11/18/09 Review

One last Nymph picture... See how she turned her back on you? You were mean! :-P

Well gang, earlier this week I pointed out some flaws in the way we (yes we I am part of the problem) play the game of D&D/Pathfinder RPG. Some of you, the observant ones among you, may have noticed when you did certain things that I would quickly jot some things down. I came up with an idea you see, an insidious idea. Well actually two ideas.



First idea was to "power game" monsters. I believe I had mentioned that at some point, but here is what it really means. Lets say I have a creature like a... Basilisk. He only a lowly CR5, and if you faced him, he would likely only get one gaze attack off with a much lower DC before being sliced, and nuked. Pathfinder, in their secret evil cabals that seek to give power to DM/GM's gave us a tool, called templates. Now 3.5 have templates, but they were aggravating as shit, and usually did nothing. I used two new templates, both on the Basalisk. It did raise his CR by 2, but it made his gaze DC rugged, and also made him large. (Basilisk are traditionally medium sized) This means he could fuck shit up, and maybe last more than a round, unlike his giant frilled lizard cousins who were brought down like lambs at a slaughter.

What it all boils down too, is that I can now make monsters harder (more or less) for a pittance of more exp, while ensuring that the fear of God is in you at all times. A DM motto is to make every battle memorable, and I think that with these new tools I will feel more like a DM/GM rather than a guy pushing helpless monsters before a swirling mass of military rage.

Now lets get to what I was writing. Some times it was people tossing dice and saying a skill and giving me nothing to work with. I am pretty sure every party member is guilty of this. Some times it was non-story role playing side stories that consumed more time than they should have, like orgies, and bad practical jokes. The last portion of notes was on what happens when I don't tell you to make skill checks. The first two items I listed are pretty obvious and people know how to prevent them... with forethought.

The last (when people don't initiate rolls, or ask questions) was more or like a train wreck, and I like a forensic detective have the information that will let you all see how every team member failed or suceeded. I will take every encounter that you had, that was storyline based and give you a grade on how you dealt with it. Each encounter was part of a quest, and the grade will effect the quest exp reward you receive. (not combat exp)

Lets start in the town.

The panicked Father
There is a father who lost his son, and other than the last spot he saw his son he does not offer any other information. This NPC would be ideal to ask about the nature of the disappearance, why he thinks it happened, and if his son has ever gone missing before. In fact it could be a trap, an elaborate ruse (which I am known for) to have you killed. Yet I saw not one sense motive check, no diplomacy to see if you could extract more information, no heal checks to see if he is of sound mind (you dealt with one mad gnome already so the precedence is already there) I believe Maieve who questioned an old man the night before even heard that sometimes teen boys like to run away, and yet this possibility was not even brought up with the mayor. Seriously quest givers should ALWAYS be thoroughly gleaned for information.
D+
In the end the finesse in which this NPC was dealt with was abysmal.

The mayor of Galduria
There actually were some bright spots here as far as role playing goes. You graciously and following your alignments and character quirks acted as you normally do when pointed out as the heroes of Omach. I believe that Nicodemus (your party's treasurer) even muscled him for a reward. However again you asked little of him and the information he was giving out. No sense motive was being made. For a party as paranoid as you all are, you make a surprisingly low amount of sense motive checks of NPC's. This guy could be receiving a bounty for delivering you into the forest where there might be an ambush. Even MORE alarming was that he knew who you were, whereas most townsfolk could only guess. However your communication with him was amicable, and you did well to preserve your reputation.
B+
Reward was asked for, and reputations kept. Very little interest in the motive stopped you from an A here.

Learning how to track
I think my blood pressure rose a bit here. I will applaud Nicodemus for using his perception as best as he could to try to figure out a trail. When everyone convened on the last spot the boy was seen, it got stupid. People started throwing out very wild ideas on how to track. In fact you didn't have to track, you could have just searched the forest, which was not very large, not that anyone asked, or rolled for on geography. While I sat I stared at the computer clock, and waited for 3 minutes. At that point I reminded Crimwinkle (sorry to call you out here) that his worg, the cohort he complains can't do anything and it more or less useless to the party, was the only one able to track. Remember how I said I should not be the one to string things along? Well I cracked and did so here.
Pass
You get a pass but no grade. The party's lack of ingenuity and anyone in it saying "hey wait we have an intelligent canine creature," before I blared out the answer isn't great, but it was my bad reminding people of very simple things. So you succeed but not by your doing.


The water nymph
Oh boy here we go. Lets start with the knowledge check. That was surprisingly done with little problem. (for your party) However the knowledge check revealed little. Ergo, your party is dumb as shit in dealing with the Nymph. Though it annoyed me Maieve intrinsically does not trust feminine things with a high Charaism score. (By the way Maieve if your prejudice does extend to all VERY charismatic females you need to do this in your role playing with Sasha) Now Nicodemus is trying not to look at her for some reason. Now this failure really peeves me. Nicodemus, who will do almost ANYTHING to be with an attractive woman, sees easily the most attractive female he has ever seen, and for some reason won't look her in the eye? It is very convenient to know what a creature is meta game, and fight it accordingly. However this breach of role play is crazy.

