Nioca

I'll echo what Lilith said about setpieces and disconnectedness, but I've got a few criticisms of my own to level, and I'm afraid I'm going to be very brutally honest about them. Since the plot was the most important part of the campaign, that's what I'm going to focus on. (And before I continue, let me just say HUGE MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT!) The plot did not do a whole lot for me. Part of that may have been because I had just been involved in another campaign with a time-travel plot (Po3), but there's a few other reasons as well. 1) Plot Holes As the campaign continued, it felt like you were adding complexity for the sake of having a complex plot, and it resulted in a number of holes that are difficult to explain. When Nikki explained what had happened, the only conclusion I could come to is, 'That makes no sense!' Plot holes aren't a big horrific crime when you've got a campaign like RomD or CoH, where figuring out what's going on isn't the main point. But when the scenario's focus is on piecing things together, plot holes go from slightly sloppy to just flat-out bad: it screws up the players' understanding of what's happening, which means they just wind up meandering, somewhat lost. Before we start, here was Nikki's explanation of what happened: Okay so yeah lets explain this. You know how witches are born from the previous ones ashes? well, that means when cass got involved in E'lessra's timeline there was a paradox, which started blowing things up. From her perspective, you arrived at Discord, got her to ask for help, and she started meddling. The meddling meant that the universe tried to cancel both her and E'lessra out and create one witch. Remember how at the tree, Cassandra said it was hers? and how it was split? when each fragment got fixed, it resulted in the Cass/E'lessra hybrid thing you just fought. ANyway, yeah, so she sends you off places, and each time she does, things get a little more confused; on the ship as you fell, you saw a little girl being split into two, and then the next thing you get Cassie being kidnapped instead of E'lessra. So yeah, you go on these adventures, and then, originally, you go, fight, die, and Cassie, knowing that she'll see you in her past, has to send you back there, to do all the stuff, making the loop. This time, you had the weapons, and of course, there was only one witch, so nobody to send you back anyway. Reasonable enough, right? Except... The campaign should have ended at Session 1: The whole catalyst for the time loop was the party getting sent forward in time and enlisting Cassandra's help. Which is all well and good, EXCEPT that the only reason the party got sent forward is because Cassandra intervened and sent them forward in the first place. There's no cause for the effect; Cassandra could never have gone back, because doing so meant that the party went forward, which could only have been done with her help. In short: The party (from a logical perspective) should have died during that first fight. Cassandra should never have been born: We already know that witches have very long lifespans, effectively meaning that they don't die unless someone/something actually takes action to kill them. We also know that E'lessra successfully took over Mote after we failed, and apparently ruled until the apparent death of Mote itself. All fine, right? Except that if witches are born from the previous ones' ashes, there could never have been another witch; Cassandra couldn't have been born, because E'lessra either a) never died, or died with the world of Mote, which would have taken any new witches with it. This becomes especially egregious when you realize that E'lessra was the first, and Cassandra was the SIXTH. The temporal changes should have wiped Cassandra out of existence a thousand times over. Time is a selectively malicious jerk: The explanation of how the Cassandra/E'lessra hybrid was formed sounds reasonable enough, right up until you consider one major flaw: She wasn't the only one messing with time and causing a ton of paradoxes. The party was also creating its own paradoxes and time troubles by interacting with their other selves, using knowledge they shouldn't have, and otherwise just making a mess of things. So why didn't they get hit with the same paradox problems as Cassandra? Shouldn't we have had a Hybrid party at the end of the campaign, if that's how things work? (And more importantly, would it get 32 miles per stamina highway? ) One witch, Two witch, Red witch, Paradox witch: There's only supposed to be one witch at a time on Mote, with each witch getting born from the ashes of the last, right? If that's the case, where did Cassandra's aunt come from? She was clearly a witch, and clearly part of Cassandra's line, yet Cassandra herself stated that there wasn't supposed to be more than one witch on Mote at a time. There's probably more I've overlooked, but these are the ones that jumped out at me. 2) The Cassandra Show! Also starring the party One saving grace is that Cassandra was a nifty character. That's a very good thing, because the number of times she swooped in to steal the spotlight or show up the party would have gotten old very, very quickly if she wasn't as well written as she was. In fact, I think it would have been a little beneficial if we saw a bit less of her than we did. At times, it seemed often forgotten that Cassandra, whilst important, was NOT the main character in the story. In a campaign, that position always belongs to the party. Rowen had a similar problem in Po3; NPCs would show up to steal the spotlight or save the day, reducing the player characters to nothing but a bunch of bumbling morons stumbling from one rescue to the next. The same applies here: the party couldn't get anything done without Cassandra or some other NPC swooping in to heroically save the day. It got to the point that I rarely got worried about things turning sour, because I knew someone would be coming to our rescue in short order (and true enough, they always did). It killed the sense of achievement that usually comes with beating or surviving hard situations, because it wasn't really our effort that pulled us through. 3) Explanations should come with complementary painkillers. Not kidding here. I wound up with a low-grade headache on three different occasions after an NPC "explained" something to the party. Maybe it was just because of the complex nature of the plot, but it seemed to me that every time the exposition started, the NPCs would talk a lot whilst somehow simultaneously explaining nothing. I don't mind a little flavor text or technobabble (magibabble?), but when people explain things, they should actually explain things. 4) Earn your unhappy ending! Nikki said that it was possible to save Cassandra. I'm going to flat-out say that no, it was not. What had to be done to save her was so mind-bendingly counter-intuitive (given how little we knew even by the end of the campaign, more on that later) that it would have taken a Deus Ex Machina just to even think of it. "Oh, here, just retrieve these artifacts that Cassandra told you NOT to grab before talking to her and triggering the final boss fight, and also use these little artifacts that you've never even heard of before let alone know how to use, and you can save her!" Yeah, no. All hints were building toward Cassandra being E'lessra, so why would we want to save her in the first place, knowing what she'll do? Which leads me to... 5) A need-to-know basis, and no one needs to know. Lilith said it, I'll reiterate it. No one in the party knew what was going on, because we were never given enough information to figure it out. Or, rather, that the information we were given was so vague that it could fit any number of theories. To illustrate, what I thought was going on right up until the final boss fight: Click to reveal.. (Tangential Theory, ahoy!) That Cassandra and the party were trapped in a sort of ceaseless purgatory, with the young Cassandra being the evil E'lessra. She kept getting attacked by the party, went off her rocker, and wiped out Mote. However, she was still getting attacked by the party, to the point that she eventually realized that she was the one causing it. Turning good and trying to fix everything, she became the Cassandra we knew, who attempted to go back and set everything right. But by doing so, she inadvertently created the very same purgatory, the same chain of events she was trying to stop. And the only way to actually break the cycle was for Cassandra (and all variants) to die (either by the party's or her own hand), thereby ensuring that there was no one left to continue the cycle. Obviously, I was a rather off-base on this theory, but it also nicely demonstrates how, without adequate information, the players can get the wrong ideas (or no ideas at all) about what's happening in the campaign. It's obviously a difficult line to walk, trying to strike the right balance between too much and not enough information, but I honestly think having the players figure out an obvious plot is less damning then leaving them utterly confused and disappointed. ----- I think I'm going to stop now, before I completely break your spirit. Don't get me wrong, you did quite a few things right (The narration and descriptions, for example, was excellent, as were the various environments we often found ourselves in). It's just that there's plenty of room for improvement. (Also, I don't think you did yourself any favors going for a time-travel plot for your first campaign; those have an automatic tendency to get messy and complicated, and the mere fact you pulled off a complex one at all shows you're a decent writer/DM)

