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The Unseen Servant forums • OOC Discussion (Session 1 & 2) - Page 16
Page 16 of 20

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 5:40 pm
by BillTheGalacticHero
I'm ok with going back to the tower. If we have a spare test maybe I can Hunt to try to get some rabbit or squirrel? And possibly earn another Check.

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 11:33 pm
by Rusty Tincanne
As pointed out, we have one more test before the grind. I have no steering feelings other than that the secret door is likely to lead to more tests, so we should probably make camp before we go there. Did Allric and Berry want to study the book? Is Aoife interested in studying the hammer? Galen or Thag?

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 12:16 am
by BillTheGalacticHero
I'm willing to try to do some Hunting for fresh game, but if we can use the last test to fortify the tower or research the parchment...

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 2:06 am
by jhrrsn
I’m not sure how much we would gain from studying the note - seems clear that this dwarf was a follower of our dark lord of toil. Is there a ‘mystery’ we’re trying to solve, an answer we seek? Or do we just want a heads up on whatever lurks in the dark?

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 2:52 am
by Rusty Tincanne
jhrrsn wrote:Is there a ‘mystery’ we’re trying to solve, an answer we seek? Or do we just want a heads up on whatever lurks in the dark?
That's a good question. Other than being a good excuse to keep treasure hunting, Rabon isn't too, too interested in what happened to the dwarfs or what the big baddie is. What are the motivations for the rest of the group?

As an aside, Rabon just needs to fail scout once or twice to advance that skill. So twists and conditions are headed his way! :)

Once that is done, maybe I'll change his goal to gripe and moan whenever someone advances the grind, so he can improve his peasant skill. Ludanto, what is the Ob to appropriately complain about almost being hungry?

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 3:13 am
by Ludanto
Without looking up everyone's goals, your mission is accomplished. You were just looting the place for everything you could before heading back to town. There are hints and history in this place, but if you don't care about that, then it's not really an issue.

If you're "bored", and you think you have enough treasure, you could certainly head back to town.

Complaining about almost being hungry is Ob2. It's obvious and relatable, but it requires a certain nuance. :)

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:12 am
by shroomofinsanity
Berry is interested in the ancient dwarven religion, so any exploration would be cool but he wouldn't push

Sidenote, I've only been able to make one test the whole adventure. I'm kinda bummed about that but maybe this adventure just didnt work out for berry. *shrug*

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:27 am
by BillTheGalacticHero
I don't think I've completed my goal of removing the evil from this place. We still have the dark ?chapel? and the basement to explore.

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:53 am
by Ludanto
shroomofinsanity wrote:Sidenote, I've only been able to make one test the whole adventure. I'm kinda bummed about that but maybe this adventure just didnt work out for berry. *shrug*
Holy crap! That's awful! What the heck? I guess I'll have to try to figure out why that happened.

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:24 am
by shroomofinsanity
Well it just kept being that every time i asked about something, it kept not being relevant is all.

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:54 am
by Rusty Tincanne
Rabon is happy to keep adventuring/scouring for loot. I just was wondering what the motivation for staying is. We have, at the least, Thag wanting to eradicate evil, and Berry wanting to know more about dwarf religion. And OOC, Berry (and Galen) deserves chances to make a lot of tests!
[quote="Berry's Instinct]always be friendly and talk to people before fighting breaks out.[/quote]
I see how that could be difficulty to follow up on if there aren't any conflicts... We do have those kobolds and the big bad, still, but we've avoided them so far.

Ludanto, is there any way you can go over our BIGs and let us know if they are relevant to the adventure? I believe this is an ongoing issue, with session one having goals of finding clues Berry's past though there wouldn't be any. And now Berry has an instinct that won't likely come into play (or so it seems), and Rabon's Belief seems unlikely to be tested unless there is treasure in a place that might be too dangerous to make it worth it.

In the meantime, Berry has the skills:
Fighter, Healer, Persuader, Ritualist, Scholar, Theologian
And he has one advancement in cartographer.

Are there any skills Berry wants to develop? We can let Berry make Beginner's Luck tests, of course. (Though Thag and Rabon have hogged most of the Scouting tests with their instincts...)

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:07 pm
by Ludanto
Admittedly, this adventure existed before the characters, it might not even be a very good adventure, and I'm new at this. I would hope that things would improve in the next adventure, which would be more tailored (although there limits to that).

There will likely be no people to talk to here, unfortunately, but you're also almost done with the adventure anyway.

Basically, while some of the responsibility is on you guys, I'll try to do better, now that I'm getting the hang of it.

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:16 pm
by ffilz
Ludanto wrote:Admittedly, this adventure existed before the characters, it might not even be a very good adventure, and I'm new at this. I would hope that things would improve in the next adventure, which would be more tailored (although there limits to that).

