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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 463611" data-attributes="member: 94">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) Humor4) Conflict7. 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.<a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?threadid=102&pagenumber=1" target="_blank">WULF's COLLECTED STORY HOUR</a>Wulf</blockquote>

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