That's the Spirit! Sept 1 Review Thread

[Ivanna]

Additionally:

If there are issues that do not have to do with the game itself (such as issues with the conduct of Shapers or other PCs) please direct your concerns to contact@underworldralinwood.ca so we can directly solve the problems.

[Zia Sashana]

-Oh yes, also, if we are going to have NPCs who are crossplaying genders of various sorts, can we please not only do it to play for laughs/shock value by sending them out as as prostitutes.  This is the second event in a row.  It's not super cool.

Robyn did not go out for laughs or shock value. I see your point in that it looks like a pattern. Robyn legitimately likes to express herself that way. I'm not sure how she acted when she went out, but to my understanding, she attempted to be careful and tasteful and perform the role without mockery.

However, if you feel it is coming across as tasteless, we will not send her out as a male prostitute again.

My actual RP with her was great!  I don't have a problem with the roles in specific, more the fact that the only time we get crossplaying (genderplay? I don't even know what a good term is!) of any sort that I remember seeing is prostitutes.  So give us prostitutes, but give us other roles as well :3

[Ivanna]

-Oh yes, also, if we are going to have NPCs who are crossplaying genders of various sorts, can we please not only do it to play for laughs/shock value by sending them out as as prostitutes.  This is the second event in a row.  It's not super cool.

Robyn did not go out for laughs or shock value. I see your point in that it looks like a pattern. Robyn legitimately likes to express herself that way. I'm not sure how she acted when she went out, but to my understanding, she attempted to be careful and tasteful and perform the role without mockery.

However, if you feel it is coming across as tasteless, we will not send her out as a male prostitute again.

My actual RP with her was great!  I don't have a problem with the roles in specific, more the fact that the only time we get crossplaying (genderplay? I don't even know what a good term is!) of any sort that I remember seeing is prostitutes.  So give us prostitutes, but give us other roles as well :3

Absolutely will do! Thanks for pointing it out Heather

[MinthaDuvaineth]

Gonna make this a short one:

Pros:

- Getting to be a secretary of sorts in NPC camp when I wasn't up for roles was great
- Newbie mod and NPLing in general was a wonderful experience. Thanks to NPC camp for letting me help out
- shop time went wonderful and we have a little market starting up, even if it was all home-brew fun
-Colton's gambling NPC and the aptly dubbed "party ball". Good laughs.
- the boulder mechanic and the fact that the mine had gems all around the mod site

Cons:

- no fun with main plot. Working hard for an hour to deal with the ritual circle just to be told that a PC (most likely a visitor) took something in a previous game so we had to "suck it up" is just bad planning, and bad plot. Remember, plot writes the beginning and PC's write the ending.

In regards to the "cross-play" notes above, as someone who is non-binary I honestly don't feel comfortable playing "male" npcs because I get enough stress from gender issues in real life, I don't need a whole role where I'll be mis-gendered. But I agree that there aren't very good representations going out and we need to be more inclusive

Also, as an aside, I'm feeling quite a bit of internalized misogyny at Larp lately. Watching my male counterparts make progress while female bodied players work their butt off is bad for my self-motivation so I'm going to probably take next game off. I'll be back, just need to re-evaluate things.

[Lilith Caia]

Cons:

- no fun with main plot. Working hard for an hour to deal with the ritual circle just to be told that a PC (most likely a visitor) took something in a previous game so we had to "suck it up" is just bad planning, and bad plot. Remember, plot writes the beginning and PC's write the ending.

I don't think PCs being able to fuck things up for other people is poor planning. I think it's realistic.

[Andrei Katrares]

Cons:

- no fun with main plot. Working hard for an hour to deal with the ritual circle just to be told that a PC (most likely a visitor) took something in a previous game so we had to "suck it up" is just bad planning, and bad plot. Remember, plot writes the beginning and PC's write the ending.

I don't think PCs being able to fuck things up for other people is poor planning. I think it's realistic.

You don't have to give them what they want, but you should give them something to do, even if it it goes something like "Well the PCs fail to do A, but by trying a failing this worse thing B happens" where B isn't <nothing>.

