so I'll drop it.

-The loot was pretty excessive. I understand what you were trying to do at the end, but if you want meaningful permanent drops but don't want them OP, drop scrolls, gems, grating stones, or Bright Polish. The scrolls don't need to be unique, either. Status effect scrolls are always in demand. If you're dropping weapons or artifacts, you can always drop the ones from the marketplace. Black Knight Armour, Paladin Armour, Sage's Mitre, Etherial Cloak; all of those are excellent drops, and you don't need to drop a whole lot of them. Generally I like to make sure every party member walks away with one really nice item and a bunch of consumables for my quests. For your next quest, lean away from armour and weapons, and more towards consumables.

-The plot was a little weak. It wasn't bad, it just needed some extra conflict in it. You needed to build Cole up, and you needed to ensure that when he did, no matter how weak or strong he was, he needed to have a presence. I didn't feel it a whole lot. Remember to show and not tell. I think a quest in which we went after Cole instead of Cole coming to us would've been more thematic and still flavourful enough to get that Western feeling.

Everything being said, I did have fun. Your scenarios did get the party talking, and they were engaging. I think your next quest will be better, and I do want to see you QM again. If you have any trouble whatsoever, ask another QM! We're almost always willing to lend a hand. Thanks for the quest, Lind I had fun!

Party

I've quested with most of you already, but I want to talk about Bobby. I had a feeling Annienal and Bobby would squabble a bit, and they did, which proves that me and Zepher's characters will always be at odds. I do like Bobby though, because he's Bobby. There's no one else in Heroica like him, and I love the fact that he gets under Annienal's skin with his slang. She's such a bookworm and a nerd that his grammar just kills her. I think she doesn't hate him, but she's not appreciative of his dialogue.

Edited May 2, 2015 by Kintobor

[The Chosen Minifigure]

I agree with everything Kintobar said!

I think that the quest could've had a bit more plot, and I hope Coles story is explained a bit more later on. A bit more story would also be nice. But a nice story for a beginner.

Now for the big issue...

Loot!

As a player? Woohoo! Lots of beautiful stuff! But if I was a QM, I probably would've dropped a specific item for each Questee, and a bunch of consumables. Still, thanks for the loot!

*Players*

Vind/Annie-I don't have much to add on them since my last quest with them. I like them both, and Warlen would consider them both his friends.

Miderun-I got some interesting insight into Miderun on this quest. I realised how angry with people she actually is. It's rather intriguing, actually.

Bobby-I loved Bobby in this Quest, and his interactions with Annie were one of the high points of this quest.

All in all, a decent first quest for Lind.

In other news, would any experienced QMs be willing to take a look at a few in-quest shops I've arranged for my first quest?

[Lind Whisperer]

Quest #131

Overall and all things considered, I'd say that the quest turned out fairly well. I think that most of the problems stemmed from the fact that the quest was originally written for 1-5, and I was unprepared to retool it for higher levels. (Of course, the loot in that case would probably have been even more ridiculous - the original list had what was essentially a renamed Lucky Die on it! )

As others have noted, I'm afraid the plot was somewhat thin. I think that that might not have been quite so obvious if the players as well as the characters were new to Heroica. For an introductory, "Here's how the game works," quest, it would have been perfect, for a party made up of experienced players...not so much. Of course, there is the reasonable counter-argument that QMs should put an equal amount of effort into every quest, regardless of player experience, and I'm not arguing with that at all. But I have a bad tendency to over-reach when it comes to detail, and I was trying to write a very simple quest for practice, before I moved onto anything much more complex.

The part about Sean Cole and The Ancient both being made out of sand was not in the original plan - originally, all the NPCs were humans, including Cole, and there was no such character as The Ancient. But Sandy suggested that I look into having a variety of enemy types in the quest, since all I had was a bunch of humanoids and four beasts(the horses). So, I tried to be creative - which is how you get, eh, "unique" characters like Qabic.

For the second battle, I had the idea of a vampire dressed up in a grey dress coat like a banker, and as I was making him, I suddenly thought that it would be a funny idea to have a character that was a vampire and a Fenarian. I had planned on his companion being an orc, but I went through several different versions before sticking with the simple loin-cloth design. I was reminded of KoTOR's Rakata, and I decided to call him The Ancient. His breaking apart into sand just seemed to fit his character.

Long story short, without giving away too much future plot detail, I then was faced with making Cole. But at this point, I'd built him up so much, I felt that a normal human NPC would be a disappointment. Then, I suddenly had the idea of his face not being visible, and having him be the same sort of orc as the Ancient...

Well, like I said, future plot details.

