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[ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
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<blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7636022" data-attributes="member: 79141"><p><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">DM's Notes - Another 'best ever'?!?</span></strong></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><strong>Soundtrack for Hunlow</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">[MEDIA=youtube]lVIev94s7Mo[/MEDIA]</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> </span></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'">Another 'best ever'?!?</span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> Zeitgeist does have a tendency to throw them up - a session which ends with one or more players saying, breathlessly, 'that was the best session ever'. I think that has a lot to do with it just being the most recent - these declarations are more subjective than empirical, but what the hell - I'll take it. And I wouldn't have run the AP for as long as I have if I didn't think that it outdid itself consistently from one adventure to the next.</span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> In this case, to my pleasant surprise, the combat with the pirates of Hunlow was declared to be the 'best combat we've run in Cypher System'.</span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> A say 'surprise' because - as my last DM's Note indicated - I had fluffed the tail end of the previous session and thrown the players into a very difficult situation which I thought might turn into an overwhelming and un-fun grind. To raise the stakes I meta-gamed a bit and quoted the text from the adventure which said that going up against the pirates <em>en masse</em> could be even harder than dealing with the Golden Legion. So they knew they were up against it.</span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> The interesting thing about Cypher is that players can spend resources to avoid being hit. They can also spend resources to hit and deal extra damage. As a DM it leaves you slightly in the dark as to how they're doing because you often don't land a serious blow from one round to the next (sadly squandering some of the bad guys' key powers). What you can't see is just how exhausted they are just from <em>dodging</em>.</span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> Part of the thrill of this combat was just how close to death some of the players came, including Korrigan, who has gone pretty much unscathed since somewhere back in heroic tier. (His defences are OTT. Unlike Rumdoom, who is basically a bag of holding of hit points. Also unlike Rumdoom, he doesn't throw himself into combat ass-backwards because he isn't trying to prove that he's immortal.)</span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> This session was <em>exhausting</em> though. So much to keep track of. So many actions each round. Crazy numbers of priests. Even crazier numbers of pirates.</span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> </span></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'">Throughout it all I was wondering if I couldn't have handled this episode in a better way. Reading the adventure, I imagined tense negotiations and careful diplomacy which may in the end have led to combat. This full-on massacre was not how I thought it would be. </span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> In fact, the adventure in the Gyre is a lot more bloody than I realised. Like a nightmarish version of Star Trek directed by Sam Peckinpah.</span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> Still, it's fun. And it might go on for a while, as it's become apparent that my players intend to fully explore, not make a beeline for the exit. I have to say that I'm glad about that. I'm still enjoying running this AP more than any other I've DMed and now that the end is in sight, the opportunity to stop and desecrate the roses is very welcome.</span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> </span></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'">What a cleverly designed penultimate episode!</span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> <strong>PS. </strong>I asked my players to elucidate their opinions on the session and received the following responses:</span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> </span></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'">"I liked that there were different levels of puzzle to solve, both in terms of movement and prioritisation — plus it felt that we weren't defaulting to a standard "daily, enc., enc." chain. Also I think it further shone because we were all there? " <strong>(That's the thing with having 7 players. There's usually someone missing!)</strong></span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"> "There was something for everyone to contribute; strategy, burst damage, single target damage, mobility. In such a tight battle buffs and debuffs made all the difference as well. Also no one was dominating the battle." <strong>(Ironically, this came from Q's player, who is usually doing just that. I think he feels self-conscious about it, but the other players are more-often-than-not grateful for her contribution.)</strong></span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="font-size: 10px"> "Maybe it just comes down to having 600 pirates to kill? <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> When have we had so many enemies swarming us? Also this was the closest Korrigan has come to dying since switching to Cypher system. Having a tactical map is also nice." <strong>(Korrigan's player. Another 4E fan.)