Story Hour Authors! A few questions...

[Sepulchrave II]

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)

About 40, give or take - spread over 5 different SH threads


2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

Enormously. I often feel bad for not replying promptly to questions from the readers, but time is a major constraint.


3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

25% - and infrequently at that. I can't blame them, we've all got busy lives.


4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

Yes, it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.
Yes - the more so, because I still haven't gotten round to reading PC's (or Wulf's) story hour. Maybe I'm intimidated by the size of them, or maybe by the prospect of them being better than mine...


5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction.

Most Irritating: Total failure of the party to seize upon a well-developed plot hook, which I repeatedly dangled in front of them.

Most Embarassing: Accidentally allowing one player to cast Discern Location in one action instead of ten minutes, resulting in the immediate death of my favourite villain.


6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

Flow
Pacing
Quirkiness


8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

Six sessions behind, and the gap is growing, not shrinking


9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

Ooh, that's a good question. I don't think so, but I wouldn't swear to it...the SH is often in the back of my mind when we play


10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron. EDIT: quick note- people seem to think I mean the same old "give us a few paragraphs about your SH". I mean "Give us a few paragraphs FROM your SH".


“You will,” said Eadric.

“I won’t,” said Mostin.

“Yes.”

“No.”

“There is no danger involved, I assure you,” the Paladin assured him.

“You have no idea what you’re asking.”

“This is an irrational phobia, Mostin,” Eadric persisted.

“Of course it’s irrational. It wouldn’t be a phobia, otherwise, would it?” The Alienist retorted.

“It’s not as if they are actually birds,” Eadric said. “You don’t even have to look. Just cast the spell, and I’ll deal with the rest.”

“I don’t have time to inscribe a proper diagram,” Mostin complained.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not going to be an issue. Just do a quick one.”

“I’ll have to ‘Anchor’ it.”

“Don’t bother,” the Paladin replied.

“Are you crazy? Besides, I don’t have my most powerful calling prepared,” Mostin groaned.

“Do what you can. But hurry. I can’t stand here arguing all day with you.”

So Mostin did it.


**


Form, in the traditional sense of the word, was not a characteristic that could be meaningfully ascribed to him. It was not that he possessed or did not possess it, more that the quality of ‘Form-ness’ was an inadequate paradigm through which he could be understood.

His shadow, they often sang, was brighter than the Sun. It was metaphorical, of course, because there was no source of light brighter than him. Nothing could cause him to cast a shadow.

Amongst the millions who basked in his presence, one, called Eniin, felt an impulse akin to a tugging. In less than an instant, he related the information to his master who, naturally, already knew.

“GO,” The Bright God commanded.

Eniin bowed and vanished.


**


Mostin, Ortwin, Nwm, Tahl, Nehael, Tatterbrand, Iua, Jorde and Hyne stood around the thaumaturgic diagram with Eadric. As the shape began to slowly coalesce within it, the Bard wrily compared it to Rurunoth’s fiery entrance. Even before the form had fully materialized, Eadric stepped forward and scrubbed out a portion of the chalk line which marked the border of the circle.

Really, that’s just too much, Mostin thought. He closed his eyes three-quarters of the way, and covered his face with his hands. He couldn’t help himself from peeking – despite the fact that his legs were shaking.

Eniin stepped forwards from the diagram, and towered above them all. His perfect form radiated peace, power, and profound certainty. He knelt in front of Eadric.

“Instruct me,” the Planetar said.

 

[The Forsaken One]

Check my SH! It needs to get a starting kick!

1.Me and my party of 5, are currently 3 sessions in the campaign with the fourth this week and it looks very promessing but I've only wrote up the first session and chapter so far, session 2 and coincidentally chapter 2 following this weak if I find the time. I tend to elaborate...
All my players are enthusiastic, leave other stuff so they can play, are VERY creative and totally insane, which comes in handy in a CoC game

2. I value reader feedback quite a bit since you put it up here for a reason. TO be read and offcourse out of curiosity of people like what you and your gang experieces each time (week?) and offcourse how they value your writing skills. But I value their opinion about the adventure itself much more since that's where the action and the fun is. My really new storyhour is just an attempt and a hope to be able to share that experience with you all and I do very much apprechiate the opinions of alot of people on these boards who I have grown to respect very much.

3.From my 5 players, four read the SH and they seem to enjoy it greatly and they have praised my writing and my interpretation of the events very much, which makes me a happy SH writer and an even happier GM!

4.I never looked at it until I just read the question... so if that answers the question But that that many people looked at it in this time pleases me. I'm just hoping for some responses, hopefully with some plause or with constructive criticism which I can always use to improve and which is highly valued.

