[dungeoncrawl] Re: Tuesday Morning Review (comments)
- From: Johnathan Detrick <jdetrick@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: dungeoncrawl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 09 Oct 2002 13:47:21 -0400
Sure it helps. Actually, I would have been quite happy had you been
able to stay and talk. I had wanted to speak with everyone (you
included) to try and figure out why I was not enjoying myself as I
thought I should be. Unfortunately, you had to leave, and I had plenty
of time to stay. (Brad is taking real-estate classes for the next few
weeks, so he doesn't get home Monday nights until about 10:50pm. No
reason to rush home.)
Yes, I do feel better. I'm going to try next week to just relax and
play as my characters would, instead of trying so hard to "win" the
game. This does help.
jimkaren@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> I almost want to start off by
> saying "when you've been in this
> business as long as I have..." :) I
> knew when I left Monday that you guys
> had some things to talk/think about,
> and I was glad to give you that time.
> I wouldn't have added anything. Just
> the fact that John didn't bolt out the
> door at first opportunity was a good
> sign that such was the case. :)
>
> But seriously, maybe I can help to make
> this easier to come to terms with. The
> first few times we played, all the
> players ended with sort of a high, and
> I'd go home totally stressed about what
> I was attempting to do. That's why we
> had such serious, sometimes
> argumentative conversations for a few
> weeks there.
>
> I've had months to wrap my mind around
> the enormity of what we're trying to
> transition through, and it seems like
> you might be where I was about the time
> when Shawn visited. Then again, I've
> always kept more information to myself,
> giving me the "advance" dose of anxiety.
>
> But - be of good cheer! I think I know
> how to phrase this in a way that puts
> everything in the proper light. Over
> the past few weeks, as I've cautioned
> people on expectations and the
> possibility of defeat, my sole
> motivation came from a desire to do
> things "right". I wanted the players
> to feel that victory was earned, and
> not just handed to them. And I valued
> what we've all committed to these
> characters and this storyline over the
> years - I want to end well. Still, I
> may have gone too far to protect that
> desire out of my own anxiety.
>
> Here's the bottom line: whoever you
> (meaning us, the group, and Shawn) want
> to have become gods, can. Whatever
> pantheon or mythology you want to
> establish, feel free. My role in this
> ends the instant the "Big event" takes
> place.
>
> My biggest concern is that everyone
> leave their anxiety at the door. I'm
> not trying to pigeonhole everyone into
> ruling a world populated by chickens -
> I just want to tell a thrilling story
> (so try to sit back and enjoy the ride).
>
> I noticed Monday that everyone tended
> to take things a bit too seriously
> (again, I've had a part to play in
> that) - distance yourselves from the
> story for a second and just think about
> all the cool, amazing things that we
> roleplayed through. Gadget restoring
> the world - Magnus and Celane's
> showdown - the deceased characters'
> difficult decisions when confronted by
> Kelemvor.
>
> The next time we play, I hope to DM a
> VERY challenging adventure. The Riders
> will face their greatest obstacle in
> attaining godhood, and may even have to
> die on purpose to succeed. If anyone
> has a weak stomach by then, I can bring
> some dramamine along - but really,
> we're not succeeding if everyone is too
> uptight about the significance of this
> to not have fun...
>
> Did this discussion help any?
>
> >
> > Ok, I finally have caught up on
> my work, and I thought I would respond
> to
> > Jim's e-mail. My feelings on the
> current plot? I'm honestly not sure.
> I spent
> > about 30 minutes talking with Matt
> and Damon after Monday's game trying to
> > figure out just what my feelings
> were. I'm not sure how much of a
> conclusion I
> > came to, and I wish Matt and Damon
> had more time free to respond and chat,
> so
> > they could include their feelings.
> As it is, I'll try and speak as
> accurately
> > as possible.
> > Monday night didn't gel with me,
> and it's really weird. The first few
> times
> > we played this plot, with the Riders
> going after the power, I was psyched to
> > high heaven. Jim did such a
> tremendous job, and I was loving every
> minute of
> > it. But the last few sessions have
> been less exciting for me and I'm not
> sure
> > why. I tend to think it's a
> combination of quite a few things. One
> of them is
> > a feeling of anxiety. We are
> bringing to an end the adventures of a
> group of
> > characters we have played for over a
> decade (or at least, bringing their
> mortal
> > adventures to an end). While the
> characters will continue as NPCs and
> potential
> > background material, they will never
> be played again. What we are doing is a
> > major thing, and I am honestly
> concerned about how it will turn out.
> Jim has
> > dropped countless hints that things
> may not turn out the way we want them
> to,
> > and we should be prepared for
> anything, and as he dropped more and
> more, I
> > became more and more concerned. How
> is this going to end?
> > Of course, there is always an
> element of uncertainty in anything we
> do. But
> > what Jim does now closes a rather
> large chapter in our history. Not
> knowing
> > what characters will be affected and
> how they will be affected bothers me. I
> > find that I'm not enjoying myself,
> but instead worrying about the outcome
> of
> > every single encounter and every
> single decision. I'm concerned that we
> will
> > make a wrong turn, and catastrophe
> will ensue.
> > Personally, I'm just ready for
> the plot to be over, so I can breathe a
> sigh
> > of relief, and move on to something
> else. It's weird, because I'd like to
> move
> > back to the Sigil or to the lower
> level group of Riders where I play
> Quincy and
> > Ilana. Why? Because I don't care as
> strongly what happens to those
> > characters. If they die, if the DM
> turns them into chickens, if their arms
> fall
> > off, no matter what happens, it's not
> nearly as important as my feelings about
> > the current Riders.
> > Does this make sense?
> >
> > Jim and Karen wrote:
> >
> > > So, what did you guys think of last
> night? To be honest, it was my favorite
> > > night of this entire story line - I
> loved developing Gadget's supporting
> > > cast, and enjoyed seeing the
> results of tons of groundwork come to
> light
> > > (like introducing Kolyarut-13
> several months ago, and having Dr. Klaw
> defend
> > > himself by taking advantage of the
> Riders' problems with the gods).
> > >
> > > I also loved giving Gadget a chance
> to take on his arch-enemy mano-a-mano,
> > > and he did great. I still can't
> believe how well he kicked Klaw's butt!
> > > The neat thing was, they fought in
> a virtual world, where Klaw's
> > > artifact-granted godly powers were
> worthless. Gadget had a neat moment
> > > where he disrupted a transmission
> from the mechanical Kolyarut-13 to Klaw
> by
> > > disrupting the stream of 1's and
> 0's with his hand.
> > >
> > > All of the players did a great job
> with their characters - they seemed real
> > > to me. And John, I hope you didn't
> worry about my problems DMing
> > > spellcasters (I know we joked about
> it a lot), but I was fine. Everyone
> > > really put their all into it, and
> it resulted in a great game.
> > >
> > > Still, I had a hunch that people
> weren't really totally enjoying
> themselves,
> > > but I couldn't figure out why.
> Matt, seemed a bit bored with his
> > > characters; John and Damon both
> seemed like they had a lot on their
> minds.
> > > Was it just a stressful day for
> everyone, or did my buddies have a
> common
> > > concern regarding the plot or game?
> > >
> > > Felt it was worth asking - not a
> major deal, but better than leaving it
> go
> > > unremedied. Ok, enough babble from
> me! :)
> > >
> > > Jim
> >
> >
> >
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