Posts from Sylvester Archipelago

Basically, the expedition has completely gone downhill. And I'm just exhausted.

***

After the mercenaries finished with the golems, the keeper raised a bridge from beneath the lava, which allowed the mercenaries to cross the river. They climbed the steps and headed in the opposite direction of the cliff. At the end of the path, they discovered massive gates, before which stood three empty pedestals with slots for skulls.
After several hours of waiting, the mercenaries saw Lucia, Vikent, and the bridge keeper approaching them.
Vikent pulled two golden skulls with gems in their sockets from a bag he held in his hands, took a third from Alaina, and placed them on the pedestals. After that, the gates opened and the mercenaries were able to enter a huge hall, where lay a hundred-meter statue of the Dead God's skeleton with a heart made of dark purple stone. Along the statue stood many skeletons of various people.
The keeper used her magic to shatter the statue's stone ribs. And Lucia, using telekinesis, pulled out a huge stone and placed it by the wall. Then she touched the stone and began to recite some spell. Lightning began to erupt from the stone, and soon everyone standing nearby was blinded by a bright flash and knocked back by a shockwave. Ravelin's shield shattered, and Ravella and Alaina felt that they could once again move using their abilities. Lucia approached the stone again. This time, with great difficulty, she created a large portal opposite it, through which the deck of the Drunken Whale could be seen.
After the mercenaries passed through the portal and ended up on the ship, Lucia passed through the portal along with the stone, after which it immediately slammed shut. With her last remaining strength, the Sorceress covered the stone in a thick layer of ice and collapsed onto the floor. Her body was damaged from passing such an amount of energy. Vikent rushed to help her, while the sailors meanwhile covered the frozen Heart with sailcloth.
Captain Maarin gave the order to set sail, and the vessel headed away from the island toward the shores of Lakelia.
Twenty days later, the Drunken Whale reached one of the ports. There, members of the Setranomicon were already waiting for the stone and the travelers. All mercenaries were killed The mercenaries were offered to join the order. Those who agreed departed with the order's agents in an unknown direction, while those who refused received the sum of money due to them and new memories.

A very boring and uninteresting End, leaving a bad aftertaste, ill-conceived and strained

The only thing I would like to say regarding the conducted expedition is — nothing. I'll stay silent. Well, except for IF ONLY I could allow myself.

Sharitokefal:
Iazin's potions, also known as potions with unknown effects in Sixt-the-mage's shop.
Potion "God is Dead" – the character gains immunity to the influence of other characters' beliefs.
Potion "Bittersweet Experience" – +5 or – 5 to all characteristics.
Potion "Farewell Fever" – immunity to fever or severe vulnerability.
Potion "Magic is Treacherous" – the character loses the ability to use magic; +100 to magic resistance.

Limisklav:
The Gardens of Atamus. In the dungeons of the gardens of Atamus, one could find a bunch of cool weapons. However, I didn't flesh out the quest. I didn't flesh out the cool weapons either. I planned to do it on the fly if anyone happened to end up there.

Island:
Potions in the hermit's house:
1 – the character turns into a jaguar; they would have a chance to retain their mind depending on will.
2 – damage dealt to summoned creatures is tripled.
3 – the character turns into a crab; they would have a chance to retain their mind depending on will.
4 – 35 characteristic points for free distribution.

Arkila's death triggered the ship entering a storm. The vessel would have been carried south to the island of the Ravagers, the same ones mentioned in the hermit's diary from the island. If you had landed on the island, you would have had to fight them. But since the expedition risked exceeding its timeframe, and because I BURNT OUT, this quest had to be canceled.

The trek to Ozur triggered a quest in which one or two men among the player characters were kidnapped by priestesses of the volcano. The others were supposed to save them. Canceled, see previous paragraph.

The villagers were supposed to attack the mercenaries after they found the corpse of the jaguar and the remains of the girl killed by it. Canceled, see previous paragraph. And if someone other than Alaina had been the first to go into the jungle, the girl would have asked them to help find her jaguar and the player would have received EXPERIENCE!