5.Well the part in which some Corp. Inc Enforcers thought to be tackling and bringing in some harmless investigators by grappling them as they appeared from the shadows. The harmless investigators where armed to the teeth with molotov cocktails, 12 gauge shotguns and Glock 17's...
But for the rest nothing really special, it gave the players a laugh and I kinda saw it coming but not everything has to be hard (well some guy fell 60ft about 5 rounds later, ended up with 1 hp, lol, and made his mass dam fort save, mass dam for PC's is 10+ dam in CoC.)
A real stupid thing still has to happen, which I hope it won't but bound by Murphy's law it will...

6. -A clear portration of the characters and the kind of person they are, it can make you go 'wahhh' sometimes cause you don't expect that 'person' to do that kinda thing.

-A detailed atmosphere and surrounding description, which proved critical in my CoC game for setting the mood of the players and hopefully of the readers now as well.

-The obvious good plot that keeps entriguing the readers.

7. -Humor is great and I think a total must, if you aren't funny your players should do plenty of stupid or amusing stuff to put in that SH.

-Be able to catch the mood and taste of a moment, save it in your words and let the reader taste some of that mood and suspense of that one thrilling moment in your game.

-Good cliffhangers are awsome.

8. This sunday session four (our session last 9 hours each sunday), and I've just posted session one about 2 days ago. I was doubting about starting with an SH here cause I was kinda nervous if people would actually like to read it or even read it at all, but this week I decided to have a go at it and here it is.

9. Never for the SH since I've just started with it but most certainly for the plot itself. It's the very reason why I don't openly roll my dice but behind the book/screen. My players approve of my GMing style and they are happy gamers who have loads of fun. Without any criticism for the last 2 years as yet (of which I'm very proud and gratefull) so I haven't got a reason to change my GMing style.
Dislaimer: No I'm not the plot Nazi who will go to all lengths and even a rule 0 to stick with the plot. (MY players stick with it anyhow 95% of the time, they can smell the track or something.)

10. Dr. Carmichael’s remains are mostly on the floor between the window and the door and appear to have been partially eaten. Her haid is missing large chunks of tissue from its left side and has rolled under the bed. The lower half of her right leg is also under the bed. The upper half of the leg is nowhere to be found. Blood is splattered across the walls and has soaked through the carpeting all the way into the floor. There’s even some blood on the ceiling.

The second guy draws his Glock pistol and keeps Patrick under gun point. Just as he grins and shouts up the shaft that they got one, he is interrupted in his shouting as a gunshot echoes through the evelator shaft. His head is ripped off his torso and his lifeless body slumps to the ground. From the darkness Richard appears, shotgun in his uninjured arm and barrel still smoking. The other guy looks up from his attempt to tie Patrick up with plastic zip-cuffs surprised by the shot, only to see a gun come swinging his way.

A moment later, Dumont’s bloody, lifeless body flies back in through the front window. Dumont has been torn open from throat to abdomen, and broken ribs just from his shattered chest like bleached fingers. The sheriff staggers to his feet, gaping at his deputies body along with the shocked investigators who stand nailed to the ground with fear. Only a moment later a hairy beastial form—half man, half wolf—crashes through the office’s front window and tears through the desk as it moves in for another kill.

As Mark finished his round he sits down for a moments rest. But as he sits down he hears something strange very, very near… and he looks up to see something his mind cannot comprehend. He just sits there in fear and shock for a moment, and then screams. He screams in absolute terror as horror fills his heart, he screams again, and again, and again.


11. Give us a link, pookie.

'Pimp Pimp, CHeck it out plz!

 

[Rybaer]

1. Yikes. It's a lot. Probably pushing 70 or so. The postings don't directly correlate with game sessions, though.

2. I love feedback, though I don't get too much of it. I'm not bitter, though...I know I don't post nearly enough feedback to the other story hours I read.

3. All my players read it, though some keep up better than others.

4. Page views aren't a big deal. Admittedly, it's nice to know some people are reading once in a while. Ultimately, I consider writing the story hour as something that I'm doing for myself and my players. I look forward to rereading it some ten years down the road.

5. I haven't had too many moments that were "unpleasant" to write up. The players have done a few painfully bone-headed things, but those tend to be more humorous than painful to recount.

6. Clear, concise, elegant prose.
This is a game summary, not a novel - focus on the action and not drippy backstory.
Memorable creatures, NPC's, setpieces, and epic fights.

7. Let the characters' actions speak for them more than their words or thoughts.
Focus on the crunchy and skimp on the squishy.
As mentioned above, this is a game summary...not a novel.

8. Generally, I'm about 3-4 months behind. Taxing on my memory, but at least I'm not worried about letting things slip that my players could use for metagaming.

9. Nothing in the way I run games has changed for the benefit of my story hour. If anything, I've been inspired to create more intriguing content, but I always strive for that.

10. Amill closed with the elf. In the back of his mind he registered her physical beauty, but by the look in her eye he knew that she wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. In spite of her position levitating up in a high niche, he was still able to reach her with his ferroplasmic falchion. Inches from connecting with her body, Amill could feel his blade slowing down as if it were being swung through heavy syrup.

