Event Review - Heavy Handed

[Ivanna]

Thank you everyone who came out and made the weekend all that it was. Despite the heavy rain Friday and the NPC camp shift, it felt like the weekend went well! Thank you especially to the NPC team for all their hard work and to everyone for bringing this game to life.

And now...

What did you like, what needs improvement, and what were your most exciting stories / moments / interactions? Tell us your thoughts!

Any concerns or major complaints, please feel free to email contact@underworldralinwood.ca to speak to the Owners (myself and Dan) directly.

[KRONG DA STRONG]

PROS:
~KRONG

[A goblin played by Matty]

You guys did a fantastic job, I know the npc base was super thin, but it was well used.

I really missed tavern as a hangout spot, and as it gets colder I'm sure that opinion will become more popular, I understood why you switched tho.

I got to trade with lots of merchants!!!!Most games I feel like they're lacking or they sell out before I see them.

I watched that elemental portal open,with the smoke and the flares. What a spectacular show that was!

Being called "The goblin" as though no one in Ralinwood ever met a goblin before.

So a group of orcs asked me for help finding someone. Obviously I go help,because goblins are helpful creatures. Then coming into town to see everyone lined up to fight
I honestly thought I was about to die.
Being a good guy is tough.

Cons
I'm not calling anyone out so if you feel like it,please understand it's not just you I saw this from a few folks.
It seemed like whenever I dismembered someone they still limped around. If your leg is gone, you shouldn't lean on it, it's gone.

[KRONG DA STRONG]

OK REAL POST NOW!

PROS:
~KRONG HAS BEES!
~KRONG IS ON DA MENU!
~EARTH LORD!
~DONT TOUCH DA FOWERS!!!!!!!!!

NOT PROS BUT NOT CONS:
~DAN IM SORRY I MISTOOK THE BIG BAD FOR A SHEEP

CONS:
~I feel tavern and NPC camp should not share a building, the building previously used wanst even used for mods or anything and seemed like wasted space, and the Tavern made a great hangout the previous game I attended.
~Hate to say it, and although I do not understand Mysticism much, I found that the answer given from Java's Augury was a bit pointless. All of town already new what the spirits decided to give as an answer and it was a total waste of time and RP potential in my opinion.
~The element mod was somewhat confusing and far too cramped, though ive been told it was for mechanic uses, still super cramped.

[Granyte the Ogre]

Review time!

This was a great game, the perfect amount of fear (OMG FIRE! RUN WOLVEN RUN) and comedy relief.

Pros! CROSSROADS! The best camp around, the jokes, the laughter and the drama. Impromptu pot lucks are also the best. "I brought steak bits" "I brought sausages" "I have some cans of stew!!" 

KRONG DA STRONG HAS BEES!!! Best joke I've ever told at an event and it just keeps going lol

Shamanism with Java and Will. My gods I don't think I've ever had such intense rp before, and I can't wait for more!

Cons- Only one, and it's more of a personal problem I guess but that bell. I love the idea, the hours tolling and all, but as a Scout Leader and someone who has been going to summer camps for most my life, the Fire/Emergency bell tolling gets my heart pounding. Might just be me, and if it is that's cool, I'll learn to deal. 


Side Note- New NPC camp location is not my favorite. As an NPC it made it really hard to cover all those windows Friday Night, and having to have all the windows closed made for a sweat lodge, even with the fans on. Just my two cents.

All in all, amazing game, wish the pool was opened but I understand lack of lifeguards, and can't wait till next month!

[Dr. Moran]

Pros:
We actually have a bell! That was a pleasant surprise and a neat little feature that felt very atmospheric.

Thinking that somebody had littered on the mod site and instead finding important plot evidence. I was so ready to just throw that piece of paper out, I’m so glad I actually opened it. 

The costuming on the elemental lords was superb.

I underestimated how fun it would be to pretend to be a corpse while stabilizing somebody.

