(Discussion) General Part VII

[Knight Otu]

Man.. what a monster post!


Do I get a price ?

You're still miles away from Edena.

It can be pretty hard to give everyone a fair share at times, not only when an adversary's equipment and similar incidental treasure is involved. More immaterial things like favors, titles - even land - could come into play, mixing things up. I hope most players will understand that it will be hard to even things out (and we, as the judges won't delete any accounts or ban anyone for being greedy, even if we could; it takes more than that to be removed from ENWorld itself).
As you said, we'll see how your concerns will come into play - we've barely scratched level 4 (I think only one character is at that level now), and as we continue to run Living Enworid, we'll learn from our mistakes, and improve our strengths, I would hope.

 

[El Jefe]

As an aside, I'd like to take exception with Patlin on one aspect of The Burning Tower. Although I was a spectator instead of a participant (which may have biased my opinion), I thought the fact that the party had to really struggle to damage the living spell lent an epic quality to the conclusion of the adventure. He's right in the sense that the creature was unbalanced with regard to offense and defence, but I think that didn't detract from the encounter as much as he thought it did. I don't think I'd want to see that sort of encounter every day or even in every adventure, but I think I made for a very nice change of pace.

Given that a creature has the ability to damage everyone in the party (even if it takes literally dozens of combat rounds to do so), I find that a very high defense can be much more terrifying than a very high offense. With a high offense, either it swings and hits and you are gone, or else it misses and nothing much happens to you. With a high defense, it can just stand there and grin while you beat on it, knowing that sooner or later it's going to whittle you down. Kinda like attacking a school of pirhana.

The fact that there was no retreat from the beast made the final encounter even more exciting...it was literally do or die for everyone who set foot inside the final force shield. Now, that's something I wouldn't want for my own characters...unless I had some good heart medication handy!

 

[nimisgod]

Honestly, Z, if you really want the magic weapon... Ishmael will let you have it, even if you did insult him to his face. If Patlin allows it, we can just retcon the final part of the adventure so that Morulas gets the 2nd magic weapon. It's not that Ishmael discount the trust/appreciation that Nars and the others have for him. I think it was totally IC for them to say that. But if you really wanted it, you should've just asked.

Barring that, there are other ways to get past damage reduction. You could purchase scrolls of magic weapon/power stones of metaphysical weapon. In fact, since you can buy magic items, there are lots of ways you can get your character's combat effectiveness improved via scrolls, powerstones, potions and the like. And if you can't use any of these items, you can always buy them and ask your party's spellcaster to use them on you. If you have the money, then you can do something about your current weaknesses. That's the beauty of being a spellcaster/psionic.

As for shiny toys, not all of us play Just for the Shiny Toys.That's why I usually play a spellcaster of some sort: even if I'm boned in the treasure department, I can compensate somehow. But that's just me.

That said, re: Patlin's analysis. I LOVE the organic feel of LEW. Maybe it's the kind of fiction I read or maybe it's just how I am, but I like it when completely random strangers work for a cause and end up with some kind of unintentional synergy to work with it.

IMO, Part of the fun IS meeting the challenge and beating it despite the unusualness of the party's composition. I concur with El Jefe's comments regarded the monster and the final scene.

As for the rest of the adventure, I stick with my comments in the adventure thread. I liked it. And if there was some problem with balance (I personally didn't see one), then it's hard to fault you given the difficulties /obstacles surrounding adventure design (party levels, party variety, etc). In fact, you gave us some help already.

The bottom line: I had a great time and I have no complaints. I saw weaknesses in my own character (lack of 2 handed weapon, lack of magic item, to list a few) and I addressed them between adventures.

 

[Patlin]

OK, I'll leave over with the being neurotic thing. I usually get that when looking at my DMing with hindsight. The point that's important to me, though, is that as a DM I don't want my players to feel left out and bored. I'll work to avoid that in Faerie Woods.

 

[nimisgod]

OK, I'll leave over with the being neurotic thing. I usually get that when looking at my DMing with hindsight.

