Posts from The Empire of Reimia (3) Auto-translated

Crusader Kings 2

Oh, well, in that case, yes :(

Moderated: OFF-TOPIC in the message

Although the game ended prematurely for yet another time, I would say that it should be considered both finished and successful. Firstly, we all (I dare to generalize) enjoyed the game, secondly, we made good progress in the plot, and thirdly, the new format, which some modestly call an "experiment," in my opinion, was a real revolution in the campaigns, comparable in significance to "Shabettu" in its time. This is a natural, even historical process of moving forward – from the adventures of travelers and explorers, we moved on to the crucible of wars, in which new kingdoms were forged, then to the high ideals and political upheavals of the classical era, and finally, we discover the lives not of adventurers, not of heroes, and not of knights, but of ordinary, real people living in the real world with all its complex mechanisms, with friendship, enmity, society, and high politics. As it seemed to me, the players demonstrated an unprecedented level of role-playing – they created such well-developed, such vivid images of their characters that by the middle, it seemed to me that it was not the player controlling the character, but the character controlling the player – the hero makes decisions in accordance with his mindset, and the player, taking on the role of the writer of a novel, where the plot has already been set by the GM and the idea by himself, is only free to slightly guide it. You are all great, and thank you very much. You, players, are also game masters.
All this does not mean that the old format is worse and no longer needed. It was simply a very positive experience, and I hope to see something like it or similar in future campaigns.

Revan deserves two thanks – the first for this game, where there was (albeit only in the first part) both high activity on his part and a successful idea (except for the combat, which is not only difficult for the player to perceive, but also, it seems, turned out to be too time-consuming for the GM). And the second, belated, – for all the games he has run in general. When we play campaigns, we don't just put on the masks of our heroes and go on stage in a theater with acting improvisation. We get the right to another life, in addition to our one earthly life. A life that can be lived as anyone. And even if it is short, even if it is incomplete, there will be more... After each finished, in one way or another, life of mine in the guise of my hero, I am sometimes sad, but I never despair, because I believe that there will be more. And every time my faith is not in vain, and every time I get the right to another one. This is a great value – the right to live, in addition to one's own life, also the lives of other people. And for this right, I thank such a generous demiurge.

otherwise, you'll just keep growing and growing, and in the end, you'll turn into a Hive creature and won't be able to defeat anyone.

It's also part of the intrigue, and in my opinion, it's better than immediately finding a powerful item in a dungeon that gives a huge bonus to stats, and then being instantly half-defeated by a slime and becoming unable to fight.
Here, it's more gradual; through pain and hardship, you develop your character... Or you don't.

Even though the game ended prematurely for the umpteenth time, I'd say it should be considered both finished and successful.

I agree; the game was quite long, and I was already very worried that sleep mode or some other misfortune would prevent Revan from continuing, and everything would just hang in the air. But he did a great job and brought it to a critically important point for the narrative, and then it continued on autopilot... Which is fine, I guess.
Although I'm a little sad that I didn't personally participate in all these military operations, didn't try to save more people from the school, didn't shed a tear over the best teacher in the world, Muscari (I'll cry in my own epilogue), but still, it turned out to be a good story.

apart from the combat, it's not only difficult for the player to grasp, but it also seems to have been too time-consuming for the GM.

Yes, it took me a long time to understand how the attack line and other things actually work. I may not have fully understood the more subtle aspects.
And in my opinion, there were imbalances. For example, despite the interesting defensive options (mines, barricades, etc.), the inability to set them up before a battle made them useless in most situations, especially for players.
The right to the first turn, combined with orders and tactics from commanders, made the first turn incredibly overpowered.
On the other hand, if you fix this as in the last battle, with snipers intercepting spam units and heavy weather conditions, the situation becomes reversed – it's only possible to counter the enemy by randomly guessing.
Nevertheless, this combat system is the one in which I first saw well-implemented firearms and military equipment. I first saw rear attacks and tactics based on them in this campaign. The very idea of commanders, who really change the course of the battle instead of just giving stat bonuses, looked great. I was really into all of this, because it was something new and clearly different from ordinary fantasy campaigns.

didn't shed a tear over the best teacher in the world, Muscari

The only one-eyed good guy in this setting. Yes, it's a pity, he was one of the best characters.

