Athkatla III(?)

[Craig]

But your good things were you made sure none of us did "Over zealous" things like kill lazal off

[Magus]

Yes, wouldn't that have been a surprise...

Thryn backstabs red mage in Copper Coronet.
Rolls a perfect 20. Critical hit.
Red mage takes 200 damage. Red mage dies.
DM: Uh...that's all folks.

Wouldn't have made for much of a story though

[Craig]

Shame though... I was actual going to place him infront of a minion of lazals then move when hr finish casting

[Nippy]

Originally posted by Magus
@Nippy: Thanks. Hey wait a minute... (pages frantically through a stack of legal papers) Doh!

What do you think is lacking in the stories (especially Athkatla II) that could use some improvement?

What do I think was lacking....

Hmm... You would ask a difficult question!

The one thing I would say is that (not entirely your fault) was a bit of repetition. Demons were perhaps a little too regular. Remember that to call a demon is a huge spell. To call 5 or 6 at a time? Not very likely. Understandably it would have to be done to make it an entertaining battle... I digress...

Another thing would be overpowering. There were 5 or 6 characters (can't remember) and all had these amazing special abilities (Aegis and his regular body changing/snatching ) and Craig's bloodsucking worms came from nowhere...

I think if you want to talk about advice for the next one I would say that the best thing we/Aegis could do is to have our characters around level 2 or 3 in PnP game. They're a little experienced and combat hardened but they are more infallible. Remember that combat isn't always a solution and talking a way out can be more entertaining. I think it's the DM's decision what is a good piece of combat evasion but be a little bit lenient, it's easier to say it than to type...

Another thing would be the characters themselves. I understand that these characters knew each other from before, and thats the problem. The characters fit to well and there was no, how can I say it, arguments between them. A party will rarely not find something to argue about but in this storyline everything was hunky-dory (as far as I can remember! )

However, after my little nitpicks, I would like to say again that they were very entertaining. The one thing I did like was the freedom and freeform shape of the story. The writers had freedom to follow different storylines.

I hope this helped and I hope you don't think I'm being too harsh... We are all guilty of doing this sort of stuff...

[Durwyn]

From what I read the main problem was the fact that, the pointless fighting sometimes made it confusing

[Magus]

Originally posted by Nippy

I hope this helped and I hope you don't think I'm being too harsh...

Nah, you're just speaking your mind, and that's all I/we could have hoped for. I was beginning to regret asking the question in the first place, but now I don't

Repetition, eh? I’ll throw in some liches and dragons for variety next time

Overpowering...I think I would be the one most guilty of that Guilt for that, in fact, was a motivating factor for much of what I wrote...

And I completely agree that there was far too much combat, and often no opportunity to avoid it. I did, however, leave the option to avoid fighting at a few key points, the Copper Coronet fight and the final showdown with Lazal, for example. The others chose to fight those battles. Still, you’re right.

As for the cohesiveness among characters, I think getting along and actually trusting one another are two completely different things. Rail trusted no one, except for Magus, and even that was iffy. Xandax was much the same. And no one really liked Virdel. But they got along, nonetheless. Would I be flattering myself to think that Magus was the one holding the party together, perhaps? Yet the final battle was an exception to this “cohesiveness.” Lacking a leader , some of the characters attacked Lazal, and some went after Sethin. Almost makes you think I planned that little implication...

Originally posted by Nippy

From what I read the main problem was the fact that, the pointless fighting sometimes made it confusing

No wonder...I was confused myself Planning ahead without being inflexible is something I really need to work on.

@Nippy + Durwyn: Thanks again for responding. It’s really appreciated

[Aegis]

Originally posted by Nippy
Aegis and his regular body changing/snatching

this has me interested. Could you maybe expand a bit on this?

[Nippy]

Originally posted by Aegis

this has me interested. Could you maybe expand a bit on this?

The fact that your character went from an undercover Drow to an Elf. It din't seem plausibile IMO. The hatred between the two races is so great that it would have been a very unlikely possibility. My statement wasn't exactly what I wanted to say, and for that I'm sorry but I just felt that it wouldn't have happened.

It just didn't seem "right" to me...

[Craig]

It ws undercover ELF not drow

[Aegis]

Well, the charater of Virdel was a facade for Virrilis. The reason Virrilis was disguised as a Drow was to make his activities in the city, if caught, seem lioke that of a Rogue Drow, thus, the elves woulnd't be blamed on the elves.

[Magus]

@Aegis: I think Nippy is trying to say that the disguise was just too flawless. He never slipped even a bit, never left the slightest hint. Add to that the inherent difficulty of an elf playing his racial opposite, and I could see how the whole thing might seem implausible. It was quite a surprise though

[Aegis]

Well, I thought I hinted towards something else by him sparring Calahans life. also, even trusting the others was another step. Well, I guess that means I can play a good drow. BTW, I'm glad I even surprsed you.

[Magus]

Originally posted by Aegis
BTW, I'm glad I even surprsed you.

You say that like it's a hard thing to do

[Aegis]

Well, you were the DM, and had a pretty good idea on the overall story.

[Magus]

For the most part But true enough.