All-in-all, the ending wasn't the worst, but it really needs an immediate follow-up quest for the whole "reclaimation" thing to really work - and that's sadly not going to happen, at least in the real world.

Possibly in-game, due to the Timey-Wimey ball, but not in real life. My apologies to everyone on that.

Loot:

Pyrovisonary put it best - it's the little drops that give the bigger drops meaning. Lesson learned.

World Design:

Could have been worse, but I should have made sure that my Blender plans worked before I submitted the quest.

Characters:

Vindsval: I'm afraid to say anything that might break the magic. Great interaction, great role-play, and great effort. Definitely one of my(and I'm quite certain, others') favorite characters, and I'd love to host you again someday. A+++

Annienal: With a lot of characters, Diplomacy doesn't really work. With Annienal, it does. That's something in and of itself. That, plus your interactions with Bobby, made for a fun character to watch. Love to host her again anytime.

Warlen: *Constructive criticism mode initiated.*

Warlen's a good character, and I definitely can see a good future for him, but I think you need to slow down a little when you playing. He's a very fast character, rushing to a full rainbow as fast as he could, always the first to cast a spell. That's not a bad thing, but I think you're where I was even as recently as a few months back - trying to catch up to the level 30s and 40s as fast as you can. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing either, and I fully understand the feeling, but I think you might want to try and slow down just a little. Just spend a little more time enjoying the game, and a little less trying to race to the "finish."

Either way, he's got good potential and I'd definitely host him a second time.

Miderun: I like her. You manage to hit a good balance in your playing - she's not exactly a peaceful character, but neither does she hit the extremity of being a very violent character - which is impressive. Love to host you again.

Bobby: I might try interacting just a little bit more with NPCs. What you did was fine, but for some reason you just didn't feel quite as "there" as the other players. Either way, I'd gladly host you again.

All in all, #131's been a good learning experience, and it was fun to host and watch. Thanks to everyone who played, and thanks to Sandy for making this game a possibility in the first place.

[Zepher]

Basically I'll just echo what others said, but highlight the points I think are most important. It wasn't a bad quest by any means, but it felt very flat and standard. Nothing happened once we got to town - we just fought off three waves of foes, and that was it. Quest over. So, some advice:

You said I didn't interact with the NPCs much, and you're 100% correct. It's because I felt there wasn't really a chance. If the quest had taken place over 3 days, let's say, and the towns folk approached us each evening... then we'd be getting somewhere. Let's say one of them is pissed that we let the first two bandits go, and another one tries to calm him down. That would give us something to bounce off of, and it would define the NPCs more. As far as the NPCs go... there was that spider lady who owned a bar, which was cool but we never got to revisit her, and then there was a smith, and someone who took us into town on a stagecoach...

Another thing, and a few QMs slack off on this and I think it's really important to building a world: time and place. Did the quest take place over a long day? Was there a night? What happened in the night? Where did we stay? I thought they said Cole would arrive "tomorrow" but I didn't know we had reached tomorrow yet.

And, as others have said, but it bares repeating, too much loot. Too much specific loot, but even too much loot in general.

The characters... I've quested with almost all of you before, and I had a blast. I love Vind. Very different, Heroica needs more highly moral religious zealots in my opinion. I like how peaceful he is except when he isn't. Great character. Mide brings some much needed Orc blood and tradition into Heroica. Annie is fun - its tough for me because she won't see past my word usage and I won't stop using the words, so I'm afraid of it becoming a bit of a one note relationship, but we'll see. Warlen was hard to interact with sometimes, particularly because he too was hard to track in space - sometimes he'd join a conversation I didn't know he was near! But over all, interested to see where he goes. He's got a lot of character, just needs some honing. But I like his bravado manner.

I had fun! Some of my lack of interaction was my own life as well, so I absolutely apologize for that.

[Asphalt]

ok #131

First off, I had fun. There were some laggy parts, but people live real lives and it is going to happen. A great deal has been said about it already so I will just add what is specific to me.

Characters

Glad to see everyone again. Annie, Miderun, and Vindsval are fast becomeing seasoned vets together. Warlen might need to start attending some of those meetings. He seems to be hittin the drink a little hard. And Bobby, good to see you again you spikey little street tough.

Loot: Meh Vindsval came away with a great artefact and a good chunk of gold. He is a happy half giant. It did make me appreciate consumable drops more.

Story: Son of a Gunrunner, I want to know what Cole was and why he had a physical and psychic connection to the earth. Why was he there, what did he need, what was the mine doing to him? If those questions had been answered somehow I think it would have put the Western quest in good standing storywise. The same with the Ancient, how did he come to be a mere highwayman.

