Question Time

[Sierra]

So, with the opening section pretty much out of the way, I thought I'd steal a cue from Dune (don't worry, this is the only time I'll do that!) and request some feedback.

Technical Stuff

1. As I've mentioned before, this is my first time GMing anything, not to mention my first time being involved in an IRC game. I've no doubt that it shows to some extent, so: helpful pointers?

2. Tristat dX. I wouldn't call it elegant, but I've found it adequate for my needs thus far. Of course, it helps that I tend to keep actual rolling to a minimum outside of combat. Any thoughts/gripes/suggestions for improvement in regards to the numbers side of things?

Macro Stuff

3. Structured storyline versus free exploration...we've had a lot of the former in the prelude, and the result has not always been precisely the game I intended. I felt it was necessary for the PCs to have to get to know each other and the setting, but I think we're past that now. So, what we have ahead of us is essentially Sandbox Time--there is an overplot, yes, but it should find you through your interactions with NPCs and individual pursuits and/or occupations. Does this sound more or less appealing than the approach thus far? (Well, we know what the PCs think of that...) In a sense, this has already begun: going after Dane was always expected to be an Arc 1 mission, but your PCs went ahead and took the initiative before graduation (this was a pleasant surprise, yes).

4. Pacing. Ties in with the above, naturally. It's probably apparent that the school stuff took much, much longer than I intended it to. This is only partly attributable to missed sessions. Did it feel that things were dragging at points, or was that just me being overly critical as always?

5. I've always wanted to maintain a good balance between group scenes and solo sequences, but it seems Cor's got the lion's share of sidequests so far. Do you guys feel left in the lurch on account of this? I wanted each PC to wind up with his own stable of NPCs to draw on for information and support, but only Nemesio really has this going so far. Does scheduling solo time sound feasible?

IC Stuff

6. Does your character have any concrete goals to pursue after graduation? All three of you will be offered jobs in the near future. It's not strictly necessary to take them if your PCs have other plans, but it would make a number of things easier to coordinate.

7. So, we have ahead of us the graduation festivities and the PCs' attempt to take down Dane. At this point, how likely are the PCs to remain in contact with one another once it's not being forced upon them? Speaking realistically, in regards to each character's present state of mind?

8. NPCs. Which ones are you curious about, which ones do you hate, which ones just smack of bad writing? Are there too many of them? (GM's answer: if there aren't yet, there will be!)

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9. Is there anything else (generally speaking) that you want to see more of?

[Scattercat]

1. As I've mentioned before, this is my first time GMing anything, not to mention my first time being involved in an IRC game. I've no doubt that it shows to some extent, so: helpful pointers?

I'm a big fan of OOC communication. As in, "Hey, if X happens, can (yourchar) do Y?" or "Okay, so I figured this would play out like (blah)." I'm happier fiddling around ICly if I know what people are thinking is happening OOCly.

Otherwise, I haven't done much IRC gaming, so I don't know what, if anything, diverges here from the norm.

2. Tristat dX. I wouldn't call it elegant, but I've found it adequate for my needs thus far. Of course, it helps that I tend to keep actual rolling to a minimum outside of combat. Any thoughts/gripes/suggestions for improvement in regards to the numbers side of things?

I'm definitely less than impressed with the system; I've never quite embraced Tri-Stat, in any of its incarnations, as there's always something that ends up wholly broken.

Personally, I'd be happier switching to a more flavorful system, but I'm not going to do anything more than shrug if that doesn't happen. In other words, I have a handful of cool things I could suggest, but there's a lot of inertia in a game system, and I don't see why everyone else should go through the trouble of learning a new one just because the one we have is suboptimal (but functional.)

3. Structured storyline versus free exploration...we've had a lot of the former in the prelude, and the result has not always been precisely the game I intended. I felt it was necessary for the PCs to have to get to know each other and the setting, but I think we're past that now. So, what we have ahead of us is essentially Sandbox Time--there is an overplot, yes, but it should find you through your interactions with NPCs and individual pursuits and/or occupations. Does this sound more or less appealing than the approach thus far? (Well, we know what the PCs think of that...) In a sense, this has already begun: going after Dane was always expected to be an Arc 1 mission, but your PCs went ahead and took the initiative before graduation (this was a pleasant surprise, yes).

I'm actually happier, in an IRC game, having a coherent, straightforward plot. For a large, forum-based game, it's cool having sandbox stuff, but for that sort of thing to really fly (for me) you need at least a LARP-sized crew of players (i.e. around twenty.) That's when you start getting player plots bouncing off of player plots and life gets fun. With a GM around and only two other players, I want a railroad. (Well, not literally, but a strong, coherent story to follow and occasionally derail would be pleasant.)