[Zia Sashana]

In regards to the "cross-play" notes above, as someone who is non-binary I honestly don't feel comfortable playing "male" npcs because I get enough stress from gender issues in real life, I don't need a whole role where I'll be mis-gendered. But I agree that there aren't very good representations going out and we need to be more inclusive

I imagine that there are enough people who are comfortable with it that those who aren't wouldn't be asked.  I mean, 'are you comfortable with this role' is a common enough question in NPC camp already when it comes to simpler things (like playing casters or what have you), and don't see why that would change <3

[Brondulf Elricson]

I would like to add my two cents to the whole issue of player action consequence. I agree with Jada's statement that PC's are the ones who write the ending if the plot is constructed well, but we all need to remember that our actions DO need to have consequence, not for the sake of "realism" but because it breeds a more dynamic and fun story. Why do you think Game of Thrones (seasons 1-6) has such a compelling plot? It's because the choices made by people, whether good ones or bad have a reaction.
The saturday night mod was a let down for sure, but the consequence for being unable to solve it has led to a new development, that being Citadel making permanent camp next to us.
Going up the the impassable wall sunday morning and being unable to break through it sucks just as much. However the Shapers figured out to have the possessed members of the town join the ranks of those in the mines, but lead us to the final mod in an alternative way.
While I think many of us get caught up in the idea that because we're players that the plot must conform to us at our whims, we often forget that we are only a part of said plot. Ultimately the town will win just as Westeros will defeat the Whitewalkers, but it is our actions and the consequences that will determine how it happens, and what the end result will be.

[Carrion]

I should write one of these before I forget like last time...

The Good!
- Interacting with the true fae NPCs. I like fae, like a lot. A lot a lot. Talking to them is always a fun exerciser in picking literally every word you say incredibly carefully. I know a number of guilds do them a little differently, so it was nice to finally get a chance to really interact with the local true fae instead of having them be a more distant force of nature or adversary. I also think those playing them did a great job of the traditional skewed morality and haughtiness. They were proud and demanding, but not utterly unreasonable or impossible to speak to.

- The plot team also did a great job of adapting to setbacks. I know there was some frustration player side on things being forgotten, misplaced, stolen, or simply not brought to game slowing down plot. However as someone that interacted with the bulk of the weekend's main plot line, it seemed to me like despite some lulls and minor setbacks, things were resolved. Maybe I somehow missed the ones that weren't, but the ones I did attend with setbacks had eventual fixes.

- All the mechanics mods. Didn't get to go on Dustin's but got to be a part of the boulder one. Five massive, nerds.

- Whatever the hell that orb was. I'm so glad Mason and Carrion could work things out for the sake of their poor mom and dragon dad.

The Less Good
- While the smoke bombs were atmospheric as heck, the cloud was incredibly heavy. I have a bit of a lingering cough and it made breathing a little hard, and I know some other folks also found it a bit much. I don't want to be a killjoy since some people really enjoyed them, but in the close quarters of the boulder mod especially, I was really struggling.

- Might be good to have backup food for the shift folks who end up NPCing during dinner? A bunch of us got stuck on a long and kinda delayed mod. Fortunately my sister sustained me with leftover pancakes and we plan on bringing more snacks in the future just in case, but it might be something to keep in mind.

Personal Highlights
- A bunch of us had some nice RP with some visiting Jericho folks. Shame it got cut short by the looming threat of murker murder.

- "Okay. I know what this looks like, and I can explain." - Eris, 2259

- All of us goading each other into touching the orb first. Also pretty sure I remember Mintha yelling "Dietremen, is that you?!" while it was still a white ball.

Personal Heck Ups
- Shoulda gone to see Lilith when she was walking around with her hellhound, but Carrion's deeply ingrained cowardice saw that light up spinal cord and went "nope". Kept a safe distance since I wasn't sure what to expect, a little sorry I didn't get a proper goodbye but both Carrion and I doubt she'll stay gone for long.

- Standing there awkwardly, having killed myself about ten seconds too late, as Muun (Moon? Mune?) finished killing the Wendigo with Java. Thank the gods and whoever lifed me that I didn't take a death from that because wow, not my finest moment. I was very touched by the people that noticed my belated sacrifice, they made me feel like marginally less of a buffoon.

Side Note
I have something to add about some of the trans and pronoun stuff that's being said, but don't want to derail this thread or make my post so long people just scroll past it, so I'm making my own thread. It's got an important addition to the discussion in it, so I'd appreciate if people read it.