Hurray, first masquerade. In my case it was mostly an excuse to make Carrion pretty but here goes.
The Good
- There was actually more food than I expected. I think everyone I went with left satisfied, which can be a crapshoot with potlucks.
- I like puzzles so that cabin was fun. The riddle game made up for the missing puzzle pieces, for me at least.
- General hanging out with people is nice. I don’t mind a lot of downtime at day mods / tavern events since it gives folks more time to RP.
- Whoever left the chess board is a good egg. Had some fun with Carrion sand Pawp playing games with very dubious levels of skill.
- I like the idea of us interacting with mother, and enjoyed interacting with Ange. More on that in the cons though unfortunately.
The Less Good
- Most of my concerns about how the event was portrayed vs unfolded have been addressed, so I won’t repeat that part. Alex summed it up especially well.
- I think more activities would have made up for the lack of NPCs. Clearly advertising the cabins, a few more board games, other small challenges for the non combat people... I once say players occupied for a time by a limbo contest at another event. Also giving us something to do while under siege f we were non-combat for the evening might have helped balance it.
My final critique may be a bit more complex, but I feel like it should be said. Lately, plot points have felt a bit inevitable. While it’s understandable that big plots have story points they have to hit, especially on this big, cross guild, semi-world-plot level, it can feel like our characters are simply along for the ride. The mask ritual was an interesting idea, but didn’t matter since the undead came anyway. At Hallows the gates were guarded dutifully in shifts long into the night, but then a bunch of undead bum rushed them to free Mother. Characters have struggled to make compelling arguments to NPCs that need to later be ignored because those NPCs must act in a certain way for the story.
I know it’s a difficult thing to improve on. It’s impossible to write a backup situation for every possible outcome, and it can be difficult to improvise on a level that many writers are involved on. However, I think it would be more satisfying to feel as if more impact was made than either everyone dying because we screwed up or surviving long enough to watch the story unfold as intended. Maybe by having more meaningful subplots or having one or two different endings to coax us into instead? Like I said it seems like a very complex issue, but one that’s been discussed with me by a few different people over the months. There could be more going on behind the scenes than I realize, but sometimes it’s worth explaining how it looks to us players from the other side of the curtain.
The Good
- There was actually more food than I expected. I think everyone I went with left satisfied, which can be a crapshoot with potlucks.
- I like puzzles so that cabin was fun. The riddle game made up for the missing puzzle pieces, for me at least.
- General hanging out with people is nice. I don’t mind a lot of downtime at day mods / tavern events since it gives folks more time to RP.
- Whoever left the chess board is a good egg. Had some fun with Carrion sand Pawp playing games with very dubious levels of skill.
- I like the idea of us interacting with mother, and enjoyed interacting with Ange. More on that in the cons though unfortunately.
The Less Good
- Most of my concerns about how the event was portrayed vs unfolded have been addressed, so I won’t repeat that part. Alex summed it up especially well.
- I think more activities would have made up for the lack of NPCs. Clearly advertising the cabins, a few more board games, other small challenges for the non combat people... I once say players occupied for a time by a limbo contest at another event. Also giving us something to do while under siege f we were non-combat for the evening might have helped balance it.
My final critique may be a bit more complex, but I feel like it should be said. Lately, plot points have felt a bit inevitable. While it’s understandable that big plots have story points they have to hit, especially on this big, cross guild, semi-world-plot level, it can feel like our characters are simply along for the ride. The mask ritual was an interesting idea, but didn’t matter since the undead came anyway. At Hallows the gates were guarded dutifully in shifts long into the night, but then a bunch of undead bum rushed them to free Mother. Characters have struggled to make compelling arguments to NPCs that need to later be ignored because those NPCs must act in a certain way for the story.
I know it’s a difficult thing to improve on. It’s impossible to write a backup situation for every possible outcome, and it can be difficult to improvise on a level that many writers are involved on. However, I think it would be more satisfying to feel as if more impact was made than either everyone dying because we screwed up or surviving long enough to watch the story unfold as intended. Maybe by having more meaningful subplots or having one or two different endings to coax us into instead? Like I said it seems like a very complex issue, but one that’s been discussed with me by a few different people over the months. There could be more going on behind the scenes than I realize, but sometimes it’s worth explaining how it looks to us players from the other side of the curtain.
IG: A human man in a crow skull mask, grey stole, and black clerical vestments. Occasionally carries an iron or silver dagger, but more often seen without any visible weapons or amour to speak of.
OOG: Danny Heintz, he/him. Transmasc in progress, please disregard mine bræsts.
OOG: Danny Heintz, he/him. Transmasc in progress, please disregard mine bræsts.