The scout and whoever went with him were supposed to be kidnapped by pirates. Also canceled, see previous paragraph. Additionally, the pirates were supposed to have the third skull, which would need to be taken from them. One could have gained the support of the Letians (who had the second skull) in the struggle against the pirates. And you would have found a TREASURE MAP with the pirates. Though I didn't come up with what treasures were there.

I also wanted to cause you problems with dark elves on the approach to Lakelia. But just like with the gardens, I didn't flesh it out. Well, that's probably all. Thank you all for participating.

P.S. Half-rotten Tiberius reached Sharitokefal and they made a good friend out of him.

3 – the character transforms into a crab; they would have a chance to retain their sanity depending on their willpower.

Potion for Odd.

Well, we had a good time playing (the activity speaks louder than words), but I still want to point out what I think is the main drawback.

with an unpleasant aftertaste

In the end, I still didn't understand what the player characters were for. The plot was centered on the missions on the island of the Chaldeans and the approach to it, but in general, we didn't do anything in this scenario.
And, in addition to this, given the way the plot is presented, I think it would have been much more reasonable to make all the player characters members of the order from the beginning, because without this, the effect of the previous paragraph is only exacerbated.

The half-rotten Tiberius made it to Sharitokefal, and they turned him into a good friend.

YES, YES, YES!!! Oh, you don't have to write in gray.

And now, just one question (not about the content):

In short, the expedition has completely gone downhill.

Very boring and uninteresting, with an unpleasant aftertaste, poorly thought out and forced.

The only thing I want to say about the expedition is nothing. I will remain silent.

BAT VAI, NEBOK?
Is it because you

are tired.

and

are BURNT OUT

or because of the players' actions?


More on that later, as I have to leave the forum for a while.
I'll say one more thing: if it's about activity, then the expedition was at the level of (or even better than) Shabet. And it also PASSED, that is, it ended. Okay, I don't have time right now.

WHAT'S UP, NEBOK?

Because I got fed up a week ago. And after another week, I was completely fed up.

My opinion on the shortcomings of this expansion aligns with Revan's – players don't need characters at all. Not in any way. We could only help the Haven, and even then, our help wasn't particularly needed. Take the Temple walkthrough, for example: Vikant and Lucia successfully completed it on their own and even obtained skulls. And we... we didn't even clear the path for them. Yes, you initially wanted us to collect the skulls and do other tasks, but, as you said, you burned out. And if you burned out so much that you started cutting quests and streamlining everything, you could have just ended the game – no one would have been offended.

Hmm, well, in that case, alright. But in my opinion, the expedition should be evaluated not only by the organizer but also by the players themselves, and their feedback would be the best review.
If you're interested in my opinion, I'll say that the effort and time you put in allow me to say a big, heartfelt THANK YOU. It was very fun, interesting, and exciting, and I personally would be very sad if you were left with a negative feeling. I'll add that, as mentioned before, from a mechanics, balance, and presentation standpoint (meaning the players' inventory and everything else), this expedition will be remembered by me as the best. And I hope that the others also enjoyed the game. And any shortcomings, if there are any, will also be a valuable experience.
In short, I'm saying that the effort put in is usually rewarded. Let my personal gratitude be the reward. Yes, that's not much. It's nothing at all. But even if that's the case, I think you achieved the main thing: we had a great time. At least I did. Thank you, Nebo. We'll have something to remember.

Thanks to everyone for playing.
Special thanks to the game master, and to the players, especially those who found the strength to write a second character sheet and return to the game.

I'll write my impressions later; I need to review the thread and remember what we were playing. :)

And in a separate post, I want to thank all the participants, of course. It was very fun and interesting to rob stores, kill thugs, die in dungeons, and solve puzzles with you. I played with some people for the first time (or almost for the first time), and the impressions were very positive. I hope the theme of expeditions hasn't run its course yet, and there's a chance to play (and maybe even organize) something similar in the future.

