Comments, thoughts, suggestions? As to Jhiaxus' game on the Iron Plains of Kharigen.
Post Ludum: Defeating the Man of Steel
(17 posts) (8 voices)-
Jhiaxus
MemberI was happy with the challenge, and ending. It was a good way to go, knowing I made a difference at least twice. I defiantly left the world on a much better note than going in, when considering the world and what it was about, says a lot. It might be "Hell on Earth", but it was refining like being put in a crucible with molten metal and being reformed by it. I have a solid view of myself, where I am going and what I am about after going through this world, and that's about as high of praise as I have for a world.
Wed Sep 29 2010 5:40 pm # -
Glantri
MemberIt was one of the threads I made sure to read consistently, I like the way you describe things in the games you run.
I also think it would be a fun world to go to at some point, although definitely not for a fledgling verser like myself at the moment.
Also, are the iron plains rusted? I was imagining a rust free solid plain of iron, which would imply an uncomfortably low level of moisture in the air, which in my mind contributed to the hell on earth thing while reading it.
Wed Sep 29 2010 6:17 pm # -
Glantri
MemberI think we should probably try and keep the comments to the world in question, since he's asking for commentary, adding in side comments is just going to bog it down and make it harder to reference next time he's running the world to see what people liked last time.
Wed Sep 29 2010 7:02 pm # -
I think it was a great world for those who like action and fighting, which would be most verser-characters.
You also give a lot of options and approach possibilities (or that may be Adam's way to find multiple uses for every given situation).
I didn't see Ash in action much before the Spider-mission thing. It feels like ha was usually forgotten to be described. Pikachu and the IRON plains is a deadly combination though, I would think.
Wed Sep 29 2010 7:17 pm # -
JTM
MemberIt seems like the "Select 4 heros" bit needs some work. In addition to needing to nail down the limitations better, the player should get at least a basic tactical overview, excepting enemy forces. Also, the nature of the sky needs more nailing down, as far too many settings use magic dependent on conditions in the sky.
Specific instance, from my mental thoughts about who I might bring: In the Avatar: The Last Airbender show, most of the main characters are elemental benders, who can telekinetically control their element via martial arts, and firebenders can generate fire. Thing is, waterbenders would be largely powerless and earthbenders would be entirely powerless, plus firebenders draw power from the sun, and are powerless during an eclipse. Now, since each and every one of them know martial arts, they'd probably be more appropriate for my powerlevel once depowered, but it'd potentially be an issue for high-power versers.
Put the verser in a holding room of some sort and have their deity of choice give them basic information (You're going to a giant plane of iron to fight enemy forces of roughly equal strength where the sky is funny, pick 4 people you know/characters considered fictional at home, you'll probably end up with them from times in their life where they're about as strong as you are) and then they select them, the referee determines what adjustments need to be made, and they go on to a modified form of the intro scene.
Also, although I ceased following the thread due to everything feeling too compressed to me, you had suggested in the ideas thread that there might be infighting among the allies. I'd lose that idea, for three reasons:
1. All the characters are heroic and have been called to do battle with the forces of evil, and given a specific leader, who presumably won't waffle ineffectually, so it seems somewhat out of character.
2. It basically means that calling in preformed teams of heros is better, and presumably tossing the verser in with a specific superhero team isn't the idea.Wed Sep 29 2010 9:14 pm # -
Glantri
MemberHere's one point where how I read things and JTM seems different (not sure JTM's name, sorry for using the sn).
I interpreted "select 4 heroes" as a question asked of the player not the character. The player should have a decent idea what the world is going to be (Adam did) and chose accordingly.
Thematically this is the overarching presences at the battlefield brought him in and then read his thoughts to figure out 4 companions he would enjoy being there with him that were suitable.
That's how I read it at least.
As to the sky, that was one of the parts I liked. the fact that it renders some heroes or some skills less effective isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Wed Sep 29 2010 9:26 pm # -
JTM
MemberMy real name is James.
I did get the idea that the question was of the player, but missed that players were expected to know about local conditions.
The sky isn't a bad thing, but it's kind of unclear who it effects. Going back to the Avatar example, do the battles in the sky count as celestial fire? Is it actually strong enough to empower them like the comet? (Okay, the answer to that one should be "no") What about astral mages from Dominions 3? The only thing known to date is that kryptonians don't count it as a red sun. Basically, the player has no way of knowing if a given character will be effected.
Wed Sep 29 2010 9:31 pm # -
Tadeusz
MemberI'd say Glantri is right about the choice being to the player. MJ at another point suggested that it would have to be characters his character knew were alive--nope.
As to the iron rusting...the iron is Elemental Iron as in 100% iron atoms. This leads us to the theory of Emergent Properties for such substances...in this case, I chose the property of being almost totally indestructible (which would also include no rust necessarily, I think).
Niko,
Its good to have a lot of possibilities. Player freedom is key. But, it is true that Jhiaxus is a very talented player.JTM,
As to compression, if I ran you I'd try to slow things down. This is one of the issues where there is no correct response other than 'does the player and the gm like it?' IMHO.Right now I'm writing two novels. One is my Cereal Novel and the other is Missing Man. Both have a very different story and tone to them. So there is another element...what's appropriate to the story?
However, a quicker pace is generally better than a slower pace all things being equal.
Wed Sep 29 2010 9:48 pm # -
Tadeusz
MemberWell, I'd say having Michael the Archangel duke it out with Surtur the Frost Giant with both having more power than a comet might have an influence.
But, yeah, there's a lot of people this setting might inconvenience. Twilight is going to have a hard time finding shadows. Vampires might be simply toast. Nature wizards are in real trouble.
One point is that Kharigen is the (Maybe) Final Battle Site. I'm sure that all the good and evil nature gods are strenously voting for another location.
About not knowing, well, that goes with Multiverser. Its a large part of the game.
Thu Sep 30 2010 1:59 am # -
Jhiaxus
MemberAs for characters getting left behind, when you start dealing with 8 and then the PC, there is bound for some of the NPC's to stay in the backround.
All in all I am glad with my team, and I would pick the exact same team if send there again, with the stipulation, they are they same as the ones from before and know me, and that I built a rapport with them.
Thu Sep 30 2010 2:49 am # -
I love it when the spell checker makes a mistake:
I defiantly left the world on a much better note than going in....
You meant "definitely", I think, but I really like the notion of you doing this "defiantly".
On the "pick four" thing, that seems to me to be so much a player choice that it should also involve a mechanic. I mean, I can see (as James suggested) having the character meet some powerful being who asks him who he wants to help him in a mission or assignment of specified parameters, but that requires a being of such great power--either he has to be able to summon the requested individuals and persuade them to be involved, or he has to be able to make copies of those individuals who have the full abilities and knowledge but are amenable to the task. It makes much more sense to me for this to be between the referee and the player: give me your idea of what four people you would want to take with you (and at this point it would be made clear that you don't get your entourage of associates unless you specifically name them), and I'll roll the dice to determine whether you get what you asked.
--M. J. Young
Thu Sep 30 2010 3:16 am # -
JTM
MemberI'd have to say that Eric's way of doing it is fine, but it needs to be spelled out to the player that they'll probably get lower-power versions.
EDIT: As for the local conditions on the battlefield, it seems like it'd tend to favor the forces of evil, who aren't nearly as big on druids or other nature-dependent magic. Then again, the overall command for the forces of good probably shapes selections by their power under local conditions and druids tend to just not show up.
Thu Sep 30 2010 6:42 pm #
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