An epilogue! Click to reveal.. (Hexelion, the Aftermath) "Not all stories have happy endings." Hexelion had said it as an automatic response to Zatira about what had happened to Cassandra. Nothing more than a throwaway line, to put their minds at ease. But it struck a chord with Hexelion. His time in Discord had brought up memories, memories he had long thought were in the past and buried. Now, he had several more memories he wanted nothing more than to bury. He had been left feeling empty and forlorn after Cassandra's death, his faith in the world shaken. After the ceremony celebrating the death of the witch, he quietly slipped away without his reward, never to return to Houghton or to his partners in witch-slaying. But though he tried his best, the memories continued torturing him. Cassandra had said that he would have a choice to make, and he had tried to lead the way to save Cassandra and destroy E'lessra. He did everything he could for her. He was willing to put everything on the line for her... and for what? To find out the ending was already written? That there was never a choice to begin with? That he was just part of some cosmic joke? Slowly, the emptiness turned to bitterness. People did not make choices, he realized; they were instead only the world's playthings, to be tormented on its whims. Hexelion knew now that he was destined to remain lost, to forever be haunted by the memories of what could have been his, of what had been done, and to always have any hope of happiness or contentment dancing just out of reach. He didn't try to change his lot in life anymore... what was the use? Hexelion continued his work as a bodyguard, far away from Houghton and his home. He remained a wanderer, never staying in one place for long. And those who did know him were quick to point out his bitterness and how he never strayed far from a source of liquor. Erm... yay? Also, since Zatira posted hers, here's Hexelion's regret. Like a moron, I completely failed to notice that Nikki wanted something that wasn't directly connected to one's backstory, so... yeah. Click to reveal.. (If regrets were pennies...) The unsuitable paramour mentioned in the backstory is the source of Hexelion's main regret. As the relationship grew, Hexelion knew that he had a choice to make. He could either stand by his family and break it off with the girl, thereby ensuring he had a life befit of a noble. Or, he could stand by his lover, and live the rest of his life with what he believed was his soulmate. Unfortunately, he stalled on making that choice as long as possible, believing he could keep his paramour a secret from his family indefinitely. The result was that, when his family discovered Melena, he wound up losing them both; Melena disappeared (his family presumably had a hand in that, though he never did find out what happened), and his family disowned him. In short, he regrets not actually stepping up and making that choice, which wound up costing him everything.