Now then there was the mass of people standing on the rise looking on. Maieve I can understand, but what made Sabellion, and Crimwinkle such pansies? If she was an elf with a similar charisma you would have all been talking to her. Somehow because she is nude, and standing on a rock in the middle of a spring you are unable to do much more than say hi?

Then there is the, AGAIN, lack of sense motive. She could be lying, she could be coerced into saying that, she could be dominated by a mind flayer. All these things a simple sense motive would reveal. No one asked her name, how long ago she saw the boy, whether he was being chased, whether she made him go that direction. The most unbelievable is that no one asked what is in the cave. OMG this is your chance to maybe be prepared for a basilisk. This is the chance to notice she is dominated. This is the chance to see if she is ally or foe. If you broke the enchantment, she'd maybe even help you find him. So in summation, when a DM/GM puts a NPC in your way, ignore them if you have GOOD REASON to ignore them, even a decent reason. Its surprising how headstrong Crimwinkle and Sabellion are, yet when Maieve tells you its time to go, not one voice of dissent. I guess I know who wears the pants in the party. :-P
D-
At least one of you managed to talk to her, though looking at the ground. Otherwise, it was pretty bad what happened here. You pass simply because you were told about the cave, which Flidder would have found anyway.

The cave
This has two parts, lead up and battle.

Lead Up
Ok there is this large remarkable mound of boulders, with a cave entrance. The FIRST perception check request I get is after someone is in the cave trying to look around INSIDE it. No one cared enough to look at the cave, around the cave, check for another entrance (mind flayer exit), or even look for evidence for the boy presence. If you did I would have told someone on a perception DC 15 that there are petrified squirrels, raccons, and a deer, that would otherwise look like part of the hill of boulders. Some one climbing around on the boulders could have found the secret door for the mind flayer, maybe even catching him flat-footed. However lets get back to the entrance of the cave.

When you are all dungeouneering, usually Nicodemus checks for traps, listens for enemies, then lets Sabellion break a door down. Here you guys basically walked in blind, and no doors were kicked in, just casual walking. Now I don't think its anyone's fault that a basilisk was hiding there. (it was the mindflayer's) However sometimes being so brazen can be bad. I know no one could see into the cave, but perception is also listening. The lack of forethought put the party in a bad situation. (the basilisk had a surprise round) Its just odd how you guys tip-toe around a nymph, but bust into a basilisk cave.
C-
When entering any area you think is dangerous, it pays to be perceptive. (PUN!)

Battle
12 seconds in battle all the team's melee was gone. Nicodemus and Sabellion were well behaved for being dead for the whole battle. Thank you. I don't remember who made the check, but the knowledge on this creature wasn't great. So at the outset, you had a slightly wounded basilisk, no clue what else it does, and a soon emerging mind flayer. You guys do very well in battle, but two of your biggest DPS's were gone. However after what I saw last night, I might think differently. PEW PEW's were every where it was like a goddamn 4th of July. You torched the basilisk.

Then a mind flayer stepped out. Bad news. Your bard finally got a decent knowledge roll, which coincidentally accounted for his cowardly actions, he knew just how bad-ass a mind flayer is. Then more fire works, though much less effective on a spell resistance of 25. Thing were looking really bad, but a little back-seat gaming by Nicodemus literally saved the day.
A-
It was an impressive and exhilarating fight. Crimwinkle tried to run away, though it was understandable with a knowledge 30 something. Also it was rather odd how late in the game either cleric thought about melee. However I understand the reluctance to have your brain devoured. The only reason you got a minus was because I had to TELL Crimwinkle that basing the mind flayer with the worg was a good idea. (got Flidder the killing bite)

Stoned PC's
This was a minor one, and won't account for much. It should be noted though were it Maieve who stayed behind and not Newin, Sabellion and Nicodemus would still be stone. Remember the Nymph knew about the blood of the Basilisk, and shared that with Newin. Maieve might have attacked her, thinking a conspiracy, or just shooed her away. The real star of this was Sabellion who both role played Newin to stay with her husband, and even tried to sound like her. Kudos.
A
Funny how good role playing saved the fighter and the rogue.

Total Possible Quest Exp 3000

Father 450 X D+ = 293
Mayor 450 X B+ = 396
Tracking 300 X Pass = 300
Nymph 500 X D- = 300
Lead in 500 X C- = 360
Battle 500 X A- = 460
Stone PCs 300 X A = 300

Final Grade B- (80.3%)
Final Exp 2409

Don't worry I won't always do this. I just had some time to kill. I had fun, last night anyway. I hope my evaluation helps ya'll become better players too.

Game Hard Game Well ~ DM/GM