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[Anastasia]

It's time. Try and answer these within a few days, y'all.

Edit: I'll answer these from my perspective once all of you have, presuming I have anything worthwhile left to say after that.

1. How do you feel your character is working from an RP perspective? Are things working out?

2. How do you feel your character is working from a mechanical perspective?

3. What about NPCs? Where are you at there and what do you think?

4. As far as encounters and challenges go, how are those shaking out?

5. Anything else you'd like to add? Feel free to use this one for it.

[Iron Dragoon]

It's time. Try and answer these within a few days, y'all.

Edit: I'll answer these from my perspective once all of you have, presuming I have anything worthwhile left to say after that.

1. How do you feel your character is working from an RP perspective? Are things working out?

Working fine, mostly. I made him with the intent of him being some-what humorless and straight faced. I wanted him to be a little more quiet, observent, and a bit awkward. From most of what I read about Doppels, they're sort of alien, though they want to 'belong.' I'm trying to get his interactions to feel like new experiences since his memories got wiped, and wanted him to feel more like that weird friend who stares a second or two too long.

2. How do you feel your character is working from a mechanical perspective?

It's gotten better since I did the Psychic swapping, and got the feats I needed. Unfortunately, we haven't really engaged anything that's been something I can feint against and a fair bit of stuff has been all dealt with at range. No biggie, it'll come, I suspect.

3. What about NPCs? Where are you at there and what do you think?

Jetina seems fine, old man is okay. No real heavy interaction there yet to make a solid decision yet.

4. As far as encounters and challenges go, how are those shaking out?

Seems alright. Like I mentioned in mechanics question, I haven't been able to really brawl with anyone/thing yet that I could take advantage of feiting with, but the others are blasting the hell out of stuff well enough.

5. Anything else you'd like to add? Feel free to use this one for it.

Backlog stuff!

[Anastasia]

Working fine, mostly. I made him with the intent of him being some-what humorless and straight faced. I wanted him to be a little more quiet, observent, and a bit awkward. From most of what I read about Doppels, they're sort of alien, though they want to 'belong.' I'm trying to get his interactions to feel like new experiences since his memories got wiped, and wanted him to feel more like that weird friend who stares a second or two too long.

Sort of aiming for a bit of quiet awkwardness, eh? That does fit how he's tended to interact.

It's gotten better since I did the Psychic swapping, and got the feats I needed. Unfortunately, we haven't really engaged anything that's been something I can feint against and a fair bit of stuff has been all dealt with at range. No biggie, it'll come, I suspect.

Yeah. To be entirely honest, this isn't a great dungeon for you. Picking up psychic rogue opens up options, but this isn't a good one for you. None of you (barring Jetina) are really set up to be effectively anti-undead.

Backlog stuff!

My goal is to make some headway tomorrow. We shall see.

[Nephrite]

1. How do you feel your character is working from an RP perspective? Are things working out?

I suppose. Moore is sticking to his guns for the most part, which is to be a sort of "odd man out" when it comes to wanting to help and be good and nice to people. I'm not really feeling that the party has much reason to stick together besides "we arrived together" at this point, but I don't know that there's much to do about it.

2. How do you feel your character is working from a mechanical perspective?

Mechanically, I do a little of everything (except damage). I'm hoping to remedy the damage part of things sometime soon. I'm not sure how to go about doing that specifically, though.

3. What about NPCs? Where are you at there and what do you think?

Jetina and Moore will probably get along since they're both goody-goodies. I like Kamhoff.

4. As far as encounters and challenges go, how are those shaking out?

I don't have much to say here since I just do the same general things during combats to help people out.

5. Anything else you'd like to add? Feel free to use this one for it.

I don't know if I'm using Moore to his fullest capabilities. It's the first time I've played a bard and I'm not sure if there's more I could be doing. If anyone has any comments on that I would be happy to listen.

[Anastasia]

I suppose. Moore is sticking to his guns for the most part, which is to be a sort of "odd man out" when it comes to wanting to help and be good and nice to people. I'm not really feeling that the party has much reason to stick together besides "we arrived together" at this point, but I don't know that there's much to do about it.

Agreed that Moore feels like the token good-aligned party member. He has a noble spirit while the rest of the party is far more self interested. It's an interesting conflict occasionally.

As to the second point, I think there's a bit of glue in place now, but not a strong bit, either. I still don't feel the party has deeply bonded.

Mechanically, I do a little of everything (except damage). I'm hoping to remedy the damage part of things sometime soon. I'm not sure how to go about doing that specifically, though.

There's a few ways. I'd recommend getting enough damage to contribute without trying that hard. An investment of a spell or two can give you some damage when you need it. What damaging spells bards have revolve around sonic damage. While it's not the best damage for sheer output, it's rarely resisted.

