Game feedback, mk 2!

[Anastasia]

Here we go again! Pasted from the last topic with relevant changes. Since we're kind of in a dip in the curve after the gnomish ruins and Tai's settling in, this seems like a good time to:

We've gone through a few levels of play, so I'd like to ask you for some opinions in the form of a handy numbered list of questions. I'll answer these as well and give my own opinions at some point.

1. What do you think of your character so far?

2. Do you think your character's had enough chances to RP? Too many? Too few?

3. What do you think of your partymates, and do you have any suggestions for them?

4. What aspects of the world and adventures have you liked so far? Are there things you'd like to see more?

5. What haven't you liked? Are there aspects you'd rather see go away?

6. How do you feel about the current number of PCs? We're running on three right now and I'd like to upgrade to four sooner or later, perhaps?

7. Glass Golem: Whore, super whore or mega whore?

8. If you haven't addressed it already, how do you feel about the very large dungeon of the gnomish ruins? Did you like this style and the various challenges it presented?

9. Any other points you'd like to bring up, go nuts.

[Anastasia]

1. What do you think of your character so far?

Shamal: I like her. She's not changed terribly much, Eb's in a solid place but she's not deep. Her animal side doesn't get many chances to come out, at least thus far.

Seira: Mmmm. From the elven stuff on I'd say she's been improving. Seira's been emoting better and had some really good interactions. The bit with the hammer and it's subsequent changes are nice.

Demedais: Mmm. Quiet at first, starting to settle in. A bit of a typical male for a paladin, but this amuses me. It's nice to get to playl a few characters off a normal, red blooded male. (Berli didn't really count.)

2. Do you think your character's had enough chances to RP? Too many? Too few?

I think it's alright for the moment. Last area was kind of strange, but I think it had a good balance.

3. What do you think of your partymates, and do you have any suggestions for them?

Skipping this one, it's redundant with the above for the GM.

4. What aspects of the world and adventures have you liked so far? Are there things you'd like to see more?

I really liked designing the gnomish dungeon you guys went through. Lots of areas that interconnected overall, each with a nice theme. I also like how you impact Balmuria, making the city grow.

5. What haven't you liked? Are there aspects you'd rather see go away?

Not sure at the moment. No complaints with the PCs, and the GM can cull away some things if he likes them, so.

6. How do you feel about the current number of PCs? We're running on three right now and I'd like to upgrade to four sooner or later, perhaps?

Well, I kinda gave my answer. Three is good but a fourth would be nice. Recruiting goes on, and I have a few ideas for people. If you have suggestions, I'm all ears.

7. Glass Golem: Whore, super whore or mega whore?

>_> <_<

8. If you haven't addressed it already, how do you feel about the very large dungeon of the gnomish ruins? Did you like this style and the various challenges it presented?

See above.

9. Any other points you'd like to bring up, go nuts.

Not at the moment, I'll have more to say when I reply to you guys. Well, that and telling myself to get back to logging this vacation.

[Ebiris]

1. What do you think of your character so far?

I've really started to feel the pain of multiclassing, lately. Being 3 levels behind is a pretty huge gulf. At least I'm past the worst of it now, and every level from here on will advance casting on both lists.

I think Shamal needs a hobby like Seira's inn to make more of an impact on the gameworld. It'll still be a while before she'll have the magical resources to make her idyllic druid grove or put an awesome temple to Mielikki in the city, sadly.

Personality-wise I do feel like she's becoming rather bland, lately. In the beginning I played her quite solidly nice and sweet, but recently she's mellowing out too much - still good, but not really distinguishingly so. I dunno, I've just had trouble bringing those aspects to the fore lately, but it leaves her feeling a tad hollow.

2. Do you think your character's had enough chances to RP? Too many? Too few?

As stated previously, no such thing as too many. I think we could do with more 'around town' stuff, just dealing with minor everyday problems in the city now and then as a chance to RP in a more relaxed setting that still has a goal to it, and it'd give us all chances to emphasise our unique personalities and values in how we each respond to these small challenges.

