November Event Feedback

[Trevor Owen]

Let us know what you thought of the weekend's activities. Did we keep you busy enough, were you scared, challenged, excited. Any particularly favorite moments?

Let us hear how you're doing.

Trevor

[Nelkie]

I had a great time. I'm hurting today with all the fighting. There is a couple rules I have ideas on, but I will explain under rule suggestions. great job, and keep them coming.

By the way, do any of the adventures have access to the extra food stocks the peasent village might have?

[Kathryn Skress]

I think the event was great. There was tons to do, and by the end of saturday night we were begging Mike to let us go to bed. lol It was an all around good event and I think most of the PC's were happy to be able to wrap up a long term plot. It made us feel good about our PC's!

Natalie

[Peace420]

Had a great time and I think that I still hold the record for most times dropped of anyone adding 3 in about 2 hours if you count my roleplaying one.

Still think some damage called is a little too high. But then again it was The Master, just wondering If our Arcane's will eventually be able to do 10 damage. If so how much will the Alchemist's eventually be able to do?

Finally a plot wrapped up for the most part, it does help our characters see a little light at the end of a very long dark tunnel.

I hope you guys work on the resource system over the break that is where this game is lacking the most IMO. It's sort of glossed over and I thought that it would be a much much bigger part of the system. Priviledged doesn't get the life points others do but they get resources every event. This works out pretty well on paper but right now I'm almost wishing I had gone common and had access to better disciplines than not getting the advantage for being priviledged. It also makes it hard to barter and make deals without having the system in place firmly.

[Dallid]

Mega fights, mega dropage. From a healer's standpoint, I don't think I've seen a more desprate situation then when we were in the process of fixing time. One person died, but was revived. Another had to be brought back from -24. By this time, healing potions were in very short supply.

I think it's safe to say everyone was pushed extremely hard during the event.

Lotsa fun, so long as this difficulty level doesn't become the norm.


Agreed, resources need to be handled. Tokens should be carried by the NPCs for distribution based on what the PCs claim from the field.

[Trevor Owen]

Agreed completely on the resources. We hear you loud and clear and are working to make the resources a well managed part of the system. We think this is one of the major parts of the system, and will be working to integrate it smoothly with the rest of the material.

Congratulations on the completion of the clock. That was a major endeavor and you should all be very proud for having successfully accomplished such a dramatic and heroic activity.

We as NPCs were especially thrilled to have the new blood at the event. Their interest, activity level, and professionalism went a long way into making this a very successful event in my oppinion. Stay tuned to the web page in the coming months, as we have a number of new ideas we will be posting there as well as on the discussion forum.

Thanks again everyone!

-Trevor

[Todd]

A quick reitteration of what Trevor said. Nelkie, if you could clarify your question of the Food tokens, I have your answers. I'm just not sure what you want to know.

[Tonia Glowski]

Okay... here's my feedback (remember we only were fortunate enough to be there for about 24 hours, so we may have missed some things):

* Plot carried over well from last event. My character was a bit uncertain why the ritual cast by Eli didn't "save things," but I do recall someone trying to explain it and I was so in character, Tonia couldn't understand what they were talking about, hehe. If time were still disturbed, it may have been a nice addition to throw in some more anachronistic encounters, but again... that's the difficulty in playing the type of character I do... the player may not see those things. So if you did that stuff, great!

* Mods: There was a nice balance and flow of mods. As a suggestion, something I'd like to see more of is forcing the character's to use their skills to complete parts of missions or find items needed, rather than a "mod" for each one. For example, of the 3 herbs needed, perhaps you could have made one a known scarce herb that could have been found by a Master Alchemist with a great deal of effort or even several Alchemists working together. This is a very minor point, as I have, however, seen a great deal of the Arcane discipline people being used to work this solution and know that a Master Alchemist did work to create a potion with the three herbs, and I'm pleased to see such a nice balance... I'd really only say minor tweaking might be nice here or at least to keep in mind this balance.

* Encounters: Good level of power to be fought... and not fought (but run from) as well as a very nice mix of "think it out" and "fight it out." I also felt the two encounters which resulted in... well, not really an encouter (the IIO clan and the druid hole) were well executed. I think both were a surprise to the GMs (player initiated) and while the characters weren't left in the lurch, they were left with clues and small details that well complimented the overall plot.

* Roleplaying: Wowee. First of all, Ashe (Karen?) deserves a very nice plaque to reward her for some great roleplaying. She made me jump on Friday night and I almost peed myself when she started screaming. She also played her disorientation and frustrations at things better left unmentioned very, very well. I also had a number of other great roleplaying moments, including interacting with Nuk the Dark Elf (Erica?) and Donovan (Taki) -- sorry to those who had to listen to us scream. There were only a couple of odd moments to me: the first being when a player asked to see a phys-rep I acquired to "fix the phys rep" then refused to give it back, the other being some odd in game comments about skill paths and disciplines.