She grinned and gave him a focused look. White strands of ephemeral material swirled about the psychic warrior, seeking to wrap about him and bind him tight. Relying on his warrior instincts, he tucked and rolled, and the strands evaporated harmlessly as they closed in on empty space.

Amill bounced back to his feet and was about to take another crack at her when he was rudely interrupted by a rapier blade puncturing his right lung from behind. The blade’s horribly unnatural coldness froze the tissue around the wound. When the blade was pulled free Amill turned about only to watch as the dark cloaked figure ran him through again with the rapier as well as the short sword he carried in his other hand. Amill dropped his own sword, the ferroplasm reverting to a limp formless lump on the cold cave floor. The Shadow blew Amill a silent kiss as he mercilessly ran him through once more. Amill was unconscious before he hit the floor.

11. Link to parts 1 and 2 of my story hour in the sig below.

 

[Rel]

Hi. Just an excuse for authors to pimp their Story Hours (stories hour?) and kill some time with useless questions.

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)

Hmm. I'm not precisely sure but I think the campaign lasted a total of close to 40 sessions and I'm in the mid 30's now.

2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

I value it tremendously. I put a fair bit of work into my campaigns and I put even more work into writing up the story hour. To see both my players and readers are interested in what I've created is very gratifying. Also, I like talking about D&D. I find it interesting to discuss the rules and storylines and such (which is why I come here to ENWorld) and if my story hour acts as a catalyst for that sort of discussion, all the better.

BUT, that isn't the main reason I write the story hour. I write it because it is a documentation of some really fun times I've had with my friends and I hope to someday be able to read back over it and relive some of the fun we had.

3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

All my players (there are only 3 of them) read the story hour posts eventually. They don't always comment as much as I would like them to though.

4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

I do value the page views. During those lulls when I don't get a lot of comments, it lets me know that people are still reading. I don't think it is the end-all-be-all of indicating how good a story hour is though. One reason for this is that I think a story hour (like any other thread on these boards) can get a certain "critical mass" of posters and readers that sends the views counter beyond the number of posts indicative of interest in the primary thread.

I'm not taking anything away from Piratecat and others like him who have high views counts. But at some point, somebody will ask a question in the thread that is tangental to the main story and other people will answer and others will chime in with their thoughts and more people will tune in to the thread just to see how the side commentary is going, even when there are no new posts to the story itself.

All of which is perfectly fine and I participate in it too. So no, I don't feel like I need to jump off a bridge or anything.

5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction.

Well, probably it was the first PC death from the campaign. The characters had enjoyed a long series of close scrapes but this time they had chosen a path that almost couldn't help but lead to the death of this character.

In particular it was the party Ranger who was going to fight the Gnoll Champion in single combat, surrounded by a whole bunch of other Gnolls. I knew that even if he won, the other Gnolls were going to attack him but that was the path they had chosen and we played it out. In the actual event, the party made a desperate attempt to rescue him by trying to levitate him out of there while unconscious. That was when the Kobold allies of the Gnolls hit him with the magic missiles. Bummer.

6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

Interesting characters.
A compelling plot.
Intense combats where a lot hangs in the balance.

7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

All of these have been mentioned so far, but:

Decent grammar.
Relatively good spelling.
Some method of breaking up the text. Breaks, different colors or use of bolding and italics are all acceptable methods to me.

8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

Well, my campaign is over, so at least the finish line isn't getting further and further away. I'm probably 4 or so sessions from the ending.

9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

I don't think so. But I have winced during the game knowing how it is going to be writing up a certain segment. Most recently I wrote up a segment where the party was saved by almost certain destruction by being lifted to safety by Dire Owls. It smacked of deus-ex-machina all day long, but it really wasn't. I just knew it would read that way though.

10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron. EDIT: quick note- people seem to think I mean the same old "give us a few paragraphs about your SH". I mean "Give us a few paragraphs FROM your SH".

The orcs that were with Ulfe rushed past him and raced across the barracks arranging themselves across the top of the stairway in such a fashion that all three could attack Krase at their next opportunity. Ulfe moved in behind them.

Rhys saw an opportunity to strike at the lot of them at once. Instead of obeying Krase's litany of begging him to descend the stairway as fast as possible, Rhys edged in behind him. In one fluid motion, he drew forth the wand he had taken from the orcish adept, pulled aside Krase's long cape and thrust the wand beneath the ranger's legs yelling, "Asharak!"

The screams of Krase and the orcs blended into one as a huge gout of flame shot forth from the ranger's crotch to engulf all four of the orcs who had arranged themselves in a neat 10 foot radius. One of the orcs could no longer take the pressure and ran in fear. Pushing down his fear and humiliation, Krase struck at another orc that was within reach but his aim was ruined by the Rhys who, after all, was pressed right up against him and had a hand between his legs...