3. What do you think of your partymates, and do you have any suggestions for them?

Seira: Between forced alignment changes and significant drops in wisdom, I'm not really sure where Seira's headed at the moment. She does seem to have mellowed out, even before becoming all chaotic - I guess Berlioz brought out the worst in her previously - seeming almost cutesy at times. She's fun to play with, though like I said, with recent changes I'd hesitate to offer any suggestions. Cor seems to know what he's doing, though.

Demedais: He's settling in well, even if recent scenes have shown he's still been left sadly out of the loop on a lot of fairly important background stuff. Credit to him for making the effort to get caught up, though, and he's forming a good rapport with Shamal and Seira, so I've no concerns on party cohesion. It's interesting how the group is now divided from Chaotic to Neutral to Lawful on the alignment spectrum, but it does make for the occassional fun ethical debate. As a suggestion, he could stand to take a more forthright and commanding attitude - that's what paladin's are all about, after all. Admittedly Shamal and Seira do outrank him, but even so I could see him adopting more of a 'take charge' attitude when rank isn't immediately important and he's not confused and out of his depth from lack of background information on just what the hell we're doing at the moment.

4. What aspects of the world and adventures have you liked so far? Are there things you'd like to see more?

I like how the city's dynamically changing partly in response to our actions. Hopefully we'll continue having a tangible effect on the setting. On one hand I want to explore further afield, but on the other we are tied to our responsibilities in the city, and it'd be irritating to have plot important stuff happen in Balmuria while we're off spelunking.

5. What haven't you liked? Are there aspects you'd rather see go away?

No real complaints, to be honest.

6. How do you feel about the current number of PCs? We're running on three right now and I'd like to upgrade to four sooner or later, perhaps?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, four is the standard number in a D&D party for a reason.

7. Glass Golem: Whore, super whore or mega whore?

It was pretty cheap. It shouldn't have tried to merge with the shield unless we took away all its forms!

8. If you haven't addressed it already, how do you feel about the very large dungeon of the gnomish ruins? Did you like this style and the various challenges it presented?

I enjoyed it. Variety is the spice of life, but having endurance over long dungeon crawls is a big selling point of my class combinations, so I'd enjoy more like them. Just not all the time, since there's so much other stuff we could do besides spelunking.

9. Any other points you'd like to bring up, go nuts.

I'm conflicted on this. On one hand, it sucks when you lose stuff, especially stuff you fought hard for. On the other hand, it is realistic.

Fact is, we're accumulating quite the range of massively powerful and probably priceless artifacts - nefarious people should be trying to take advantage of our hard work to claim these items for themselves. This is why Shamal invested in the haversack and the magical protections on same, not to mention how she guarded the evil death mushrooms. and you can bet she's going to be beefing her home security in the future (as if four canines, Flopsy, and her own not unimpressive listen check weren't enough).

I restate how I'm conflicted. I'd be happy if this never became an issue, since it means I get to keep my awesome loot with no difficulty. On the other hand, if I'm going to all this effort, it'd be nice for some evidence it's actually worthwhile and effective.

[Anastasia]

I think Shamal needs a hobby like Seira's inn to make more of an impact on the gameworld. It'll still be a while before she'll have the magical resources to make her idyllic druid grove or put an awesome temple to Mielikki in the city, sadly.

Personality-wise I do feel like she's becoming rather bland, lately. In the beginning I played her quite solidly nice and sweet, but recently she's mellowing out too much - still good, but not really distinguishingly so. I dunno, I've just had trouble bringing those aspects to the fore lately, but it leaves her feeling a tad hollow.

I think I agree. She's nice, but you're having problems getting to the meat past that. I'd just mess around with ideas and let things grow naturally. Sometimes you have to relax and poke around until you find something that resonates?

