[dungeoncrawl] Re: Tuesday morning critique
- From: Damon Kline <damon.kline@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'dungeoncrawl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <dungeoncrawl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 15:02:09 -0400
I absolutely love playing these guys!! But, as John said, it has to end.
We will have other groups that can achieve this same sort of interaction, it
just takes time.
Jim, this has to be one of, if not THE, best plots you have ever DM'd. It
has plenty of action, it is fast paced, it is complex to the point that
players and characters are surprised often and the most important
aspect...it is fun!! I really think you are doing a tremendous job.
For my characters, Baish has been so easy to play, as he always has been. I
can slip right into character with him and he is fun to play. I
particularly enjoyed his interaction with Magnus last night as they seemed
to have the same attitude. They almost compete to see who can be the most
arrogant some times. :) Magnus always wins. :)
My only struggle, if you want to call it that, is Quasit at this point.
Last night Baish overshadowed Quasit, but a lot of that had to do with the
fact that I just don't know how Quasit feels about all of this. It's weird.
On one hand, he does want power. That is the whole reason he left
Menzoberranzan. Males never rose to the heights of power that females did.
Shelensia left with him because she didn't follow Lolth's edicts. However,
as time has gone on, Quasit has found himself becoming more..."good" than
neutral. I've actually found myself forcing him to not act as good, because
I like the idea of the mysterious drow mage persona, who uses whatever means
necessary to accomplish his goals. But, truthfully, his wife has rubbed off
on him a lot and he isn't quite the "cut-throat" that he used to be. Then,
having a child has also softened him. So, he's becoming more like Nadan,
which is odd because the two of them used to be at odd's all the time! He
isn't so much becoming a follower of a deity to the point that Nadan is, but
he is becoming more in-tune with how his actions affect the world at large.
This all stems from him traveling the planes and being "taught" a lesson by
the Mad Thinker. Ever since the world where he fought his son, he has been
different.
Well, I have to go to a meeting. More on this later today perhaps, or
tomorrow...
-----Original Message-----
From: Johnathan Detrick [mailto:jdetrick@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 11:43 AM
To: dungeoncrawl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [dungeoncrawl] Re: Tuesday morning critique
The end of your e-mail had me expecting someone to say, "For answers
to these, and other questions, watch the next episode of Soap." Which I
suppose dates me horribly. :)
Your comments about Ambrosia are well taken. Again, the characters
that go along, will not get much play time. It's a big decision.
I am very interested to see how, or if, Celane comes out of this.
Will she survive? Will she want to?
jimkaren@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> I was also very relieved to see how
> things turned out last night. It's
> funny - I was pretty worried that the
> group would founder; it seemed like I
> wasn't giving them enough info (hence
> the Sunday night consult with Shawn).
>
> It's a neat situation, with a lot of
> possibilities. One consequence of this
> past week won't come to light until
> next time, and it will be very
> upsetting to a certain NPC.
>
> Another character, Ambrosia, faces an
> uncertain future - she absolutely LOVES
> her inn, and wants to spend the rest of
> her life running it. What impact will
> that have on Magnus's plans?
>
> And then there's Quasit. How far will
> he go to see the group succeed; what
> justifies right or wrong for him?
>
> And then Dennis. Will he be raised
> from the dead? And what will become of
> Celane? Why was she working with such
> awful people to do something apparently
> so noble?
>
> Things that make you go hmm...
>
> >
> > Ok, I sent out what happened.
> Now how did I feel about it?
> >
> > Wow.
> >
> > I was worried all week. I had no
> idea how to go about finding
> > Celane or the Black Legion, or the
> power we were searching for. Since I
> > was playing the leader, this could be
> a problem. Scrying for them was
> > all I could think of, and that rarely
> works, and seems like a cop-out.
> > Luckily for me, Jim had a plan.
> I know I mentioned this last night,
> > but I want to mention it again. It's
> probably, in my opinion, the best
> > thing Jim has done as a DM since he
> started DMing again, and he's done a
> > lot of cool stuff. See, he could
> have let the party flounder. He would
> > have been well within his rights to
> put the party in Ambrosia's tavern
> > and make them come up with a plan.
> Instead, he gave Mileena a little
> > bit of information. It wasn't a lot,
> it wasn't nearly enough to make it
> > seem as though Mileena was there
> simply to drag the characters from
> > place to place. No, it was just
> enough to get the party moving, and
> > that's all we needed. Jim didn't
> shove the party into his plot. He
> > gently prodded. And that was the
> beauty of it.
> > By acting as he did, the night
> didn't seem contrived. I never got
> > the opinion that we were being forced
> into one action or another.
> > Mileena seemed like just another
> character, one that any of us could be
> > running. Everything flowed
> incredibly smoothly.
> > More important, Jim kept me
> guessing. Did I guess some of the
> > things? Sure, as soon as we
> approached the tower of the ruler of
> > Ribcage and saw the dead guards and
> gate melted off it's hinges, I
> > figured it was the Black Legion. But
> I never could figure out what
> > Dennis was doing in Ribcage, until he
> told us he was working with Celane
> > and had been distracting Amrikol.
> Even though Jim mentioned Dr. Klaw as
> > being interested when we started
> this, I had forgotten about him, so
> > that took me by surprise. And the
> final twist, with Celane being used
> > by the previously deceased deities,
> floored me. It certainly makes this
> > "race for the gold" more interesting
> and more complicated.
> > By the way, I do want to point
> out, that Nadan was somewhat short
> > with Dennis last night, frustrated
> that he and Celane felt that using a
> > plan that had input from both Amrikol
> and Dr. Klaw was a bad idea.
> > Please understand that Nadan was
> frustrated. To me, it was perfectly in
> > character.
> > So, the plot was great, and Jim
> handled the two fights well. I know
> > that it may seem I don't expect my
> characters to die. That isn't true.
> > Magnus and Nadan don't expect to die
> (especially Magnus). I know that
> > death could claim them at any time.
> Jim kept me on the edge of my seat
> > during the fights. I honestly wasn't
> sure how the fight outside Ribcage
> > would go, and I was especially
> concerned during the donnybrook with the
> > deities. I am so not looking forward
> to dealing with them again. Jim
> > insinuated last night that Talos was
> gone for good. I hope so!
> > As for the characters, they were
> great! It's just like old times
> > with the Riders! I loved the
> interaction. Jim's right in that
> > Carpathia may feel left out to an
> extent, but Carpathia is a loner, and
> > Matt is playing that to the hilt.
> All of the characters were played
> > well, as was Mileena, who seemed to
> fit right in. Talosaard was very
> > quiet, but that fits his personality
> as well. The interaction between
> > Magnus and Baish was great (they
> think alike a lot of the time) and I
> > always love seeing Quasit in action.
> I'm not too busy today, so I may
> > send a more detailed e-mail focusing
> on the characters.
> > I have to say, I am enjoying this
> group tremendously. However, I am
> > more than ready for this to be done,
> so we can permanently retire them.
> > They are a blast, but that's always
> been the problem, hasn't it? They
> > are too much fun to let go. But we
> need to. We can create parties that
> > are just as cool (witness the
> Fellowship of Sundyr or the Sigil) and
> we
> > need to. We need to broaden our
> horizons.
> > Along those lines, I would
> encourage everyone to be careful when we
> > end this plot. If the Riders do
> become dieites, I do see that as the
> > end of the line. We may see them as
> gods, or even avatars, but I don't
> > expect us to ever play them as a
> party again. Matt is right, we may
> > change our minds (don't we always?),
> but I wouldn't elevate your
> > character if you don't want to lose
> them. Just a thought.
> >
> >
> >
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