Waterbrick Down

{Just so everybody stays on top of things. These are the main suspects and probably warrant death for the day: Shadir: For being the only Mage possible to own the Topaz that killed Pauline. Corelin: For her aggressiveness towards Calico yesterday, her riot inducing statements, and her guarding of the above suspect (willingly or unwillingly TBD) Maxi: For being the simplest link to figuring out if either Fleyra or Brienne is a Nephilim. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we've got Shadir covered and possibly Corelin, Maxi, I believe will still be up and we'll get no further with that line of inquiry if the day were to end right now. Remember that all of us need to do something even if it is nothing.}

Skrall notes the beasts nature as very different from that of the aquatic monsters from earlier and fires off another shot at the Cerberus from the back row. Battle Order: Namyrra Skrall Hoke Alexis Nur Stigveladi

{However it is not a matter of experience, while her weapon might be a little better than the rest of those present, nearly all of us are as equally capable at attacking someone.}

{What is with this, "my attacks aren't very strong" first Zelphie and now you. Not many of our attacks are strong to begin with, but that doesn't mean we can't assist in the matter. Look at Retak, it took nearly 4 heroes to deal with him.}

{Who should we be lookin' at then, my friend? Aside from yerself, the Norn, the Lucustoid, and the Hobgoblin, there ain't many folks with bows sittin' around. So unless one of the rest of them want to start confessin' and givin' a reason for their behavior, you don't really espouse confidence.}

{I'm with the Satyr, the dragoon didn't prove very helpful. Perhaps it would be a use to bring back Heron, so we would know who attacked him during the night.}

{I never meant that you were attacking them, but that you seemed to be parading them as the main suspects of the day. And again, if there is an actual investigation result, why don't you want it proven one way or another sooner rather than later?}

{Pushing is to be expected, deriding is simply rude especially to the extent where it becomes a shouting/insulting match. If these are the suspicions of your block, then state your case, answer the questions and get on with it. Enough fluff.} {Could have fooled me. While I'm still suspicious of Corelin, I'd think you'd want to clear this whole issue of an investigation result on a town leader up as quickly as possible.}

{So wishy washy and a scum result on a town leader are the best we've got? Add avoiding questions to that list as well, I guess.}

{I have paid attention and most of the time while Calico was at least reasonable you have been war mongering and deriding to individuals. Just because one heroican leader was proven true does not make all of them so. Thus forgive me for staying open to a multitude of options instead of writing them off with such ease. I will admit that Maxi has been one of the quieter heroes and that the Rito has not done herself any favors by being as wishy washy, but your entire complaint seems based upon their friendship and the fact that one of the leaders was found to be a Nephilim. Aside from Briene defending Calico on Day 2 and late on Day 3, what more does she have to prove her truthfulness?} {Not true, you must consider that Maxi could have investigated you to pass you off as a Heroican if you were both Nephilim.}

{A fascinating development. Though why would Briene ever consider guarding Calico in the first place? I know one obvious answer would be to infiltrate the ranks of the true Heroes, but really so early in the game when would be better to try not and attract any attention?} {And you are just shouting opinions, were-octopus. Please feel free to elaborate on how they are scumming everything up.}

I meant we don't intentionally set out to do it. I'm not sure how I feel about QM's being biased towards their parties either, things generally turn out for the best when a QM is neutral serving more as a moderator rather than an opponent or friend.

Technically actions don't happen till the end of the day, so I'd think you'd be fine talking.

{Thank you, that helps assuage some of my earlier fears and I find it hard to believe a Nephilim would admit to a murder when they'd be better to hide in the shadows at this point.} {Who attacked a now known Nephilim and a suspected Nephilim?}

{Enya spoke with me last night and we determined between the potion she got from Retak's corpse and the healing from Zarissa she wouldn't be giving away her gold as she didn't suspect to be killed.} {How is it that you suspected Enya of being a Nephilim when she also struck down Retak?}

{While I appreciate your forthrightness in putting some of the more suspicious members among us to sleep, how did you settle on them? Might I also recommend that someone give the wereturtle a gem so he might prove more useful today.}

The hooded assassin knew what he had to do unsheathing his dagger he again launched himself at Shadir Oswain with a Lethal Attack. "The time has come for your recompense Knight."