Battles: I liked them as well, they made sense and there was good variety.

All in all, Lind you had some hickups, but it was a good solid first quest. Take Vindsval out again sometime.

[Enceladus]

For starters I'd just like to say thanks again to cutcobra for hosting us-he's been an amazing QM, for sticking with us all the way

The quest

I thourght that the story was pretty solid. Of course the heroes should probaly know not to trust alchemists at all by now, as nothing they do is ever as it seems. In short an apparently simple quest suddnely became a lot more involved-sort of like WBDs quests really. Now I'm not amazing at puzzles or mysteries, so the ending still left me with a lot of questions:

How did Ralli actually get the red death

What was Zugs role in the whole thing and was he as innocent as he made out to be?

However, I do feel the quest suffered from timing issues especially at the beggining-I know what you were trying to do with building up the suspense but I don't know if the effect came across so well in a browser based RPG, as say a tabletop one. Also I would reccomend in your next quest you give the party a few more possible routes-in places it did just feel like a railroad with a few good/evil chioces to compensate. Just to add I really loved the sets. The photography was great too, and although they weren't quite up there with Sandy's, they were definatly some of the best I've seen in the game to date

The Battles

IMO, The battles seemed fair (almost too fair too fair in places) and we brushed thorugh them with relatively little trouble, although I don't know if that was just through good rolls (Me and Golaith seemed to roll an exceptional number of shield rolls) and WBDs experience. Loot was meagre for most of the battles, but the situational drops in the final battle kind of made up for that-these were a brilliant idea by the way I think, and I'd like to see more of them.

The characters

As the player behind Heckz's charecterisation, I expected some great NPCs and i wasn't dissapionted! I loved Rhyszicz and Warkboofhine They were a great duo and I just loved their boundless optimism and I would love to see them again as reccuring NPCs. I don't know if this was your inspiration for them but they kind of reminded me of Russel and Pigley from Zephers storylines. I also liked Ralli, although his pompous manner was a bit frustrating at times (was there any particular reason why he seemed so hostile to the heroes?) and I feel the red asassianns could have been interesting characters if we allowed them more charecterisation

As for the party members:

Boris:I liked Boris. As party leader, he seemed to become more assertive and I saw him somewhat as the 'glue' of the party, struggling to keep them together (and with the party trying very hard to resist his efforts-all I can say is that its a miricale the entire party made it thorugh the quest ). It was also intersting to see how he reacted to predjduce from Germ and Mihnak. Overall he seemed like an wise world weary veteran, and unique in Heroica

Germ: As ever, I always find Germ an immensly intersting character to read. He seems almost alien at times with ihs strange sentimnts (e.g: His desire to meet Rosier again) and his offhand speech and causal remarks. Nonetheless, I think Na'im and Germ got along well and I wouldn't mind questing with Germ again

Nalguz: Nalguz is...creepy. He dosen't say much but in a way I think this adds to this image of a figure who is litally rotten to the core. He makes no secret of his lack of mercy or motives other than gold and I think you pull him off well

Mihank: Minhak strikes me as your typical dwarf. Brash, outspoke and obsessed with gold. Not that that's a bad thing though-there aren't enough dwarfs in heroica and I'd like to see more

Na'im: As Na'ims first quest with heroica he has learned a lot. Namely that you shouldn't trust your employer, and least of all your fellow heroes. But I'd like to know what you guys thourght of him as well

Overall I really enjoyed myslef and thourght it was an excellent first quest with all the neccesary ingredients and I'd love to see more Cutcobra quests

[samurai-turtle]

Quest #128

I will start off with over all stuff. I did enjoy the quest overall more than the last on I was on. (I do think Flips was trying to make every one miserable on that one. I am sorry if I am miss reading that their. But, back on point.) I guess the main problem with the quest was the stalling. Now some of it might just be my perspective or schedule I have. I would recommend telling us if their was a possible delay tells us when their is a chance for a up date. (I do get that might not always be possible.) And the last thing the title. When I finally got where you got the title from, I thought it might be some sort of Sherlock Homes type of quest.

The battles / loot - I feel their were good, even though I got some bad rolls for the "snake battle". As for the loot we got some good consumables with everyone getting a good item. But, I wonder if "Boris" got short change in that department I guess WBD will have to answer that question.

The NPC -

The hunter & the wolf - I had some trouble with reading his accent so you should be careful when you are doing that sort of stuff. For the wolf I do not think I had much interaction with him.

Zug & "Doc" - I guess the "Doc" got what he deserved. Being a jerk to every one. Zug seem to turn into a jerk at end. And I kind of wonder if the "Red Assassins" will find him in the end.

