It's that time again...
Time for me to update my journal. (That, and another tournament has come and gone, and I need to record how I feel about it, so that, in case I forget, I can always look back and go "Hm, so that's what it was like..." Not to mention that I should record the lessons I learn so that I don't forget by the time the next tourney rolls around.) But I digress.
Character choice: Darth Malak, from Knights of the Old Republic. Seriously Dark side, but different from most of my villains insofar as he had next to no subtlety at all: while this sometimes caused problems (there were a few times where I had a very nice interaction going, but it had to be modified when one or both of us asked, "Would Malak do this?") He's powerful, but still human; he uses Force powers, but not to an overwhelming degree; and he's still mostly duel-oriented, but still able to interact in a meangingful manner with other sponsors. Perhaps one of my better choices, in theory.
Interactions: This was one of those rare tournaments where I had an actual round-compassing story arc: and not once, but twice. The first, with Rain's Drizzt Do'Urden (and Onyx's Darth Revan, who dropped out early), encompassed the first four (and a bit into the fifth, I believe) rounds, and ended with (of course) a battle in Drizzt's mind between the Dark side of Malak and the Hunter, versus the Light side of Drizzt and Revan. An interesting arc, all around, that ended with (once again, of course) with Malak being defeated: but I have a few reservations about it.
The second (and much more satisfying, in my opinion) was the interaction between Kyo's Akira and Malak. In this particular arc, Akira fought with Malak right before the conclusion of the Hunter arc, and Malak followed up on that by abducting her from her friends*. What followed was an actually interesting Dark side conversion of said individual, which was all the more shocking because it appeared to have worked. (As I mentioned to Kyo, such things in a Survivor are... well, slightly rarer than the opposite conversion.)
Thankfully, this meant that Malak had a duelling partner for the final round battle against Wayne's Culex and Procyon's Sly Cooper. It was definately finals-worthy, mostly because we had three of the oldest (yet still active) members of Survivor working on it, and Procyon, who's extremely good in his own right. That, combined with the Draco (tm) Style of Using Terrain and combined teamwork tactics, and it's a battle that I'll be remembering for a while.
Verisimilitude: First and foremost, my largest worry was that the Force was learned so easily. It took Revan weeks to learn the most basic techniques, and he was recovering from amnesia. The two sponsors who interacted with Malak substantially (Drizzt and Akira) learned the same in a day or two.** :/ Other than that, most of the rules and canon set down were followed, with a few exceptions.
Overall Opinion: Since it would be tedious to cover all of the points, I invite the readers who have not already done so to read Wayne's journal (link is in my friend's list,) and be aware that I agree with most of the points. The only thing I'll add is that R-vote chaining was a bad idea, A-vote chaining might have worked (I can't say that for certain, because very few people tried it.)
The rounds... were mostly unknown to me, and for some of them (as the popular litany went,) I simply couldn't think of anything to do. Then again, for some of the early ones, I wanted to write something, but couldn't, since I was caught in said overstory arc.
Lessons Learned: First and foremost: do not shackle one's character! There were some interactions that I wanted to do, but couldn't, and some rounds that I should have done more in, but didn't. Over-arcing storylines are fine, but they need to be kept under control.
Secondly (* Footnote): Do not do battle with people that have put too much power/effort/-BURNING PASSION- into their characters. To use an example, the battle between Shizumaru and Malak. Malak is a Sith lord, with incredible Force powers and is (perhaps) the best duellist in his world. After Shizumaru's first post, I was forced to relegate him to a "I lose, but I'll take someone down with me" role. He had no chance whatsoever of winning, simply because I had forgotten just how powerful Shizumaru had become, as compared to his canonical appearances. I intensely dislike having to go through hoops in such situations, and now I know what I need to avoid in order to not be forced to do so.
Third (** Footnote): When possible, do not bring a new gimmick into a Survivor. The Force is a great tool and plot device, and I enjoyed using it to develop Malak's character (and to give him a fighting chance in most of the battles he participated in). However, the sudden number of "Force Sensitive" individuals scared me. This is, after all, a gift so rare that the major Jedi academy (the Chu'Unthor) was made a spaceship because there weren't enough students in any one world to support it! Granted, the people being dragged into these things are above and beyond the norm, however, the Force should still be a factor that happens to maybe one in ten thousand (using the Babylon 5 method, of course.) Next time, I'll stick with something that either everyone has, or no one else can use.
