Review #4 - vampire spawn

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:40 am

Vampire girl was cool as was sneaking past the Balthazar thugs while everyone else fought frogs. Overall, the game play is really good.

The problem comes in character motivation. I find the purple palace people very boring and anytime we do a job for them it comes out wonky. The game play seems similar to the book in we follow one lead which takes us to something completely different which then takes us to something else completely different and they are all loosely connected. The connections fall into the background and I as a player just don't care.

So, it feels like we are going on a bunch of errands. Linnik Cran could have asked us to fetch his laundry and on our way there we would have encountered a number of thugs who we fight and we find out he has a enchanted shirt.

Either way these stories are the stories of characters in the city. We are telling the story of Linnik Cran and the Purple Palace people with their golden statue friends while the stories of the protaganists are getting pushed back into 15 minutes of backstory.

mordraine · Post by **mordraine** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:51 am

Hmm... If I say that the storyline involving Linech and Castle Shard has some implications that will stretch beyond mere errand running, I'll sound lame. So instead I'll just say that I'll try harder to make it a story of your characters. Sorry!

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:59 pm

That's cool. Just so I'm not complaining here are some things I would like to see from the game and what I plan on doing.

- More with the dark elf. Next game I plan on confronting him.

- More with my brother. I want to do the bit where the dwarf and I scare him.

- Something big with the Warrens and the gangs. Possibly a gang war or more with the Bathazar's and their connection to the Paledogs.

- I also think it would be fun to be sucked into Mose and Jurgen's stories.

Sven · Post by **Sven** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:20 pm

I won't bemoan the whole purple people thingI think Chris has adequately expressed the players concern about that. I want to concentrate on what I thought was F*(kING AWESOME:

1)Moze walks up to his Family's mansion and its burning.

2)Moze walks up to his Family's forge and its burning.

3)Moze realizes he is no longer rich, his family is no longer rich and he has to work for a living.

4)Jurgen sees his ultra-orthodox holier-thatn-thou master at gambling house.

5)Jurgen confronts his ultra-orthodox holier-thatn-thou master about gambling away the resources of the church.

6)Jurgen's world view shatters.

I don't know if you planned this stuff (1-6) but it was really cool.

mordraine · Post by **mordraine** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:51 pm

A hint - the Castle Shard/Linech storyline had quite a lot to do with the dark elf (even if it's not readily apparent right now). However, I can resolve the whole gold statue escapade off-stage from the PCs with no pain at all on my part, and still have the plot proceed where I want it concerning the dark elf. *nods mysteriously*

Also, Erik, I'm glad you liked all that stuff. I plan on it all coming to the forefront, especially as the current plot is resolved. And I've got some plot twists in store for both Chris' and Jonathan's characters too.

Interesting that you should mention your brother, Chris, because he's been um... busy... while you've been galavanting around chasing vampire girls for people you don't like.

jimmy corrigan · Post by **jimmy corrigan** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:26 pm

~~[quote="Sven"]~~I don't know if you planned this stuff (1-6) but it was really cool.[/quote]at risk of bloating your ego, this stuff did indeed rock. i had a good time. muchos gracias, mord.

mordraine · Post by **mordraine** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:51 pm

Don't worry, my ego was sufficiently deflated by Chris, so it's about even now.

(kidding... my ego is never deflated!!)

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:06 pm

~~[quote="mordraine"]~~However, I can resolve the whole gold statue escapade off-stage from the PCs with no pain at all on my part, and still have the plot proceed where I want it concerning the dark elf. *nods mysteriously.[/quote]

Actually, I'd rather you not do that. The idea of having to steal (or try) the statue through some heist is kind of intriguing and sounds like fun. I just don't want to do it in the next game unless it has something to do with our characters directly. Actually, I really don't want to do anything for "money."

If you have an idea for an adventure seed where the motivation is money PM me with the adventure seed and we could possibly come up with another motivation for my character.

A possible reason to not go right after the statue would be that the purple palace people (PPP) are not 100% that the statue in Linnik Cran's keep is the guy they are looking for.

Count Zero · Post by **Count Zero** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:30 am

With the statue, I can't think of any reason whatsoever that my character would be willing to do that. There is no motivation at all. If the statue is a "sentient person", then he is being held against his will. That would be illegal, and the Watch should go in and claim the statue. He might be present, but to be honest, he wouldn't even consider participating in the theft.

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:45 am

~~[quote="Count Zero"]~~With the statue, I can't think of any reason whatsoever that my character would be willing to do that. There is no motivation at all. If the statue is a "sentient person", then he is being held against his will. That would be illegal, and the Watch should go in and claim the statue. He might be present, but to be honest, he wouldn't even consider participating in the theft.[/quote]

Perhaps, but if you can't prove to the Watch that the statue is sentient and illegal then the Watch won't take action. However, if you character is convinced then he has to decide if he is willing to take the law into his own hands, which if I recall was the basis of your character.

Count Zero · Post by **Count Zero** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:13 am

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~Perhaps, but if you can't prove to the Watch that the statue is sentient and illegal then the Watch won't take action. However, if you character is convinced then he has to decide if he is willing to take the law into his own hands, which if I recall was the basis of your character.[/quote]

Actually, taking the law into his own hands isn't something he will do. Previously, I thought the character was acting within the law when he wasn't. In fact, even going on the adventure to the bottom of the ocean wasn't even something he would do. I partially did it because the character was helping out a friend and because he honestly had nothing better to do. In fact, it was rather out of character for him to even do it.

It might be time to make a new, more traditional, D&D-style character. When I made the character I was thinking it would be a more of a character based story where a Watchman would make sense. As we have played, it is really a mission based game, and a character with the kind of profession/motivation doesn't really fit it at all.

I was considering making a wizard instead, but to be honest, I really am not sure. I might just use the monk I have already made up, but the combat aspect isn't really thrilling me, so I thought playing with the magic might do the trick if I change. Mainly, because we are okay with the combat. We don't have much magic.

mordraine · Post by **mordraine** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:01 pm

Jonathan, don't give up on Thox just yet. He's got some great plot hooks that I've been wanting to start up. And it's not going to be mission based for much longer.