Event Review - Heavy Handed

[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.