The red assassins - It seemed the "elf" was the only one with some personally showing. With the "smokemaster" coming in second. The "defender" could of been a tree for what it seemed.

The Team -

Boris Bruhalv (WBD) - From what I recalled he did some sort of counting. I did not see any of that in this quest. I would of like to seen it at least once. And then he seemed to get mad at "Germ". It makes "Germ" wonder if he did not get kicked out of his order for other reason than being a "vampire". (The rest is about his first second character he had the "Little Girl" & her "Bear". If she was "party leader", "Germ" would be annoyed taking orders from a "Kid" and bitchen about it most of the time. And seem funny to me for some reason.)

Mhinak (Goliath) - It did not seemed him and "Germ" interacted too much. But, to me it seem you where only here half the time. I remember you mention once you were busy on other parts of the site.

Nalguz the Infinite (Robert10ant) - I am not sure if you are on a cell phone or English is a second language for you. But, I would suggest learning some of the functions / etiquette of the site. I think it would help in the long run. As for your character he seem to keep to himself for most of the quest. I did like the fact he just lied to Boris to get what he want.

Na'im Thamir (Enceladus) - I think the only real problem with him is, I have know idea what a Ferdaena (SP?) is and I think it could be a problem with other player at some point. Plus, the picture you use made me think he was some sort of cyclops for some reason. As for "Roiser", "Germ" thinks she might be haunting him. Not that he wants to run into her again. Read the last page for quest #104 to see what I mean.

The Demon Germ (samuraiturtle) - I guess I did not want to just say I am looking for treasure all the time. And thought he should have to go to the bathroom (like in the movie UP). And then he got poison then it seemed perfect reason to do that. As for hiding in the tree during the "snake battle". Now Robert10ant I do not want you to think you are the main reason for what I did because other part of this sub-fourm, other people were complaining about the rouges hiding. And how it seemed cowardly so just to be a jerk (and if you do read quest #104 "Germ" is not consider the greatest "hero" so I did that.) I am sure "Germ" would quest with everyone again (even the QM).

Since I am here, has any one use "Word Pad" to write a quest out for this site? It seem like it would work out OK with it's Bolding, Italicing and Underlineing Functions. And it does have a color option too.

Edited June 6, 2015 by samuraiturtle

[Waterbrick Down]

Quest 128:

Overall, I think the quest had a great deal of ambition but difficulty finding it's pacing and overall feel. For your first one, Cutcobra, I think it was really well done and while you have some room to grow, you've definitely shown yourself capable. First off I'd like to address my fellow PC's

Fellow Players:

Mhinak (Goliath) - Mhinak got on Boris's nerves quite a bit toward the end as Boris couldn't figure out what Mhinak's position was. He seemed to be concerned about gold and loot, but aside from that seemed antagonistic, I can't say he and Boris left on the best of terms. As you're still learning the battle system, while it can be easier to simply post your actions without considering their impact, it's best to make sure you read everything and if need be spell out your plan or idea. With a lot of information being communicated in battles it can be easy to assume someone knows what you're thinking and will follow suit. Overall I enjoyed the back and forth between our characters and am still interested in where your character ends up.

Nalguz the Infinite (Robert10ant) - That final bit where Nalguz straight up lies to Boris, that is what makes a character stick out in a good way. It wasn't overdone and it wasn't complex, you showed Nalguz's inner workings and allowed them to dictate your character. I would have definitely appreciated more dialog from Nalguz as he has such a unique view on the world, but I think you've got a good thing going. As samuraiturtle mentioned, maybe take a look at your formatting as it's a shame that your characterization of Nalguz should have any distractions from simple things like formatting and such.

Na'im Thamir (Enceladus) - It was good to have another cleric on the quest as it allowed Boris to be a little more combat oriented this time around. Na'im, like Nalguz, has his own perspective on the world, though maybe not quite as unrelatable. I like his mock-respect confidant type relationship he had with Boris and it was good to have someone else in the party that Boris never felt he had to keep an eye on. I'd encourage even more of that unique perspective, we haven't seen Fenarian's fleshed out a lot and there's a ton of potential for them. Great job.

The Demon Germ (samuraiturtle) - Ah Germ, Boris still doesn't know quite how to relate to the demon. On the one hand he feels compelled to rid the world of him and on the other he feels he is no longer in a place to judge after his transformation. You're plenty active and I think you've got a good thing going with Germ. I'd play out his personality a little more, that self-serving with a hint of otherness makes him fun to read. It was also enjoyable to have another higher level player on the quest to help from a battle perspective.