11. Give us a link, pookie.

It's in my sig. Although that is only a link to the most recent thread. I'm having to repost the earlier episodes to a new thread a few at a time since they were lost in one of the board switches.

But instead of signing on for my whole big campaign story hour, do me a favor, go read this thread and just read the first post. If you like it, keep reading and tell me what you think of it.

It is just a one-shot adventure featuring my normal group and guest starring Old One (the guy who wrote the original Faded Glory campaign). It is relatively short, it's heavy on adventure and fun and would be a good way for you to see if you like my writing style. If you do, THEN come over and read the Faded Glory campaign. If not, then SCREW YOU! Just kidding .

 

[Sagiro]

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)

I have run 138 game sessions over almost exactly seven years. (The 7th anniversary of our first game is Tuesday, November 12th) This Story Hour chronicles the whole darned thing.

2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

Reader feedback is great! I hope it means lots of people are stealing ideas liberally, just as I steal from every source I can find. Plus it fills me with warm fuzzies to know that I’m entertaining folks. Oh, and it swells my ego to a nearly unmanageable size!

3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

I think they all do. Some of them probably go to my campaign web-site instead, where (except for the most recent runs) all of my Story Hour posts can be found. Morningstar’s player recently printed out the entire thing, for times when they wanted to trace some obscure plot hook back to its source.

4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

I think “value” might be too strong a word, but I think they’re cool, and I enjoy knowing that readers are deriving happiness from something I love to do anyway. This question did make me take note of the interesting “stat” of views-to-posts ratio, which generally runs in the 15-1 to 20-1 range. As Views increase, Posts tend not to keep up, even in relative terms. For instance, among threads updated in the past five days, the top 7 Views-To-Posts ratios are:

Piratecat’s Updated Story Hour: 279-1
Sagiro’s Story Hour Returns: 99-1
Wulf’s Collected Story Hour: 89-1
Defenders of Daybreak: The Early Years: 75-1
The Rape of Morne: 54-1
Darkmatter D20…: 42-1
…Knights of Spellforge Keep: 25-1

…and these are exactly all of the threads with more than 10,000 views. What does it mean? Beats me! It only confirms that a) the Story Hours with lots of views are more significantly perused by “lurkers” (as a percentage of total viewers) than those with fewer views, and that b) I’m a stat-head weenie with too much time.

As for Piratecat’s obscene Views count: doesn’t bother me at all, since I’m one of the Lucky Few™ that gets to play!


5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction.

I can’t think of anything like this, off the top of my head.

But to answer a different, related question: the thing I most regret about my Story Hour is that I’m so lousy at recalling dialogue. My players are endless reeling off wonderful, dramatic and/or humorous dialogue during the game, but I never have the time to write it down while I’m playing, and then I forget it afterward. One of these days I’ll sneak a tape recorder under the gaming table…

6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

- a compelling plot
- good pacing
- humor
- grammatical competence

(Oh, you said three things? My bad.)


7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

- reasonable enough spelling that it doesn’t become a distraction
- use of paragraphs
- avoiding run-on sentences


8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

Right now I’m about four extremely action-heavy runs behind “real life.”

9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

Nope.

10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron. EDIT: quick note- people seem to think I mean the same old "give us a few paragraphs about your SH". I mean "Give us a few paragraphs FROM your SH".


***

A few minutes after the sending there is a knock on Grey Wolf’s door. Skorg is there with a big grin on his face.

"Lunchtime!" he says brightly.

Grey Wolf can detect an unpleasant odor coming from the kitchen. Skorg rouses Kibi as well.

"Come on! You wizardy types need to eat sometime, to keep up your strength."

In the dining room the table is set with plates containing some sort of black oozy substance. A questionable smell wafts from the plates. Eddings is already seated, trying not to look disgusted.

"Black lizard pie!" announces Skorg proudly. “I made it from scratch myself. I had the Icebox deliver a brace of fresh black lizards, and used some of Ernie’s spices to give the pie extra flavor.”

“I suggest the spices," Eddings offers helpfully. "Lots of spices."

Kibi and Grey Wolf sit, their noses wrinkling uncontrollably. Skorg starts wolfing down forkfuls of pie. Eddings pushes his food around with his fork without enthusiasm.

And then the Greenhouse vanishes. Grey Wolf feels a lurching in his stomach, and the constant feeling of churning semi-nausea is replaced by a different sort of discomfort. Now it feels like a deep vibration, like a buzzer is going off in his innards. After a second of disorientation, the four of them look around and see that they are in deep, deep trouble.

It is night. They are outdoors, on a vast plain, in the midst of an army. All around them are tents, campfires, and the sounds of an army camp at night. They can hear grunts, clanks, voices, horses, the crackling of torches. The air is filled with the aromas of sweat, urine and gruel that follow large armies wherever they go.