There were definitely special days in A2. Can't remember whether they were also in A1 or not, though, and they definitely weren't in the later Avernums.

...eh, sure, why not.

Just a reminder: The finale is tomorrow!

Indeed, the party wound up straying a little closer to a TPK than they wanted or planned this session. Everyone's alive... if only just. (To give an idea, the active party [that is, not counting Mario, who was inactive the whole time] is down to about 34% of their full health) Also, from now on, I'm doing the grids in Google Docs. Because I forgot how much of a pain in the rear text-based grids were. Anyway, if you missed it, the next session is scheduled for SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH, 6:00 PM. Hopefully this time, the party will actually escape from the White River Valley.

REMINDER! The next session is starting in 20 Minutes! Or possibly 1 Hour and 20 Minutes! Ah, screw it. The session is starting at some unidentified point this evening which may or may not have been effected by daylight savings time ending, so please just show up within the next two hours and never let me schedule another session the same day the clocks change again oh dear god I suck at scheduling these things! ... That is all.

Alright. The next session is Sunday. That is, the day after Tomorrow. It's at the usual time.

Wait, did everyone return to full health/STM this level? Click to reveal.. (Hexelion Tyralson, Level V) HEXELION TYRALSON RACE: Elf, Male OCCUPATION: Bodyguard PERSONALITY: Reasonable DEITY: Sliros LVL: 05 | XP: 00/81 STR: 05 | HP: 30/30 DEX: 04 | SPD: 5 INT: 05 | STM: 10/10 Martial (Shortblades): 8 (+2) [36 XP] Magic (Enchantment): 6 (+1) [21 XP] Composure: 4 [RB+6 XP] Streetwise: 2 [RB+1 XP] Perception: 4 (+1) [10 XP] Artifice: 2 [3 XP] Stealth: 1 [1 XP] Martial (Thrown Missiles): 2 [3XP] The 8th works for me. Also, prepared spell/technique list: *Flawless Anticipation *Dazing Blow (1STM) *Stalwart Defense (1STM) *Steelstorm (2STM) *Myn's Friendly Fire.

