Heroica RPG - Quest Masters' Lounge

[Pandora]

Thanks for the feedback Zeph, I also greatly appreciate it. I understand what you're saying about Nyx evolving, and I thought she had been, but it's evident I need to portray that more, so it's good to know. Nyx had a lot of fun interacting with Everstien, Avery and Chauncey - all definitely people who piqued her interest and I'd like to see lots more of them (but I think Nyx most wants to meet XX again, though).

Thanks for coming along again, as I've said, you and Atramor essentially have to be with me until the end at this point - your characters have seen so much, they may be the only people who understand the finale quest.

Count me in! Can't promise Nyx actually will understand the Zepher finale, but she'll be there.

A few other things, I love Hybros and Guts' characters. Hybros's awkwardness and vaguely sinister nature while still being a friendly guy (and an assassin of short stature) are wonderful. And Guts is great as the grumpy not-quite-faded-but-fading tough guy. He makes me think of Bruce Willis, really. Maybe it's the baldness. Docken isn't really a character, but BD, like the other two guys, you were great to quest with. It was a really great team in my eyes.

[Endgame]

You're battles were of your high standard and high difficulty, and it was finally good to get in one, because as much as I love 70, I really wish we could have gotten something besides the curb stomp with Brier. The Oculoids I think were effective as villains. Using a characters past as a means to emotionally damage an enemy.is a really neat idea. I thought it was good, but maybe when it comes to my quests, I've been a bit pampered, so in any case, job well done!

If you wanted to face The Stealer, I honestly couldn't have guaranteed the quest's success.

And yes, this is indeed the beginning of the end! For the Finale: I'll bring pretty much anyone who signs up, the only restriction being that you have to be Level 20+. An NPC from 70, 79, 81, and the Third Reaper quest will be joining the party... I can confirm Masson will be helping you guys outm but the rest remain a mystery.

78:

I enjoyed it! Your characters were plenty quirky, and your builds were pretty great. You had a nice mixture of quirky and serious, and I think that the mount of tension was just right. Pacing was odd, but I think that could be attributed to C.A.T. The battle were all well balanced, but I felt that the second was harder then the third. (I especially enjoyed the bait-and-switch aspect of Battle 2. ) The storyline was definitely intriguing, and I'm curious to see where this goes.

Thank you for Sorrow's miniquest, as well. Now, where to find that blasted herb...

[JimBee]

He makes me think of Bruce Willis, really.

This. I said Vin Diesel before, but Willis is a much better actor and captures a Guts-esque character much better in most of his films. RED and Pulp Fiction come to mind (no I've never watched any of the Die Hard movies).

And I agree about the party dynamic - we were separated most of the time but there was definitely some development between the four characters. I look forward to their future interactions (already we got some good roleplaying in in the Hall).

[Flipz]

This. I said Vin Diesel before, but Willis is a much better actor and captures a Guts-esque character much better in most of his films. RED and Pulp Fiction come to mind (no I've never watched any of the Die Hard movies).

And I agree about the party dynamic - we were separated most of the time but there was definitely some development between the four characters. I look forward to their future interactions (already we got some good roleplaying in in the Hall).

Especially him in Pulp Fiction.

...does that technically make Nur Samuel L. Jackson? And who does John Travolta play in Heroica?

[JimBee]

Especially him in Pulp Fiction.

The whole bar scene especially. "I ain't your friend, palooka."

[Kintobor]

Alright, time to talk about 78.

Battles:

Sewer

This was to see where you guys as a party were. And I also realized how broken you as a group were.

Four heroes capable of back row fighting. What was I thinking! It really set up the mood for who you're fighting, as well as add to the mystery of what was going on in the prison. Who are the Order Imperial? What are they doing here? Well, most of the questions got answered! I actually really miss that bigoted lieutenant. He was really one of the stand outs of the quest.

Prison

Part of me really wanted to make a reference to "Giggle at the Ghosties", but couldn't find a place to put it.

The old bait and switch tactic! As much as I love the Shadow Sisters, and as complex their characters are, I had to bring Gus, Ivan, and Geoffrey back. I like throwing characters from other storylines in to quests that may or may not be relevant. It was great to bring back the hitch hiking trio, and I hope those who were 61 got a kick out of it! This was probably my favorite battle of 78, and probably my best battle period! I now understand why Endgame loves the hex effect so much!

