Heroica RPG - Quest Masters' Lounge

[PsyKater]

I had the same opinion before starting the quest. And still have. Just saying that if a party is using PMs, a party-group-PM would be much nicer. I'll keep most of it in thread anyway.

[Palathadric]

Because you don't want the evil QM to start preparing counters for your master plan before you can implement it?

Good point!

[Pyrovisionary]

Quest 42 was a joy to be in! Although I din't play through the entire quest, The were fun NPCs, Excellent sets and great loot. Erdathcath was amazingly optimistic, whilst Pretzel a user of unorthodox but effective battle techniques. Had good fun!

[Flare]

Hey Sarge I'm glad you enjoyed the quest

Now that Quest 42 is over I guess it's my duty to say what I thought - Erdy, Pretzel, and Sarge are all great and unique characters, and I really enjoyed hosting you guys. I hope all of you enjoyed and got good loot (a necessary aspect of any quest!!!)

Thanks guys!

[Zepher]

Flare-

Quest 42 was one of the most inventive quests I think we've seen. I loved it- Heroica is exciting because it feels magical in many different ways (my magical contributions feel a little more like old high magic, whereas Sandy's are more of a mix of high magic and pop-culture reference magic) and your's was a whimsical magic I absolutely loved reading about. The sets were beautiful, the battles funny and inventive, the characters fantastic.

The quest was long. Quite simply, too long. If I had been on it, I would have been frustrated by the end I think. Perhaps the others have more patience than me. I believe very strongly in the 24 hour update window, and I feel there were many times that was not adhered to. Once or twice if you get busy that's understandable, but there were just so many times.

Again, that being said, this quest was clever, enjoyable, very sweet and very smart at different points- a real pleasure to read! Congrats Flare, 42 will always have a special place in my heart.

[CMP]

I quite enjoyed Quest 42 as well, mostly for reasons Zepher already stated. I loved the characters and the whole atmosphere, it's quite different from the constant state of turmoil the rest of the world seems to be in. The battles were pretty awesome, too - surprisingly well balanced even considering you had a Lucky Druid with you.

[Flare]

Thanks Zepher, that made my day

And thanks CMP!

[Palathadric]

What I liked is that you roleplay even when no one else could see it besides me the QM

I have to agree with you there. Fun little side-quest you had going there!

I must say that I did enjoy the "whimsical magic" feel (as Zepher put it) of your quest. I have to say that because it was called "The Meaning of It All" I thought it would be more serious-natured, but I was pleasantly surprised. All the NPCs were actually really fun, even though we ended up killing most of them. They all seemed at least partially insane.

I liked how you made battles out of nothing, though weaving it in to make perfect sense while making no sense whatsoever. I don't know how to say it, but it was fun. I enjoy playing games hosted by new QMs, and I have had two of those thus far, first Endgame and then you. With new QMs you never know what to expect.

The quest did take a long time, but like CMP said you did surprisingly well in balancing the battles for a lucky druid, especially considering that this is your first quest. To start out with Advanced Classes must not be incredibly easy at all, but you did great and the battles were tough, but entertaining.

The loot was good too, although I do wish I had gotten that "Awesomeness" artifact!

It was great when Khorne was around, but Sarge filled his shoes nicely. I have to say though that I am beginning to realize how desperately over-powered the Paralyzing Venom is, and perhaps the dual-strike weapons as well, but they worked together nicely in this quest!

All-in-all, it has been a rather light-hearted, enjoyable 6 months of Heroica.

[Endgame]

Now then, this idea is essentially QM Seppuku, but...

As a lot of you are aware, I love the Paper Mario games to death, having conqured Paper Mario 2 atleast 12 times. The hardest areas of Paper Mario 2 and 3 were the Pit of 100 Trails, and I'd love to see something similar in Heroica. The Pit of 100 Trials consisted of 100 battles, one after another. Each 10 floors had about 4-5 enemies, reshuffled into different groups and numbers. Every 10 floors would have some excellent treasure, as well as a chance of a merchant (with absurdly expensive goods). Some NPCs known as Tarvellers were scattered randomly about, allowing to teleport past some floors for a large fee. Of course, it gets increasingly harder, culminating in a superboss on Floor 100 - who, when killed, dropped the best item in the game. Every 10 floors you were given an oppurtunity to escape, but you had to restart the entire dungeon if you did that or died.

