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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Enk&amp;D'Shai" data-source="post: 459391" data-attributes="member: 7569">Hi all! Enkhidu here, and I figure it might be a good idea to answer some of these questions, especially since the Small Beginnings Story Hour I co-author with D'Shai527 seems to be one of the alternative story hours in the forum. But, after looking at the questions, many of them seem to be directed at the DMs of the various story hours. So, I've managed to drag him away from working on one of our multiple projects long enough to help me answer the questions.OK! Where's the free candy you promised me, Enk? Sorry, D'shai - that was a ruse.A what? A ruse. A clever attempt to trick you. And it worked. Now answer some questions, DM-boy.How many hit points do you have Enk? Well, Ander has...No. How many hit points do you have. Oh. Uh... Why do you have that stick in your... OW! Stop beating me! I give! I give! Geez, you'd think I was hong or something.That's what I thought. Now why did you really bring me here? Questions. From Dr. Midnight. Well, let's get to it! Wow. That's a tough one, because they don't always match up. Maybe 7?More like 6, though we could be as far as 8 or 9 by the end of the week (from the next post). Reader feedback as an author is about as important to me as player feedback when I DM. If the readers aren't having fun, I might as well not be writing it. For me, I've always looked at writing Small Beginnings as a learning experience. Reader feedback really helps to be a guage for how the finished product looks. Hopefully, we'll be able to take what we learn here and apply it to other projects. As an aside, I value criticism (constructive, at least) more highly than the "atta boys" that come down the pike.Let's see, 5 of 7 people in the group total, 4 of 6 players. Though we're still trying to get more players to take a gander at it.Yeah, but we're still trying to get those two people housetrained, so reading is still a few steps up the ladder for them. PirateCat's going down! Move over, P-Kitty, a real pirate's coming through! Uh, yeah. right. Seriously, that three legged cat's been doing this for so long that I don't even think about competing views wise with him (or Wulf, or Sagiro, or Sep). In fact, I say more power to 'em, and I'm glad that those guys have the noteriety that they do. Makes me think that one day Small Beginnings could help launch a venture into d20 publisher land (much like Wulf and P-Cat have done, though I imagine that they would have been able to do so with or without the name recognition from ENWorld).Well, they say it eventually happens to every guy, so I don't really feel all that bad about...No, Enk. Not that story. Not ever again. They mean about the story hour. Oh.From my "player's perspective, the worst moments are yet to come. I won't spoil the surprises by telling, but we'll just say that my dice hate me. And I mean that. I can't wait to write about that one, cuz my dice hate you too. Good characters (or just well roleplayed, in depth characters) during the actual sessions help a lot. A strong plot.... And plenty of time to write. Yup that's about right. For the most part, I'd agree with that. Though I think that we should probably write with a dealine more often just to see how it comes out.Now that's a toughie, because it's really a matter of taste on this one. As a story hour reader, and trust me I've read more than a few of them, I like good formatting and grammar; a goodly amount of meaningful dialogue; and enough info about the characters to care about what they heck they're doing.The 3 D's. Dialogue, description, and donuts. Everything is better with donuts. Urgh. More than 6 months worth, easy. But we got started on this really late.No. But I have giggled when I thought about writing up a particualr scene. Yeah, I hate that.Athena spread her soft wings and floated out from the wooded settlement. The air was thin and sweet, much better than the thick heavy air of the stone dwelling than the owl and her bonded one used to nest in. The world shrank as Athena beat her wings against the warm updraft, gaining much needed height to carry out the bonded ones request. A mouse distracted the white owl for just a moment as it darted out from a fallen log beneath the green canopy of trees. Athena dipped her wings and banked toward her prey, but stopped short of diving into the trees as her keen eyes detected movement in the thickets that now shrouded the mouse in shadows. The owl landed softly on an overhanging branch and looked carefully at the new growth that crowded the forest floor. Her natural instinct pulled at her from deep within her stomach, but the owl had grown accustomed to pushing them aside and imitating the inquisitive nature and patience of her soul friend. The bonded friend had needed a high view of the forest looking for dark ones and ground holes, but not the small ones that prey hid in. Once again spreading her feathers Athena leapt back onto the soft winds to complete her mission so that she may pay more attention to her growing hunger.The ground spread quickly beneath her white wings and the forest was soon left behind. The vast plains stretched out below her but instead of the short grass that normally flourished on the ice covered ground, there was instead more of that strange bramble that Athena had seen in the wood. She circled for a moment puzzling over this odd phenomenon and finally coasted down for a closer search. The vines were much thicker out here and the thorns seemed to be seeping a dark liquid. The great owl's keen eyes also saw several animals that seemed trapped in the thorny underbrush, thrashing and kicking to escape but only succeeding in deeper cuts and further strangulation. Soon only carcasses littered the area and no movement was seen beneath the thick bramble either. Athena's wings began to tire but a strange tingling told her it would be unwise to perch anywhere near the growing vines. Twisting her head her eyes caught sight of a large post protruding up from the ground and she quickly changed her angle to float towards it. Her talons dug deep into the woods and she opened her wings full to balance on the small beam. When she finally rested her full weight onto the perch it suddenly shifted throwing the owl back into the air. Athena watched as cracks emerged beneath the brambles surrounding the post and they suddenly tumbled into a great rift that now spanned directly beneath the bird. Dust pushed up from the great rift as the perplexed owl once again landed on the wooden post which was now pointing out over the gorge instead of toward the sun. As the dust cleared Athena steadied her gaze down into the darkness of the rift. A huge stone nest, like the bonded one had stayed in while in the stone settlement, was nestled into the unsettled ground deep within the hole. Its top was covered with grass, but the stone walls of the nest supporting it were bare save for a winding wooden staircase that enclosed them.Athena rested her wings for a few moments more, and then dropped from her perch and unfolded her wings, angling back the way she had come.The bonded one would be pleased.<a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?threadid=16228" target="_blank">Small Beginnings</a></blockquote>

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