The Quest and QM:

Battles/Loot - Balanced and fair, I think you've got a pretty good feel for how to run these. The only thing I'd encourage is to look at how the battle can be manipulated by your players. The final battle was a little too easy to circumvent through our resources at hand. Other than that I felt they were good.

NPC's - I'll echo the thoughts on Rhyszicz and Warkboofhine, very well done. I'd give them even more back and forth dialog between themselves to flesh them out, but I think it's safe to say they'd be welcomed back heartily. The Red assassins were good and I liked the differentiation between them all. Zug/Rillo was pretty straightforward and I think you'll be able to use him and expand upon his story more in the future. Bookeater, is a bit tricky to assess due to how the story turned out.

Story - Here's where things kind of got fuzzy, we had an objective (protect the potion), the objective changed slightly (recover the potion), and then everything after that with whether Bookeater was telling the truth and what really happened got really muddled and there was never a satisfactory explanation or conclusion, simply Bookeater died, Rillo is actually Zug and that is that. If there were hints the party was supposed to pick up on either from our discourse with the Red Assassins or afterwards back at the doctor's abode, we definitely missed them. From QM to QM the rule of thumb when it comes to foreshadowing or planning a double-cross or a big reveal, drop at least 3 hints if you want your players to pick up on something. They don't have to be huge but make sure they're there, otherwise you get to the end of the quest and the PC's aren't sure what happened and honestly aren't sure they really care about what happened. So I guess better clarification throughout the narrative would have been appreciated.

From a mechanics standpoint, the first scene of setting up in a defensive position didn't really make sense, it lasted too long and ultimately made the PC's feel like that no matter what we did it didn't really matter in the end because the assassins got what they wanted. Kind of drains the agency of the PC's and really makes us feel like we wasted our time earlier. Same thing happened with the Red Assassins, my number one pet peeve is Heroes being thrown into a fight when they're in the middle of a negotiation. Boris didn't want to fight the Red Assassins if they could explain themselves, but if felt like we were forced into the fight no matter what we said as long as it wasn't "We'll kill Bookeater and take your money".

Just a few Random Questions:

What was the point of the Druid, why did that event happen at the same time as the Red Assassins attacking at the beginning?

What would have happened if the Party had listened to the assassins and killed bookeater?

What happened in that ending?

In the end, I think it was a successful quest, well conceived if not completely executed to perhaps what you wanted. I'd join another of your quests in the future and look forward to seeing what you come up with next. Great job.

Boris:I liked Boris. As party leader, he seemed to become more assertive and I saw him somewhat as the 'glue' of the party, struggling to keep them together (and with the party trying very hard to resist his efforts-all I can say is that its a miricale the entire party made it thorugh the quest ). It was also intersting to see how he reacted to predjduce from Germ and Mihnak. Overall he seemed like an wise world weary veteran, and unique in Heroica.

Aiming for unique, but hopefully not so wise and world weary, that's Skrall and I've been trying to make Boris his own character, looks like I've still got some work though.

Boris Bruhalv (WBD) - From what I recalled he did some sort of counting. I did not see any of that in this quest. I would of like to seen it at least once. And then he seemed to get mad at "Germ". It makes "Germ" wonder if he did not get kicked out of his order for other reason than being a "vampire". (The rest is about his first second character he had the "Little Girl" & her "Bear". If she was "party leader", "Germ" would be annoyed taking orders from a "Kid" and bitchen about it most of the time. And seem funny to me for some reason.)

Yes he does have a habit of estimating how quickly he could drain someone's blood. Honestly it slipped my mind and he does it more with characters he's either annoyed with, curious about, or threatened by. Probably would have been fitting in Mhinak or Germ's case. As far as loot goes, I play Boris like I play Skrall, loot is kind of secondary to me, I play Heroica more for the story-telling and RPing than anything else.

[Sandy]

The photography was great too, and although they weren't quite up there with Sandy's, they were definatly some of the best I've seen in the game to date

Too bad I couldn't outdo myself this time. But thanks, anyway.

Yes, I made all the photography for Cutcobra's quest, which he seems to have forgotten to mention.

[Enceladus]

Too bad I couldn't outdo myself this time. But thanks, anyway.

Yes, I made all the photography for Cutcobra's quest, which he seems to have forgotten to mention.

Doh! You know, I do seem to recall Cutcobra saying that at one piont but it must have vanished from my head over the duration of the quest, but thanks for the sets anyway! The reason I say they weren't as good as usual, probaly has something to do with them being on a less 'epic' scale than some of your more rescent sets, such as vega or Salamanda, but they were still great anyway

Aiming for unique, but hopefully not so wise and world weary, that's Skrall and I've been trying to make Boris his own character, looks like I've still got some work though.