Mess Hall

I like the mechanic, but I feel as if the battle ended too quickly. Not your guys fault at all. You guys just so happened to have Sorrow with you, who I now know is someone I'm going to have to shut down somehow in the foreseeable future.

It's a shame the Iron Knuckle never got to use her specials. I really wanted her to be an intimidating, powerhouse of an enemy. Ah well, there's a;ways next time.

Overall:

I'll admit, the pacing was... weird. I felt I rushed you guys all over the place. I felt I left you guys open enough to do stuff, but I felt like an owner yanking a dog on a chain, and the party was the dog. That being said, I like the moments where I did just let you do your thing. There was literally tons of stuff you guys could have done in Costello's lab, but somehow you guys only managed to find a small amount of the stuff. I'm glad you did find the book though. The Shadow Sisters were fun, and so were the Hitch hiking ghosts, and I feel as if the quest got better as things rolled along.

Characters:

It seemed 78 had the misfortune of picking up the moment C.A.T. started, and the role playing sort of... slid. I'm not going to complain about posts where the only thing was an action, since I know where the activity was going. I fully understand why, I'm just slightly disappointed at the timing of the quest. No offense, Sandy if your reading this, your doing a great job, it's just it seems everything stopped the moment C.A.T. started.

Em: I was right in choosing you as party leader. You dished out loot well, you kept the party in order, and you kept to Em as a character! I love Em's quietness! His explosion in front of Costello was great! I love seeing what's going on in Em's head! His thoughts trailing back to the Stealer, I love it all! Keep up the great work, and it was a blast hosting you again.

Elgar: Elgar provided an interesting perspective on the quest, seeing as how he was also on 71. You were active, and honestly that's the best I can ask for. Your interactions and caring attitude came in on many occasions, and I really like Elgar as being a hero who actually tries to benefit other people, and not just try and force some unnecessary broody back story because he needs to make himself a bad megablocks. You were a blast to host, and I hope to see you again!

Grimwald: You did a good job! You were active, had great interactions, and you kept with your fear! More heroes need to have a weakness, and Grimwald's fear of ghosts and the undead is both plausible and very realistic. It makes Grimwald more realistic and believable as a character, and that's something I appreciate in both a roleplayer and a character. Job well done!

Sorrow: Sorrow really went through the most this quest. He's realized he could potentially lose his hand, he begins to question his age, and he didn't kill Lydia. That said something as a character. He took what happened with Violetta and learned from it. He was broody, but not to the point of being boring. He has some optimism, and I like that. I could keep going on, but I don't want to sound like I have favorites because I honestly don't. Job well done!

Thanks to everyone who participated, you were a great team, and I hope to host you all again soon!

And yes, Comstock is the Arc's big bad. And he is one Big Bad.

[Emjajoas]

I have to admit, I loved seeing some characters again. Gus, Ivan, and Geoffrey are an interesting trio, and I hope Em hasn't seen the last of them. ;P

Likewise, it was good seeing Lilith again, even if it was for a short while.

The whole cast of characters were great, honestly, but it's always nice seeing familiar faces. :D

Looking forward to the next quest-- I'll try to be around for part 2, should you be planning it.

[Kintobor]

I have to admit, I loved seeing some characters again. Gus, Ivan, and Geoffrey are an interesting trio, and I hope Em hasn't seen the last of them. ;P

Likewise, it was good seeing Lilith again, even if it was for a short while.

The whole cast of characters were great, honestly, but it's always nice seeing familiar faces. :D

Looking forward to the next quest-- I'll try to be around for part 2, should you be planning it.

That was part two. Go read quest 71 for part one.

[Zepher]

I absolutely love your quests, Kintober. I hope to have a better review up sooner or later, but they really impress me fully. Your characters impart a lot of feeling in brief appearances: they feel concise, well planned, humorous and real. Your story pacing is always superb. I think that you really know how to tell a story. It has a nice amount of randomness, a nice amount of the right moments. There is a certain "ease" that you get with good writers, as if they're not really working, like their stories and characters just sort of fall into place. I always get that feeling from you.

