Endgame Closer
I made it back up to Endgame again this weekend to help out with NPC'ing. I had heard they were having trouble coming up with enough NPC's, and I figured I could use the extra CP before the upcoming Madrigal events. I asked around to see if anyone else was interested in making the trip with me but everyone was either busy or uninterested so I was traveling solo again.
I managed to get on the road at a reasonable time Friday morning and decided to take a different route than I normally take. That turned out to be a bit of a mistake. I got a bit confused going along a section of RT 15 in Pennsylvania and took my eyes off the road a bit longer than I should have. I ended up clipping the rear corner of a trailer at a stop light and more than likely totaled my car. I lost about four hours while it got towed away and a rental car could be set up for me.
It wasn't the best beginning of a weekend, but the rental was a nice car and the rest of the trip north went smoothly. I got to site around midnight and only missed the very first opening wave battle. The NPC numbers were a bit low but not as bad as they were the last time I NPC'd Endgame. Most of the regulars were there and it was good seeing them and working with them again.
For most of the weekend I played just the standard combat roles I normally do. I got a bit lucky and was allowed a minor roleplaying role this time. I was a soldier who had a very minor role in the plot and who needed to be rescued during a mod first thing on Saturday. After I was rescued I got drug back into town and that let me roleplay a little bit with some of the PC's. This was really the first time I had gotten an extended speaking role and was allowed to spend some unscripted time just interacting with the PC's in a relatively calm non-crisis situation. I wouldn't be surprised if several of the PC's wouldn't recognize the sound of my voice. I got the revisit the role again briefly during The Main Event.
The big marquee highlight fight came earlier in the event than normal. The big battle happened shortly after dinner when one of the immensely powerful otherwordly boss villains attacked the town while they were casting a ritual to banish it from earth. This was easily the most powerful NPC the game has seen to date, and he was not pulling any punches. The costume for the boss monster was also extremely well done and impressive to see.
Most of the regular NPC's were playing fairly standard Radioactive Cockroach monsters that the PC's have grown used to over the past several events. There were not a whole lot of us, but the main boss monster and the 3 or 4 mini bosses were just hideous, and it resulted in plenty of carnage. When the dust all cleared the big boss monster was successfully banished but I believe the final count was ten PC's who resurrected. I was quite surprised to learn the number was that low.
For the most part I was happy with my performance over the weekend. I did a pretty good job in most of the fights, though I did have a few moments where I got a bit sloppy with my flurries, and in one fight on a field I kept having trouble running into people. I could tell I've been playing NERO all summer and was out of practice fighting Acellerant games. I didn't screw up any of the roleplayed roles I had and in general I think most people had fun fighting against me.
NPC'ing events like this gives me a whole lot of satisfaction, but its possible this may be my last Endgame event. I still have a lot of fun with the game, but it is just getting harder and harder to make the trip. My schedule and obligations keep getting more and more crowded, and it is getting tougher to find people to travel up there with me. Next year Numina will start and that may just take away my last free time for other games. We'll just have to see I suppose. The idea they announced for a one shot event as a season opener sounds like a lot of fun and I would love to do it. Everything depends on dates, I guess.
I managed to get on the road at a reasonable time Friday morning and decided to take a different route than I normally take. That turned out to be a bit of a mistake. I got a bit confused going along a section of RT 15 in Pennsylvania and took my eyes off the road a bit longer than I should have. I ended up clipping the rear corner of a trailer at a stop light and more than likely totaled my car. I lost about four hours while it got towed away and a rental car could be set up for me.
It wasn't the best beginning of a weekend, but the rental was a nice car and the rest of the trip north went smoothly. I got to site around midnight and only missed the very first opening wave battle. The NPC numbers were a bit low but not as bad as they were the last time I NPC'd Endgame. Most of the regulars were there and it was good seeing them and working with them again.
For most of the weekend I played just the standard combat roles I normally do. I got a bit lucky and was allowed a minor roleplaying role this time. I was a soldier who had a very minor role in the plot and who needed to be rescued during a mod first thing on Saturday. After I was rescued I got drug back into town and that let me roleplay a little bit with some of the PC's. This was really the first time I had gotten an extended speaking role and was allowed to spend some unscripted time just interacting with the PC's in a relatively calm non-crisis situation. I wouldn't be surprised if several of the PC's wouldn't recognize the sound of my voice. I got the revisit the role again briefly during The Main Event.
The big marquee highlight fight came earlier in the event than normal. The big battle happened shortly after dinner when one of the immensely powerful otherwordly boss villains attacked the town while they were casting a ritual to banish it from earth. This was easily the most powerful NPC the game has seen to date, and he was not pulling any punches. The costume for the boss monster was also extremely well done and impressive to see.
Most of the regular NPC's were playing fairly standard Radioactive Cockroach monsters that the PC's have grown used to over the past several events. There were not a whole lot of us, but the main boss monster and the 3 or 4 mini bosses were just hideous, and it resulted in plenty of carnage. When the dust all cleared the big boss monster was successfully banished but I believe the final count was ten PC's who resurrected. I was quite surprised to learn the number was that low.
For the most part I was happy with my performance over the weekend. I did a pretty good job in most of the fights, though I did have a few moments where I got a bit sloppy with my flurries, and in one fight on a field I kept having trouble running into people. I could tell I've been playing NERO all summer and was out of practice fighting Acellerant games. I didn't screw up any of the roleplayed roles I had and in general I think most people had fun fighting against me.
NPC'ing events like this gives me a whole lot of satisfaction, but its possible this may be my last Endgame event. I still have a lot of fun with the game, but it is just getting harder and harder to make the trip. My schedule and obligations keep getting more and more crowded, and it is getting tougher to find people to travel up there with me. Next year Numina will start and that may just take away my last free time for other games. We'll just have to see I suppose. The idea they announced for a one shot event as a season opener sounds like a lot of fun and I would love to do it. Everything depends on dates, I guess.