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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MarauderX" data-source="post: 1816065" data-attributes="member: 9990">Campaign Survey responsesThanks for the survey responses!  It's been great so far, and I hope to change how things are run a little to better suit the future of the campaign.  Below are the questions and answers by person:1. What were your favorite moments in the campaign so far (in no particular order)?JO: Wolfhound doing a criticalJS: The combats are very good.The story is well planned and follows a thread.PO:Surviving the first night; trying to get an Otyugh drunk; realizingwhat was going on with Golthar.JCP: Opening seige on Sukyskin; PC one-liners before a fight; many, many more... 2. What were the most forgettable moments during this campaign?JO: If it were forgettable, how would I remember?JS: That damn wandering in the woods forever trying to track the goblins BOOOPO: Spending a whole session on Survival/Tracking checks.JCP: Yeah, that sucked.  Sorry about that, it won't happen again.    3. What did the DM do right?JO: I like how well this was thought outJS: Great planning and record keepingPO: Fantastic maps.  Well-run and appropriately challenging combats. Interesting plots and myths.  Plot twists that have had enough cluesthat they are not out of the blue.JCP: Thanks!  I will try to keep it up, and having a session only every two weeks prevents burnout and lets me plan the next session whenever I want.  4. How could the DM improve?JO:JS: More loot <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />PO: Hand-wave some of the travel time.  Maybe skip the die rolls for thedays and the watches - just have it pre-determined that "third watch onthe fourth night of the trip something happens"JCP: I will try to skip most of the mundane things, though there are occasions where I may try to build some suspense.5. What are the setting's strong points?JO: Size of the world, the ability for a wide variety of creatures to walk in and out  JS: Good story. developed world.PO: Great story unfolding with Creator Gods and Elder Races.  PCs appear tobe making a difference even at our current levels.  World does notappear to be dominated by high-level NPCs who make the PCs irrelevant(a problem with Forgotten Realms, I understand).  I like the "borderlands" feel.JCP: I'm glad everyone likes it.  I was close to running a published setting but decided against it to add a sense of the unknown that I found lacking whenever I played something like Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance or Greyhawk.  That, and I'd rather use my own setting rules instead of using someone elses that I didn't care for.   6. What are the setting's weak points?JO: So many characters can make it hard to keep trackJS: we're stuck in the wilderness.PO: Would like to have more background on recent history, legendary heroes,and creation myths.  That is, what did Jerrin know before hearing Golthar's rant?JCP: I do have a lot of the Cosmology and Pantheon information, and I will peel out what isn't common knowledge, what may be discovered, and notes to myself.  I hope to post much of this soon, as well as more on Kargam and a few of the other towns that commoners have heard of and know something about.  7. Do you feel your character was fully involved in the campaign?  If no, why not?JO: YesJS: I doPO: YesJCP: Excellent.  And now I can get rid of all those pesky ex-PCs.   8. Do you feel that PC advancement (leveling) is too fast, too slow or just right?JO: I'm satisfiedJS: about rightPO: Just right for a biweekly game.JCP: Cool. 9. Do you feel that PC rewards (monetary/magical/recognition/etc) were too much, too little or just right?JO: It made sense, I thinkJS: on a scale of 1-100.. about a 42PO: About right.  The money isn't much good without the chance to spend iton gear or crafting items, of course, so I hope we will have thatchance.JCP: Magic items have been a little scarce in the party, but the cash has been above average.  There will be opportunities to earn more of each as we progress.   10. Do you feel NPCs and encounters were memorable and individualized or did they all seem the same?JO: A lot of variety among NPCsJS: Yes.PO: Memorable and distinctive.JCP: Cool, sometimes it's hard for me to tell, as RP'ing the motivations of a gopher or other tertiary NPCs may seem a bit plastic from my point of view.    11a. Who was your favorite NPC?  JO: PitorJS: the horse thief woman (Fyodoryll)PO: Liked a lot, but no real favorite.JCP: Of course, I liked Golthar.  He was spinning things with nearly everyone.  11b. Who was annoying? JO: The head sageJS: PO: Loshad was the most annoying, followed by Taras and Martin.JCP: Monkey-child.  Lots of work to flesh out the race, background, beliefs, etc., only to disappear...  11c. Who did you hate?JO: MirrenJS:PO: Hated the Wolfskull Clan in the sensethat you're supposed to hate a villain.  They were built up to as thebiggest and baddest of the tribes.JCP: Martin is a muscle headed mooch.  Sometimes I like to role-play miscreants like that, but couldn't get into him.    12. Do you feel combats were good fun, too easy, too hard, or boring?JO: Fun and hard JS: FunPO: Good fun.  Large combats do take a while, and it seems to be magnifiedwhen the combatants move around a lot.  Hopefully we'll ditch theexcess NPCs back in the city or camp.  I know that the summonings slowdown combat a bit, so I will try to save them for when they are reallyneeded. JCP: They were awesome.  I have things in mind as to how a battle might progress and how the NPCs would behave, then the battle starts taking unexpected turns that throw me a curve.  