[Kintobor]

I absolutely love your quests, Kintober. I hope to have a better review up sooner or later, but they really impress me fully. Your characters impart a lot of feeling in brief appearances: they feel concise, well planned, humorous and real. Your story pacing is always superb. I think that you really know how to tell a story. It has a nice amount of randomness, a nice amount of the right moments. There is a certain "ease" that you get with good writers, as if they're not really working, like their stories and characters just sort of fall into place. I always get that feeling from you.

Stop it, your making me blush! I'm glad you like my stuff, Zepher, especially coming from the guy that I consider made the Wren story arc! It's always good to know one's work is appreciated!

[Rumble Strike]

Kintobor, how long do you think Quest#83 will take?

[Kintobor]

A month and a half at the most, most likely a lot shorter. I'm billing it as not your average quest, with minimal battles but a lot of thinking and deducting.

[Rumble Strike]

Cheers, sounds right up my street! Not Tarn's, mind. He's as thick as a whale omelette.

[CMP]

Cheers, sounds right up my street! Not Tarn's, mind. He's as thick as a whale omelette.

:laugh:

Maybe we can make it a mini-Quest 30 reunion.

[LordoftheNoobs]

Prison

Part of me really wanted to make a reference to "Giggle at the Ghosties", but couldn't find a place to put it.

Aww, you totally should've! I'd have gotten a kick out of it at least, if no-one else did. Hell, I should've made one!

"When I was a little Gnomey, and the sun was going dooowwn..!"

[Jedi master Brick]

Quest 78 was a blast . The builds and photos were good and the story was great. Sometimes your stats were a bit off but that is no big deal. Thanks for hosting me Kintobor

[Myrddyn]

Good quest, Pie. Good characters, good pictures, even though the builds apparently had big holes in them, I couldn't really tell. Good plot, I'm not entirely sure what the deal with the 'Cardinal' was, or what we did to annoy the Crimson Crown, but I get the feeling that will be revealed in a later quest.

EDIT: Definitely glad to see Red has (mostly) abandoned her life of crime and gotten an honest job.

Good to see Wally back, too.

It did perhaps go on a bit long, but I understand that that is hard to estimate. This didn't make it any less fun, though.

:thumbup:

Edited October 2, 2013 by Myrddyn

[CMP]

Quest 69

First off.....I'm super, super, super sorry about how long that took. Whether you enjoyed it or not, I was completely off with how long I thought the Quest would take, thus is ended up lasting over four months and is now the third most replied-to Quest of all time. The reason, though, is pretty obvious to me. You guys did literally every single thing there was to do in the Inn of the Winking Gargoyle and spent a lot of time going for extra loot in the Sewers. That, with the significantly long last three battles, contributed towards the pretty insane length.

Anyway...the plot twist. The context of everything was a complete lie, but you did as you were told, and found the right assassin. All the evidence, the whole story about Rorik, more or less everything involving Sofia was invented. She left clues that hinted strongly at Blue Assassin involvement in the room in the hopes that you would kill the assassin that's been hunting her down due to her deep involvement with the Order of the Crimson Crown. It both solves the problem of the assassin, plus due to events back in Quest 11, the Order has a strong dislike of Heroica, so what better way to humiliate them than tricking them into doing their work for them?

There were a ton of side routes and extra stuff you could do, and you did pretty much all of it. The demon fight, the spider fight, Dragon Dan fight...all optional. The only one fight you didn't do was fighting Natnail in the bar. His mechanics were very similar to Zasies'. Both his fight and the demon hunt had drastic effects on the final battle. If you didn't help Soryx, he wouldn't've been in the bar when the Crimson Crown attacked, and both Boris and Quillian would've been killed. If you fought Natnail earlier, he would've joined their fight to try and get some revenge.

I hope you all liked the NPCs. It's pretty clear to me now that character design/interaction is one of my favorite parts of hosting and you guys really helped me realize that by talking to almost every single one. Soryx has become a personal favorite of mine.

So, some extra stuff...

-Soryx was originally going to be a Black Knight, but then the Shield changed to something less suited to him, I got a Black Knight on the Quest already, so I changed him to a Hunter at the last minute.

-I had some sort of idea to keep the Magpie NPCs out of the Bonaparte fight but I forgot what it was. So you ended up with like three or four of them helping you out in that battle.

-Wally would've followed you into the Sewer Wolf fight if you'd have asked him. I think I meant him to ask you at some point.

