The Eye of Anubis: OOC Thread

[NeoTiamat]

Just a general announcement, but posting is going to be somewhat delayed tonight. I only just got back from a lengthy bus trip, so it's liable to be a quick post, and a belated one.

Should return back to regular scheduling tomorrow.

[Kaitou Kage]

Charles, if you could kindly inspire Tomas to greatness, I'll heal Vedarrak.

[NeoTiamat]

Well, that was exciting, wasn't it?

Anyways, much fun as it was, I have an announcement to make. As some of you may know, I am graduating from college shortly (and will be going on to get a Masters in History shortly at Tufts University). Moreover, finals season at my college is approaching, and I've got no fewer than three major papers to write, two exams, and in many othe ways am generally going to be very, very busy until May 15th.

So! Rather than have EoA descend into a slow-down because I'm too busy, I shall be leaving the main posting in the hands of our own lovely Isabella (this is ignoring the fact that she's been writing something like half or a third of the posts for the last two Books anyway). I'll be hovering the background, but Isy will be the main DM for a bit.

Any questions?

[Isabella]

(Two weeks later, everyone's dead, the tomb is on fire, and I've lost my hat.)

[Nathan of the FoS]

(Two weeks later, everyone's dead, the tomb is on fire, and I've lost my hat.)

...
You have a hat?

[Rock of the Fraternity]

(Two weeks later, everyone's dead, the tomb is on fire, and I've lost my hat.)

So ... Business as usual? Congratulations on your promotion, Isabella.

[lostboy]

You have a hat?

Im sure its a very nice hat...

Anyway goodluck on finals Neo, and cheers for reminding me how old I am!

[Isabella]

If anyone aside from Otto and Andre who wants to go with Lieutenant Lebrecht could state so clearly, I would be much obliged.

[Isabella]

Finish up anything else you want to do; unless there's any objections, I'll move you all back to the main square when I get back from class tomorrow.

[Isabella]

And that is pretty much a wrap, folks. Finish up anything else you want to do here - tomorrow you face the next book.

To keep you all busy until then, this is also happy feedback time! We'd like to hear your thoughts about anything in the book that particularly stood out for you, except maybe the bit at the end where your GM was replaced by a cheap hack. As far as specific guidelines go, we'd like to hear about:

1) The plot. This book was a little more open - how did you like progressing through it?

2) The battles, which included the underground temple battle Snefru and the giant, chaotic slugfest at the end, as well as the traps you encountered along the way.

3) The cutscenes. We used a lot more cutscenes than we normally do this book. What did you think of both the cutscene events and the style of having so many of them?

We're offering 500 exp for each of these categories - so 1500 exp for well-thought out responses on all three.

[Kaitou Kage]

LOL Charles! Very well played, sir!

[Isabella]

I odn't have access to most of Neo's stuff, so, those of you who require spell lists, if you could get those to me when you have the time.

[lostboy]

Feedback!

The plot.
Overall I did really like this book, it felt liek things are coming to a climax, there was an air of desperartion and tension we hadnt really had before that definitly added to the mood. The tension of the whole situation between the pc’s, the akiri and the Falkovnian’s was nicely played out throughout the book, it truly felt like the pressure was about to boil over at any time. The npc’s were quite flavourful and there was some interesting allegiance switching going on as the book progressed, as enemies became allies through circumstance.
The plot itself did feel a tad linear at some points, which did contribute to a feeling of helplessness (but maybe that was an intentional theme of the book). Perhaps there were more things we could have done in and around Muhar, but many scenes led one straight to the next so we didn’t get a chance to explore them.
I would say that Cavendish’s plan did hold many similarities to his plans in Books two & four, but he’s still a great nemesis and the response he got from everyone shows how much he has got to people.

The battles
I thought they were rather good on the whole. There was a good feeling of “we might not actually get through this, but also balanced by having enemies we actually made progress in defeating (i.e 50hp Lebendtods). Which meant there were lots of small victories even though overall it looked pretty nasty.

The temple battle was interesting, Lebendtod are fun enemies in general. Snefru herself was a bit one dimensional and in this instance not very threatening beyond the aura/visage thing, although a 50% miss chance is going straight to the top of my most hated npc characteristic list. I would officially like to thank Charles and Goodhope which saved Sascha repeatedly in that battle, and probably because of that monopolized Snefru a bit.