I don't know if I'm using Moore to his fullest capabilities. It's the first time I've played a bard and I'm not sure if there's more I could be doing. If anyone has any comments on that I would be happy to listen.

You're doing okay, I think? Your init booster is always useful. Getting some boost to AC or saves would be the logical next step, since you cover attack rolls well.

[Corwin]

1. How do you feel your character is working from an RP perspective? Are things working out?

Fairly well, although I didn't have all that many chances to do this. It's not really the same in combat or while in some dungeon.

2. How do you feel your character is working from a mechanical perspective?

I don't have much chances of using my main strength, but luckily I built Lucy in a way that the secondary stuff not only works but works really well. One day, though... Suggestion! Charm!

3. What about NPCs? Where are you at there and what do you think?

I'm just not clicking with Kamhoff. I guess I don't really go for foul-mouthed old sailors. Can't be helped.
Jetina is a bit of a wallflower. In most scenes, she seems to go along with whichever, which is a shame.
Light mages are crazy in a surprisingly unfun way. I apologize for recruiting our navigator, guys.

4. As far as encounters and challenges go, how are those shaking out?

Interesting. We could do with a big more hints, I think, since we just didn't get the volcano island riddle until you explained it after the fact, and I'm not sure we're even doing the right thing in the current dungeon. Not that there's anything wrong with just wandering around looking for adventure until it finds us.

5. Anything else you'd like to add? Feel free to use this one for it.

I'm not playing a gish so Neph's abilities are sadly wasted on me. All that +to hit +damage... ah well.

[Anastasia]

Fairly well, although I didn't have all that many chances to do this. It's not really the same in combat or while in some dungeon.

You've done a fairly good job of it, at least. I do feel Lucy's personality is the most complete of all of you so far.

I'm just not clicking with Kamhoff. I guess I don't really go for foul-mouthed old sailors. Can't be helped.
Jetina is a bit of a wallflower. In most scenes, she seems to go along with whichever, which is a shame.
Light mages are crazy in a surprisingly unfun way. I apologize for recruiting our navigator, guys.

I noticed with Kamhoff and the light mages. The connection just isn't there. As far as Jetina goes, she's been a bit more passive than I desired. This can mostly be chalked up to unrelated circumstances and the past month sucking. There might be some not-clickedness in play here, too.

Interesting. We could do with a big more hints, I think, since we just didn't get the volcano island riddle until you explained it after the fact, and I'm not sure we're even doing the right thing in the current dungeon. Not that there's anything wrong with just wandering around looking for adventure until it finds us.

* Anastasia nods.

Don't have much to say to that beyond the normal sops about riddle design being a tricky balancing act. For what it's worth, I'm surprised no one put the volcano puzzle together. As I recall, none of you really got close to it.

[Anastasia]

Doing mine a bit early, but oh well.

1. How do you feel your character is working from an RP perspective? Are things working out?

I'll cover things from an individual perspective and then an overall perspective.

Kamhoff - Amusing. He's fun for me, but I don't feel you all have really clicked with him. Grumpy old man doesn't seem to quite work for any of you all.
Jetina - She's okay, mostly a victim of me having a lot of personal issues right now. There's potential with her, but she tends to be the one neglected if I don't have full focus.
Bolethon - He's what he is. I do get a kick out of figuring out how to present what he says, though again, I don't feel it's clicked well with y'all.

My main thought overall is that things haven't quite clicked. There's good bits here and there, but fundamentally I don't feel like it's come together. The PCs haven't clicked together, the NPCs haven't really melded with the party well and the world doesn't feel like it's captured anyone's attention yet. It's like there's a bunch of good pieces but none of them match.

Now recent circumstances have not helped at all, but my feelings here predate December's fiasco. I don't feel this game has turned the corner yet, things feel like they're in an extended early game rather than coming together. It isn't enough to quell my interest in the game, but it's not doing me any favors. I'm not unhappy with the game yet I'm not happy with it.

2. How do you feel your character is working from a mechanical perspective?

NPCs and bad guys work. I'm the DM so I can make them work as needed.

3. What about NPCs? Where are you at there and what do you think?

I'll treat this as PCs.

Lucy: Solid and has an established personality. I like her but as noted, I don't feel she's really hooked onto much beyond knowledge. As far as mechanics go, she feels like the most capable party member. Some of this is due to Wings of Cover, which I'm still evaluating. More on that after this dungeon finishes, I think.

Pepo: Kitty. That really says it all, doesn't it? He works by relying on all of that and is a lot of fun as a result. I don't want to be too short here, but...kitty. What else can I say? You're a kitty, Pepo! It's a kitty! Kitty!

Moore: He's decidedly the odd one out, being firmly good aligned while the rest of the party is neutral. I think he could stand to present himself a little stronger, play up what he has. Work that charisma. Work that charisma! Work those thigh-er, ahem. Point is, use that charisma of yours like it's an exercise video.