-You guys spent like a week shopping at Shelby's. I guess that means you really wanted my items, huh?

-HerrJJ's saving of Big Red led me to have Little Red show up as a major NPC in Quest 82. I almost made a new character but then realized how much she looked like Little Red, so one thing led to another...I almost had Big Red there too, but I thought I'd make it more interesting by leaving him out.

-I think the die I used rolling the last battle growled at me.

-I'm never doing another maze again.

Pretzel (Palathadric) - I'm super glad I picked you as the party leader. You were always active and in my opinion had some of the best roleplaying moments, getting along very well with Soryx and the Baron. But good god man, when I tell you to DIVIDE the loot, DIVIDE the damn loot!!! It'll be much less of a headache for both you, your party, and most importantly, your QM. I loved his constant debating with himself about Dreyrugr, too.

Dreyrugr (Vash the Stampede) - I like Dreyrugr. He's undead, he's being constantly hated on by the party leader, and yet he doesn't fall into any sort of depression or just explode. He remains cool and is just always moving forward to the goal. He'd make an awesome Assassin, but he works great as a Black Knight too. And whether Pretzel believes it or not, he's probably one of the most level-headed heroes period.

Nessa (HerrJJ) - I'm really glad I got to have Nessa. Her schizo tendencies don't often get in the way of the fact that she's actually a pretty nice person as far as heroes go. Her saving Big Red was probably the best roleplaying moment in any of my Quests thus far. Even if it wasn't monumentally huge or epic a moment, it just goes to show that some heroes actually seem to care that NPCs have lives. She was also an offensive machine in the battles.

Erik (Myrddyn) - Erik's also pretty calm and collected, and he and Dreyrugr were both pretty creative in the Blue Assassin battle. He's not your typical barbarian, he doesn't seem to get angry or go into battle frenzies very often, but, well, there's a reason he's got the Peacekeeper's Totem. He's one of the most realistic and consistent characters, and pretty good at the investigation early on.

Sylph (DLL) - It's Sylph. He's quiet but idealistic, nature-loving but utterly gray. He's such a strange contradictory character, and that's why he's cool. He seem pretty bored with the NPCs - they're not as colorful as Proggs, I know - but I loved his sudden defense of the Sewer Spider. I didn't see it coming, though maybe I should have. He's a great character, and a great strategist as well. I enjoyed having you.

[Duvors]

-I think the die I used rolling the last battle growled at me.

I have a pair of twelve-sided die, they can be pretty feral at times.

[Palathadric]

Thanks, Pie! I really enjoyed your quest. I really have to put among my favourites, although I have to say it got a tad annoying at the end when I knew I was doing something wrong with the battles, but couldn't figure it out and no one else seemed to bother to point it out, but we got through it alright. And yes, I have a phobia about giving out loot and am always afraid that I'm giving out too much to people. I think Vash's fear that Dreyrugr may not get much loot with me as party leader was dealt with pretty smoothly by him stealing a good portion of the loot. I loved interacting with the PCs and NPCs alike and I think you have a tremendous talent for creating unique characters. You also made your battles very interesting. They certainly could have been much more easily winnable with the use of consumables, but I've always had a phobia about asking people to use their hard-earned consumables in a battle that we could win without them. Also, my thoughts are that unless you're a rogue who can get more money from using a consumable than otherwise, you may as well not use them if you can win the battle without them. Clearly this isn't the most sound logic.

I really liked the battle with Gontzo and co. It was annoying, but fun, especially at the end. It was a horrific moment for Pretzel, first getting knocked out for the first time since his first quest, then having his party side with the Wolfgang, the people who just knocked him out, then the fact that none of the party bothered to use a Phoenix Essence on him, and finally that Nessa instead used her Phoenix Essence on Big Red. I already had myself all prepared to take Pretzel down the "dark path" of anger and distrust or whatever, but then DLL had to come in and smooth everything over or at least get Pretzel to stop replaying the whole scene in his mind. Great time all around.

I loved the gnome's underground city and I think we bought every single item they had for sale, which was awesome.

Also, I'm beginning to wonder if I have a tendency to make the quests longer than necessary. First quest...well, I won't go there since I was so new, etc. Second quest we fired through insanely fast. But then Quest 42, 59, and 69 all took an incredible amount of time considering the number of battles. I mean, even Quest 59, which had only three battles, one of which I didn't participate in, took two months. Maybe I talk too much, but it's all good.

