The Freedom I Feel When I Fly
So, once again I prepped a zig and my players zagged. Them's the breaks, GM. Suck it up. But, once again it comes back in part to my complaint about the writers' expectations. Those hexes that the players have already explored are an issue. Why should they go back there to find [insert several spoilery encounters here] when they've already explored those? Waste of time. Which means that, while I've moved some things, others I just have to push the PCs toward. That annoys me a little. Maybe more than a little. Still, other than one really obvious hiccup on a monster power that I had not researched yet, I don't think it went too badly.
Other than that, I think things went well. I threw what I hope is a heck of a curve ball in the ranger's way. He reacted verra, verra poorly (in character). But the player has expressed an opinion that PC actions should have logical impacts on the game world. I can only hope that opinion extends to character backgrounds. (Today's icon - as well as the title, in a slightly roundabout way - are for him, since he might have felt a little put upon.) You see, Lem hates nobles. He hates nobles because he is the bastard of one who sent him away to slavers when he was still a very small child. He did not detail his former family in his history. Today, his half-sister showed up. He was... less than pleased. He is quite certain that all nobles are inherently evil. On the other hand, I gave him a pretty girl to flirt with (Lily Teskertin, for those keeping track), so it's not all bad, neh? Another of my players handed me a mystery background, with unknown parentage and mysterious circumstances. Like Lem's player did, she will get one chance to dictate more of her background, after which I will fill in the details as it serves my nefarious purposes. Muhahahaha... ::hackcoughchoke:: Er... anyway...
I was bemused by the background information in the Lonely Barrow. What possible reason is there to waste page space with that when there is no way the PCs will ever find out about it? At least with the Stag Lord there was a bit of a point, since one little tidbit in there relates to the larger story. (Still, if it never comes up again, that was also a waste of ink.) The Lonely Warrior's history? No point at all. Fluff only enhances an encounter if it's actually going to come to light or if it in some way informs the way the NPC/monster behaves. Other than that, you've just given me more to read... and my classes do quite enough of that, thank you.
The bat swarms, however, gave me a moment of utter amusement. The party has no arcane spellcaster and therefore no way to do damage to swarms. (Almost. I'm pretty sure they kept the flasks of alchemist's fire they came across, but thus far have not used them.) So when they entered the barrow - during daylight hours - and the bats freaked out, they just retreated and waited for nightfall and the mass exodus of feeding time. Well... duh. I gave them the experience for the encounter.
Kundal the barbarian was, to be honest, pathetic. Complete non-story in the aftermath if my players had not been bothered to react. I'm fine with monsters in the wilderness that don't add to the overall story, but I feel like anything that happens in town should have more oomph. The kingdom is really a group-run PC in some ways. It should have character. I look forward to the next scheduled town event. Which is funny, because when I read the Paizo forum thread about it, I started to dread it. The majority of GMs in there said that this encounter aggravated the hell out of PCs and players. I do not, under any circumstances, want the players to be aggravated by the game. Annoyance with a string of bad die rolls or something is to be expected, but neither the story nor my handling of things should upset the players. (Characters can gnash all of their teeth right out of their skulls. Makes for better story if they care that much... to a point, anyway.) But the more I think about it, the more I hope that the encounter will infuriate the characters while giving the players a victory worth savoring. Something they care about. I am interested to see how they deal with it. They have been pretty roleplay intensive thus far, and this is certainly an event that will encourage that even further. Years down the road, when they recall playing Kingmaker, they are unlikely to remember the trapped thylacine or the wayward werewolf. They just might, if things go very badly before they go very well, remember this next guy.
I have over a month until the next game. My goal is to get all of the damn book input into OneNote before then, so that I am not trying to run encounters out of the frackin' book and figuring out special abilities on the fly. Because nothing makes me feel like a moron more than that.
Other than that, I think things went well. I threw what I hope is a heck of a curve ball in the ranger's way. He reacted verra, verra poorly (in character). But the player has expressed an opinion that PC actions should have logical impacts on the game world. I can only hope that opinion extends to character backgrounds. (Today's icon - as well as the title, in a slightly roundabout way - are for him, since he might have felt a little put upon.) You see, Lem hates nobles. He hates nobles because he is the bastard of one who sent him away to slavers when he was still a very small child. He did not detail his former family in his history. Today, his half-sister showed up. He was... less than pleased. He is quite certain that all nobles are inherently evil. On the other hand, I gave him a pretty girl to flirt with (Lily Teskertin, for those keeping track), so it's not all bad, neh? Another of my players handed me a mystery background, with unknown parentage and mysterious circumstances. Like Lem's player did, she will get one chance to dictate more of her background, after which I will fill in the details as it serves my nefarious purposes. Muhahahaha... ::hackcoughchoke:: Er... anyway...
I was bemused by the background information in the Lonely Barrow. What possible reason is there to waste page space with that when there is no way the PCs will ever find out about it? At least with the Stag Lord there was a bit of a point, since one little tidbit in there relates to the larger story. (Still, if it never comes up again, that was also a waste of ink.) The Lonely Warrior's history? No point at all. Fluff only enhances an encounter if it's actually going to come to light or if it in some way informs the way the NPC/monster behaves. Other than that, you've just given me more to read... and my classes do quite enough of that, thank you.
The bat swarms, however, gave me a moment of utter amusement. The party has no arcane spellcaster and therefore no way to do damage to swarms. (Almost. I'm pretty sure they kept the flasks of alchemist's fire they came across, but thus far have not used them.) So when they entered the barrow - during daylight hours - and the bats freaked out, they just retreated and waited for nightfall and the mass exodus of feeding time. Well... duh. I gave them the experience for the encounter.
Kundal the barbarian was, to be honest, pathetic. Complete non-story in the aftermath if my players had not been bothered to react. I'm fine with monsters in the wilderness that don't add to the overall story, but I feel like anything that happens in town should have more oomph. The kingdom is really a group-run PC in some ways. It should have character. I look forward to the next scheduled town event. Which is funny, because when I read the Paizo forum thread about it, I started to dread it. The majority of GMs in there said that this encounter aggravated the hell out of PCs and players. I do not, under any circumstances, want the players to be aggravated by the game. Annoyance with a string of bad die rolls or something is to be expected, but neither the story nor my handling of things should upset the players. (Characters can gnash all of their teeth right out of their skulls. Makes for better story if they care that much... to a point, anyway.) But the more I think about it, the more I hope that the encounter will infuriate the characters while giving the players a victory worth savoring. Something they care about. I am interested to see how they deal with it. They have been pretty roleplay intensive thus far, and this is certainly an event that will encourage that even further. Years down the road, when they recall playing Kingmaker, they are unlikely to remember the trapped thylacine or the wayward werewolf. They just might, if things go very badly before they go very well, remember this next guy.
I have over a month until the next game. My goal is to get all of the damn book input into OneNote before then, so that I am not trying to run encounters out of the frackin' book and figuring out special abilities on the fly. Because nothing makes me feel like a moron more than that.