Perhaps those are the wrong words...more like (I don't know if there is a better way to put this) that sometimes he seems older than he really is because of all his past experiences. I hope that clears that up, and I certinaly wouldn't confuse him and Skrall-for starters Boris seems a lot more brash and implusive, while Skrall seems a lot more stubbon and reflective

Na'im Thamir (Enceladus) - I think the only real problem with him is, I have know idea what a Ferdaena (SP?) is and I think it could be a problem with other player at some point. Plus, the picture you use made me think he was some sort of cyclops for some reason. As for "Roiser", "Germ" thinks she might be haunting him. Not that he wants to run into her again. Read the last page for quest #104 to see what I mean.

I'm not entirely surprised-only myself and Quarryman play Fenarian Heroes, but they do have their own entry at the embassy(http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=76855), so I haven't just made them up. They are also about to get some more coverage in quests 135 & 136. I can assure you though, Na'im is definatly not a cyclops

[Palathadric]

Too bad I couldn't outdo myself this time. But thanks, anyway.

Yes, I made all the photography for Cutcobra's quest, which he seems to have forgotten to mention.

Fail!

[Cutcobra]

First off, thank you to all the players who participated in my first quest! (and also because they had to put up with some delays). I'd also like to thank Sandy for all the beautiful photography and sets since this quest would probably not exist if it wasn't for him. First, I'll answer some of the questions, then I'll do the character reviews, the things I felt I did wrong and lastly some pictures that Sandy made and I do not want them to go to waste and some enemy stats that you missed.

How did Ralli actually get the red death

What was Zugs role in the whole thing and was he as innocent as he made out to be?

I wanted to make it seem like the cure/potion/elixir/red thing didn't cure the red death, but just took it out of the victim. As if it was an entity. It then entered Ralli and made him it's new victim, and this time it was swift since Ralli wasn't being affected by a lot of negative effects to stall the red death. I also didn't want the formula to be known so that Red Assassins can still be a thing in Heroica.

Zug was basically just a victim of Ralli so he got his money train and that you felt pity on him and possibly tried to attack Ralli.

And the last thing the title. When I finally got where you got the title from, I thought it might be some sort of Sherlock Homes type of quest.

I was running out of "Red" puns.

Just a few Random Questions:

What was the point of the Druid, why did that event happen at the same time as the Red Assassins attacking at the beginning?

What would have happened if the Party had listened to the assassins and killed bookeater?

What happened in that ending?

Just a random animal activist that wanted to claim the Eubric Forest as her own. I would have also included the archangel of nature at the end as a "Raid Boss" and that he was controlling her all along but I felt that was too much and that I didn't have the right to set him up. She also made Rhyszicz and Warkboofhine possible, and if you hadn't saved Rhyszicz Warkboofhine would have left the party but at the end you would have gotten access to Arc Scrolls since Ralli wouldn't have thought you were too slow.

If the party had listened to the assassins, you would have fought the alchemist and his "Homuncului" (That battle would have been very gimmicky. You'll see the stats later).. You would have also been able to raid his house since Zug would have been dead.

Already answered your last question.

Yes, I made all the photography for Cutcobra's quest, which he seems to have forgotten to mention.

I said I was gonna mention everything at the Quest Master's Lounge 'soon'. Sorry if I was too late.

Characters

I really don't feel there's much to add aside from what Waterbrick Down, Enceladus and Samuraiturtle said. I like Boris' whole vampire turned to Ennoc thing, how Na'im started off as scared because he was mugged and then was a little more confident (I think), Mhinak's lust for gold and eye-thingy, the fact that Nalguz tried to betray his party the first chance he got (You should look at Flipz' title though, treason does not work that well. ), I also like Germ's sarcastic/ironic/don't know how to explain it personality. I think it comes from the fact that he is a demon.

As you might see, I'm not that good at character reviewing.

Like you guys said, I also felt that suspense bit in the house was horrible. I'm not trying it again anytime soon. I also felt as if I made the battles too easy, so I might watch out for that in the future. I understand how the story is confusing, but I tried to make it as understandable as possible. I'm going to take Waterbrick's advice in case I try to make a plot twist in the end (the 3 hints).

Pictures and Stats you missed out on:

You missed out on two picturs. One was a minion from Ralli and the other was because I was in a rush and forgot to post it. I don't want to let Sandy's beautiful pictures go to waste, though...

This is facing the assassins. And here's some other enemies. I won't put in the health, level, ether, etc as it doesn't really matter by now.