#1 - Maybe I've committed a faux pas (because I come from a different LARP culture), but if I pick up your phys-rep and steal it or pretend to be using it or holding it for a while, I promise you will get it back. Whether I give it to plot to return to you out of game and I produce a new phys-rep the next event or I return the item to you in game, I promise it will come back to you in the shape you left it. Asking for the item back in an out of game fashion to fix or adjust it, then refusing to give it back and carrying it now in game, seems a bit of poor form. Please tell me if you all have a different way of going about things.

#2 - Just because you've noticed I fight with two weapons at once, doesn't mean your character would know that only a swashbuckler could do that and what a "first level, second level, third level and fourth level swashbuckler could do..." As players, we may be familiar with the rulebook, but our characters wouldn't necessarily have such a vast wealth of knowledge. My suggestion is just for all of us to stop and think about what kind of exposure our characters have had and what we might know, then roleplay the rest out.

Both of the above are very minor points and not even GM related. But as Players, I think we can all strive to make the game better for each other, too. Please slap me in the right direction, if I'm misguided.

* Overall: A beautiful system. Of course being new, there are ticks to work out and things to balance, but it's well run, well tended to and a great game to play. I look forward to next season.

[Nelkie]

Tod,

Is there any extra food in the grainery that the adventures can use for upkeeping their status? Is there enough food for everyone to get 1 free food token or no.

[dier_cire]

The event went well. It was entertaining to fight things tougher than me for once. Granted, I somehow managed to only get into fights with crush damage (well at least the first three anyway), which is evil since there is nothing I can do but take it or dodge. Then fighting the master was fun, especially when Chris drew the circle in the dirt so I went to knock him out only to find out he was being deceptive and hit me with 60 boom. Gotta love walking into town at -19 life... I think the master threw around 180 boom at me in total. Also must say dropping 3 times this event was a new experience. Granted one was cause I'm dumb and forgot 3 is 1 after parry.

I think with the weapon thing, I know personally I don't mind if you hold onto the weapon but I think it was a new person's weapon you had who may not be so sure about the whole thing as those of us that have been around for years... As for the weapons thing, I'd agree that you'd have to determine what your character would know. Granted for me, the only real discipline Ka fears is someone who's dual wielding.

[Peace420]

Tonia,

If I'm understanding your description correctly you had a phys rep and someone asked for it in an OOG fashion and then refused to give it back IG. If so, then the answer is no that is not how things should be done at all and whoever did that should be told that that is not how to handle that situation at all. Hopefully it wasn't one of the experienced players that did so, if so shame on you for cheating if not then please talk to NPC camp about how to handle phys rep issues in the future so that this type of thing does not occur again.

[Bob-Z (kabre)]

Allow me to open by apologizing for the misunderstanding that ensued with regard to one of my phys-reps. It was not my intention to create any turbulence during this larp event.

Little bit of background about myself:

This is the first larp I have ever attended. Upon arrival Friday night, I knew little more about a larp than what the acronym expanded out to. My role-playing history has been strictly limited to table-top role playing -- which I came to understand necessitates a very different way for a player to handle his character. For example, in a table-top situation, had an orc come to join my fire under a banner of friendship, planning to fight by my side, and then tried to steal a weapon of mine that was left for my companions' safety, my team would have eviscerated the creature without half a seconds thought. Half confused about what was transpiring, and not thinking it standard Final Haven protocol for the new guy's character to rally his troops and start attacking other PC's -- particularly given that my entire team (with the exception of donovan) was completely oblivious to the plot line -- I opted out of a violent confrontation.

My crossbow phys-rep was indeed in need of repair (it was the first time I had it out, and it still had some engineering adjustments) I really didn't want to see it damaged. Again, I knew nothing about larps, or the orc character, and didn't know what was going on. I did accept the crossbow out of game to repair it. In the morning when I completed my repair I made a jovial comment when the orc character asked about "her weapon". The comment was to the effect of "your weapon, I think not". At that point, donovan and the orc had a brief banter about it and although there wasn't a smooth transition of ownership in-game, it appeared to me that the matter was settled and I retained the bow. Apparently, however, the issue was dropped with some residual friction.

During the remainder of the event, and now in retrospect, I completly understand how ALL confrontations need to be handled while I'm in Final Haven, and the behavior I manifest in future events will coincide.

The players that represented the orcs did a fabulous job of playing their characters the way orcs need to be played, in my opinion -- and I apologize to them again for my poor form.

In general, I also want to apologize to those of you who caught me out of character more often than I should have been (I'm not dwelling on anything, Karen, I intended to do this from the beginning). I was as much trying to familiarize myself with the system and its players/creators during the event, as I was role-play. In fact, the only time I really got into character was during the battles. This too will change at the next event (if I'm welcome back). Perhaps it was a mistake on my part, and perhaps part of the allure of a larp is to get to know the characters, and not the players, but i suppose it was just automatic for me.