They are all still in their chairs, forks in hand. Eddings looks around slowly.

"I, uh, don’t suppose this is something you have done on purpose?" he whispers.


***

Nearly 150' down, the vertical shaft opens onto a wide stone corridor with a black glass floor. The party surmises that they have reached the bottom of the bottle that contains the city of Zhamir. Screams, loud sobbing, and maniacal laughter all echo throughout the City Below, which seems to be a latticework of straight stone corridors and mostly empty rooms. A small child huddles near one wall of a corridor, begging for water. Pog warns the party to ignore him, but Kay and Ernie cannot abide the child's pathetic pleas, and give him water to drink. He takes a sip, begins screaming that he's been poisoned, and launches himself at Kay, scratching and kicking. He does not relent until Ernie knocks him out.

Shaken, the party continues on while screams and babble resound all around them. At one point an old man pokes his head out of a dark room, and the party recognizes him from a portrait in Repose; it is Kinnvhad, but he is mad beyond help, and goes into fits when the party asks him of details of his former life.

At last the party is brought into a small room with wooden benches, and one simple door at the far end.

"Solomea is through there," Pog tells them. "Don't speak too loudly to him, and understand that he is quite eccentric. I won't be going with you; he is quite particular about that when he talks to strangers. There will be a short length of hallway, which opens into Solomea's room. Good luck!"

The Company heads through the doorway, and the hallway stretches into the darkness before them. As they pass the threshold each feels a slight shiver, and a feeling of unease creeps over them. Morningstar casts thought capture – and immediately goes unconscious. She comes to after a few seconds with a splitting headache.

They continue on.

After twenty more seconds of walking it is clear that this is no "short length of hallway." They turn to look back toward the door -- and see that there is no more door. Rather, the hallway ends at a vast star-filled space, like a stone catwalk hanging out over an abyss.

In fact, the space is slowly advancing toward them, and the hallway itself is being "eaten away" by it. Dranko walks to the edge, taking constant steps back to stay on solid ground. He can see that the space extends in all directions; the hallway empties out into an endless starry void.

The party is essentially chased along the hallway by the encroaching void, but after half a minute they can see the same void ahead of them as well. With nothing else for it they continue ahead until they find themselves standing on a wide iron disc, floating all alone in space. All around them, above and below, stars twinkle in the night.

Then the face appears. It is unimaginably huge, taking up a full quarter of the horizon, its distance impossible to gauge. It is an old man's face, with stringy gray hair and a mostly-salt salt-and-pepper beard and mustache. And it begins to laugh, a slow, resonant chuckle that booms through the void. It speaks in a voice that echoes from everywhere.

"Welcome to the Maze. Welcome, to my mind. See what the Maze has done to me, and… what it will… do to you. It is… but a reflection of your minds, which are now in my mind. Ah, yes, I'm afraid you won't be leaving. Yes, I'm very afraid."

Then, in a softer voice, with a clear note of panic in its pitch: "Very afraid."

And finally, in a soft voice filled with unmistakable terror:

"Help me…"

The face fades away, leaving them alone on an iron disk floating in the void. Then, high above them, something fills the sky. It is a vast iron labyrinth, terrifying in scope, stretching through the blackness as far as the party can see. It is upside down from their point of view, as if the Gods themselves are holding it inverted high above their heads.

And it is descending. Closer and closer it comes, filling all space and thought; the sky is a huge iron maze, and it is falling. Then they notice that another equally large maze is rising up from the depths below their floating disc. For a few brief seconds, they can see that both mazes are irregular, mostly filled with even iron-walled passages, but with various strange features dotting the expanses – rooms, walls of other materials, blotches of color. But the two labyrinths, falling from above and rising up from below, seem as though they are going to crush the Company like a pair of monstrous jaws. They brace for the collision…

11. Give us a link, pookie.

Here’s my Story Hour, and here’s my campaign web-site. (Due to attbi.com flakeyness, you may need to hit "refresh" a couple of times. Don't believe it when it tells you it can't find the url...)

-Sagiro

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)

Someone asked this question just the other day and I had no ready answer. Because we are playing the adventure path, I can definitively say we have just finished Lord of the Iron Fortress.

2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

The writer's passion comes from reader feedback. It's key.

3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

The question seems to assume I'm the DM. I'm a player. Counting the DM, I would say 4 of 6 read regularly, one lurks, and one can't find his ass with both hands, let alone the Story Hour.

4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

Bah. I've seen Piratecat's Artificial View Inflater-bot.

5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc.

Lots of these, actually. The paladin used a broken spell from Relics and Rituals to kill Gulthias, the main villain from Heart of Nightfang Spire, with a single touch.

And for a while we really got into a rut where our high-level play bogged down to scrying the bad guy, buffing up, teleporting in, and killing everything.