I admit that this is partially because I, being a cautious sort, built my character for an unknown game under an unknown GM to be reactive and relatively self-contained, which means that my main reaction to a sandbox is to sit around and wait for something to happen in it. Were I to design a character fresh, it would look very different in order to better mesh with that approach to gaming.

4. Pacing. Ties in with the above, naturally. It's probably apparent that the school stuff took much, much longer than I intended it to. This is only partly attributable to missed sessions. Did it feel that things were dragging at points, or was that just me being overly critical as always?

I have learned, through years of experience, that online games take FOREVER, and I have almost managed to wean myself from the thought of "Oh, we'll just do a quick warmup scene, and THEN..."

I'm okay with a glacial pace. I rather expect it. If you want it to go faster, the power really is in your hands...

5. I've always wanted to maintain a good balance between group scenes and solo sequences, but it seems Cor's got the lion's share of sidequests so far. Do you guys feel left in the lurch on account of this? I wanted each PC to wind up with his own stable of NPCs to draw on for information and support, but only Nemesio really has this going so far. Does scheduling solo time sound feasible?

Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, I built Pilfer more as a sort of self-contained plot-molesting unit. Left to his own devices, he cheerfully putters around doing not much of anything. When a plot arrives, Pilfer can begin circumventing and generally poking and prodding it, but he's really not much of a downtime character at all, and certainly not the sort to start collecting contacts and minions, and definitely not the sort to do so with anything even remotely resembling a coherent overall plan.

6. Does your character have any concrete goals to pursue after graduation? All three of you will be offered jobs in the near future. It's not strictly necessary to take them if your PCs have other plans, but it would make a number of things easier to coordinate.

Unfortunately, the way things developed, Pilfer was really not inclined to like the overtures made towards him by the city. All that torture and underhanded double-dealing and general scheming and politicking was a turnoff for him.

As far as concrete plans, well, see above comments. Pilfer pretty much carries on day by day on autopilot.

If need be, I could suggest ways that Pilfer could be enticed into the service and thus ease the plot burden, but really, the best way to deal with Pilfer as a GM is to throw a plot at me and let me bounce Pilfer off of it and off of the other characters.

7. So, we have ahead of us the graduation festivities and the PCs' attempt to take down Dane. At this point, how likely are the PCs to remain in contact with one another once it's not being forced upon them? Speaking realistically, in regards to each character's present state of mind?

Pilfer is likely to drift away. Nemesio is scary and Derrick is still a stick. In a short time (a few weeks, say) he might wander over to bother Derrick, out of sheer curiosity. That will not be an epic plotline.

8. NPCs. Which ones are you curious about, which ones do you hate, which ones just smack of bad writing? Are there too many of them? (GM's answer: if there aren't yet, there will be!)

I am mostly neutral on the topic of the NPCs, though I do feel like there are a few too many. This ties in with my preferring a plotline to follow rather than a GM-constructed sandbox. I don't know who I'm "supposed" to be pursuing for further interactions and who is just a throwaway or meant for later.

9. Is there anything else (generally speaking) that you want to see more of?

My general gaming style is that I like to explore characters. The way I prefer to do that is to throw them into various situations and see how they react; I like to explore the character's reaction to the events of the world and the people in it, and most of all I like improv-theatre-style in-character conversations with other PCs.

When I GM, I tend not to plan much at all; instead, I sketch out a few personalities and a basic setup for the NPCs, all related to the PCs and their general demeanor, and then whatever the players poke at has a plot hastily dug and constructed behind it, like a Potemkin village. This ensures that the plot for the players is interesting to them. However, once a plot is in motion, it keeps on happening, albeit affected somewhat by player input, and there are consequences for whatever outcome the players end up causing through their involvement (or lack thereof). So far, this game has felt like there's a whole bunch of subplots going on, but none of them seem to directly affect our characters, and the fact that we've had a series of things pop up but never more than once makes it feel like one of those conveyor-belt cafeterias, with all the dainty dishes meandering past.

In other words, I feel a bit disconnected from the events, because they have no reference to my character and no outcome either way. The structure of the "final exam" was particularly awkward, as we had an obvious plot to complete, but kept being presented with all these potential little sidequests, none of which were relevant to the main goal nor to our characters in particular. My personal preference would be for a specific plotline to be happening, which I can then struggle against and change the outcome of, or for a complete sandbox with seventeen other players. The half-plot/half-sandbox approach, with a wide cast of NPCs all ticking away, doesn't do much for me. I can build a character to take advantage of the structure (one with goals and specific schemes, and generally more like Nemesio) but then we lose the time and effort already invested in this one.