I like how you're trying something new and want to be innovative, but remember people signed up for Heroica RPG not a survival horror game. If as QM's we aren't able to achieve an effect we desire with the game structure as is, then we may need to either scale it back or look for a different game that suits it better. Sometimes there is room for innovation and if you and your party are cool with doing stuff like that, then sure go ahead, but we as QM's shouldn't assume that a player is going to/should like a certain battle setup or style just because we put a lot of time into planning it. Thank you for also asking for honest feedback from your players, Endgame, I sometimes worry that most folks put up with stuff because they'd rather just play the game then admit they're not having as much fun as they could and risk not playing at all.

So as I mentioned in the general discussion thread, I've been doing quite a bit of reading on game design and RPG's and such and thought I'd open up the discussion on the role of QM's, styles, and role-playing. A quick question for QM's/players to get us going. How many times have you fudged something/or suspected your QM of fudging something in order for a story to go a certain way? Now right off the bat I'm not going to denounce fudging but I think it speaks to a deeper issue and that is story telling and plot lines. Why does fudging or twisting occur? I think for QM's we probably do it for two main purposes. One, in order for our story to continue, and two in order to make the game seem more "fair" to our players. Let's face it, none of us really want to have a TPK to our names, right? But should we really be worried as QM's about that? I mean what makes decisions meaningful? Consequences. Whether good or bad, when our decisions only have one outcome associated with them then that removes all meaning from the decision in the first place. If I don't have to really care about my character succeeding because I know the QM will just save the story in the end either through twisting/fudging or by some Deus Ex Machina then why should I really invest in my character? Now related to the idea of meaningful choices comes the idea of player freedom and story independence. Here is the main split between how folks perceive role-playing and role-playing games. One camp defines role-playing and role-playing games as an artistic medium in which a story is told (as the goal) and in which the players are merely acting out the roles of the heroes in the story. The story has a logical beginning and end and the players fill in the details but there are a limited number of possible options that the players can choose because after all, the story is the thing that must be kept intact and striven after. This is generally what is known as story-driven gaming The second camp defines role-playing and role-playing games as a the taking on of a character in as it were a second "life". This character has goals of it's own outside of any plot or story. The world itself is a parallel to our own world in which there is no defined "plot" or "story" and in which characters make meaningful choices that affect their world and in which a story develops concurrently of the players playing much like real life. This point of view is generally referred to as sandbox gaming. I think this comic might explain the idea a little better, as a precursor I don't completely agree with the labels for each of the drawings. Now like I said, I don't think one is necessarily better than the other. The trick is how do we define what we are playing and is that what the players are expecting? I highly doubt we could ever produce a "good" game on this forum due to the structure of the system and how we have multiple QM's with rotating players. But in the meantime, how do you folks define an RPG or role-playing and how do you see QM's affecting that in one way or another?

Actually the class was revamped awhile ago here and I don't think it was ever rereviewed. The counter was removed and the job traits spelled out a little better. Taunt was never meant to be a replacement for a sorcerer's confuse, but a way for the Swashbuckler to do more damage, albeit at a greater risk. I'd be interested to see what the thoughts are on it and if it's well received it very well may be fit in to an upcoming quest.

"Leave the wolves fer the time bein', we'll deal with 'em later." Skrall unholstered his Hunter's Crossbow and took aim at the Cerberus from the back row. Battle Order: Namyrra Skrall Hoke Alexis Nur Stigveladi

You know this brings up an entire topic on a QM's role and role-playing, but I think I'll bring it up in the QM lounge in another hour or two when I have a proper keyboard to type it out on.

I'd say option 2 is best if your players will be lenient with you. Making a monster more challenging is almost always a better alternative psycologically, than making a hero weaker.

Yes but you can't use how you would feel about the situation to determine how someone else should feel about it. Rules stickler here I'm afraid, set things in stone, learn from your mistakes, and no tampering.

Then you needed to provide an addendum or a way to circumvent it without twisting the rules. Assassins aren't upset with No-KO bosses because they specifically state that in the enemy's passive special and do not require a bending of the rules.