Veren: Quiet and awkward about sums it up. I don't have a lot to add beyond what was said there, really.

4. As far as encounters and challenges go, how are those shaking out?

Fairly well. Nothing's perfect but the challenge tends to be about right.

5. Anything else you'd like to add? Feel free to use this one for it.

I'll toss whatever random thoughts come to mind.

- The lack of flavor posts is mostly due to RL + Balmuria having my attention there right now. Inspiration is always fickle and it's not where it needs to be for this game right now. It may be tied in part due to the game not clicking.

- I like most of the individual parts in this game, but they just haven't merged into a whole.

- One relatively small issue re: Lucy and inspiration. Lucy's gig requires me to be fairly creative, especially when she gets into research. Unfortunately, see above for why isn't the most productive thing right now. This isn't Cor's fault.

- I'm glad Veren rebuilt, I think it's done him some good. There's not really any crossover between Veren and Pepo despite them both being psionic, that strikes me as somewhere they could connect with. Some more inter-PCs connections would be good. Remember when I tried to get y'all to do some stuff amid yourselves and it fizzled? Y'all doing some things and setting up some connections would be good.

- There's a light mage PrC, but don't expect to see it posted anytime soon. Part of it is because there's spoilery issues and part because it's not fully polished for public consumption. It's not impossible for a PC to take, but it's not too spoilery to say it's largely meant to be an NPC class.

- I like the reactions Lost Hero got. He's firmly good aligned, but he's not nice and as in fact a bit of a jerk. He does what his heart tells him to and may all that stand above help those that get in the way. (After games like B1 and B3, it's neat to see y'all on the other end of that.)

- One could, if they're genuinely ultra-perceptive and really damn good at theorycraft plus cobbling clues together, figure out the puzzle of the Lost Realm. Take this for what you will.

[Ebiris]

1. How do you feel your character is working from an RP perspective? Are things working out?

Alright. I try to play him as fundamentally self-centred and aloof, but more focused when people he cares about are involved, just as a bit of pride instinct. But he doesn't really care about anyone. He got revenge good for that burned apprentice girl at least?

2. How do you feel your character is working from a mechanical perspective?

Eh. Certainly in this adventure he's just being a dumb laser turret. Really the telepath/manipulation side just isn't getting much play aside from farming and the very beginning when Rossalund was attacked. Really good at stealth though!

3. What about NPCs? Where are you at there and what do you think?

I don't mind Kamhoff, he's amusing at times but the 'I'm a big sweary/silly sailor' bit gets overplayed at times. He feels like a walking stereotype.

Jetina, yeah she just feels like a damsel turned healbot. There's not much to hang onto there.

4. As far as encounters and challenges go, how are those shaking out?

It feels like we get hit by Su stuff a lot more than spells. I haven't used my spell resistance once.

5. Anything else you'd like to add? Feel free to use this one for it.

Amnesia was a huge mistake. It made character design really tough to start with, and I think it can be blamed for the party's inability to mesh. Being able to build a story together that connects us all and then playing from that would've worked a lot better than us just being strangers with no reason to stick together aside from being PCs.

Seriously, lets never use it again. I often dream up potential character concepts to be ready to replace current PCs but everything I create these days gets mentally shoved aside to 'Hold onto until after the current game ends'.

[Anastasia]

Alright. I try to play him as fundamentally self-centred and aloof, but more focused when people he cares about are involved, just as a bit of pride instinct. But he doesn't really care about anyone. He got revenge good for that burned apprentice girl at least?

i noticed that, but I figured it was a cat being a cat.

Eh. Certainly in this adventure he's just being a dumb laser turret. Really the telepath/manipulation side just isn't getting much play aside from farming and the very beginning when Rossalund was attacked. Really good at stealth though!

Funny how that works out. The party's equipped for that sort of thing to the extreme, but it hasn't been used much lately.

It feels like we get hit by Su stuff a lot more than spells. I haven't used my spell resistance once.

Yeah, I noticed that one myself lately and I'm fiddling it behind the scenes.

Amnesia was a huge mistake. It made character design really tough to start with, and I think it can be blamed for the party's inability to mesh. Being able to build a story together that connects us all and then playing from that would've worked a lot better than us just being strangers with no reason to stick together aside from being PCs.

Seriously, lets never use it again. I often dream up potential character concepts to be ready to replace current PCs but everything I create these days gets mentally shoved aside to 'Hold onto until after the current game ends'.

I don't personally agree that it's a huge mistake. I think it's a problem but not the main one here. More of a thing like this: It was a neat idea, didn't pan out in execution. I see it as more a minor cause than the main one, but that's just my perspective.