[VySaika]

1. As I've mentioned before, this is my first time GMing anything, not to mention my first time being involved in an IRC game. I've no doubt that it shows to some extent, so: helpful pointers?

None come immedieately to mind that I haven't already spoken with you about, honestly.

2. Tristat dX. I wouldn't call it elegant, but I've found it adequate for my needs thus far. Of course, it helps that I tend to keep actual rolling to a minimum outside of combat. Any thoughts/gripes/suggestions for improvement in regards to the numbers side of things?

Hmm, the system is alright, and works well for anime-esque stuff but it's not nearly the universal system it wants to think it is. As for Cat's thoughts on a 'more flavorful system', well, I'd like to hear what he has in mind as examples of that, but as I don't really know anything beyond DnD/oWoD/MnM/anything by Sanguine, I doubt I'd actually be familiar with what he'd have in mind.

A note on the 'very little non combat rolling' though, is that we are all pretty skill heavy people so sometimes(not all the time, mind you) we do want to actually roll our skills and the like. Classic 'character is more competent then the player' situations and such are what things like social and knowledge skill rolls are made for and all.

3. Structured storyline versus free exploration...we've had a lot of the former in the prelude, and the result has not always been precisely the game I intended. I felt it was necessary for the PCs to have to get to know each other and the setting, but I think we're past that now. So, what we have ahead of us is essentially Sandbox Time--there is an overplot, yes, but it should find you through your interactions with NPCs and individual pursuits and/or occupations. Does this sound more or less appealing than the approach thus far? (Well, we know what the PCs think of that...) In a sense, this has already begun: going after Dane was always expected to be an Arc 1 mission, but your PCs went ahead and took the initiative before graduation (this was a pleasant surprise, yes).

I'm with Cat on this one. I play much better when there is a structured storyline to follow, as my reaction to Sandbox Mode is almost always 'follow another PC around' and such. Not that I don't do that when there's a structured story as well, of course. But I do prefer to play follower types instead of leaders and all. 

As for my specific aversion to the sandbox with this game...well, I think I've mentioned before that I only really come up with the base work of a character and the character himself fills in the details of his personailty and such as the game goes on. And Derrick? Derrick is boreing. He's one of those guys who just seems to handily dodge doing anything interesting that he isn't forced to do. I'm not sure how he turned into this, but that's who he's telling me he is and I'm struggling to balance that out with 'needs to have something for me to RP out' and such.

4. Pacing. Ties in with the above, naturally. It's probably apparent that the school stuff took much, much longer than I intended it to. This is only partly attributable to missed sessions. Did it feel that things were dragging at points, or was that just me being overly critical as always?

Hey, it's moving 87x as fast as a PBP game does, so as far as online games go, it's doig fine! I'm not having any issues with the game pace.

And things will drag at points in ANY game, IRC, forum, tabletop, LARP, whatever. That's just the nature of gaming. Someone has an off night and things are sloooooow for a bit. It happens. Don't sweat it.

5. I've always wanted to maintain a good balance between group scenes and solo sequences, but it seems Cor's got the lion's share of sidequests so far. Do you guys feel left in the lurch on account of this? I wanted each PC to wind up with his own stable of NPCs to draw on for information and support, but only Nemesio really has this going so far. Does scheduling solo time sound feasible?

Cor has the lion's share of sidequests because he LIVES ONLINE AND DOESN'T SLEEP. (seriously dude, I don't think I've ever seen you not at least midly active. You are a robot.) I, on the other hand, only have so much time to spend on the comp and those times tend to be when you're not around. I'd love to get in some sidequest time, but schedualing issues, RL and the like do keep interfereing. Also, Derrick's inherent boreingness is makig it a bit difficult for me to think of things for him to do.

6. Does your character have any concrete goals to pursue after graduation? All three of you will be offered jobs in the near future. It's not strictly necessary to take them if your PCs have other plans, but it would make a number of things easier to coordinate.

At this point, Derrick wouldn't be very interested in anything the registry has to offer him. The Chancellor and the tests have done a very good job of making them seem like an orginization that Derrick's ethics would not allow him to work with in the ways they'd want him. And the opposing faction certainly isn't any more attractive after Cronin and Dane. In fact, the more he thinks about how all of the political leaders he can think of seem to be either corrupt or otherwise unappealing, the more he is seriously considering going into the church in full.

