End of Game Feedback and Q&A

[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'll also be putting up a few polls for things like future game length and some options as to what the next Tale might cover.

[Kezia]

Gonna start with the critique and move on to the "well done," for a tonal upswing

The "Room for Improvement" Stuff:

-A game this short doesn't leave a lot of time to recover from someone you get invested in dropping. It also limits the scope of what a character's (or player's!) ambitions can amount to. With only one GM, and trying to slot it in between other games, more or less, not sure how I'd address these issues, but I felt 'em. In a longer campaign game, we'd just now be really ironing out some of the characters' quirks and tics, and it's already time to put the toys back in the box! Like, the zuK thing didn't really hit anyone but al-Haddar until late in day 3.

-The Khadi's dicepool in the last event being unfair isn't such a big deal (Khadi gonna Khadi) but a 7k4 vs a bunch of 55XP spuds without armor is practically an auto-hit, and should probably have not been downplayed as a "fortunately, she's not an expert." Just a kind of fluff/expectation thing. I think most of us who know the dicepools weren't too lulled by it, but still and all... Likewise, the dangers of 5k2 damage rolls that practically auto-hit vs a crew where Earth 3 was likely the peak of damage absorbtion were probably underestimated. But hey, nobody died, so I guess not by much!

- Juggling factions and origins isn't a big hassle, but with just about all of the factions being Super Secret, anyone with no stake in a faction is going to be very hard-pressed to care enough to do any digging- and anyone in a faction is mostly going to be flailing around hoping they have some buddies who also happened to sign up to be Assassins or Qolat or whatever.

- With an even halfway decent Perform roll, Kezia (a "common" Ra'Shari and therefore not stereotypically all that well off) was pulling down 50 pool a session with minimal fuss. It made chasing coin by other means seem kinda... silly.

The stuff that kicked so much ass

- For only having one GM, this game was a masterclass in responsiveness and attention. Seriously. Hats off.

- For what was largely a sandbox game with the archery event serving as more of a backdrop than a driver for most characters, it was surprisingly well-structured.

- Weird little events popping up that people could just run with were, in fact, run with.

- Given LBS' generally... different power curve from L5R, the danger within the city was generally kept to a survivable level for these little 55 XP spuds.

- Sucking at archery wasn't allowed to be a serious drag. It's a small thing, but appreciated

- I liked threads being categorized by day rather than by location. Made the bookkeeping a lot simpler.

[Ali ibn Farid]

Thank you for running! I will second that you did a terrific job, and I look forward to the next one.

On D1, while on patrol with Arash, you had me roll per/inv. Was that just random crime, or was there something exciting there? I kept worrying that I missed my shot at some plot due to not spending void...

[Lamis Naaji]

Not going to repeat Kezia's points other than to note the 'well done's' are all spot on. Seriously, the little personal plot runs were great to watch, and they looked like folks were having fun with them.

Negative, I'll note most of that didn't hit me as a lower-activity player. But the khadi as a 'dabbler' with a pool matching or exceeding most of the contestants does work better with a tongue in cheek tone. XD

I *am* frustrated from a story standpoint of *not* seeing the end of some of those little personal bits. XD But I can also see those being interesting draws for reprised characters in later installments.

Event mechanics were simple but had interesting choices to think about. Pretty nice for such a short contest. Background information about the present moment had a nicely sketched in without overworking it feel that suited the game scope.

Overall, very enjoyable.

[Ali ibn Farid]

Oh yeah, mechanics were definitely good.

[Jewel]

I will admit the Khadi comment was not intended as tongue in cheek though I can see how it could read that way. Those are her low traits. Do not get into a social struggle with that woman.

[Lamis Naaji]

I will admit the Khadi comment was not intended as tongue in cheek though I can see how it could read that way. Those are her low traits. Do not get into a social struggle with that woman.

Heh, yes, I'm sure that with khadi stats, that very much felt like her dabbling skill.

[Jewel]

Yeah honestly she should have had higher strength, given that Water is the ring for Control magic, but it was deadly enough as is.

My original design intent was that it was a 'catch up' option for those low on points if they wanted to take the risk. I honestly didn't expect so many people to let her shoot them. Guess I underestimated bravery and/or foolishness depending on the character.

[Lamis Naaji]

Initially misreading it: "ok, the odds are pretty good she won't kill me with one shot, even at Earth 2"

Re-read: "hmm...two shots could kill me if Orokos is salty, but probably not...ok"

In my case "3 is really pressing my luck, and I'm out of Void..." though it would have provided the extra point to tie, so possibly it would have been worthwhile.

For an extra xp and the chance of some points when her ATN made a getting points off hitting her iffy, I'm not surprised most picked that option.

[Jewel]

Thank you for running! I will second that you did a terrific job, and I look forward to the next one.

On D1, while on patrol with Arash, you had me roll per/inv. Was that just random crime, or was there something exciting there? I kept worrying that I missed my shot at some plot due to not spending void...

To keep players on their toes I had them roll the investigation before I did a random roll to find the result. That one ended up 'just another day'. So no worries about having missed a plot-thread.