6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

1) Grammar (including spelling and punctuation)
2) Strong characterization (including dialogue)
3) Humor
4) Conflict

7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

How does this question differ from #6?

8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

I'd guess between 8 and a dozen. I don't like to think about it.

9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

There you go assuming that Story Hour writers are the DM again.

I have often discouraged certain courses of action from myself and my fellow players because it would make for a better game, while in the back of my mind admitting it would make for a better story as well. I don't think anyone has ever called me on it.

I suspect that when the day comes that the protagonist of my story dies, I will make a meta-game decision on whether to raise him based on the story hour.

10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron.

Gah... So many parts I like, but folks really seem to enjoy this bit:

Wulf left the manor house in an even fouler mood, having added the major domo to his growing list of likely villains in desperate need of the taste of boot leather, blood, and their own teeth.

As they passed through the market square again, the halfling skipped ahead, jumping and pointing. "Ooh! Street performers!"

A small stage was set up against an old building. Some half-dozen men and women, dressed in ridiculous outfits, were regaling a growing crowd with a tale of star-crossed lovers, or some other such nonsense. Wulf grinned and made a beeline for the nearest fruit stand, looking for anything rotten or over-ripe. "Now yer talkin'."

Keldas frowned. "Not a patron of the arts, are you? What, you don't care for the fine art of the thespian?"

"Hey, hey now. Speak for yerself! I like watchin' a couple of thespians goin' at it as much as the next guy, but I ain't passin' up an opportunity like this." He hefted an apple and judged the distance to the stage. Keldas frowned and took Alliane's arm, steering her closer for a better look. Halma hesitantly padded after them, unsure exactly what was going on.

Wulf waited for the dramatically appropriate moment to pelt the performers with rotten fruit. The star-crossed lovers had moved to the front of the stage, leaving their bickering families behind them, when suddenly there was a hideous cry from one of the women near the back of the stage. Blood came gushing from her neck, spraying the actors in front, and she toppled over, revealing a disgusting creature on her back. It had leathery grey skin, wild wiry hair, and the white eyes of the cave-blind. Its mouth and claws were covered in her blood. It began feasting, tearing at her flesh, heedless of the crowd around it.

Wulf dropped his apple, his jaw hanging open, and began to applaud wildly. "Huzzah! Now THAT'S a play!"

Another half-dozen of the creatures came bounding onto the stage from some hidden bolt-hole, swinging axes from side to side and cleaving through the remaining actors. Wulf continued to applaud, but Keldas and Alianne had already begun casting spells, and Halma had leapt up onto the stage at their urging, his greatsword sweeping back and forth with precision, trying to save the remaining actors from the ravenous assault.

Wulf hesitated a moment longer, wondering if he could possibly convince himself that this was all just part of the show. Far be it from him to disturb an actor in pursuit of his "craft." Farther still to give a rat's ass about the worthless life of another actor. His mind was rather quickly made up, however, when he spotted the leader of the creatures at the edge of the stage, a battle-axe in one hand and a rather interesting hand-axe in the other. Wulf didn't have Keldas' eye for the arcane, but he could spot masterwork when he saw it. And he wanted it.

Wulf rushed the stage, bringing out Taranak in both hands as he charged. He crashed into the leader from the side at full tilt, slashing his axe in a blazing arc. His foe staggered and Wulf took advantage of that brief moment to draw a dagger into his off-hand. The two of them fought toe-to-toe for several moments. Wulf noted that his opponent fought two-weapon style, as he did, but in the unskilled, uneducated, and ultimately ineffective style of the so-called "Rangers." Before long Wulf had his boot on his foe's wrist and was prying the hand-axe from his death grip. "Lazy prick. That'll teach yer to try to fake it against a real pro."

Wulf looked up and was pleased to see that all of the creatures had been slain-- as had nearly all of the actors. The stage was slick and black with blood, and the crowd before them stood agape at the carnage. Some unlucky few in the front row were splattered with gore.

Wulf stomped to the edge of the stage, his arms spread wide, an axe in either hand. The crowd instinctively backed away, until Wulf stopped-- and bowed deeply.

The applause rang in his ears.

WULF's COLLECTED STORY HOUR


Wulf

 

[NiTessine]

1. Five, I think. I write the events of every session as a separate chapter, though with my bad memory, something can always fall in the cracks...

2. They can be good for ideas... For example, a certain villain they just defeated in the story hour came to being partly thanks to the readers' insistence...

3. 25%, I think. Might be 50%. I've got four players, by the way.

4. The page views column gives a good general idea of how popular the story hour is, but it's unreliable for any accurate gauging of the quality.

5. It'll be in the next chapter. I'll be posting it on the 17th.

6. Interesting characters, good writing, and a solid plot.

7. Oo, this is tricky... Apart from grammar, I can't think of anything except that I don't like reading stuff written in the present tense.