As stated previously, no such thing as too many. I think we could do with more 'around town' stuff, just dealing with minor everyday problems in the city now and then as a chance to RP in a more relaxed setting that still has a goal to it, and it'd give us all chances to emphasise our unique personalities and values in how we each respond to these small challenges.

Okay. I want to do that some now that we're back in town. We're starting on a bit of that just now, granted, but we'll see. I was talking about time skipping today, but I may slow that down a wee bit since this is a great time to do stuff like that.

I like how the city's dynamically changing partly in response to our actions. Hopefully we'll continue having a tangible effect on the setting. On one hand I want to explore further afield, but on the other we are tied to our responsibilities in the city, and it'd be irritating to have plot important stuff happen in Balmuria while we're off spelunking.

This is my favorite part of GMing. I like when you return to Balmuria and you see it change, or you notice the city growing. It's usually tied to your actions and gives you an awesome sense of accomplisment and presence, everything connects together. Some big, some little, some noticed, some not; but Balmuria continues to develop. Even little things and semi humorous matters are nice, like Oberuth having the roof of the garrison fortified now.

While I agree on your last point, it's good to get out of town sometimes. Gives a chance for time to pass and things to happen.

It was pretty cheap. It shouldn't have tried to merge with the shield unless we took away all its forms!

It's other forms got too beaten up so it was in desperation mode. <_<

Point about stealing items.

Oh, you have no idea how much I agree here. I'll make a small admission and say that I was planning to have Beth recur trying to daringly sneak in and loot your things. But she got caught and all that went to pot, so I've put it off a bit. Now that you have such an incredible possession, on the other hand...<_<

[Taishyr]

1. What do you think of your character so far?

Developing rather well. He's not the most pious of paladins, but he does have a connection (or so he feels) to Helm and a determination to try to do his best. Also, he doesn't keep up with either of the ladies in conversation, so he's mainly going background right now in an attempt to catch up.

Battlewise, wishes he had a bit more healing to go around, but does fairly well otherwise. Has been a source of SMAAASH once I finally made sure I had the numbers adding up correctly. >_>;

2. Do you think your character's had enough chances to RP? Too many? Too few?

I've had enough thus far, more is always good but thus far not bad. Demedais -is- a normal red-blooded male - yeah, he got some piety from the Temple, but he learned to fight amongst  the Malmuthian warriors that had been garrisoned here, and he perhaps learned more from that second viewpoint than he did acting as errandboy for the temple.

As for his "not taking charge too often"... he's in a bit of mild shock, still. Balmuria's -grown-. He hadn't expected it to, really. Being gone and pretty much flying solo across Malmuth's also made him a bit quieter, but he's adapting, as his barked order to Lyselle in the Golem battle shows a bit I think?

3. What do you think of your partymates, and do you have any suggestions for them?

Seira - She had an alignment changed forced onto her? Huh. Regardless, thus far she seems solid, although the occasional spats of silence are somewhat jarring.

Shamal - Cheerful, the fire book will be an interesting adaption to her personality. Stubborn, too. Sheesh, girl. Criticize us for book love, whydontcha.

4. What aspects of the world and adventures have you liked so far? Are there things you'd like to see more?

I am a panda~. More city time in general would be cool, but I jumped in on the trip to, pretty much, so no worries there.

5. What haven't you liked? Are there aspects you'd rather see go away?

Nah, everything's chizz thus far.

6. How do you feel about the current number of PCs? We're running on three right now and I'd like to upgrade to four sooner or later, perhaps?

Four would be awesome, yes.

7. Glass Golem: Whore, super whore or mega whore?

Major dupper, that. Triple-locked scangasm, like Abydos-That-Was scannin'.

8. If you haven't addressed it already, how do you feel about the very large dungeon of the gnomish ruins? Did you like this style and the various challenges it presented?

Liked it, yes.

9. Any other points you'd like to bring up, go nuts.

Pistachios.

[Anastasia]

Developing rather well. He's not the most pious of paladins, but he does have a connection (or so he feels) to Helm and a determination to try to do his best. Also, he doesn't keep up with either of the ladies in conversation, so he's mainly going background right now in an attempt to catch up.