[Corwin]

It's kinda sad that we talked about this before the game and everything, how having someone like Adrian appear there with us at the start and serve as the glue until we come together on our own would've been great. But that didn't happen, alas.

Nothing makes it work like a common goal or a leader or, perhaps, a really shiny boat. Amnesia makes goals hard to go for, and you haven't particularly asked for a very heroic party so crusading for JUSTICE! is right out. Having no NPCs we've truly bonded with means we're out of luck, sadly, although I was trying to work on that by looking to befriend the current island's mages. Maybe if that happens and they're cool, it could work out.

There's also the part where we gave Rossalund a try and then it was sacked pretty heavily, and we've seen these pirates keep on expanding. Investing in a place is harder under such circumstances.

[Anastasia]

It's kinda sad that we talked about this before the game and everything, how having someone like Adrian appear there with us at the start and serve as the glue until we come together on our own would've been great. But that didn't happen, alas.

Nothing makes it work like a common goal or a leader or, perhaps, a really shiny boat. Amnesia makes goals hard to go for, and you haven't particularly asked for a very heroic party so crusading for JUSTICE! is right out. Having no NPCs we've truly bonded with means we're out of luck, sadly, although I was trying to work on that by looking to befriend the current island's mages. Maybe if that happens and they're cool, it could work out.

There's also the part where we gave Rossalund a try and then it was sacked pretty heavily, and we've seen these pirates keep on expanding. Investing in a place is harder under such circumstances.

The boat and going island to island was meant to serve as that. Hasn't really come together for various reasons already mentioned. Even the whole pirate thing has felt a little flat in trying to unite y'all or give you a goal.

[Nephrite]

Going to islands is all fine and dandy, but I think all of us have completely different motivations for doing so. Perhaps once this current mission is over we'll all find something we can do in the city that brings us more together as a team.

[Anastasia]

Going to islands is all fine and dandy, but I think all of us have completely different motivations for doing so. Perhaps once this current mission is over we'll all find something we can do in the city that brings us more together as a team.

Hopefully so, yes.

[Iron Dragoon]

I'm going to chime in a couple of points here.

Nothing makes it work like a common goal or a leader or, perhaps, a really shiny boat. Amnesia makes goals hard to go for, and you haven't particularly asked for a very heroic party so crusading for JUSTICE! is right out. Having no NPCs we've truly bonded with means we're out of luck, sadly, although I was trying to work on that by looking to befriend the current island's mages. Maybe if that happens and they're cool, it could work out.

The amnesia things I agree with. I think a better option would have been to make a full background story that we simply all forgot, but got little pieces dropped to us here and there. It sort of goes against the whole demi-plane thing, but at the same time... We're the 'heroes,' or at least and exceptional set of people. I'm not saying we ever should regain full memories, or even half memories, but tossing a few bones in here and there might have helped us mesh.

Secondly, I think we just really have a bad mix of personalities for a group. Individually, I actually *like* all of the characters we have, but they're having a hard time connecting to each other. Moore's the stand-alone good guy, Lucy comes off a bit self-centered and dismissive of others, Pepo seems almost totally unconcerned with most things, and Veren's too much of an observant/quiet type. Like Cor said, we literally have no one to bind us together. No one's really 'getting along' so to speak, and I don't feel like anyone's really endeared themselves to anyone else. I mean, we've all saved each other's bums a number of times (Veren less so than the rest), but no one's really capitalized on any of those instances to really develop a relationship with the others.

From my perspective, I tried to do it a little with Moore when he saved Veren's life, but between trying to keep Veren a little awkward  and neutral and the pacing of the events, it just didn't really come together. I mean, we were in Medusa City for a day, and then Treasure Island for a day, then Volcano Island for a few hours. That's some pretty quick happenings. I've had Veren try to help Lucy with research a number of times, and nothing really came of that, or at least no real interaction/acknowledgement. I understand why, with the way Lucy's character is, but still, there's not really been any connection coming from it. With Pepo, there just really hasn't been much to capitalize on, outside of the Hero-dude, which I tried to help with (disastrously).

As for the Mage city, I agree with Cor trying to take the opportunity to get us a 'home base' of sorts. The problem is, there's like nothing there for anyone except Lucy, and *maybe* Moore, but that hasn't really been delved into yet. Pepo got a one-line mention of books on psychic stuff, but he's a cat, not a researcher so I'm not getting the feeling that it'll pan out for him. As for me, my concept from day one was a knife in the crowd type, and with Mage City being Minority Report V1.0, I can't even dip my toe into that without causing problems I've already run into.

TL;DR, I think we've got a couple cards stacked against us, by our own accidental design.

Edit: I hope this didn't come off as pointing fingers; I didn't mean for it to be. We all have our fingers in the pie here, but I really want to get this party together and keep going, so I figured I'd throw it out there.