Oh, and I do have to agree that Dreyrugr is probably one of the most level-headed heroes around.

My only regret from this quest is that I didn't get the Muckraker, the Opal, the Dragon shield, etc... . Although really the biggest is that I somehow promised that Scroll of Disenchantment to BD when I first bought it. BD sucks! But anyway. All is good. Thanks for hosting, and I do hope to be hosted by you again.

Also, I'm beginning to wonder if I have a tendency to make the quests longer than necessary. First quest...well, I won't go there since I was so new, etc. Second quest we fired through insanely fast. But then Quest 42, 59, and 69 all took an incredible amount of time considering the number of battles. I mean, even Quest 59, which had only three battles, one of which I didn't participate in, took two months. Maybe I talk too much, but it's all good.

Yeah, quite a number of heroes who joined after I did, even long after I did, are on higher levels than I am. Take Dreyrugr for one.

[CMP]

Good quest, Pie. Good characters, good pictures, even though the builds apparently had big holes in them, I couldn't really tell.

My laziness in building sets is matched only by how much photoshopping I do to hide it.

[Zepher]

Well, what can I say, Pie?

Lovely quest. You have an incredible knack for NPCs! I will find Natnail again. You like stealing from WBD, don't you. But really, the Gnome city tenants were wonderful, the Wolfgang was sympathetic and nice enough, Soryx was really an enjoyable character, and the Magpie characters are absolutely lovely ALWAYs - especially their newest addition. You, like WBD, have a great talent for capturing the city of Eubric, and mixing random encounter with plot points - it never feels so plot heavy that you lose the sense of the world around (Bonapartes, Spiders, Wolfgang, etc.) but never strays so far from the story that you forget the objectives.

I personally like long quests as long as they are regularly updated. I don't think that short quests are bad, but long ones really let you explore character dynamics in full. It's cool when people quest together back to back, but being holed up with each other for 69 pages with no one else to talk to... THAT develops real dynamics, relationships, and camaraderie. I wasn't on the quest, but it never seemed to flag even in the slightest from an outside point of view.

If I had the parts for Soryx I'd steal him from right under you. Can't wait to see your next quest (well, after 82 as well ). I love your characters, and like I said to Kintober, you have an organic way of telling stories that fall together very well without feeling super scripted. I'd absolutely love to go on one of your quests, and I encourage you to one day collaborate with WBD and Kint, as I think the three of you would make THE BEST Eubric based quest. Wonderful quest, buddy.

[Vash the Stampede]

Great quest, I really had fun. All the characters were interesting. Even the Necromancer we met for 5 seconds seemed real. All the NPC's were interesting and I can't say anything about them that someone else has already mentioned. They were great. I liked the underground city, makes it seem like there is still so many unfound items waiting to be discovered. The sets were good in my opinion. Even if they had holes in it part of it is making sure no one can see them so good job with that. The battles were definitely the long part but it was all fun. I think DLL probably did the worst in terms of loot but the bolas are still pretty good so overall I think the whole party got some pretty nice stuff. The only aspect of this quest that I didn't like was near the beginning where we deduced that a Blue Assassin was the murderer based off a piece of blue cloth. It might've been a possibility but it didn't seem that likely to me, but maybe that's just be nitpicking at details cause it was correct in the end. Overall I this is one of my favourite quests I've been on. It even went the correct number of pages.

Now it's no secret, Pretzel utterly hates Dreyrugr but I still find him interesting. Pretzel I'd say is the most overboard character and some of the pointless debates were interesting. Good job on being PL. I must also say it was interesting to see DLL on this side of the QM, player line. Sylph being somewhat similar to Dreyrugr (well at least I partially think so) I'll definitely be watching how Sylph reacts in the future. Now how many quests has Dreyrugr been on with Nessa and I still end up surprised. You can learn all that there is to know about her ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years she can still surprise you at a pinch. I'm interested to know what the weird spirits following her around and taking control of her are. I've had to scratch off the list that Nessa is crazy so I'm half stumped. As for Erik, every party needs a mediator and Erik is that to a T. I'd like to see some backstory from Erik. We know he is one of the most peaceful characters around but we don't know much about him at all. A lover of peace but somehow ended up in heroica. I'd like to see what exactly made him join heroica. As well as some backstory as to why he is so accepting of everyone, even the plain evil ones seem to earn a small place in his heart.