Of course, 100 battles - considering some can last for 30+ rounds - would be a QM killer. I would suggest a more "trial" based approach then a "battle onslaught" approach. You would have to solve puzzles and riddles, win small (3-4 round) battles, debate with NPCs, haggle with the denizens of the "pit", etc, gaining EXP whenever you reach a specific room. Every so often, there would be a boss fight. After the boss is vanquished, the pit would carry on, but the pit would spike in difficulty considerably. The biggest mechanics of this Heroica Pit is that:

-Perma-ko is on.

-There is no quest reward, only the loot you find in the dungeon.

-You can teleport to certain points if you discover them as you descend.

TPKO is actually to expected: the main point is to go as far as possible, but also to help pave the road to the bottom. The final trial would probably be some absurdly powerful boss, who would require a huge party of Expert Class heroes to vanquish. This Superboss can be telpeorted to any time when his lair is found, so you'd basically get TPKOed, get more heroes, modify your strategy, get TPKOed again, etc. until you finally defeat whatever lurks at the bottom. Of course, after his death, huge amounts of loot would ensue!

Thoughts?

Edited February 22, 2013 by Endgame

[Flare]

[...]

Thoughts?

Great idea! I like it so much, actually, that if Sandy approves I might be able to host this Its sort of like the 108 Stars but different, in a cool way.

[Waterbrick Down]

Sounds a little too much like the fields to me, aside from the Perma KO.

[Endgame]

Well...

-It has a definitive end.

-Features puzzles and npcs as well as battles.

-I'd encourage anyone who does it (if not me) to incorporate a little bit of lore or story into the pit.

It'd be more like a revistable multi-party dungeon then the Fields of Glory.

Edited February 22, 2013 by Endgame

[Flare]

Sounds a little too much like the fields to me, aside from the Perma KO.

I think its one quest, not a revisitable place. Also, there is some roleplaying... and there wouldn't be a choice of levels, you are forced to go to the next level down. (am I expressing your idea correctly, endgame?)

[Sandy]

Sorry, Endgame, but your idea sounds like a mix of the Fields of Glory and the Pagoda in my current quest, so it's kinda been done, already... It sounds like a horror to host, as well.

[Flare]

Sorry, Endgame, but your idea sounds like a mix of the Fields of Glory and the Pagoda in my current quest, so it's kinda been done, already... It sounds like a horror to host, as well.

I don't know, it sounded fun to me

[Sandy]

I don't know, it sounded fun to me

You have much to learn, young Padawan.

[Endgame]

Good thing I checked for input here before I even gave the thing a name. I won't develop it further.

But, looking back at some of 48's battles and what this quest would require... I realized I was atleast partially insane. :blush QMing is a much heavier pill to swallow then most, including myself, expect sometimes. Doesn't mean it isn't a blast, though.

[Kintobor]

I think that a Pit-esque idea could work, perhaps like so:

The Cave of Ordeals

-the party enters at floor 1 of 40

-each room has a possibility of three battles, so in room one, the party could enqounter a swarm of vermin, undead, or aquatic creatures

-the party cannot backtrack, they must move forward into the cave

-every five floors we'll say has a rest area, where the party can rest, or leave if they feel like it.

-depending on how deep the party goes, will change which items they can receive as a reward

-a party that reaches floor 40 will be given a bonus reward, as well as a title

-heroes level as normal

-the only way to leave the Cave of Ordeals is by either leaving at a rest point, or if TPK happens, in which case the party is given no reward except whatever items they collected in the Cave.

-add an item specific to The Cave that allows players to see 3 floors down, so they can see what lurks ahead.

- finally, add in a leaderboard, so that players can see whose gotten farthest onto the pit

Just my two cents on the idea. Run it as an Unlimited Quest, or perhaps an Unlimited Quest that expires, and after a set period of time the quest is no longer available. Any thoughts?