7. So, we have ahead of us the graduation festivities and the PCs' attempt to take down Dane. At this point, how likely are the PCs to remain in contact with one another once it's not being forced upon them? Speaking realistically, in regards to each character's present state of mind?

Hmm. Derrick is likely to keep in contack with Nemesio at least somewhat, as he's proven to be both reliable and sane, and has put his neck rather out on the line by sharing his secret with them. They don't seem to have much in common though, so any contact would likely be conincidental but at least freindly. Pilfer, on the other hand...I'm really having trouble thinking of reasons for Derrick to even try and willingly keep in contact with Pilfer. He just doesn't like him much at all. He might try to organize some charity or whatever down in dockside and try and get Pilfer involved in good works like helping the unfotunate and such, rather then just screwing with The Man, but that's about the extent of how much I can justify him seeking out interaction with the kender-in-a-human-suit.

8. NPCs. Which ones are you curious about, which ones do you hate, which ones just smack of bad writing? Are there too many of them? (GM's answer: if there aren't yet, there will be!)

Curious: Rivers, Merideth and Simon. Derrick really really wants to know what they're doing, but is a little intimidated by Merideth. He also is wondering if his magic could be of any help to Rivers, but is even MORE intimidated by her. Go figure. Also wanting him to get to know Honre Kryla and the other church folks better, but that's kind of a no-brainer for Derrick.

You also left Derrick's only named NPC freind off the list, Chartress Stratford. On that note, he needs to catch back up with her. Fodder for a solo scene, perhaps. Derrick also needs to catch back up with Evan as that's an obvious freindship in the making right there.

Hate: is this supposed to be 'who do I hate' or 'who does Derrick hate'? If it's the former, then really just Cronin and Bigod. The former is one of those 'love to hate' types, so if that was the point, then well done. And the latter just rubs both me and my character the wrong way.

Bad Writing: eh, nothing stands out so far. But I haven't encountered even half of these folks in game yet so there's still time for one of them to suck! >_>

Too Many: hmm, a bit too many that I don't know yet. It's hard to keep track of or even overly care about NPCs your character doesn't know, y'know? But I handle this by only really keeping track of the ones he has met, so it all works out.

9. Is there anything else (generally speaking) that you want to see more of?

Hmm, an open ended and complex question. i'll get back to you on this one. Probably on IRC or AIM, as I think such things through better with conversation instead of just sitting down and trying to think it all out.

[Corwin]

1. I'd suggest preparing the blocks of text ahead of time, but just about no one does that even though they should, present company included.  >_>

2. Tristat dX is nice if one keeps it as a framework and doesn't really look for much fluff or flavor in it, I think. I do agree that it's fun to roll sometimes just to have the skills one took represented that way, but it doesn't really bother me. Especially since Hat is the bot of hate and all.

3. Either is fine with me, which means I have no trouble working with what my fellow players want.  >_>  Anyway, like you said, sidequest stuff pretty much doesn't intrude into the main story unless we really want it to and introduce it there ourselves, so there's no reason not to have your sandbox there while keeping a structured plot for the group sessions.

4. Some parts did feel that way, but I think all the missed/cut short sessions play a larger roll in the feeling than you do. Actual skipping of time in the game itself might also work, btw. I personally tend to like it from time to time, since counting the days and planning ahead within a given timeframe sometimes just gets old. At least we're the ones responsible for this latest graduation/mobster takedown planning nightmare.  ^^

5. I AM THE SHOVER ROBOT. I'M HERE TO PROTECT YOU FROM THE TERRIBLE SECRET OF SPACE.

6. Clearly, I must take over the world.

7. From my end, there's no reason _not_ to stay in touch, really. But that's different from actually going out of my way to do stuff with D and P. HOWEVER, there's no reason we can't magically stay in better touch if the GM asks his players nicely to do that.  >_>

8. I think I'm with Gate on the NPCs, pretty much, though I've talked to you about them before. As for the amount... it's all good as long as no NPC is cooler than a PC, especially when they're not playing villain, and if we're not required to stay up to date on those we have no contact with. That's what the helpful NPC reference thread is for, anyway.

9. Give scheduling a solo hour or two a try! Also, no reason why solo stuff can't take initiative to involve us, instead of letting us go wherever we want to on our own. And on the subject of post-graduation, I'd actually prefer if we had an OOC reason to working together we'll just turn a blind eye to IC, rather than having a mysterious evil conspiracy push us to cooperate to keep us a team. Just my personal preference.

[Scattercat]

FWIW, if I were to suggest a system for this game, I'd suggest either Savage Worlds or Spirit of the Century (the FATE system, and they're actually coming out with a Supers game soonish, which would address our needs specifically...)