Tales of the Jewel

For any feedback you may have. What worked, what didn't, what would you like to see, etc. Constructive criticism is welcome.

If there were any questions about this specific game, as opposed to wider story questions, feel free to ask as well.

I know some issues brought up last time (lack of origin/faction specific events/dealings) are still unaddressed though the Faction and Origin Point system will be part of the roadwork into fixing that. I was hoping to have more in that realm for this game but also thought I had more prep-time than I did as I didn't realize other games had been delayed until just before getting this up.

I also know 'too many events' was an issue and definitely one I noted as well. My original blueprint for the game had it that you chose either Day or Night then stuck with just those events but, in the end, that didn't seem to make much sense so I scrapped it. In doing so I should have pared down the total events though so it was less overwhelming.

All in all I enjoyed running the game for you all. It had more rough edges than I would have wished but for getting up on short notice while still suffering a lot of fatigue and mental impacts from post-covid I'm mostly happy with how it all turned out and have no complaints about anything on the player side.

I can say quite honestly that I really really enjoyed the game. The storylines were really interesting and the plot was cool. I enjoyed having a little peek into the darker side of LBS as well. I'm really glad this has continued and I hope to see it back again soon!

The event glut was certainly an issue. Thankfully I managed to convince myself I didn't care about events enough...although learning that doing that cost me being able to spend points was a bit upsetting, so it might be worth if there is an overarching megagame letting us know an idea of what the rewards will be after to let people know if they want to get involved in them or not.

Is there anything that happened that you didn't expect? Did you expect something to happen that didn't? What went well in your opinion, what went bad?

Raya wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:12 pm

I can say quite honestly that I really really enjoyed the game. The storylines were really interesting and the plot was cool. I enjoyed having a little peek into the darker side of LBS as well. I'm really glad this has continued and I hope to see it back again soon!

Thanks!

The event glut was certainly an issue. Thankfully I managed to convince myself I didn't care about events enough...although learning that doing that cost me being able to spend points was a bit upsetting, so it might be worth if there is an overarching megagame letting us know an idea of what the rewards will be after to let people know if they want to get involved in them or not.

Fair. A big part of that was wanting to leave space to adjust the ratios of redemption as needed based on what people earned if they went way over or way under what I anticipated (people did get higher than I thought they would but not enough that I felt I had to increase spending costs). I'm not sure whether a complete surprise or 'I know I said this but...' would be the more annoying option. Both have their cons.

Is there anything that happened that you didn't expect? Did you expect something to happen that didn't? What went well in your opinion, what went bad?

I expected fewer people to want to jump on the ghul train and the combat itself. I was happy to let you all have at it but I was definitely expecting it to be a smaller number. I expected to make more use of peoples dependents/enemies/hauntings/etc. but just ended up without the mental bandwidth to handle it all (and for that I apologize to the folks for whom I did not get to work them in).

For having too many of them I think the events overall worked pretty well - there were a decent variety of skills including some not as commonly called upon even if they did stack a few times in this game itself.

I was disappointed with the end form of the Ruhmal event. I originally had it in mind as a combat event then realized that with the finale of the ghul event I'd be running two combats and combat-adequate characters would be spread too thin between them. So I adjusted it but after posting it realized the adjusted form is pretty much just a rehash of one of the D2 events in terms of feel and skills. So the fact that, even if unintentional, it felt 'cloned' annoys me.

Game was quite fun indeed. Thanks for all.

A maybe tricky to answer question, but did all these events reveal some hidden mechanical issues? Or on the contrary, something you weren't quite convinced about and that turned out to work quite well?

Al-Haddar wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:58 pm

Game was quite fun indeed. Thanks for all.

A maybe tricky to answer question, but did all these events reveal some hidden mechanical issues? Or on the contrary, something you weren't quite convinced about and that turned out to work quite well?

Although I'll keep working on balancing risk versus reward I am enjoying trying to make sure events contain multiple rolls and multiple different skills (and trying to make sure there are paths or choices within them). It provides a stronger feel for the theme and tone of the event and also means people need to weigh out resources more when it comes to void and the like.

It's not just 'one event with three rolls so throw a void point at each of them' (Which is valid, and a lot less work for the GM, but I definitely liked the variety and the fact that it feels less like it penalizes Void 2 characters since even the Void 3 or 4 folks would still need to ration).

Thanks for the game! T'was pretty neat!

As for the many events I did not think it was too much. We could choose the ones we liked or fitted best with our characters so that was nice!

The event thing is something of a balancing act, yeah. I know when I helped run a WC game--not the AEG ones--the GM crew deliberately set up to make more events than any one character could do. WC is busy, and characters should have to choose. But it did overwhelm players in many cases, which was...not ideal.

Still, I appreciated the spread and diversity of events. And I can respect that metagame concerns sometimes evolve mid-game, both for story reasons and for IRL concerns.

Again, thank you, most kindly, for the game; I hope to be allowed back in for the next one!

Just a couple questions from me, selfishly:

1) Any idea how long you're planning on running these? I absolutely LOVE them, and the short sweet style is just right for me. I would be interested in a long arc of small games over time with a larger conclusion, so color me curious.

2) Were you planning on Majdala only being in Feast of Arrows? Apologies if so. If not, any chance she's coming back in the future? I've become quite obsessed with her as an NPC and a kind of temptation and foil for Sora as a character.

3) Number 3 isn't a question so much as a heartfelt thank you for all your hard work here, despite what I know were a couple of rough days for you. I really really appreciate everything.

Soraya al-Menjari wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 06, 2022 3:24 pm

Just a couple questions from me, selfishly:

1) Any idea how long you're planning on running these? I absolutely LOVE them, and the short sweet style is just right for me. I would be interested in a long arc of small games over time with a larger conclusion, so color me curious.

I really enjoy the setting so probably for awhile. So far there isn't really a larger conclusion planned and I gave myself a long runway to work with since the Shattering of the Jewel, if we keep to canon, isn't until 1132.

2) Were you planning on Majdala only being in Feast of Arrows? Apologies if so. If not, any chance she's coming back in the future? I've become quite obsessed with her as an NPC and a kind of temptation and foil for Sora as a character.

I didn't mind reprising her but I had thought she'd be a one and done. Soraya's 'boon' was definitely not the direction I expected but it was fun to work with.

3) Number 3 isn't a question so much as a heartfelt thank you for all your hard work here, despite what I know were a couple of rough days for you. I really really appreciate everything.

Thanks! I'm really glad they strike a chord with people and are being enjoyed. It can often be hard to tell, when you're in the thick of it, how it's going.