I'm fine either way

Alright, so 5th's possible, but not preferable. What about the 6th?

...I am not happy. I just found out that my town's celebrating Halloween this Saturday (because the 31st is a school night. ). Normally would be only a minor issue, but some families (as in, ones with kids) moved into the neighborhood over the past year. While I could run the session this Saturday, I don't think it's really fair to you guys to have your GM stepping out every 15 minutes to deal with trick-or-treaters. So... shall we try for Saturday, November 5th instead? (and next time I schedule near a holiday, feel free to give me a slap)

Hey, I remember to do this this time! Click to reveal.. (Amadan Rayton, XP-146) AMADAN RAYTON Pragmatic Male Human Alchemical Hunter of Liea HEALTH: 24/24 STAMINA: 04/10 SKILL POINTS: 002/146 Missile (Archery): 8 (36) Magic (Transmutation): 7 (28) Alchemy: 5 (15) Perception: 4+1 (10) Stealth: 4+1 (10) Nature: 4 (10) Acrobatics: 4 (10) Arcana: 4 (10) Melee (Knives): 3 (6) [+1] Artifice: 3 (6) [+1] Athletics: 2 (3) I'll select a new knife technique later.

Gah, I thought I did this already. Click to reveal.. (Amadan Rayton, XP-138) AMADAN RAYTON Pragmatic Male Human Alchemical Hunter of Liea HEALTH: 20/22 STAMINA: 10/10 SKILL POINTS: 000/138 Missile (Archery): 8 (36) Magic (Transmutation): 7 (28) Alchemy: 5 (15) Perception: 4+1 (10) Stealth: 4+1 (10) [+1] Nature: 4 (10) Acrobatics: 4 (10) [+1] Arcana: 4 (10) [+1] Melee (Knives): 2 (3) Artifice: 2 (3) Athletics: 2 (3)

Ouch. So what's the plan? Are you guys going to remove the chat to comply, or is CalRef moving yet again?

The party survived (albeit not with help from the ZM)! And the next session is tentatively set for Saturday, Oct 29th.

*whistles* Session is in 3 Hours 36 minutes 25 seconds! Be there!

Hey, guess what's in the spoiler! Click to reveal.. (?????) As you might have noticed, I'm trying a few things different. Let me know what you think. I also come bearing quotes! Click to reveal.. (Four Score and Seven Zombies Ago... Wait, whaddya mean, 'not that kind of quote'?!) Nathan: "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm happy to see some living faces." ZM (Nioca): (Don't offer food. They'll snap it up like seagulls. ) Larry: "...you seem a little...enthused....about the Apocalypse..." Gordon: "Apocalypse? Nah, just societal collapse." Ben: "Well, we are't going to be able to live off of jerkey for ever. I say we find some non perishable stuff like twinkies and crap." Tocmetone: "Twinkies cause people to perish, so I believe those are perishable." Mario: "The entire world can't be like this." Tocmetone: "They wander like coyotes without a pack." Ben: "Maldito sea madre divina! Ayuda me!" Gordon: "You guys should get better melee weapons. I mean, the only reason I don't have my replica Frostmourne is cuz I was lending it to my sister. And remember that the next session is THIS SATURDAY. Be there, or be mobbed by zombie pigeons (or possibly shark throwing zombies, haven't decided which yet)!

Oh, yeah, that reminds me: The composition of the cutlery Ben picked up is as follows. Originally Posted By: The Silverware Drawer 5 Forks [0Dmg Piercing] 2 Tea Spoons 8 Table Spoons 6 Butter Knives 3 Steak Knives [1Dmg Slashing] (one of these was taken by Nathan) 7 Plastic Sporks (If you're wondering, I rolled d10s to get these numbers. Apparently, the RNG really likes spoons and sporks.)