Battlewise, wishes he had a bit more healing to go around, but does fairly well otherwise. Has been a source of SMAAASH once I finally made sure I had the numbers adding up correctly. >_>;

Yes. The Helm angle is the one that interests me the most right now, I'd like to see how that develops. You've done a lot of little things to back it up - going to pray, taking guard/watch seriously and without complain(It is jarring that a paladin of a watching/duty guard doesn't have spot, but go fig.), and so on. I like that.

Seira - She had an alignment changed forced onto her? Huh. Regardless, thus far she seems solid, although the occasional spats of silence are somewhat jarring.

Cor's running with it and playing with it. He's doing fine so far, so I have no worries.

[Corwin]

1. It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Or four ability levels!

2. Is this a serious quesiton?  >_>

3. They're cool. It might be fun to have Dem preach HelmLove and find to his shock that despite working with Helm Seira (and Shamal?) don't really care much for it, having their own beliefs~

Shamal recently made the mercenary in me very sad.  -_-

4. Liking the various research, liking it being interspersed with plot, neither overwhelming the other.

5. Not entirely comfortable playing alongside NPC'd former PCs~

6. I don't really care what Gygax or whomever thought was the ideal party, it's not about numbers but how you use them!

7. Ditto on the shield, it was cheating!

8. It surprised me, I thought there was like a room or two and the golem to fight, not a whole new dungeon left. I do feel apprehensive about Shamal befriending Ghostwheel, but we'll see how it goes. She must no doubt feel the same about Seira's obsession with magical books of mindrape.

9. Is it coming clear that I think the -4 to stats penalty is pretty nasty?  >_>  Sure, it might feel realistic and offsetting, but I do wonder whether you'd have as much fun running the game if you had to do it to someone. Then again, you can just tell the PCs to stop doing stupid things, that might do the trick.

[Anastasia]

3. They're cool. It might be fun to have Dem preach HelmLove and find to his shock that despite working with Helm Seira (and Shamal?) don't really care much for it, having their own beliefs~

Shamal recently made the mercenary in me very sad. -_-

I do like that bit of interplay - while Helm's vested into them, Shamal worships another God and Seira's not very into him. It makes everything a little more interesting.

As for Shamal's booking? Eh. She probably traded down powerwise in the end, but she made an incredible IC choice I respect her tremendously for. Besides, PC actions make plot and I have a whole new one to work with now, so it's all good.

5. Not entirely comfortable playing alongside NPC'd former PCs~

Agreed. I wasn't entirely comfortable running Lyselle along with you guys. I couldn't really think up a good reason to wiggle out of using her AND the plot point was designed to involve her and Armasea(Some of it was hacked out at the last moment, the bandit incident yesterday is a small fragment of that reincarnated.) Really just one of those shitty things that happened, I'm glad that part of the game is done with now.

8. It surprised me, I thought there was like a room or two and the golem to fight, not a whole new dungeon left. I do feel apprehensive about Shamal befriending Ghostwheel, but we'll see how it goes. She must no doubt feel the same about Seira's obsession with magical books of mindrape.

The GM should surprise you sometimes. Helps keep the game interesting and the PCs on their little elven toes! <_<

Oh yeah, each of you can make each other a bit uneasy with risks taken. That's cool within reason.

9. Is it coming clear that I think the -4 to stats penalty is pretty nasty? >_> Sure, it might feel realistic and offsetting, but I do wonder whether you'd have as much fun running the game if you had to do it to someone. Then again, you can just tell the PCs to stop doing stupid things, that might do the trick.

It was nasty, yeah. The entire thing was purely an optional side quest to screw around with if you wanted, so having an unlikely BAD END didn't bother me. At worst, it would've spurred a quest to try and recover from the vile curse and draining laid on you.

If I told PCs to stop doing stupid things, I'd be out of a job! <_<