Sagiro's Story Hour: Now That It's Over

[Markn]

Sagiro,

Thanks for the quick response!

I'm aware that the book has some noticeable differences and fully understand the reasons for the change. Assuming those changes were made by you, I'm sure the novelization will be just as entertaining!

I really would love to see whatever maps you have. The party has done an immense amount of travelling that I would like to put Spira into perspective. I look forward to seeing the surviving material!

Edit - Also, didn't know you have your own site. What would the address be?

Edit 2 - Are you currently running any d&d campaigns?

 

[Quartz]

And now for something completely different...

I was looking into the origin of the Advantage / Disadvantage mechanic and remembered that one of the trinkets you handed out was Laramon's Clover, which allows the player to roll multiple d20s and take the best. I'm wondering if this is the origin of the Advantage mechanic in 5E?

 

[Everett]

Just posted my review...

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1IESY42VHR7QS/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

 

[Markn]

A few more questions Sagiro.

Did you guys use minis or was it theatre of the mind?

At times, there were an awful lot of NPCs - both good and bad - in some encounters. Were the good NPCs played by you or did the players control them during combat? Basically how did you keep combat moving at a brisk pace without the players always waiting for you?

 

[Sagiro]

Sagiro,

Thanks for the quick response!

I'm aware that the book has some noticeable differences and fully understand the reasons for the change. Assuming those changes were made by you, I'm sure the novelization will be just as entertaining!

I really would love to see whatever maps you have. The party has done an immense amount of travelling that I would like to put Spira into perspective. I look forward to seeing the surviving material!

Edit - Also, didn't know you have your own site. What would the address be?

Edit 2 - Are you currently running any d&d campaigns?

Here is a link to an old map of the Kingdom of Charagan, updated with a couple of relevant labels. I drew it when I was only 15 years old, but used it more-or-less as is for the campaign. My only map of Kivia is on a large piece of partially-torn paper currently taped to a closet door. It's too large to scan, and the pencil is too faded to show up in a picture. At some point I'll try hand-drawing it on a smaller scale in darker lines, at which point I'll be able to post it on line.

My website is dorianhart.com. It contains my blog, a page for the Heroes of Spira, and a place to sign up for updates on how the books are coming long. I encourage you, and anyone else reading this who hasn't done so already, to sign up!

I am not currently running a D&D game, though I continue to play in the game of Piratecat, my long-time friend and mentor. Maybe when the books are done, and I have the time and extra creative energy, I'll return to a seat behind the DM's screen.

 

[Sagiro]

And now for something completely different...

I was looking into the origin of the Advantage / Disadvantage mechanic and remembered that one of the trinkets you handed out was Laramon's Clover, which allows the player to roll multiple d20s and take the best. I'm wondering if this is the origin of the Advantage mechanic in 5E?

I was using the "roll multiple d20's, take the best" mechanism long before 5E, but I strongly doubt the designers at WotC were cribbing the idea from my campaign notes. It was certainly a case of design parallel evolution.

 

[Sagiro]

Just posted my review...

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1IESY42VHR7QS/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Thank you for taking the time to both read the book and leave a review. Obviously I'm sorry you didn't care for it, but I'm glad you found enough redeeming qualities to eke out that 4th star. And all reviews, positive or negative, are good for authors!

 

[Sagiro]

A few more questions Sagiro.

Did you guys use minis or was it theatre of the mind?

At times, there were an awful lot of NPCs - both good and bad - in some encounters. Were the good NPCs played by you or did the players control them during combat? Basically how did you keep combat moving at a brisk pace without the players always waiting for you?

I'm a big fan of understanding the relative positions of things, and having a visual aid to make sure everyone is envisioning a scene the way I imagine it in my head. As such, we used minis for a vast majority of combats and other dangerous situations.

I usually played the NPC's, though often I would use the long-running friendly ones -- Flicker, One Certain Step and Makel -- as stand-in PC's whenever we had a guest player at the table. And quite often -- particularly for Flicker -- I'd allow my players as a collective to decide what actions they'd like him to take in combat. (It also helped that I kept my NPC character sheets pretty simple, so usually when their combat turns came around, it was quick and obvious what's they'd do.)

 

[Markn]

Thanks again for the replies!

For some reason I never pictured that much water, but cool map!

I'm off to sign up on your site.

 

[Everett]

Thank you for taking the time to both read the book and leave a review. Obviously I'm sorry you didn't care for it, but I'm glad you found enough redeeming qualities to eke out that 4th star. And all reviews, positive or negative, are good for authors!

Who said I didn't like it? All I meant is that I felt the story's gaming roots are showing, so I said so without saying so.

Honestly, I felt about it the same way I felt about the Dragon Tattoo books. Once I picked them up I couldn't put them down, but once I was done, I was just... done.

I hope my comments help as you continue working on the series.