There will likely be no people to talk to here, unfortunately, but you're also almost done with the adventure anyway.

Basically, while some of the responsibility is on you guys, I'll try to do better, now that I'm getting the hang of it.
I think part of Torchbearer is having enough information about the adventure that the players can form a reasonable goal, and early in the game when the adventure is provided by the GM rather than the players seeking out the adventure, the belief needs to be tied in somehow also (presumably once the players are hunting out adventure, they will follow up on hooks that tickle their beliefs). Instincts are trickier, and coming up with good instincts is part of mastering the game, on the other hand, an instinct that is highly unlikely to be triggered should be flagged.

I'm not sure how much of Berry's lack of tests was group size, I do feel that was an issue for Galen, but maybe what really needs to happen is that all the players have to make sure everyone is getting tests, though that can run amuck with Never Volunteer suggesting the more vocal players will get more of the tests.

Personally for myself, what I am seeing is that while Torchbearer may be inspired by old school play, it really is a much more formal system than the old school games I've been playing (OD&D and Classic Traveller). Ultimately I still love BWHQ games, and in the right mind set, could enjoy Torchbearer, I think right now it isn't the system for me.

The adventure was entertaining to follow, and I like the creative solutions that came out, I just wasn't able to engage with the system or the fiction with Galen. In the end, Galen was a hireling brought along to keep the map...

I do also want to say that ultimately, Galen's map making felt like an utter failure with the failure on the third attempt wiping out the little progress that had been made. So ultimately Galen accomplished nothing during the adventure... I'm not sure he even helped that much since all the Scout tests were instincts. In face to face play, help would be easier to follow since it would never be shortcutted. Perhaps with the pace that can be achieved with Torchbearer play by post, it actually would be appropriate to still be explicit with help, that would slow things down a bit.

Frank

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:21 pm
by Ludanto
The thing is, there's no reason why this shouldn't play very similarly to an OSR game. You go and say what you do and things happen. Loot is important. Fighting without significant advantage should be avoided. The GM adjudicates most things.

I think that maybe we're too aware of the rules, and that might be getting in the way of... something.

Also, again, it might not be a great adventure to begin with.

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 6:45 pm
by Rusty Tincanne
I'm looking forward to clearing this place it and heading back to town. Maybe leveling up. Then going it for a different adventure.

It's true most of the scout tests have been instincts. There are often lots of them, so it's nice to avoid advancing the Grind, but it does make it impossible to call on help, unless goals align like Thag's and Rabon's in the first session.

Berry could change his instinct to making poultices and elixers in the future, so Allric and Berry can help one another and trade off. They have been really useful. That would also increase the quantity of tests he makes.

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 4:10 am
by BillTheGalacticHero
Darn, I don't have a Persona point to use to tap my Nature, so this will be more difficult. It would be Obs 2 for one portion of fresh game, or Obs 3 for three portions. Do I pick what level I'm going for? Or do I roll the dice to see how many successes I get, and that would determine how much game I find? I could see this type of test going either way.

What are potential consequences? Would I still get the game but earn a Condition? I was thinking of tapping the human Running Nature so I could see Exhausted, or maybe Angry. But I've spent both my Persona points so I can't Tap my Nature.

I'm already Hungry, so if I fail I might get two Conditions because the Grind advances after this test?

So maybe I should not go hunting, as I could earn only one Check but could gain two Conditions.

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 5:50 am
by Ludanto
Lets' see.

1. Choose how much you're hunting for.
2. No grind yet. Next turn.
3. Who knows what failure will look like. Maybe Exhausted or Angry. Maybe you'll fail outright and be ambushed in the woods by the Big Bad Wolf and his friends.
4. But you don't have to hunt if you don't want to.

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 6:18 pm
by Rusty Tincanne
If you don't want to risk it, Rabon can just try to cook a ration to feed everyone. And we can always try to hunt later. It's just that we have only taken tell actual tests since breaking camp, so as Ludanto pointed out, one more turn won't activate the grind.

Unless it creates a twist and forces more tests... And you are isolated because you are of hunting... And then we can't call until we find you and run out of food...

Yeah. It could be a bad idea. But it might make a fantastic story. :)

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 7:35 pm
by Rusty Tincanne
I'm Away from Komputer for the weekend. Or at least away from home, so I won't have much access. Rabon is down for helping. If a cooking test comes up, he will take as much help as he can get. Ludanto can roll it. :)

Re: OOC Discussion

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:16 pm
by Ludanto
I think next session I'd like to suggest a hard separation of IC and OOC posts. I think that might be helpful.

In the meantime, you guys aren't waiting for me, are you? Do you need something?