Likewise, I've been keeping an eye on things and checking it daily, but don't feel like I have much to contribute at the moment.
OK, I'd ask everyone to give me some sort of update, please, even if it's just OOC that you're waiting for something else to happen. Galvrin's waiting to see if others think you should interrogate the troops.
Dyalg, I'm fine with Marmoth having the zone of truth prepared today.
Also, just FYI, with Thanksgiving and Chanukah this week, I don't know how much posting I'll be doing between now and Saturday (games I'm not actually running are easier to keep up with, but even then I'll be on the road for a few days and visiting with family). I'm free and back home Saturday so expect to be able to post, but then don't know about Sunday. Monday I should be back to normal -- except I could have jury duty. :/
I have always wanted to get on jury duty.
Looking like I may not get a chance to post for a couple days here. Sorry.
no problem thanks for the heads up
i am sure many folks are busy this time of year
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! ^^
May your holiday season be joyous and peaceful.
still here, i've done what i wanted to do and am waiting on the others, now that they have the information i got.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! ^^
Sorry about the delay. Will move you on shortly.
I've been working on a real life version of this. I made my Will save and happily Laura failed her. : )
Congrats!
Wont be on for a bit, having my birthday dinner with some friends and likely to be fairly tired, if not hung over, for a portion of tomorrow.
And congrats on your engagement!
Congratulations, Motteditor! ^^ When's the date?
Thanks. No date yet. Fall, but that could be this year or next.
Oh? You're hoping to use the romantic spray of autumn leaves as a background?
Yup. We're both very autumnal, plus nothing like a good color spray. :)
Expecting a gang of Goblins to crash the reception, are you? :p
I typically call them my fiancee's friends, but yeah. :)
All right, guys, unfortunately, we haven't had a post in almost two weeks. I think I'm going officially call TOD on this one. Seems like we just couldn't quite get in synch, unfortunately. Thanks for participating, though. I hope you at least enjoyed what we did get to.
I did. :( I was looking forward to ambushing the saboteur after that distraction he or she pulled...
Will you tell us who they were and what their scheme was all about?
Sure.
There's a half-orc ninja hiding in the fort. You were definitely smart to think about the food, since that would have been his next target. He had several other various actions that would continue until you caught him, each having some effect on the mass combat parts of the mod.
So what was setting the Orcs off? What was this 'Doom' driving them out of their homelands?
You'll have to wait for the sequel to find that out, my friend. :)
It actually didn't come into play here, but was just to motivate the orcs into acting. (The original pitch of the mod did have the first sign of the "doom" show up for the climactic fight, with the chance of a three-way battle, but in development it was felt better to have more of the action take place in the fort itself with the orcs staying as the bad.)
Please let me know if/when you run this again.
a half-orc ninja! aw man. i was thinking kinda long those lines, someone going in and out (not actually just staying in).
honestly i just think that Dread was a poor choice of class on my part. not strong in a fight, not particularly good at endearing the folks under siege to my cause, and not having much to offer in a mass fight.
Thanks mott. The game was good fun while it lasted. I'm not sure if I just never noticed or if it wasn't disclosed, but in future recruitments, I would suggest making sure that applicants are aware that this module, or at least the first parts of it, are very mass-combat oriented. Suggesting that the group have a Diplomancer of some sort, or military commander type would probably aid things a lot too. This disclosure would have made a difference for me, as I tend to have very little interest in mass-combat in general, and the set up with a primary group leader and such contributed to major lack of immersion for me. This is of course my bias, and no bad reflection on you, but there is a big reason I play Pathfinder and not Risk.
As a bit of constructive criticism in regards to either the writing or GMing of this module, the situation felt very scripted, and that there was very little I could do to influence the situation. After most of the ideas Illa and I came up with to alter the dynamic ended up being fruitless, or resulting in at best a very minor mass-combat adjustment, it just felt as though our efforts were at best being dismissed, and at worst, discouraged. After the second or third plot that appeared/felt to be brushed off because it did not fit into the story as written, I became discouraged and resolved to wait out the mass-combat portion of the scenario, as you had mentioned that there would be opportunities for more individual action, and individual scale combat later.
All in all, it was still fun, and I enjoyed the game, though I think it is worth trying to keep in mind that not all players think the same way, and that some might come up with ideas you did not anticipate when writing the scenario. This alternative thinking needs to be rewarded in some fashion that keeps the players engaged, or they might end up feeling too much like the game is trapped on the rails.
Best of luck in all your future endeavours.
Thanks, Graah. There are definitely some limitations in the module, though I did of course realize people were going to react and try different things. The big thing the module kind of demands is that the PCs stay in the fort (other than a few scenes that we didn't get to); having you be able to venture out over enemy lines with such ease wasn't something I was expecting but there was also limited things to do -- the orcs aren't going to make their leaders readily available for snipers, after all.
That said, it also gets into some of the hinkiness with mass combat. The party if it goes out on its own is basically treated like a 1/2 CR army, and would pretty much get crushed if it tried to go up against the orcs even though they would outdo each individual orc. (As would the garrison; the wall is the only thing keeping the orcs from just steamrolling over everyone.)
I liked the Crimson Dust idea, but it's a fairly small range -- it's meant to be used in regular combat, which is where I was expecting it to be pulled out. I don't know if that's one of the areas you were frustrated, but I did give you some bonuses for its use. It's just with mass combat, that tends to just be more numeric based and is harder to play out/see its effectiveness.
Anyway, though, I do appreciate the feedback. I'll certainly try to keep it in mind. :)
I'd like to add my thanks too. To echo Graah!'s words, I'd roll a very different character now, having played some of the module - as I found my skills on the peripherary of the action once early roles were set. It seemed that when Graah! and I went off piste, we had to get back on the official run quickly as we made no progress.
I'd definitely play up the mass combat element in subsequent recruitment - and encourage characters to be created with this in mind.
Regardless, I had fun and thanks for allowing me into your world for as long as it lasted.