Ralli Bookeater

Special I - Your Maker Calls - Ralli destroys a random consumable in his loot pile to summon a homunculus. The homunculus' abilities depend on the consumable wasted.

Special II - Mixture - Ralli creates a random consumable (See Alchemist).

Special III - Lecture - Ralli deals the Slowed, Confused and Fragile effects to the target.

Passive Special - Homunculi Master - As long as a Homunculus is alive, Ralli always has it's positive effect.

Drops: Scroll of Sloth, Scroll of Confusion, Scroll of Fraility, Mead x2, Nostrum x2, Smelling Salts x2, Myrrh, Tiger Balm, Soma x2, Ambrosia x2, Mulled Wine x2, Phoenix Essence x2

Nice Smelling Homunculus (Myrrh) *Attacks drain 1 Ether from the target*

Special - Ethers! Yays! - Gives all allies the Transcended effect. If all allies are already transcended, attacks all enemies instead.

Drops: nothing

Feral Homunculus (Tiger Balm) *Attacks apply the effects that the target is immune to*

Special - Immunities! Yays! - Makes all allies imme to everything. If all allies are already immune to everything, attacks all enemies instead.

The Homunculi go on and on (You get the idea). And if you would have stayed at Ralli's house or stolen anything while Zug was still there:

Zug the Red Assassin *Immune to sudden death, doomed, bleeding, slowed, confused and asleep* *Attacks have a 1/3 chance to instantly kill* *Attacks deal the Bleeding: 3 effect*

Special - Red Reaper - Has a 1/3 chance to instantly kill all enemies. Deals the Bleeding by 3 effect to all enemies that are left alive.

Passive Special I - Red Immunity - Having survived the red death, Zug is immune to everything he was going through while under it's effect. Including the red death itself.

Passive Special II - Blood Eater - Whenever an enemy with Bleeding attacks Zug, he preemptively causes all applications of Bleeding to trigger.

Drops: Blood Steel Dagger (WP: 1; deals the Bleeding: 3 effect; before dealing damage, the hero triggers all applications of bleeding on their target)

By the way, that Blood Steel Dagger was not approved by Sandy. I just made it up now.

[Yzalirk]

Quest 128:

I had a great time participating in this quest and would really like to be in another quest of your, Cutcobra.

Fellow Players:

Boris Bruhalv (Waterbrick Down) - Despite Mhinak and Boris clashing heads towards the end of the quest, I still enjoyed having you along on the quest. It's natural that people bicker once in a while, not everything is rainbows and smiles. I find Boris to be a "shady" character in the sense not much is known about him and the fact he's a vampire but it was good to see the advice and leadership from him. Of course deep down, Mhinak wasn't happy to be depreciated towards the end but he definitely would love to quest with Boris again and hopefully on a good start!

Nalguz the Infinite (Robert10ant) - Nalguz seems like an interesting character but overall during the quest, I found it hard to communicate with him because he came off as a pest, no pun intended. The way he speaks, judging how your text for him, does get annoying along with you not bolding your actions! He also acted in various ways that were also annoying, like suckling up to Boris. That might be me because typically I like to play as the hard-megablocks type of guy who hardly ever admits his wrongdoings, which people may find annoying too but that's okay. Overall, I don't know if Mhinak wants to be on a quest with Nalguz again.

Na'im Thamir (Enceladus) - First off, Mhinak appreciates all the healing you gave him. I found Na'im to be interesting and a bit cunning, which I like as well. It got a bit annoying when you didn't bold your key actions, like attacks, like Nalguz. Along with Boris, Mhinak didn't like it when you depreciated him but more along the end, you seemed to be more kind to him which he did like. He would like to quest with you again and hopefully be on better terms as well.

The Demon Germ (samuraiturtle) - Despite the fact Germ is a weird type of being, I really liked how you had a keen eye for things and would inspect a lot of things. If you had not done so, you would have not found the red pouch which I do respect the fact you didn't take the 500 gold for yourself which would have been easy since no one would have known. I definitely would like to quest with you again and you've inspired Mhinak to buy various items to help interact with the environment.

The Quest and QM:

Battles/Loot - For a first quest, the loot was very good and well-balanced. It's easy to go overboard with loot but you've managed everything nicely.

NPC's - Rhyszicz and Warkboofhine were excellent characters to meet and I do like how you gave Rhyszicz character so he didn't come off as a normal being. Warkboofhine was a great character I like how I was the only one to communicate with him! The hippy in the beginning was pretty funny and enjoyable to fight since I do like having shenanigans happening. The snakes we fought in the beginning were bland and boring though.