The occasional gaggle of NPCs returning from the warfront was a great little nod to the fact that not just PCs are involved in events like Warcry. The RP was phenomenal, particularly Mari’s poor traumatized farmer, Wally’s infected peasant who was trying to sell stuff to me right up until I was putting him under and Campbell’s hypochondriac farmer.

Not just getting cake but getting cake TWICE. Also having chili with the Nighthenge was fun, communal camp meals always make me happy even if the whole camp isn’t present.

Al'ixeh’s entrance was hysterical and he’s now basically Ori’s hero for telling off an Orc who called her a bird.

“It’s not just a magic shield, it’s a maaaagic shield.”

Adam P. and Will A. are probably the main reasons I didn’t just go home Saturday after my NPC shift so thank you both for being absolute delights. I really appreciate it.

Story wise and mod wise the event was solid and well executed. Monsters were well statted and I actually got to help kill a few things. #PraiseCassandra

Lucy and Falcon are forever my heroes for avenging me when I was stung by a wasp and then getting me ice and cold drinks to deal with the swelling.

"He hit the ball so hard it exploded and all the pieces flew into the net. It was spectacular. I'm so sorry you missed it when you fainted."

Neutral:
I was a bit wary about the whole NPC camp being in tavern thing but frankly I think it worked alright, tavern was closed up after a certain point in the evening anyway. Granted I did not order a lot of food this event so I do not know how food wait times were impacted by this change, if they were at all. Just bring more window covers next time if you stay there.

Cons:
A shaper reacting to a rules question with “you’re not a new player” and not actually giving the answer is the one of most insulting and frustrating things I have had to deal with since I started playing. The rules change. We’re not all casters. We don’t always keep spell names straight. There is no need to be rude.

I would list each and every person who went out of their way to IG or OOG make a snide comment about Ursel during game to this list but I fear I would run out of space in this review. This was one of the most frustrating and emotionally difficult events I have ever had the displeasure of trying to play through because of the sheer amount of times it happened. The rulebook specifically states that a character cannot acknowledge the existence of other characters they have played so I was constantly put in positions where I had to walk away from otherwise good talks. I get that it will come up in conversation sometimes. Characters don’t cease to exist when they retire. If it’s natural I don’t mind or even notice, but when you go off on a tangent in the middle of the tavern for no discernable reason about how some elf my Avian has never met is trash then you are just being a dick. Same goes to the people who randomly went OOG to talk about her when I was trying to play. 

The battle with the elemental lords/interrupting the ritual was a really cool fight and looked great but that space was very cramped and very dark for use as a town mod site that late at night.


Thanks to the shapers and NPCs for all the hard work, as usual. A lot goes into these events and it’s appreciated.

[NPCJenW]

Likes:
-I like our new bell.
-Playing an elemental is always fun to me.
-Late night Redcap. SUPER relieved my one tent raid didn't end in a death. @_@ thank you to the PC for being such  a good sport about that.
-Chervil as usual was tons of fun
-Being blown up by krankshaft on the last mod
-Blank on the last mod. actually, everything about Blank. "I helped."
-Being super obvious undead and pretending we weren't super obvious undead. the fight that ensued from that, the fact that our quarry was still on site.
-Monica is a lovely person
-Morning ooze
-tavern food is tasty
-java getting his training finished
-Playing a snide kobold  
-"we's are goblins. "
-The costuming on the elemental lords
-as usual, the camp of einher always  make me so happy. Seeing Darcy back at game was a treat.
"I have a bird cage to sell!"
"...how dare you." 
-i feel like most NPCs really did well with rp, being quiet oog and staying in character this game
-Will A. being taped to a chair in a purple morphsuit.

Dislikes will be emailed.

[Java Aquari]

Lets crack this open~

Pro's;
- Crossroads camp. Love you guys and all who hang out with us. Makes it feel like an actual Camp...Master Biscuit <3
- Spirits. Love when NPC's work with mystics for on the fly choices.
- Shaman Vocation Training. Will A and Adam P. You boys knocked it out of the ballpark <3 Well done, 11/10
- NPC's - Some honest good work. Still a great deal of you trying to 'win' against the PC's but felt a better control on that this time.
- Bloody Augury. Can honestly say I felt proud for what we put into that. Those involved or saw know <3 Think that was my most intense Augury yet <3

I'm probably far to tired to be writing this but meh XP Looking forward to next game <3

[Carrion]

I'll probably definitely miss some things because I passed out for four hours and still feel half dead, but let's get one of these done before I forget like last time.