</strong></span></span></p><p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"></span></p><p><strong><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">So there you go.</span></strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gideonpepys, post: 7636022, member: 79141"] [B][COLOR=rgb(255, 255, 255)]DM's Notes - Another 'best ever'?!?[/COLOR][/B] [COLOR=rgb(255, 255, 255)] [B]Soundtrack for Hunlow[/B] [MEDIA=youtube]lVIev94s7Mo[/MEDIA] [FONT=Calibri] Another 'best ever'?!?[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] Zeitgeist does have a tendency to throw them up - a session which ends with one or more players saying, breathlessly, 'that was the best session ever'. I think that has a lot to do with it just being the most recent - these declarations are more subjective than empirical, but what the hell - I'll take it. And I wouldn't have run the AP for as long as I have if I didn't think that it outdid itself consistently from one adventure to the next.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] In this case, to my pleasant surprise, the combat with the pirates of Hunlow was declared to be the 'best combat we've run in Cypher System'.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] A say 'surprise' because - as my last DM's Note indicated - I had fluffed the tail end of the previous session and thrown the players into a very difficult situation which I thought might turn into an overwhelming and un-fun grind. To raise the stakes I meta-gamed a bit and quoted the text from the adventure which said that going up against the pirates [I]en masse[/I] could be even harder than dealing with the Golden Legion. So they knew they were up against it.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] The interesting thing about Cypher is that players can spend resources to avoid being hit. They can also spend resources to hit and deal extra damage. As a DM it leaves you slightly in the dark as to how they're doing because you often don't land a serious blow from one round to the next (sadly squandering some of the bad guys' key powers). What you can't see is just how exhausted they are just from [I]dodging[/I].[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] Part of the thrill of this combat was just how close to death some of the players came, including Korrigan, who has gone pretty much unscathed since somewhere back in heroic tier. (His defences are OTT. Unlike Rumdoom, who is basically a bag of holding of hit points. Also unlike Rumdoom, he doesn't throw himself into combat ass-backwards because he isn't trying to prove that he's immortal.)[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] This session was [I]exhausting[/I] though. So much to keep track of. So many actions each round. Crazy numbers of priests. Even crazier numbers of pirates.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] Throughout it all I was wondering if I couldn't have handled this episode in a better way. Reading the adventure, I imagined tense negotiations and careful diplomacy which may in the end have led to combat. This full-on massacre was not how I thought it would be. [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] In fact, the adventure in the Gyre is a lot more bloody than I realised. Like a nightmarish version of Star Trek directed by Sam Peckinpah.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] Still, it's fun. And it might go on for a while, as it's become apparent that my players intend to fully explore, not make a beeline for the exit. I have to say that I'm glad about that. I'm still enjoying running this AP more than any other I've DMed and now that the end is in sight, the opportunity to stop and desecrate the roses is very welcome.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] What a cleverly designed penultimate episode![/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] [B]PS. [/B]I asked my players to elucidate their opinions on the session and received the following responses:[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] "I liked that there were different levels of puzzle to solve, both in terms of movement and prioritisation — plus it felt that we weren't defaulting to a standard "daily, enc., enc." chain. Also I think it further shone because we were all there? " [B](That's the thing with having 7 players. There's usually someone missing!)[/B][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri] "There was something for everyone to contribute; strategy, burst damage, single target damage, mobility. In such a tight battle buffs and debuffs made all the difference as well. Also no one was dominating the battle." [B](Ironically, this came from Q's player, who is usually doing just that. I think he feels self-conscious about it, but the other players are more-often-than-not grateful for her contribution.)[/B][/FONT] [SIZE=2] "Maybe it just comes down to having 600 pirates to kill? :) When have we had so many enemies swarming us? Also this was the closest Korrigan has come to dying since switching to Cypher system. Having a tactical map is also nice." [B](Korrigan's player. Another 4E fan.)[/B][/SIZE] [/COLOR] [B][COLOR=rgb(255, 255, 255)]So there you go.[/COLOR][/B] [/QUOTE]
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[ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
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