Café de Nuit

DocBeard wrote:I get the feeling that this was the plan all along; don't be so worried by the player grumbling to be afraid to just up and tell us, "We know, its a feature, not a bug, shut up and we'll get there sooner.". Sometimes that's all people need to hear.

Erm. Well, if you say so! Alright then, a bit of response from Book Two, then:

-There seems to be some general assumption the GMs went easy on the last fight by having the cultists retreat, which we find kind of funny since we were assuming that once Poincare dropped it would be a quick mop up. And, you guys were certainly doing your best to keep Poinacre there and force a fight to the death, so you can't really convince me you were all that worried you were going to die. The GMs had decided from the start of the fight the cultists wouldn't necessarily fight to the death unless they had to, in part because of the request for a secondary villain. Guess that failed on all counts. >.>

-The NPCs will be appearing less in all subsequent books. They all showed up in Book One because it was an introductory book.

-Question Marks: There was some more information in this book that, due to various events and actions, didn't end up getting found. Have no fear that by the end of the game this tangled web should be unraveled, but when exactly things start coming together depends on what path both the group and individuals end up taking.

Chapter 2 Review

I know this is late, so I'm going to put blindfolders on and try to answer these without influence from others' reviews. If it seems off-kilter it's because of my strange short-term memory. I had to scroll back through the chapter while writing this .

Story & Plot - 2 RT
What you thought of the hook: If you mean Cedolin hacking up a fountain of blood, why, it's a million times better than Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn! (If you don't know what I mean, feel lucky.)

...the pace: Better than the first chapter, though it felt longer? My sense of time is warped. I was surprised by the reverberating climaxes (finding Anne-Marie/Richard and Poincare encounter). Half of my Creative Writing self says "That's not a proper arc!" and the other half says "f--- the arch!" Hmm. The Anne-Marie scene might be heightened in my mind because of my character.

...the direction: I have to say I was a little embarrassed by the attention on my character after stating that I had not felt much concern or connection to the first chapter. However, it was effective. I am looking forward to certain things! There are unanswered questions carried over from the first chapter, the dead anchorites, the city's remaining insanity, and Richard's health, among outstanding plotlines. I do hope all these will be addressed and explored in the future.

...the cutscenes: YES.

...the surprising and/or shiny spectacles: ALSO YES. I enjoy the creep factor. This is Ravenloft, after all. Don't play if you don't want creepy. I have my limits but you're nowhere near 'em. Now, if you had a puke monster, I would vehemently complain.

...the NPCs, their involvement and their characterizations (etc): I do so love the Blackwoods, and Cerise, and Thierri. I hate the Marquis in a good way, he creeps me out and causes suspicion. Anne-Marie was also quite intriguing. Mirror-Lady was fascinating, I'm in love with whatever the hell you're doing, you jerks. I was especially impressed with Poincare, who, while coming out of nowhere, was nicely humanized at the end of our combat. I suppose there are a few NPCs I could care less about, like the foul-mouthed aristocrat part of the group went to. To each one's own.

Combat - 2 RT
What you thought of the pace of the first combat: Of course I missed the first part of it, so I can't say too much. I think I had two turns total in this one.

...of the difficulty: It seemed others were more worried than necessary, but a few of us did get pretty low in HP. It's definitely not the heroic fight, I think, in which we come out on the top of a pile of corpses waving our swords in triumph.

...of the tactics and strategies involved: Interesting, not my forte. Tiles were freaky. People need to not use up all their dailies fighting mage lights, ahem.

What you thought of the pace of the second combat: I was a little surprised how close together the combats were. This one came suddenly and lasted awhile.

...of the difficulty: Definitely difficult. I've never almost-died before in D&D! With the difficult terrain and constant random debuffs, people who needed help, and two bosses, I found it hard to stay on top of everything.

...of the tactics and strategies involved: While I understand I was a squishy heading right into the fray, I was miffed that I was getting blamed for a high Initiative roll. If no one had done anything in the opportunity turn, I thought it would be wasted.

General - 2 RT
What you enjoyed: The intrigue! It's also nice to see so many illustrations for RP, all around. I am always pleased with my side-RPs, to note, and wish I had time for more. I know, I'm silly.

What you want to see improved (and how): I personally would like more straightforward (i.e. less complex) combat, but I know there are more adept types who want the challenge. The number of participants too affects what kind of fights we can do. With ~8 PCs, we're practically a gang.

Any other comments: Even though I read everything I can, part of my problem is keeping up with the intricacies coming and going with school and real life, you know? Like a tv show you miss for a few weeks, it can take awhile to re-gather all the important pieces of the story to make a cohesive present to roleplay on. Then again, I believe the GMs already see me as rather scatter-brained.

Isabella wrote: -There seems to be some general assumption the GMs went easy on the last fight by having the cultists retreat, which we find kind of funny since we were assuming that once Poincare dropped it would be a quick mop up. And, you guys were certainly doing your best to keep Poinacre there and force a fight to the death, so you can't really convince me you were all that worried you were going to die. The GMs had decided from the start of the fight the cultists wouldn't necessarily fight to the death unless they had to, in part because of the request for a secondary villain. Guess that failed on all counts. >.>

Seriously? o_O I was wondering how we were going to survive if the cultists stuck around. I mean, yes, we went after her but I was kind of thinking I could at least get her down before the others got away. And if we did have to still fight ALL the cultists, the fight would've been waaaaaaaaay too long So, uh, I don't think you guys went easy on us at all. I think you did what was needed. In fact, I don't get the whole "you can't really convince me" nonsense. We were out of heals and most of the cultists had relatively little damage. We weren't focusing damage on them, anyway. Plus to get to them we still had to get across all that ice and slowing stuff.