The big slugfest was good, there was a lot to worry about and I did find myself pondering every round’s worth of action trying to work out what was the most effective course and also to second guess what was likely to happen. Anything that makes me debate tactics for that long with myself (let alone the time we spent debating it as a group) has got to be good.
A really cool aspect of this one, was that we went at less than 100% strength, sure it made things tougher, but it was a lot more satisfying to achieve. Because of this it really did feel like an epic battle that we only barely survived (man was I relived when Cavvy did a runner).
I do think there were some missed opportunities however, not much was made of the terrain (the walls/stairs/barricades), and the Akiri were barely a distraction. I also felt there was a lot of arbitrary damage being dealt out, which I understand the need for as without low hp’s we don’t really get the fear about what might happen to our pc’s (the getting sneak attacked didn’t faze me, as we deserved it for concentrating all attentions on Cavvy).
And yes I totally agree on the pain it causes with so many buffs flying around, trying to work out Saschas attack roll modifiers was an exercise and a half, not that I’m complaining about the outcomes though.
But overall it rocked.

The trap(s) (I only remember the acid one, was there another one?). It might teach us about rushing through doorways, but was there any way to disarm it? Still it was nice for it to be a physical trap rather than an overtly magical one.

The cutscenes.
Loved them, and yes more next time. For starters it helps those of us perhaps not getting all the subtleties of the story line to work out what the hell is going on, it also just makes the npc’s pop that much more. Its also good to see things from other’s points of view rather than just the pc’s. And the writing from both of you was excellent.

[DocBeard]

1) The plot. This book was a little more open - how did you like progressing through it?

I think a lot of it felt more linear because this is the climax. We sort of see the finish line, and when you see that, you sort of want to cross it. So the usual sidequesting and exploration were toned down. The situation with the Falkovnians added to that-kudos to Kuzan for being mildly insensitive about brutality.

Cavendish's involvement was pretty brutal. Part of me cannot help but admire the ruthlessness of the action, while part of me feels a bit like, well, Tomas; once bitten, twice shy and all of that. Ah well, I was never the cautious type, I'll get over it.

2) The battles, which included the underground temple battle Snefru and the giant, chaotic slugfest at the end, as well as the traps you encountered along the way.

I think my one problem was that we went into this book thinking we'd have to fight Falkovnians, and despite all of this great tension we don't even get a dust up brawl. I see why you guys did that, but it's the whole actions-consequences thing.

I think this might have been a good place for Big C to bite it, or at least appear to. We're going to be so worried about the fiend that Cavendish is going to be second fiddle at best after this peak of indignation. But, I'll only be able to say for sure once the whole thing is all said and done.

The underground fight was a touch zombie heavy. I mean, zombies are all in good fun, sure, but couldn't they have been jackal-men or some similar Set-influenced threat? There's always a danger in not using the full palette of D&D's monsters in Ravenloft. I enjoyed Sascha's accidental grudge with Snefru, though honestly I think Har'Akar is a little underpopulated and that made the whole psychodrama feel a little less. Neo and I had this conversation already, but I would have thrown in at least a member of the Green Hand to help us realize that the threat is not the Falkovnians so much as the undead that are hiding in the hawk's shadow. Instead Osiris, Isis, and Horus feel...well, impotent. Snefru's demise was a nice counter to this, though.

The big fight. Whenever a fight's risky enough to make the PCs start fighting, well, the DM's probably doing his job right, let's be honest. Ultimately I think it resolved well, and didn't feel as jarring as earlier "oh snap" moments did. You guys know our limits and how to push them without crushing them, and that is crucial to an encounter like this. My one complaint is that it starred creatures we've seen before; while Cavendish having a signature creation is really neat, I would've given the zombies a few tricks from VRGtWD to make them feel a bit more unique. A major theme of this book was infiltration and violation of trust, and I think soldiers on both sides growing twisted growths, spines, and cancerous tumors of war would have been a powerful visual expression of the spiritual cancer inside of Muhar that the Falkovnians and Cavendish both simply forced into activity again.

3) The cutscenes. We used a lot more cutscenes than we normally do this book. What did you think of both the cutscene events and the style of having so many of them?

I think they did what you guys wanted them to do, which is give us an NPC eye view without it clogging up the main thread. In this case, these are crucial for plots where the party is forced to split up, but as we approach the final dungeon, I don't know if they will be as needed, since we'll probably be together for most of the book.

Then again, with a rival adventurer group, a Falkovnian brigade, a Unique Devil and Meneshante herself all looming as separate threats, I could be wrong, and the alternate perspective could well be needed. Either way, I'd advise treating the cutscenes as another tool, nothing more and nothing less.

[Kaitou Kage]

I'll do a feedback soon. My posting might be slow and sporadic over the next week since I need to finish my 30-page paper.

In any case, before I respond to this:

Fetching out the torch, Charles crosses the indicated boundary with considerable insouciance. "Right...we've got the sending stones, yes?" he asks Kuzan. "So we can communicate with those who remain out here?"

I'm assuming Dieter still has the one I gave him. Does Carter have his back? Kuzan would have insisted rather adamantly during the downtime period.