Getting going on Roll 20 is a good idea - this is a chance to start playing regularly. Still seems to take longer than it should - I think a lot of that is just getting used to everything involved. we take a while to get started when we play in person; we're figuring out the logistics of the online site; figuring out the technology, and so on. It should smooth out and speed up with time.
Though even so: it didn't feel as long as it was yesterday. Once we got started, it rolled along pretty nicely. At least, I completely lost track of the time. I was actually surprised when Ryan said we'd been playing for 4 and and half hours - I had to look around, and notice it was getting dark... So we must be doing something right.
I think a big part of it was that main encounter. Probably the reason it took as long as it did, and why I didn't notice the time at all. It did take a long time to play, but for good reasons. We made plans - it didn't seem unusual at the time, but looking back on it, I can't help wonder how long it's been since we made plans before we charged into a fight? I don't know if we ever had the habit, but we've lost it lately. This time, though, we did. Not just plans, but plans aimed at avoiding the usual hack and slash stuff: create a distraction - grab a prisoner... All of which went off, more or less to plan. Not only that, but we used a much deeper pool of abilities than usual - the familiar - the grappling - the distracting spell (instead of the usual attack spells.) Attempts at stealth; critical failures. All very satisfying, especially now that we're done and I can think about it.
Finally - I'm very pleased with my character. I wanted to bring him in here because I want to play a bard, and this party seemed to need one, someone who can cast a little, fight a little, back the others up a little. And I wanted to play Chet Morton, bug gommy farm boy with a sharp tongue and a fondness for pranks.... I took tavern brawler for a feat because I thought it might be funny: Chet tackling people on the battlefield, that kind of thing. But having it, suggested the idea of grabbing an orc - and when we played it: damn - that's a cool ability. Collaring someone and dragging him off across the field? That feat lets you hit (with an improvised weapon or unarmed), then grapple as a bonus. There's no cost to hanging on to someone - so once you have them, you can pummel them, try to push them prone, attack someone else, grapple someone else, cast a spell - it has many applications. It's not a great way to do damage, I suppose - so it might not be so useful for a straight fighter, especially when you are fighting enemies who mean business - but it it a fine way to control the battle field. And the rules are, in fact, pretty straightforward. 5E has been bragging about making those rules usable - they did. And this one - unlike knocking someone prone or disarming them - brings immediate and obvious benefits to you and problems to them. I'm glad I stumbled onto that Tavern Brawler feat...
It was a shock to me when I glanced up at the clock on my computer to see how long we'd been playing and noticed it was after 7. It was also a growing concern that an encounter I had thrown together since last week's playing session as a way to bump everyone to second level before attacking the gnoll lair was turning into a boss fight. Still, when I set it up as a quick fight and finished, the first concern I had was that there was nothing to suggest they were "bad guys", but thought that was fine, because it would help play up the angles with Mavis. When we arrived someone immediately suggested "they might not be bad" I thought, yes, this is going to be good.
ReplyDeleteThe first encounter seemed to go pretty quick, and other than switching characters, I thought we got started in good time. Two encounters in four hours is long, but it didn't seem out of character with any that I've watched online. But I think the first encounter being as quick as it was meant the second one ran closer to three hours. It never felt like it in playing, which was great. I made a concerted effort to play it as long as possible without rolling for initiative. It felt like the right way to do it, but meant that it dragged a little as we scuffled with what to do and how to do it.
Still, it shows how time can fly when the game takes on life of its own. I think the character shift helped with the balance of the party. Whether it was a growing comfort level with our characters, or the change to Tehc, the party seemed to click, and felt much more balanced. We made a better effort of planning, as you say, communicating with each other, and coordinating an attack as a group effort.
There were some weird dice rolls - it seemed everyone missed for the first hour, then hit for the second - but it played well. I think familiarity with playing that style will allow the pace to improve. It felt like every action had to be looked up and learned. The interface still has that learning curve as well, but I felt good about how it played and developed. The kinks weren't debilitating, and the flow of the game seemed to move well for everything that wasn't new.
It didn't feel like four hours until I looked up and noticed it. I felt like we could keep going for hours, but as soon as I noticed the time my brain started feeling it, and I started rushing things. I wanted to get that last encounter in, because it felt like a better stopping point, but it meant skipping the development of it. The encounter was right for rushing in that way, so it didn't detract too much in the end. It's good there's a break though, I need to work on the next section before it is ready to go. Going to second level shifts the balance of play, and getting to know the system and forum require better preparation to allow it to run more smoothly.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I didn't even notice the time until someone mentioned it (even though I was getting tired, and had to make coffee). Once we mentioned it though, it's like it hit me all at once... It's odd that the orc fight probably took as long as it did because we were planning and discussing and trying new tricks - but that's also why it felt like it flowed so well - because we were planning and trying out stuff. I do wonder if David and Ryan saw it that way - Karen and I were doing things, you and your familiar were acting - but they were sort of waiting for the fight to start. It's kind of the opposite from what happened the week before, where Ryan was very active, and everyone else sort of following along.
ReplyDeleteAlso: it definitely seems to get easier as you get used to the software - knowing where to look for things, where to click, how to fake dice rolls (like when I realized that rolling on the dagger would give me the same results as hitting with an improvised weapon - same hit mods, same damage) - all that stuff will get easier, to the point where it isn't a factor. And in a lot of ways, the character sheets in the game take care of a lot fo the stuff you have to look up in person. (Though using cards helps there...)
That's what I felt. I had a moment where I thought "this is going great, we can get through another couple of encounters," looked up at the clock and just about went into shock, thinking "we've already played four hours?!?" And then, I was panicked because I thought "we're going to have to stop, and this isn't a good stopping point - we just left town."
ReplyDeleteI noticed Karen seemed to be more active than Ryan in this encounter. I wonder if it was just the dynamic of that fight. Ryan got a lot more involved after the battle when we started interrogating. That part of the encounter was more like the introductory stuff from the previous week, where it was more about the interaction than the dice. I think those scenarios fit his character well, where he's so gregarious and a touch flamboyant. Once we hit third level, with spells and other character features, I think his character will start to find his stride in game play. He's kind of a hybrid ranged/melee type that doesn't fit leading the charge, but doesn't make sense hiding in the trees with the wizard. He might start collecting all these spears and javelins we've been finding and start chucking them left and right. I think David has a similar problem with Tuffy. You can see he's feeling his way with it, not quite sure how to best use a two-weapon style. I thought he got more out of it this session than the first. I don't think he knew how to act in that first fight, he seemed tentative. I figured it was because its so different to what he usually plays.
In a way, I think switching Attila out for Tehc helped open this encounter up more than anything. Attila, Ildebrun and Tuffy felt too similar to each other for anything to stand out. That probably gave space for Geldon to shine in the first encounter. Attila going meant Ildebrun and Tuffy had to step out to fill that front-line role, and the differences between them came out in the process. If it pushed Geldon back, that would be unfortunate, but I think that sense came more from the differences between the encounters than anything else. I need to make sure not to turn every encounter into a black and white combat setting.
I do think we're finding our balance as a party, and now it's just about developing each characters strengths within that framework.