And that's... just about it, I think. I've learned quite a bit about Host interaction, running a tournament, and some gimmicks that will or will not work. However, those are for my own private use, and as this entry's getting too long as it is, I'll end it here. *nods*
Rurouni Taikai SaGa: The tournament of reprisals with mostly new characters, a system that was doomed to exploitation, and a list of items that makes one want to turn Communist and split them evenly. :)
Character choice: Darth Malak, from Knights of the Old Republic. Seriously Dark side, but different from most of my villains insofar as he had next to no subtlety at all: while this sometimes caused problems (there were a few times where I had a very nice interaction going, but it had to be modified when one or both of us asked, "Would Malak do this?") He's powerful, but still human; he uses Force powers, but not to an overwhelming degree; and he's still mostly duel-oriented, but still able to interact in a meangingful manner with other sponsors. Perhaps one of my better choices, in theory.
Interactions: This was one of those rare tournaments where I had an actual round-compassing story arc: and not once, but twice. The first, with Rain's Drizzt Do'Urden (and Onyx's Darth Revan, who dropped out early), encompassed the first four (and a bit into the fifth, I believe) rounds, and ended with (of course) a battle in Drizzt's mind between the Dark side of Malak and the Hunter, versus the Light side of Drizzt and Revan. An interesting arc, all around, that ended with (once again, of course) with Malak being defeated: but I have a few reservations about it.
The second (and much more satisfying, in my opinion) was the interaction between Kyo's Akira and Malak. In this particular arc, Akira fought with Malak right before the conclusion of the Hunter arc, and Malak followed up on that by abducting her from her friends*. What followed was an actually interesting Dark side conversion of said individual, which was all the more shocking because it appeared to have worked. (As I mentioned to Kyo, such things in a Survivor are... well, slightly rarer than the opposite conversion.)
Thankfully, this meant that Malak had a duelling partner for the final round battle against Wayne's Culex and Procyon's Sly Cooper. It was definately finals-worthy, mostly because we had three of the oldest (yet still active) members of Survivor working on it, and Procyon, who's extremely good in his own right. That, combined with the Draco (tm) Style of Using Terrain and combined teamwork tactics, and it's a battle that I'll be remembering for a while.
Verisimilitude: First and foremost, my largest worry was that the Force was learned so easily. It took Revan weeks to learn the most basic techniques, and he was recovering from amnesia. The two sponsors who interacted with Malak substantially (Drizzt and Akira) learned the same in a day or two.** :/ Other than that, most of the rules and canon set down were followed, with a few exceptions.
Overall Opinion: Since it would be tedious to cover all of the points, I invite the readers who have not already done so to read Wayne's journal (link is in my friend's list,) and be aware that I agree with most of the points. The only thing I'll add is that R-vote chaining was a bad idea, A-vote chaining might have worked (I can't say that for certain, because very few people tried it.)
The rounds... were mostly unknown to me, and for some of them (as the popular litany went,) I simply couldn't think of anything to do. Then again, for some of the early ones, I wanted to write something, but couldn't, since I was caught in said overstory arc.
Lessons Learned: First and foremost: do not shackle one's character! There were some interactions that I wanted to do, but couldn't, and some rounds that I should have done more in, but didn't. Over-arcing storylines are fine, but they need to be kept under control.
Secondly (* Footnote): Do not do battle with people that have put too much power/effort/-BURNING PASSION- into their characters. To use an example, the battle between Shizumaru and Malak. Malak is a Sith lord, with incredible Force powers and is (perhaps) the best duellist in his world. After Shizumaru's first post, I was forced to relegate him to a "I lose, but I'll take someone down with me" role. He had no chance whatsoever of winning, simply because I had forgotten just how powerful Shizumaru had become, as compared to his canonical appearances. I intensely dislike having to go through hoops in such situations, and now I know what I need to avoid in order to not be forced to do so.
Third (** Footnote): When possible, do not bring a new gimmick into a Survivor. The Force is a great tool and plot device, and I enjoyed using it to develop Malak's character (and to give him a fighting chance in most of the battles he participated in). However, the sudden number of "Force Sensitive" individuals scared me. This is, after all, a gift so rare that the major Jedi academy (the Chu'Unthor) was made a spaceship because there weren't enough students in any one world to support it! Granted, the people being dragged into these things are above and beyond the norm, however, the Force should still be a factor that happens to maybe one in ten thousand (using the Babylon 5 method, of course.) Next time, I'll stick with something that either everyone has, or no one else can use.
And that's... just about it, I think. I've learned quite a bit about Host interaction, running a tournament, and some gimmicks that will or will not work. However, those are for my own private use, and as this entry's getting too long as it is, I'll end it here. *nods*
Rurouni Taikai SaGa: The tournament of reprisals with mostly new characters, a system that was doomed to exploitation, and a list of items that makes one want to turn Communist and split them evenly. :)