Story - The story was pretty good and there were plenty of options we could have made that would have changed things up so it would have been completely different, which I like. I would rate it a 7.5 out of 10 because I would have liked more characters to interact with besides Ralli. More shenanigans would have been nice along with more Dwarves! I was also surprised that the Blue Assassins didn't make a cameo since they were talked about a few times. It was interesting to find out that the assassins were truthful in the 500 gold and Zug so it was a shame to have killed them but the loot was nice so it's okay.

I should also note that for you guys questioning Mhinak's behavior, think of him as a wildcard - you're not sure what to expect from him depending on what's happening. He is also headstrong as well, it's a shame that I didn't make him a warrior or something which I regret, so he isn't afraid to attack those who pose a threat to him and his colleagues. Yes, he loves gold just like any Dwarf along with body modifications such as his eye, like I mentioned during the quest. I try to have him as a love/hate character. He definitely has strong feelings for things he's passionate about so yeah, he can be a jerk at times. Like I said above, he doesn't like to be very apologetic, he hates to admit it when he's wrong.

[Cutcobra]

I should also note that for you guys questioning Mhinak's behavior, think of him as a wildcard - you're not sure what to expect from him depending on what's happening. He is also headstrong as well, it's a shame that I didn't make him a warrior or something which I regret, so he isn't afraid to attack those who pose a threat to him and his colleagues. Yes, he loves gold just like any Dwarf along with body modifications such as his eye, like I mentioned during the quest. I try to have him as a love/hate character. He definitely has strong feelings for things he's passionate about so yeah, he can be a jerk at times. Like I said above, he doesn't like to be very apologetic, he hates to admit it when he's wrong.

I know that this should be in Heroica Theater, but I love what you are doing with the body modifications thing. It may start with just an eye, but what if he gets addicted? You could also role play just about any class because of this (in my opinion). For example, Knight and Barbarian can be made with 'body armor', ether based classes could have 'ether reserves', etc. Just don't make him too techy though. Sandy doesn't allow that, apparently.

[Sandy]

Just don't make him too techy though. Sandy doesn't allow that, apparently.

Pfft! What I do and don't allow changes on a daily basis! I very rarely if ever intervene on how player characters look, though. I've only said that they need to be humanoids, to avoid any issues with the game mechanics.

[Asphalt]

And have thumbs. Don't forget they have to have thumbs.

[Cutcobra]

Pfft! What I do and don't allow changes on a daily basis! I very rarely if ever intervene on how player characters look, though. I've only said that they need to be humanoids, to avoid any issues with the game mechanics.

I meant it as in 'You shouldn't add guns and blasters and stuff'.

[Kintobor]

I know that this should be in Heroica Theater, but I love what you are doing with the body modifications thing. It may start with just an eye, but what if he gets addicted?

It's called playing Shadowrun.

[Yzalirk]

I know that this should be in Heroica Theater, but I love what you are doing with the body modifications thing. It may start with just an eye, but what if he gets addicted? You could also role play just about any class because of this (in my opinion). For example, Knight and Barbarian can be made with 'body armor', ether based classes could have 'ether reserves', etc. Just don't make him too techy though. Sandy doesn't allow that, apparently.

Thanks! If you know Wilhelm, then you know where I got my inspiration from. I don't really intend to go very crazy with body modifications, only to a certain extent. For example, he could get a mechanical arm that has interchangeable parts, like a drill or pickaxe to clear obstacles or a shovel for shoveling duties. Of course, that may seem a bit crazy so I don't know. I like to think ooutside of the box with this crazy ideas.

[samurai-turtle]

The Demon Germ (samuraiturtle) - You're plenty active and I think you've got a good thing going with Germ. I'd play out his personality a little more, that self-serving with a hint of otherness makes him fun to read.

I think part of the problem I have in general is I am a quite person in real life. And, it might show up in the game. I guess it is some think I need to work on. Plus, I am not 100% sure what direction to go with him and I think it is better to have it open for awhile.

The Demon Germ (samuraiturtle) - Despite the fact Germ is a weird type of being, I really liked how you had a keen eye for things and would inspect a lot of things. If you had not done so, you would have not found the red pouch which I do respect the fact you didn't take the 500 gold for yourself which would have been easy since no one would have known.

The "Red Pouch" / Gold stuff was more because, he thought their might be some sort of fight if he did not hand out the gold. He might be a little paranoid.

I will also add one thing about: Nalguz the Infinite (Robert10ant) To mE iT sEEm YoU gOT tiRED TALking oR tYpEiNg LiKe THis. (That is a pain in the back side to do.) You could try to have him practice talking more normal if you think it would be easier for you.