Gah, my apologies, but I think I need to reschedule. This is for two main reasons; first and foremost, I don't have nearly as much prep-work done on this as I should; I lost some of my notes in the power outage mentioned a few posts earlier, and thus have been trying to patch that up as well as get the next session ready. Secondly, the document I'm using as a DM sheet is glitching in new and exciting ways. Apparently, OpenOffice Writer doesn't particularly care for heavy use of the Tables function, especially when there's multiple documents open. So I'd like to get that sorted out as well. At any rate, we're still missing a level, and I'd also like to probe a little bit deeper into each character's backstory; I'd like to incorporate them into the campaign at some point where it's reasonable (if possible). So I'll be sending out PMs in the next few days regarding this. The brightside, though, is that this means the session 1 log WILL be out before session 2. As for the reschedule... how does Saturday the 22nd sound to everyone?

I suppose this is a bit overdue. Some combat prowess, some nature skills, and some cardio are the orders of the day. Click to reveal.. (Amadan Rayton, XP-126) AMADAN RAYTON Pragmatic Male Human Alchemical Hunter of Liea HEALTH: 22/22 STAMINA: 10/10 SKILL POINTS: 00/126 Missile (Archery): 8 (36) [+1] Magic (Transmutation): 7 (28) [+1] Alchemy: 5 (15) Perception: 4+1 (10) Nature: 4 (10) [+1] Stealth: 3+1 (6) Acrobatics: 3 (6) Arcana: 3 (6) Melee (Knives): 2 (3) Artifice: 2 (3) Athletics: 2 (3) [+1] Also, a new spell that makes transporting things a snap! Click to reveal.. (New Spell!) Angeloa's Snapback COST: Initial casting may cost stamina depending on target. EFFECTS: When initially cast on an adjacent item/object/creature, this spell subtly binds and charges the target with a latent teleportation spell (may cost stamina depending on target). The caster can then trigger the teleport at a later time, "snapping" the selected object/creature to the caster's hand or position. The snap itself requires no roll or STM except in cases where interference (antimagic, wards, etc.) is present. The effect wears off after one use. (tldr: First casting binds an object/creature, possibly costing stamina. Later casting teleports it to the caster.)

Okay, some reminders: First, we're still shooting for Sunday, Oct 16th for session 2. This has changed, see later post. Furthermore, you all level up; +1 Attribute, +3XP(plus an additional 1 if you increased INT). If you choose STR as your boosted stat, that +2 to HP applies to both current AND max health. In addition, Larry gets an additional 1 XP back this level (because his FA score is no longer exceeding the soft cap). (And savor it; gaining levels only gets harder from here on out ) However, the log of the first session will not be up before session 2. In addition, when you post your levels, I'd like each of you to either post or PM me your current inventory; this is because a freak power outage knocked out my computer last night, and the auto-save on OpenOffice sometimes gets a bit weird; I need to double-check to make sure I've got everything. So if you could do that, it'd be much appreciated.

Session's in 7 hours! Also, a quick change of plans: the room is now SWZombies2. This is because AIM decided to lock me out of the original room, so I had to choose a different room. :-(

Your characters definitely know it's some kind of infection; people who get bit by zombies will (not-so-)slowly turn into a zombies themselves; immediate treatment (read: removal of the infected area) will enable the victim to survive, though this can turn into full-on limb amputation to save the victim's life. Beyond that, however, your characters just don't know; it's not exactly like a zombie lets your average layperson walk up and examine it at their leisure, and your characters have mostly been in hiding or just trying to stay alive. Speaking of which, the session is tomorrow! Don't be late!

...Alright, then let's aim for TUESDAY the 11th at the same time. That way, all six characters can attend. (Don't get used to Tuesdays, though; Weekends are the most clear, and I don't want conflicts with the other campaigns running) On the bright side, it's more prep time. Er... I suppose that's a bright side for me, anyway.