All and all, a great quest from QM to players in my opinion.

Dreyrugr (Vash the Stampede) - I like Dreyrugr. He's undead, he's being constantly hated on by the party leader, and yet he doesn't fall into any sort of depression or just explode. He remains cool and is just always moving forward to the goal. He'd make an awesome Assassin, but he works great as a Black Knight too. And whether Pretzel believes it or not, he's probably one of the most level-headed heroes period.

Well it's always good to get QM feedback. As for not exploding or falling into depression I'd say the age factor has a lot to do with it. If he was much younger he probably would but after 1000 years of knowing people I'd say he's gotten way past the depression factor and would keep a cool head all the time. As for being a Black Knight you have DLL to thank for that. When making Dreyrugr I originally wanted him to be a Black Knight but later thought that Assassins are generally a bit better but then with one of the worst pieces of luck Dreyrugr was knocked out in one round from full health I believe (I did the calculations somewhere, it was legit 1 in some number over 200 chance of getting knocked out in one round). From there I figured SP really is an important part of the game and seeing how I didn't really have too much of an inventory to support Assassinating I went to Black Knight for the 9 SP (since risen). I'm going to go Assassin at some point for the gold gaining but I think one more quest of a Black Knight just for the SP. Seems I somewhat choose ok in that regard cause the SP definitely helped during this quest. I am glad Dreyrugr is coming off as level headed but the truth is no QM (or player but it would be easier for a QM) has yet found the right buttons to push to make him abandon that. I wonder how long that will last.

I think Vash's fear that Dreyrugr may not get much loot with me as party leader was dealt with pretty smoothly by him stealing a good portion of the loot.

Sorry, maybe I should've made the sarcasm a little more obvious. I wasn't sure how it was going to happen but I was rather confident we could get it around the characters somehow so that there wouldn't be a bias against everyone in loot, so I wasn't worried about it at all. And what do you know we made it.

[Palathadric]

Sorry, maybe I should've made the sarcasm a little more obvious. I wasn't sure how it was going to happen but I was rather confident we could get it around the characters somehow so that there wouldn't be a bias against everyone in loot, so I wasn't worried about it at all. And what do you know we made it.

I'm Palathadric, I use emoticons when they aren't needed and forget to use them when they are.

[Dannylonglegs]

Snip

Wow, I'll be honest, I didn't expect such a nice "Analysis for a person who droped off the face of the earth mid-quest. Sooooo Sorry about that. I can't quite say I'm "Back" (because every time I do it seems my life gets more stressful) but I can say I won't sign up for another Quest until I can better manage my time.

On Sylph: Yes, he was bored with your NPCs, but I was not. I love your NPCs! They're all super well written and realistic (or silly). Sylph doesn't care about people much at all, so unless he can see a way for a situation to benefit him and his agenda, he won't care much about them. I'm glad you liked playing with me, but I'm sorry about my participation. It was really not cool of me, and I'm really sorry.

Pretzel: I thought you and Sylph wouldn't get along as well, but I guess I was wrong. You and he ended up agreeing on more things than not, which I thought was kind of funny considering how dark a character Sylph is, compared to how "good" a character Pretzel thinks he is. It just goes to show that Clerics are Clerics, no matter which deity they worship. In the beginning Sylph was frustrated with Pretzel's leadership, but as the quest went on and grew increasingly different from his prior quest which involved battling evil forces beyond man's power, he grew increasingly less interested, culminating in his letting Pretzel lead entirely during the last two fights. (Although, to be fair, some of that "characterization" had to do with my own life as well.)

Dreyrugr: I love Dreyrugr, and I'm glad I got to play with you on the other side of the QM screen. He was an excellent voice of reason throughout the quest, especially when the maniacally "Good" Party Leader laid down the hate.

Nessa: I also love Nessa. Her bi-polar behavior was a source of much of the interesting party dynamic in the beginning, and throughout the quest. I'm interested to see how she progresses.

Erik: Erik's an all around good guy, and Sylph ended up not hating him. This is the first time I've played with him, and I think he's got an interesting character. As a Barbarian, he's very unique, and i'd love to play with him again.

~Insectoid Aristocrat