Pros
- The costuming was really great this event. As always I love recognizable, consistent NPCs that help flesh out the town, and the elemental lords get a special mention.
- On the topic of the elemental lords, I definitely thought we were gunna die when I walked out of the washrooms and saw the red portal flares on the hill, and a bunch of glowing nonsense walking around. It wasn't until I saw them all gathered with town that I dared approach. Very atmospheric.
- Lots of ghosts out. I love exposition bird and the narrator, and Lucy's cook ghost was a really fun little interaction. Kudos to her for figuring out really smart ways to tell Carrion what she wanted and for conveying a really strong sense of personality despite never saying a word.
- The town meeting went really smoothly. I know I usually save this section for NPC/shaper/mod specific stuff, but it feels worth mentioning since hopefully we someday have an impact on making things run more smoothly for other players.
- I'm going to say that I loved the big glowy circle and use of darkness beyond it in the elemental mod here, and critique other parts of the mod in the cons section.

Neutral
- I wish I had more to add for plot/mod stuff, and was even trying to interact with it more this event as I've feared I'll fall out of the loop if I continue to be passive, but this was noooot a very support friendly event. Between the influx in elemental damage and the random death effects flying around, I'd usually go through all my life's immediately and then be utterly useless to a mod. I won't count it as a con, since it's my own damn fault for building my skillset this way (though it was also just kinda a bad event for psionicists in general, since it was mostly elementals and undead) but wanted to mention it to explain why I don't have more praises to sing what I'm sure was an otherwise good set of mods. My cons section always feels discouragingly large since they take more explaining, even if it's an overall good weekend for me.

Cons
- I suspect this is pretty unavoidable due to limited places to set up impressive mod sites and hide them away from town so they go unseen and feel like something we've had to travel to, but the elemental mod site was a wee bit scary in an OOG safety way during the fight. People had to bunch up pretty tightly on uneven ground with lots of fallen wood and brittle trees. I think I downed a skinny one just by resting a hand on it to keep my balance. Perhaps more ground level lights, or allowing NPCs on very full but slower shifts to try and clear away hazards for later ones would help? Dunno.
- There were some inconsistencies between rules some monsters should follow and what was done, and a mod that felt far more frustrating than challenging because of it. This may be me being a whiny player about things, but lately some of the one off encounters have felt more designed to bother players and waste resources than interesting/impactful/challenging/relevant to the ongoing plot. I know this is a spooky git gud survival horror fantasy, but it just kinda feels bad after a while.

Personal Highlights
- Discussions on how to cheat your way into Valhalla. "THIS ISN'T OVER."
- Late night camp chats and food sharing.
- I got to feel like a big damn hero when I life'd two of the elemental lords before their withering deaths could take effect.
- Proud Pebble.
- Getting to interact even a little with Al'ixeh was really great. I've heard of him and seen him at a distance in Jericho, but never really spoken to him at any length. His costuming is great and he seems like a really swell dude. A+ peacock man.
- THE MIMIC.
- Seeing Lilith (and Tel, and Magnar). We usually seem to miss each other, so Carrion getting a chance to catch up with his old employer and co was really nice. I'm so glad poor Cat has a new alternative to the full red paint.
- Life-ing Riven's sheet-corpse with my bare toe. I'd threatened to foot-life the next person that made me leave my chair, and I'm a man of my word.

[Dan Finn]

-side note on the elemental lords mod. The reason it was in a far off defendable place is because: that is exactly where a PC would put it. As to the crampedness, less then half of the available space was used outside of the glowing shocky circle and even less inside it. There are also a number of PCs with a bunch of alchemical light tags! Get tactical guys! Crack those bad boys and scatter them into the darkness!