Sins of Our Fathers - 2/10 - Final Update

[Tellerve]

Awesome! That post really had me thinking "Tolkien-esque". I would so love to play in this game!

As always, great update. I loved Raylin's last line, let myself have a good chuckle with that one.

Tellerve

 

[darkbard]

another great update, destan. in fact, one of the best yet in terms of pacing and evoking a plentitude of moods. by the by, i've been meaning to ask for some time: are you familiar with the american novelist cormac mccarthy? many of the names of the people and places in your tale echo his [both his actual name and the locales of his tales, etc.]. and if you think your vision is dark and gloomy, whoo boy, you are singing in harmony with angelic choirs compared to mr. mccarthy. if you haven't read him, you should definitely check him out. cheers, and thanks for the update!

 

[dravot]

Great story as ever, Destan.

I think that my favorite characters are Kellus and Vath, although I do have a certain fondness for each of them.

I'm intrigued that the group has split up and gone on separate errands like this, and I can't wait to find out what Baden's going to find.

 

[Lela]

I'm thinking of switching my favorite character to Ivlar. He rocks.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Stepping away from the story hour and toward the D&D game that is its basis -- why did the PCs split up? Was this a deliberate decision by the players to accomplish more things at the same time, or the result of some disagreement over strategic direction? Or (as I speculate) perhaps some of the players were tired of their characters and wanted to have them killed off-stage, so to speak?

How did you as DM handle the dreaded split party?

 

[Destan]

Why did the PCs split up? Was this a deliberate decision by the players to accomplish more things at the same time, or the result of some disagreement over strategic direction? Or (as I speculate) perhaps some of the players were tired of their characters and wanted to have them killed off-stage, so to speak?

All good theories, but...none of them true, in this particular case.

Many, many posts ago I think I may have spoken a bit about the infrequency in which we're able to get together to play. Generally, we only sit down as a group 2-3 times per year since we're spread out from Maine to Georgia.

The party split because a few of the guys (players of John, Raylin, and Kellus) and myself had a weekend wherein all the stars were in alignment. Rather than do some one-shot module, the group decided they'd be OK with splitting up - thereby allowing the four of us to continue the campaign for one session.

Baden's player lives down the road from me, so it wasn't a problem for him and I to sit down and do some old-fashioned solo adventuring.

The final two characters - Amel and Vath - are played by our Maine and Georgia guys respectively. They agreed to give Roger Wilco & OpenRPG a shot to play online. I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly things went; we're mostly tabletop gamers, so that medium was relatively new to us.

Thus:

[1] Kellus, John, and Raylin continued their journey toward Val Hor.
[2] Baden departed for a homecoming at Axemarch, alone.
[3] Amelyssan and Vath fled westward across the Weedsea, hoping to eventually rendezvouz with the group in the near future.

How did you as DM handle the dreaded split party?

With deadly efficiency.

Seriously, the solo adventure with Baden was one of the most enjoyable roleplaying sessions I'd had in quite some time. I think Josh was able to develop that character in the course of one evening to an extent that would have taken multiple sessions had he been sharing the limelight with 4-5 other PC's. Because it was just him and I, we concentrated on all things dwarvish to the exclusion of all else.

Which brings up an interesting thought - I've had many thoroughly enjoyable nights of gaming, but some of the best were adventures wherein I DM'd only 1 or 2 PC's. No one gets 'forgotten' around the table that way, things seems to move smoothly, and I can devote all my attention to one or two characters. I love the group we have now, but there's something to be said for those types of sessions every once in a while.

Curious if any DM's or players out there share my thoughts or disagree?

Lastly, I will say this: With but one (very recent) exception, the party has never since split up again. They learned their lesson.

Good question, JR.

D

P.S. Darkbard, I haven't read Cormac. I used to read like it was my job, but haven't been able to do as much lately. Intend to dive into a mountain of books sometime this summer.

 

[Piratecat]

I can't remember the last time I only DMed a handful of PCs. Wow, it's been a long time!

 

[WizarDru]

I think the last time I did only four players was for a playtest of "The Iron Satyr". I've only done solo adventures once or twice in the last few years, but they were enjoyable...particularly since one was a thief adventure, and it moved quite quickly.

Although, come to think of it, I have done more solo stuff...via e-mail. I've handled a lot of material that focused on a single character off-line, via e-mail. It allowed me to focus entirely on that character, without forcing the rest of the group to wait.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I've been running a campaign for nearly a year now with a single main player/PC (and his cohort). This player is not normally a huge role-player, but since he cannot hide from my all-powerful DM's gaze, I can nudge him into it from time-to-time. We spend a lot of time talking about the campaign world and going into detail on the various storylines. He has commented that this is a best campaign he's ever played in, so I must be doing something right. [Is there a "swelled head" emoticon?]

As a side benefit, with only one player, combats move along right smart.

Recently, we started up another campaign in which he is the DM, and I play two PCs. They're delving into the depths of Cauldron in the Dungeon magazine Adventure Path, which I am forbidden to read (but it's so tempting!).

I'll also echo what WizarDrud said: e-mail is a fantastic tool for DM/PC interaction. I use it all the time for behind-the-scenes stuff.

 

[Lela]

Recently, we started up another campaign in which he is the DM, and I play two PCs. They're delving into the depths of Cauldron in the Dungeon magazine Adventure Path, which I am forbidden to read (but it's so tempting!).

Heh, yep, you're so dead. Slaughtered, in fact.

But don't read it.