8. Two.

9. Yes. A couple of players wanted to switch characters, and I had to forbid them. And no, they did not call me on it.

10. Fisibbei turned to face the nobleman as Ranland and Frederich dealt with the goblins. He hefted his sickle, measuring it against the nobleman's greater reach. He was preparing to strike the first blow, when something, a flash of black shadow, with hint of a tail, fell from the rigging to the deck and darted towards von Hedon. The nobleman's hand flashed again to his cloak, bringing up a second duelling pistol, and again the sharp sound of gunshot sounded over the placid sea. All this happened so fast the halfling druid could not keep up, marvelling at the speed of his opponent.

The shot missed the shadowy shape by a hair, and it was upon him. It was a skaven, black cloak billowing behind him, and a hairless, scaly tail flicking back and forth in excitement as the ratman stabbed Henrik von Hedon in the stomach with his long, wavy-bladed dagger, faintly glowing with a green haze. Black blood gushed forth from the gaping wound in his abdomen, and he collapsed, dark froth already specking his lips as the potent venoms of the skaven took action.

11. It's in the sig.

 

[Jon Potter]

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)

Well, since my SH is a posting of my ongoing PBEM, it's a considerably different than most. The campaign is close to 200 turns long so far. I've posted the last 20 or so turns to the Story hour.

2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

It's always good to know that someone's reading and interested enough to respond.

3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

None, currently. I haven't mentioned its existence to them. And besides they get the same thing sent to their email every week.

4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

I look at it. Since I get nearly no reader feedback, this is my only gauge as to whether anyone's looking at my work. I think that PCat's SH deserves every single page view it has and I don't feel threatened by it. He's an institution on the boards and I don't think that I'm competing with him.

5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction.

Three instances come quickly to mind and all of them are of a single type: lucky dice rolls that turned what were supposed to be a dangerous and climactic encounters into single round routs. The most recent involved a villainous wererat who had been bothering our heroes for several adventures meeting his untimely end in one round with two critical hits - one a x3!

6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

• Plot
• Characters
• Descriptive text that draws me into a scene

7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

• Spelling
• Grammar
• A good sense of storytelling

8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

I'm current.

9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

No. Sometimes unheroic and unexpected things happen; that's the nature of the game. I do try to write things up in the most interesting way possible, however. It's often easy to tweak things in the presentation to make events seem more interesting than they actually are. Actually, the hardest thing to write up was the sudden conversion to the 3E rules.

10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser:

"Ya gonna open da door?" the voice asked as the eye traveled over Finian's body. "Ya don't look fit ta feast, slim."
"Who.. are you?" the Archer wheezed.
"Name's Muddah," the voice said and the eye disappeared to be replaced by a twisted, flattened nose and a huge mouth split into a wide smile. That mouth was over-full of sharply pointed fangs. "An' I'd a be decidin' whatcha wanna do right quick. Yer boss don't seem ta be havin' too tender a time!"
Finian glanced back and saw Soriah lying in the sand at the creature's feet. She was trying unsuccessfully to get to her hands and knees. There was blood on her armor.
"She's cooked if'n sumpin' don't 'appen right quick," Muddah told him. The red eye was staring at the half-elf through the view port again. "It's square wid me if'n ya don't wanna let me out, but da boss's in right bile shape, if'n ya ask me!"
The Archer looked from the eye to Soriah to his bow. His hand was trembling even worse than before. He could use the bow; maybe draw the creature's attention away from his companions. The way he felt, however, he knew it would probably kill him to do so. And the tremor made him doubt his ability to hit the thing.
He looked at the blood red eye staring at him from the view port.
"Help them," he said, feeling as useless as he'd ever felt in his whole life.
"Time ta feast!" Muddah said as the bar slid away.

11. Give us a link, pookie.

The link to the Stroy Hour's in my sig.

The earlier tales (before we converted to 3E) can be found here

 

[Elemental]

Well, I just entered, with a non-d20 Story Hour (Exalted: Tales of the Pefect Circle)

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)


Two out of four preludes. The first proper session will be tonight.


2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?


A great deal. It's nice to know someone's reading it and / or wants to know more.


3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?


Most of them.


4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?


Yes, and yes. Though Piratecat earned every last one of them.


5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction.


Writing up a PC who the player decided to change after the prelude, consensus being that she just wasn't working as a character. How on earth do you write that up without making the story incoherant? In epic fantasy, you don't usually get a hero who turns up, decides not to join the group and then vanishes into the ether, never to be heard from again.


6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?


Drama, which can be big fights, tense social situations, challenging puzzles, and many other things.

Good descriptive powers because online, your description is all they have to go on.

Interesting NPC's, situations and places.


7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?


A rapport between the writer and readers, so the latter know exactly what the former means.

A rapport between the readers and PC's, because if the readers don't care about these guys, then the story is dead in the water.