I have the same problem

 

[Zweischneid]

Ok, trying to put some answers there

onestly, Z, if you really want the magic weapon... Ishmael will let you have it, even if you did insult him to his face. If Patlin allows it, we can just retcon the final part of the adventure so that Morulas gets the 2nd magic weapon. It's not that Ishmael discount the trust/appreciation that Nars and the others have for him. I think it was totally IC for them to say that. But if you really wanted it, you should've just asked.

No, I don't.. thats why I said I'm very, very likely the wrong person to argue the point.
I was merely taking the experience of my first and so far only Living ENWorld adventure (which was very very good btw, despite Patlins concerns) to build wild theories of social patterns and economic justice in a shared pbp-gaming environment.
Thats sort of a fetish of mine... but I do not want to gain personal advantage from this and did not write long posts like the last one just to cheat myself a virtual magic weapon in a virtual game of D&D.

Barring that, there are other ways to get past damage reduction. You could purchase scrolls of magic weapon/power stones of metaphysical weapon. In fact, since you can buy magic items, there are lots of ways you can get your character's combat effectiveness improved via scrolls, powerstones, potions and the like.

And I did so... but I'm still stuck in my table-top D&D thinking alot of times, that such things cannot be simply bought, but have to be found in the adventure or else made yourself. I kinda argued that myself in my post above.

That said, re: Patlin's analysis. I LOVE the organic feel of LEW. Maybe it's the kind of fiction I read or maybe it's just how I am, but I like it when completely random strangers work for a cause and end up with some kind of unintentional synergy to work with it.

IMO, Part of the fun IS meeting the challenge and beating it despite the unusualness of the party's composition. I concur with El Jefe's comments regarded the monster and the final scene.

As for the rest of the adventure, I stick with my comments in the adventure thread. I liked it. And if there was some problem with balance (I personally didn't see one), then it's hard to fault you given the difficulties /obstacles surrounding adventure design (party levels, party variety, etc). In fact, you gave us some help already.

The bottom line: I had a great time and I have no complaints. I saw weaknesses in my own character (lack of 2 handed weapon, lack of magic item, to list a few) and I addressed them between adventures.

Agreed, agreed, agreed and agreed. There's alot, alot more good to Living ENWorld than potentially bad. Only because I raised some points that I think might in the future prove problematic (as well might not) obviously shouldn't distract from that.

Likely my mind is busying itself with such trivialties of EnWorld because it's grown on my in a way the other, regular pbp-games have not (so far).

I (or actually Nars) picked Ishmael because he used up more of his consumable resources than anyone else for the benefit of the group (1/3 of his wand of cure light wounds). Specifically from Nars's perspective, Ishmael healed him with no complaint after Nars had been beaten within an inch of his life following a poor decision. Gorefoot was chosen because Nars thought he had "saved the day" and Nars was eager to see the little guy's face light up when he saw his new toy. Nars thought of Fant as well, but there were only two weapons.

Well, Morulas would certainly agree

 

[Creamsteak]

virtual magic weapon in a virtual game of D&D

As opposed to a real magic weapon in a real game of D&D?

I think you mean a "virtual magic weapon" in a game of D&D. There's nothing "virtual" about LEW, it's just a different medium. Now, if we were all playing "characters" that were in-fact the players at a D&D game...

 

[Knight Otu]

A quick brainstorm, if it is ok - what jobs do you see characters taking on in Living Enworld?
A few to start:

ARCHITECT
ASSISTANT (Someone to get the work done while the character is busy saving the world)
(CITY MAJOR)
CRAFTSMAN
ENTERTAINER
FARMER
(INNKEEPER)
LABORER (simple jobs with bad pay)
MAGECRAFTER (someone creating magical items)
MERCHANT
ORUSSUS COUNCIL MEMBER
RED DRAGON INN BOUNCER
SAGE
(SAIRUNDANI TRIBAL ADVISOR)
SCRIBE

 

[Zweischneid]

I don't see any of the jobs you listed becoming particularly popular among characters Knight Otu..

You mean NPCs perhaps?

 

[Knight Otu]

Hey, no killer phrases allowed during brainstorming!

And no, I mean PCs. Xael seems to have a little interest in being a magecrafter, Creamsteaks thoughts in The Dance of Souls indicate interest in acreage, and I myself have been tempted to play a dwarven smith (craftsman). Once we have a decent number of jobs, we can still reduce their number.