Fortunately, all my favorite characters survived.

Who was on the list?

Rinze, Ishiki, Evriala
Player characters.
In reality, the exp seemed to be oversaturated with NPCs, but none of those I know really stood out, nor did any of the teachers; and a rivalry between equal political figures didn't quite happen because Rinze is too imba.
I'll say that the mage, Yuki (possibly), and Kihrey are the first that come to mind.

What about the statuette?

It needs to be added to the inventory in the next expansion.

saw well-implemented firearms

Actually, those are the ones I disliked the most. The chance of getting knocked out by a single, unlucky shot from a fully loaded Macarate is not very cool and is far from realistic. Of course, this is compensated by the availability of medics, but it's still one of the most brutal random elements in the expansion.

The medics here are the worst of the expeditionary units, as they require both a special skill and limited items, and there are also round-based restrictions. They look even worse compared to the already criticized intercept unit, because a dying ally will almost certainly be within the enemy's attack range, which means the medic also has a good chance of getting targeted.

I have already thought about it in a similar way – about the format of "adventures," of course, not in the context of this game, but in general. There is one problem here (a personal one). Contrary to popular belief, I really liked Tiaraal conceptually: although it wasn't very detailed, the setting was very well-structured in my head, and there were no gaps. As a bonus, developing the vampire clans was one of the most enjoyable processes for me during the creation of all the settings in general. But I made a mistake and made this continent part of the old world, and time has passed, and it is no longer suitable for using old medieval-fantasy ideas, because I am not interested in the format of games "in the past" – time only moves forward. As for the new settings, either my imagination is running out, or my brain just doesn't work as well anymore, but writing new things is difficult for me. This will, in any case, be a reworking of old concepts, and as for the names and titles... it's really hard.

And there wasn't really any rivalry between equal political figures, because Rynze was too overpowered.

That was the idea, by the way. Unlike what happened in RI1, RI2, and Schism, Rynze's rise to power was absolutely clean, and she didn't really have any competitors. At the same time, she wasn't a genius like Krayth (who, by the way, was never fully developed, which is a pity, because he was supposed to be one of the most important characters in the second part), and until the moment with Luciola, she was absolutely defenseless in terms of combat characteristics, in contrast to all other significant figures from the past. But she was a talented leader, and her status, combined with her enormous ego, created (or, rather, was supposed to create) an unattainable personality who stood above everyone else. And it was supposed to be like this: although she didn't have much direct dialogue in the plot (the only exception, if I'm not mistaken, was only the first meeting during the tour), she was always in the spotlight and actively participated in the lives of the characters. At the same time, the dynamics were designed to create initial dislike for her and then gradually turn this state into devotion or, at least, recognition. Whether this worked or not is not for me to judge, BUT IT WORKED IN THE PLOT ON A COUNTRY SCALE (I said so!!!). In general, in the end, it turns out that she controls everything, but other people, such as Realgar Muscari in the north, carry out her will – she herself did not lead troops anywhere and did not develop military plans.

at that moment, Luciola was completely defenseless in terms of combat stats.

It was necessary to play as an Araidian immigrant with a headshot and a weapons license.

Contrary to popular belief, I actually liked the concept of Thiaral.

As a concept, I think Thiaral is one of the best. And I still sometimes go to the first page just to admire the setting. But otherwise, you're right; despite having a very good foundation, it didn't have a chance for full development due to the reasons mentioned above.

because I'm not interested in the "old" game format – time only moves forward.

Do you mean you're not interested in it at all, or just in this particular world?
Frankly, I'm not a fan of widespread firearms and modernity in general, but since we haven't really had such settings yet, a fresh idea might be better than tired old ones.

Regarding Rinze – if we go into comparisons and detailed analysis, we can end up with a depressing and uninteresting discussion, but in general, I can say that as a well-developed and interesting character, she definitely turned out well in your version. Of course, as with everyone else, I probably have my own ideas in my head about what rulers worthy of such achievements should be like, so the main thing here is to convey your idea to the players.