Edited February 23, 2013 by Kintobor

[Waterbrick Down]

I think that a Pit-esque idea could work, perhaps like so:

The Cave of Ordeals

-the party enters at floor 1 of 40

-each room has a possibility of three battles, so in room one, the party could enqounter a swarm of vermin, undead, or aquatic creatures

-the party cannot backtrack, they must move forward into the cave

-every five floors we'll say has a rest area, where the party can rest, or leave if they feel like it.

-depending on how deep the party goes, will change which items they can receive as a reward

-a party that reaches floor 40 will be given a bonus reward, as well as a title

-heroes level as normal

-the only way to leave the Cave of Ordeals is by either leaving at a rest point, or if TPK happens, in which case the party is given no reward except whatever items they collected in the Cave.

-add an item specific to The Cave that allows players to see 3 floors down, so they can see what lurks ahead.

- finally, add in a leaderboard, so that players can see whose gotten farthest onto the pit

Just my two cents on the idea. Run it as an Unlimited Quest, or perhaps an Unlimited Quest that expires, and after a set period of time the quest is no longer available. Any thoughts?

The issue isn't so much the feasibility, it's just too much like the Unlimited Quest with a side of Quest 50.

[Kintobor]

I suppose that makes sense. Perhaps shelving it for a later discussion would be best, and coming back once quest 50 has simmered down for a while. On that note, I've been following quest 50, and I must say that the battle system is very unique, it looks like it would be interesting to apply to various other scenarios.

[Brickington]

I loved the quest, endgame! Great job! Very creative with LDD and I am happy you made it a little challenging, but still easy for newbies. As I have said, the ending was a little weird. But other than that, great job!

[joeshmoe554]

Terrific quest Endgame. The villains were both engaging and I look forward to finding out the rest of the Stealer's plan. The Apprentice, while short lived, was a fairly solid character. It's a little impressive you were able to fit a back story and a personality into so little space, but you did a fairly good job of accomplishing both. The lack of a cleric made things a little difficult since the party had to rely on potions for all of our healing, thankfully we somehow managed to have enough potions to stay alive till the end, or at least most of us did (Sorry Em)

Also terrific work on the scenes. I just started playing with LDD a couple days ago and working with a digital tool takes a special talent that you seem to have in abundance.

EDIT: As to the ending, I'm not sure I got the feeling I think you were going for. I only saw 3 possible outcomes for the party at the end. We could stun the town watch and steal their memory for a day (given the knowledge we had at the time), we could fight the Stealer and lose in which case, I think the fate of the watchmen would have been much worse, or we could have fought and won, which I figured was highly unlikely. Given the option and the slim chance at victory, it seemed the best thing to do for both us and the town watch was to "betray" them. Even knowing the Stealer lied and we took more than 1 day, any better outcome would have been extremely unlikely.

It seemed like you wanted us to feel bad for acting in our own self-interest, when our actions were most likely the best for all involved. Though it could just be me, as I tend to compare options by weighing the different outcomes by the probability of that outcome occurring.

Edited March 2, 2013 by joeshmoe554

[Kintobor]

I have an idea for a quest, similar to Quest #1: Harvest Time.

Quest #--: Grim Grinning Ghosts

The idea is that a cemetery has recently become overrun with undead and other creepy crawlies, and needs a party of heroes to weed out the unwanted spooks. The priest and the grave keeper, both well seasoned in this since this isn't the first time dealing with the problem, know that the price for professionals is far greater than paying for inexperienced, yet still well equipped heroes. The party has to successfully clear out three of the five areas in the cemetery, solving puzzles and meeting some of the local friendly undead, who are irritated at the amount of newcomers who have been running a muck in their home. The cemetery sections can be lost, if the battle is either fled, or the conditions are not met.

Part homage, part something new, the quest should be a fun, frightful experience for newer players.

Any suggestions, opinions, ideas?

Edited March 3, 2013 by Kintobor

[Emjajoas]

I thought 56 was really well-made, as my companions have said. I kind of liked the ending-- I thought it made sense with the character that the Stealer seems to be. I liked both him and the Apprentice; Looking forward to seeing more you have planned, especially if Em can be involved in it.

Keep up the good work!

[The Legonater]

As I've said before, that was a great quest, Endgame, and the whole concept of the Harvester and the villains is brilliant. I really hope Dyric Rone can get on one of these quests!