Sun 27 April 2008
CB
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷDer Millionendorf- Icrontian
Meet on skype at 6 to finish unfinished things and shoot the breeze. Play session begins at 7.
0
Comments
This format of play was new to all of us. I never realized how much it would effect the game to be voice only. I knew it would be different, and pose new challenges, but I didn't expect how much harder it would be for me to keep track of what everyone is doing all the time. Without seeing your faces for some reason. There also seemed to be less of a propensity to role-play. For some it was that other people were around, and for others maybe it just felt sillier than normal to role-play into a headset mic. For my own part, I had a bunch of Role-play things for the NPCs to do. I had personalities planned, and activities to get through... Part of it was that none of the PCs seemed that interested in interacting with the other crew members, which is fine, but it was mostly me. I managed to get Terry to sing his self-centered shanty, but I missed/forgot almost everything else.
However, I am confident that these are things that will come with time. As I (and all of us) get used to the interface, and the chat format, everything else about the game will start to fall into place.
I think the only part that wont really get easier is that I'm completely unable to gauge the player's second-to-second reactions to the game events. The only real solution for this would be video conferencing, but I don't think that's feasible with our connections, so I guess I have to rely on talking privately with the players.
I think part of the reason for a lack of much roleplaying on my part was that I haven't fully gotten my head around the paradigm shift. The fact that much of the game is water-based still hasn't quite sunk in. I was subconsciously expecting the ocean voyage to simply be a prelude to the actual gameplay - on land. It was easier when things were happening to the boat, but the rest of the time, I had no clue what my character should be doing besides waiting to arrive at the destination.
I'm hoping that as we get more play experience in the format, I'll get more used to the idea of actually playing while we're on the water.
As far as second-to-second reactions, you did miss a very literal headdesk from me when I rolled the fourth sub-5 DC check in a row while trying to help the captain with the ropes.
Ha! I also did a literal headdesk at that same moment!
I was also doing facepalms when Xaal was rolling 2s and 3s at the heavy crossbow. With his boni, he only needed to roll a 5 to hit the approaching boat...
For example, in fighting the Orcs, I knew that casting Grease on the deck would be something he'd enjoy. Making the Orcs fall on their asses would be a hilarious in the eyes of Garl, while also being helpful to the party. Throwing the Wizard Fire at the cabin of the ship was a little harder to justify. It seemed fun and sorta chaotic, but I don't know really if it was the right choice.
- Silk Rope grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Use Rope checks. Good thing I bought one!
- Seafaring Heritage feat grants a +2 on all skill and knowledge checks related to boats. I didn't use this at all!
BuddyJ, if you think your character would have done it, then do it. Whether or not it helps the party is moot. For instance, if WalkingStick had continued to provoke Dal'Ruth after the encounter, Dal'Ruth would have done something about it. Probably not so good for the party, but definitely in-character for him.
-drasnor
The rogue certainly did what he thought was best for him at the time... jumping in the water after Xaal was not on the list. My logic was that it would have been easier for the drake to climb the mast with your +8 strength bonus, and it was... little did I realize we'd both be failing every single check for three turns in a row there at the end.
-drasnor