Ability to keep the plot clear, no matter how complex it gets (and my games often get very tangled, very quickly).


8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?


Two.


9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?


No. As is the nature of GM's, I often hint about a course of action that I've planned for, but I try and refrain from outright railroading, for any reason.


10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron. EDIT: quick note- people seem to think I mean the same old "give us a few paragraphs about your SH". I mean "Give us a few paragraphs FROM your SH".


"The ancient woman sat down and felt a slight twinge in her bones. ‘I’m getting old.’ She thought, and laughed at herself. It had been over fifty-five and a half centuries. Of course she was feeling old. By rights, she should have been rotting in her grave millenia ago but that had changed that day she had been driven out of her bed by an urge she could not comprehend, to watch the stars, and the red star that had spoken to her.

Though that day was frozen in her memory, she couldn’t recall anything else from her mortal life. She couldn’t recall who her parents were, if she’d had a husband. Memories had piled on each other over the years, and inevitably, some had got lost. There were entire centuries in her past that she had retained nothing from. It was strange how events could wait for decades and then all come at once. There was the emergence of the Deathlords and their campaign to spread their shadowlands over the world, there was the sudden disappearance of the Empress, the ruler of the Realm, and there was, after so many years, the re-emergance of the Solar Exalted. Once in a great while during the time since the Usurpation, one of them had appeared, but the Wyld Hunt of the Dragon-Blooded had been swift to descend, and slay them. But with the vanishing of the Empress, the attention of the Realm had turned inwards, as the great houses squabbled for supremacy. But that alone did not account for the rapid upturn in Solars returning. For the first time in a very long time, what she was attemtping was not only possible, but plausible. Assuming the next few minutes went well. So much depended on that, she dared not think about it. But it needed to be done. The world needed saving, and no-one else looked likely to step up to the task any time soon."


11. Give us a link, pookie.

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30085

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)

Only two sessions - another in a few days.


2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

I'm only in this for the feedback - please comment. Please, please...you get the picture.


3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

0% - I'm the only member of ENWorld from my group (not for want of trying - they just don't join).


4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

Yes I do value it - but I'm working off a ratio with the number of replies. And yeah, I dream of one day being Piratecat.


5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction.

Obviously it's too soon for me to answer this question.


6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

Fun - show the excitement that you feel in your campaign.
Style - don't just use game speak, find other ways to portray the action.
Drama - It shouldn't sound like a bunch of folks rolling dice and knocking back Jolt(TM). Characters should feel like they're in a life and death situation.


7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

Style - as per previous question.
Good formatting - easier to read, more read.


8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

Up to date - your reading it as it's happening.


9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

Not yet - give me time.


10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron. EDIT: quick note- people seem to think I mean the same old "give us a few paragraphs about your SH". I mean "Give us a few paragraphs FROM your SH".

"I was standing second to last in the line, next to Aria, and I saw with dismay the lizard warrior’s halberd catch her a glancing blow in the shoulder. Knowing that she was ill prepared to stand toe-to-toe with such a powerful warrior, I touched her shoulder, telling her to switch places with me. She waited for the right moment, and then with a deft motion, we switched places, putting me in the front line, as it were. The lizard halberdier was unfazed as to which target he was attacking and pressed me as hard as he could, slashing away. I responded in kind, and my long sword drew more blood than his halberd.

Back in the middle of our line, Kakita was making repeated strikes at his opponent, his katana leaving slash after slash in the lizard warrior’s unarmoured torso. Kakita was appalled however, when he heard a low pitched hum, and the creature’s skin seemed to close some of its wounds automatically, as if healing that would take days, was happening in seconds. Unsure how many times the lizard man could achieve this healing, Kakita redoubled his attack.

Pax continued to rake her enemy with the taloned end of her steel chain. Dancing and weaving with astonishing grace for one so tall, the fey-touched barbarian held her opponent at bay, only once receiving a strike in return."

-------

While the battle raged, Mark snuck forward to see what lay at the end of this tunnel. Peeking through an open doorway at the end of the corridor, Mark looked into a large chamber, filled with strange objects which looked to be equal parts living beings and magical devices. Across the chamber Mark could make out the shape of the umber hulk, standing so still it might well have been a statue. Behind it, against the wall, were a number of humanoid figures, chained and bound. There were tables which seemed to have been grown from bone and pools of water made from membranous flesh. Something large and distressed writhed in a large, fleshy bag hanging from the ceiling. It looked as if it might well have once been the organ of a living thing, as though a giant had swallowed a man and then the stomach had been cut free and hung from the roof like a sack. Moving back and forth in this biological madness, seemingly oblivious to the noises of combat coming from up the passage, was a single figure in leathery robes. Mark’s blood chilled as the figure turned in profile to a lamplight and he saw the four whipping tentacles hanging from the humanoids mouth and chin. A mind flayer!


11. Give us a link, pookie.

See my sig.