KK: The cultists were probably minions. Its what I'd have done, at least. Cheap, easy way to have a bunch of supporting fire to keep the PCs from being too mobile.

Story & Plot - 2 RT
What you thought of the hook:

I rather liked the hook. Although I know we probably didn't get all the information we could've, what we did get was quite interesting and hints at more mysteries to come. It's a lot different from EoA's "And now you're here, deal with this local problem or whatnot, then move on"

...the pace:

Slow, but a good slow. We're running a lot more investigative focus this time around, and some slowdown is to be expected. It's slow in that creeping dread sort of way, which is good, but an action-y book would be cool too.

...the direction:

Again, I like where things are going so far. It's a very different feel from EoA. Now I just need to get work to settle down, so I can be more participatory.

...the cutscenes:

I should like to echo Nerit. YES

...the surprising and/or shiny spectacles:

I liked the sinking of the boat. I expected a skill challenge, but it was a good transitional piece all the same. Overall, good marks.

...the NPCs, their involvement and their characterizations (etc):

I rather like the NPCs so far. Whereas in EoA there were a great number of NPCs that felt like they were just sort of there as warm bodies, despite having rather interesting characterization that didn't get revealed till the end, in SC I feel like the NPCs are all people, which is a damn good thing. The NPCs didn't feel too heavily involved, but they didn't feel like background noise either.

Combat - 2 RT
What you thought of the pace of the first combat:

It was interesting. On one hand, it felt a little slow. The Turrets being immune to things like pushes, pulls, and knockdowns prevented some of the usual strategies and prevented us from getting in some free shots that could've sped things up. Otherwise though, good pacing.

...of the difficulty:

Ow. Ow Ow. Ranged attacks on everything, teleportation of himself and others on the part of Mirror Cedolin, and just being in the "boss" room right off the bat made it a hard fight. The fact that we were divided also made it difficult, but not impossibly so

...of the tactics and strategies involved:

Had we not been divided by being in different rooms, things would've gone a lot quicker as we would've been able to focus fire from the start. It was a rough first fight, but mostly due to being in different areas, and having to run the gauntlet of turrets to group together.

What you thought of the pace of the second combat:

A lot quicker paced because we were all together. The Ice could've slowed things down tremendously, but didn't play nearly as large a factor in things as I expected it to. Quick paced, and a fun fight.

...of the difficulty:

Having a lot of enemies with movement limiters was a bit annoying. There's just something about "no, you can't do that" powers that irks me on a nigh primal level, but they're part of the game and I'll deal. Playing a Shaman kind of gave me an easy button in this fight. My spirit companion is the source of my at-wills, and it was unaffected by ice, allowing me to hang back unless I needed to heal someone in the group. Cosmic payback perhaps for going down hard in the first fight.

...of the tactics and strategies involved:

The time honored pick a target and beat it down. Nothing TOO complex, but the presence of slides and restrains on the part of the antagonists made things tricky. If it wasn't for the slides and restrains, I think things would've been more coherent on our part.

General - 2 RT
What you enjoyed:

I really like the way the campaign is shaping up. The information we have now is giving me enough material to start formulating insane theories, which is always good for Neo, if not for us.

What you want to see improved (and how): My work schedule so I'm not so frazzled when I get home? I know it's not exactly something the DMs can work on, but hey..one can hope. So far so good really.

Any other comments: : With dealing with so many mirrors, if there is not a bizarre Alice In Wonderland homage at some point, i will be disappointed.

I will be at a convention all weekend, however I am coming back here to sleep. I may be able to post, we shall see.

Remember if we are going for arcana checks to raise a warding circle, not only can Nicholas aid another but he can also drop an inspire competance for a boost to everyone involved.

Going to be quiet from Thursday until next Tuesday. Heading to California to, among other things, hang out with Nathan and Nerit

I should be more around than I was last weekend, but I need to focus on editing this draft of my thesis. I'll try to post today, maybe Wednesday and Thursday, Friday afternoon & Sunday?

So, what's the plan exactly? Go and explore the stream-bed or the graveyard, or turn in for the night, or something else altogether (writing letters to Tomas's friends and relatives in Lamordia and/or shopping for explosives?)

Good question.

The way I see it, we don't have much options as far as sleeping goes. Lets investigate the stream bed tonight, the graveyard in the morning, and if we don't find anything of value there, we can try some other options.

I'd rather we all turn in to wherever we're going to bed down. Doing the magic circle rituals will take some time, too.

Im with Doc on this one. Stream tonight, dead poeple tomorrow

Rock where are you getting the cash for this ritual? And which one is it specifically? Is it anything besides basic defense? I'd rather spend the components money on something that would help us catch the monster or track its maker.

It's the magic circle ritual from PHB I, which does nothing but stop a designated creature type from crossing it. And I can 'pay' for it with the magic essence we've been getting between books. ^^ It could be used to restrain the werd, but only if I get the time to draw it around the thing.