I also welcome any suggestions from anyone as to how that situation should have been handled? I'm a dwarf, and my team is primarily comprised of elves and humans -- we inhearantly hate orcs. Every fiber of my dwarven being should have wanted to tear the orc apart when it stole my weapon (and again, even moreso because she came in under a banner of friendshiop). Had me and my team played out that situation according to character, her actions would have initiated war (according to MY gaming background). What should I have done?

Let me know what you think, please.

Jaa mata,

Bob-z

[WayneO42]

Dont be too hard on yourself Bob. Your first few LARPS are going to be rough. It is not an easy transition from table-top to actually doing it. You picked a good LARP to start with though. FH is an easy LARP to learn mechanically and allows you as a player to focus on becoming comfortable role-playing your character. Also, we have a very laid back atmosphere and our players are the best.

As for how you think your character should act, here is my advice: First, develpe your character in depth. Next, act how you think your character would act. Finally, dont second guess your character's reaction. Its that simple. Aslo remember that people are reacting to you as your character not as you the player. Don't take it personal.

As for staying in character, Just do it. If you have to go out of character, go to an out of game area. Making friends out of character is a huge part of LARP. I think of the FH players and GMs as family. There is plenty of time to form these friendships before the game starts, after game off while you are cleaning the site (HINT HINT), at the dinner break, going out to eat after the game off and all the cabins are clean, between events via this board, etc. Come to the game early and leave late. BTW: If you are wondering, in the FH family I am the crazy uncle locked in the attic.

I hope you come back to another event and give it another shot. Last event was an event to wrap up some plot for the season. Next event will be introducing new plots and surprises that you can get involved with from the start.

[Todd]

Bob, like Wayne-O said, (I para-phrase here) Worry not. As a newbie missunderstandings are bound to happen. Everyone there has made a mistake at one time or another. We learn, we move on. Its cool. And I'll pass your comment on to Karen, I'm sure she'll get a kick out of it. And of course your welcome back, wouldnt have it any other way.

Nelkie, I'm not sure on the exact numbers, but I'll look em up. However Leeland only tallies the numbers. The Peasants might be reluctant to hand out extra with the long winter ahead. Sounds to me like some 'Barterin' may be in order. *eg*

~the LUNATIC fringe ~

[Tonia Glowski]

First of all... Reid, you dingleberry, hit yourself in the head... hard! If I wanted to name names or point fingers I would have! I had no intentions of getting very specific, since I really felt it was likely a misunderstanding and/or someone getting used to a new LARP culture (whether on my end or the other persons). Please, next time, allow me to be discrete.

Secondly, Erik (Peace420) shame on you for using the "C" word. I never felt the person in question was cheating, nor did I feel they intended to. I figured either I was making a cultural mistake or the new person to the LARP was, either way, to accuse someone of cheating is a very harsh thing and shouldn't be done lightly. You, too, bonk yourself on the head!

Bob, please don't feel bad. It could very well have been me making the mistakes. I've been to other LARPs and heard of other LARPs, in which you never actually touch the other people's items or other people, frankly. There are so many different cultures and general codes of conduct, I was asking the question not to make you feel bad, but to see if I was off base per FH standards or if there was likely just a misunderstanding on your part.

I'm sorry if I made you at all uncomfortable (then or now) in that little "transaction." It's never my intention and it's why when I asked about it the next day and you indicated you were keeping it (althought I thought it was odd) I backed off. It's really not important. It's definitely not important if it's going to make you feel bad or like you're being picked on. It's why I waited to ask... hell, I coulda been the dupa.

Now... to Wayne's words of wisdom. FH is a family... a community... and communities create their own customs, taboos and have their ups and downs. What happened wasn't "turbulence" so don't feel like you should have to apologize for a bump in the road. We should all just learn from it and move on.

As for what you should have done, you should have killed me. IF according to your character history and concept, some stupid Orc did what she did and your impulse was to attack me, you should have done it without thought. No criticisms here. I understand you were a little leery because it was your first event. But please, don't ever be leery because you're afraid to hurt my feelings or irk me. I'll guarantee after the fact I would have told the story with a smile and passion in my voice, as that's what a LARP is all about. I'm not one to just advocate "PKing" but I am one to advocate staying in character -- whether that's putting dirt in your hair, eating something gross, laying somewhere odd, dancing in front of others or smacking up the Orc who needs to learn a lesson.

However, please note: the FH peeps have created general racial histories which should be followed and not necessarily the traditional D & D or Middle Earth racial histories. Create your concept, write it down and submit it to the FH people (something I still have to solidify), get it approved and then act from there.

For all of the new crew. I have to say there was some of the best damn roleplaying I saw for new people in a while. The fact that you all spread out in formations, took posts and watches and acted with such unity (including your friend who aimed his bow at me) was refreshing to see.

Please DO NOT let this post or small situation dissuade you from coming back or fully enjoying yourself next time. I, for one, am looking forward to roleplaying with you again.