I like it.    13. What types of adventures would you like to see in the future?  Do you prefer city, dungeon, outdoor, or other adventures/encounters?   JO: I don't have much preferenceJS: some CityPO: Fine with any.  Outdoor is best suited to my character (who nowactually *can* track), but other PCs will shine in dungeons or cities.As far as a specific type of adventure... I would like to face aCR-equal dragon.  *NOT* higher CR than the party, at least not for ourfirst dragon, as they appear to be highly overpowered for their CR. But an equal-CR dragon would be an interesting challenge and it is theiconic monster of the game.JCP: I plan to keep things open here on out, so whatever mischief is uncovered is where you can head to. 14. Is there too much or too little action vs. role-playing?  Which would you like to see more of?JO: I like bothJS: the mix is great where it isPO: Good balance.  The combats do often start with role-playing as we tryto negotiate, threaten, or trick our way out of a fight.  And then itturns into the action part where we tend to be more successful.JCP: I liked the way things had been going, and will keep them close to the same.    15. Is using ENWorld a pain in the neck?  Would you prefer that the session write-ups & other info was send out via email, or on a dedicated website?  JO: I would prefer getting e-mailsJS: emailed would be greatPO: ENWorld isn't too bad, but Yahoo groups does load much faster.JCP: If I learn how, I will attempt to set up a web page.  It might not look as slick as ENWorld, but it would likely be much much faster so we can check things out better at work or wherever.  Keep in mind this will be a slow project, as I have been meaning to do this for about 6 months... I'm such a slacker.16. Would you like to pitch in $2 or so per session to order food, drinks, and other goodies, or would you prefer it as is?  JO: I would like to pitch in for foodJS: I could afford $2 a seession or continue the way we are.PO: JCP: Great, I will send out a 'menu' so that we can figure out what we would want to have each session.  It will be delivery for the first couple, pizza most likely, and we can go from there.  At $2-3 per person we should be able to cover the cost for a huge pie and a 2-liter for drinks.   17a. Are Wednesday nights a good night, or would you like to switch to another evening?  JO: Any weeknight is goodJS: Wed is fine.PO: Wednesday nights are good for me, but so are most other nights.JCP: Good, I will try to swing any other plans away from Wednesdays. 17b. Would you be willing to do a Saturday or Sunday game for a longer session once a month or so?  JO: I could do a Sunday game once a monthJS: Sat/sun is not really good.PO: Weekends might be okay once a month if we plan it well in advance.JCP: Weekends are tricky for me too, and I was thinking of having it planned well in advance so I can prepare and everyone can mark it in their schedules.  For now, I will send out an email to see if we can do a weekend (sunday) game at the beginning of December.   18. Are there any house rules that you don't like? Fumble charts, magic item creation, etc.  JO: I may not understand this enough, but it seems weird that a character at any level has the same percent chance of fumblingJS: ok with rules.PO: Have gotten to accept the fumble rules (they aren't egregious, as thereis no "1-in-400 chance per swing to kill yourself" as some tableshave).As far as magic item creation, I really like the 3E system (especiallywith creating scrolls and potions being standard operating procedurefor low-level casters) but I can work in your system.  With luckpoints, can ask the recipient of the crafted item to use a point if theroll fails.JCP: I have a critical hit table that I have been working on as well, and hope to have it up and working soon, though I am trying to prevent it from being too complicated so it's easy to remember in game.  For fumbling, it represents the most dire accidents.  Feats (weapon focus, specialization) and magic items help to mitigate the chances as the PCs go up in level.  So if a PC gains a +2 magic item, that +2 applies to the results chart, lowering the percentage of a fumble.  The main reason I don't like the 3.0/3.5 item creation system is that it costs XP points to create.  Casters end up getting the short end of it, so using a currency that can be split among the whole party becomes more of a decision per individual, not a harassment of the item creation guy to make something for them.  I also felt that since the items don't cost XP, there needs to be a chance, though small, of failure.  It expresses the quality of materials, knowledge and experience of the art of creation, and how crafting something with magic isn't a science that is 100% safe.   19. Are there any rules/classes/PrCs/alternate settings (Arcana Unearthed, Oriental Adventures, Warcraft, etc.) you would like to see added?JO: No, I'm not familiar with themJS: fine with rulesPO: Not really.  I've been playing D&D off and on for over 20 years, andhave not gotten bored with the basic races, classes, and setting.  Isense that some of the supplements are meant for people who think elvesare boring, or fighters are boring, or whatever.  A little more flavoris fine, though not essential.JCP: Ok, I was toying with having other rules and classes available to use, but I will put my efforts into other things.  20. Any other thoughts?JO: Thanks for the effort you put into thisJS: no other thoughtsPO: Excellent game.  Thanks for everything.JCP: You're welcome, and hope to continue the fun!</blockquote>

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