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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2002 4:26 pm
by Magus
It was a 'unique' experience, to say the least :D Though certainly not suitable for anyone below the age of 35... ;)

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2002 7:33 am
by Craig
Didn't it start when Weasel stole Aerie?Is their a complete version?

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2002 8:19 am
by Nippy
Originally posted by Magus

Wow...that's a lot of reading Care to share your thoughts?
I will say this, it was very entertaining! :D :D

Seriously, it was a lot of reading, but it was enjoyable. Your writing has come on stronger as the story went and the plot twists are powerful and entertaining. I just hope that I can provide an entertaining story for my group in the Blades of the Banshee forum. :D :)

I'd like to actually thank you all for providing an entertaining story. It was an enjoyable read and has given me many story ideas for some of my work. Thank God I got them before you copyrighted... :D :D :p ;)

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2002 3:48 pm
by Magus
@craig: Ha, ha, I found it! Now I know what you’re talking about. There was actually a short thread called the Planar Sphere Problem that spawned Roleplaying in Athkatla. Wow, it really brings back the memories. Here it is:

http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showt ... genumber=1

Ah...the good old days of fun and nonsense...

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

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

@participants of Athkatla II: I just thought of this, so I’ll go ahead and fire away. Our story is unique in that it was first and foremost a roleplay. As a DM, what do you think I did well, and what do you think I need to work on? What could I have done differently? I’m curious of course, but a little evaluation could benefit Aegis as well, since he’ll be the next DM. The next story will be all the better if he can avoid my faults ;) And it will help me if I happen to DM another such story in the future :)

Here’s some faults I’ll openly admit:
1) I often neglected to plan ahead, to even have a general idea of what would happen next. This resulted in a few pointless incidents, and a lot fighting just for the sake of fighting.
2) In an effort to correct the above problem, I overplanned the ending, and ended up being way too inflexible.
3) I was gone far too much, sometimes for several days at a time.

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2002 4:15 pm
by Aegis
Faults? What faults? :D

Hmm.. Let's see... I think you pretty muched pegged what your faults were.

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2002 5:42 pm
by Craig
But your good things were you made sure none of us did "Over zealous" things like kill lazal off

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2002 9:40 am
by 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 :D

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2002 2:56 pm
by Craig
Shame though... :D :p :D I was actual going to place him infront of a minion of lazals then move when hr finish casting

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2002 3:23 pm
by Nippy
Originally posted by Magus
@Nippy: Thanks. Hey wait a minute... (pages frantically through a stack of legal papers) Doh! :D

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! :D :D

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 :D ) and Craig's bloodsucking worms came from nowhere... :D

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! :D )

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...

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2002 3:45 pm
by Durwyn
From what I read the main problem was the fact that, the pointless fighting sometimes made it confusing

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2002 6:00 pm
by 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 :D

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... ;) :D
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 :D Planning ahead without being inflexible is something I really need to work on.

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

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2002 11:02 pm
by Aegis
Originally posted by Nippy
Aegis and his regular body changing/snatching
this has me interested. Could you maybe expand a bit on this?

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2002 7:12 am
by 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...

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2002 7:46 am
by Craig
It ws undercover ELF not drow

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2002 8:48 am
by 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.

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2002 11:59 am
by 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 :)

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2002 12:16 pm
by 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.

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2002 12:29 pm
by Magus
Originally posted by Aegis
BTW, I'm glad I even surprsed you.
You say that like it's a hard thing to do :rolleyes: :D

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2002 12:35 pm
by Aegis
Well, you were the DM, and had a pretty good idea on the overall story.

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2002 12:43 pm
by Magus
For the most part ;) But true enough.