The expedition was interesting. I would even say it was captivating. However, the magic gameplay mechanics turned out to be not very successful, with a lot of strange exceptions, complications, and caveats. On the other hand, the regular combat skills gameplay mechanics are quite successful; everything is clear and well-defined. The plot was generally interesting, although towards the end, I also got a bit tired and wasn't really able to role-play my character, so the amulet of silence came in very handy, making it much easier to play. The response to player posts was prompt, which is a big plus for such a large-scale game.

Thanks to everyone for the game, congratulations to the winning faction!
Overall, yes, the expansion was pretty good. Especially in terms of gameplay, it nicely balances balance and "interestingness."
I would have played the end game a bit more. I think Brutt would have agreed to a memory wipe and going home. Moreover, I believe he would not be undergoing this procedure for the first time in his life ;)

The balance is not bad.

No offense to Nebka, but this wasn't exactly his strong suit. Not at all. Classic mages were only useful as support units (with a maximum mana reserve, a mage could either deal 450 pure damage in one battle or perform 2-3 attacks with percentage damage, which at best could take away 75% of one enemy's health (with Weakness and Willpower of 50), and then you'd have to drink mana potions and decompose corpses, OR WAIT FOR THE TURN TO END), in terms of damage, they were significantly outmatched by archers, especially with combat magic. Some elements were added or changed on the fly (which is good, though). We can also recall the cost of abilities: Leadership costs three points and gives meager bonuses, and also works in very specific conditions, while Luck costs two points and provides extremely useful bonuses that always work. The Battle Mage costs one point more than the Scholar, but gives twice as many characteristics. The races are also not equal. In general, the balance here is flimsy. There were also balance issues in other expansions, though.

Still, the mages had strong control, Ples, and control is always stronger than combat abilities (or almost always). So, I personally perceived any difficulties with mana as a balancing factor. Standard spells like fireballs were indeed a bit weak, I agree. Although they had their advantages, and Alex demonstrated them to us. Skill points – I can’t say that the costs are very poorly chosen. It’s normal. And I can’t say that this directly affects the balance. Overall, I am personally satisfied. Especially at the beginning of the game, I was pleased when Nebok readily accepted several comments, in particular regarding the inter-racial balance.

After all, mages had strong control, Ples, and control is always stronger than combat abilities (or almost always). So, I personally perceived any mana-related difficulties as a balancing factor.

Control is still more for support units. Besides, we only encountered one opponent with immunity to melee attacks. But we encountered opponents with immunity or resistance to magic more often, perhaps.

Standard spells like fireballs were indeed a bit weak, I agree. Although they did have their advantages, and Alex demonstrated them to us quite well.

Their only advantage was when he fought his own priest. Otherwise, they weren't very useful. Battle with golems? Sorry, fire immunity. Battle with a jaguar? If he had invested in skills as a one-handed weapon fighter, he would have dealt no less (or not much less) damage, while dodging and parrying more often.

Skill points – I can't say that the costs are very poorly chosen. It's normal. And I can't say that it directly affects the balance.

It does affect it, imagine. When one thing is preferred over another due to a more favorable ratio of usefulness to cost, that is also a matter of balance.

I promised

Pros
1) Detailed development of the game world.
Countries, gods, a mysterious order – everything is very cool, it's a pity that not everything was useful.
2) Selection of pictures.
Even during the game, I noted pictures for NPCs. I saw the team members – excellent, vivid images, but they don't give the impression that they were taken from different places. After that, almost all the single NPCs were just as good. And the picture of the tower too.
3) Handmade.
Magnificent maps, the layout of Atamus's estate, as well as the drawings carved on the walls in the first trial.
4) City exploration system independent of players.
It became clear later how good it was. When the game on the island became tedious due to waiting for all the players to take action. I admit, I myself dragged it out, for example, in a dialogue with the elven prince.
5) Many interesting plot ideas.
For example, I really liked the island, it was atmospheric.
6) Balance.
Surprisingly. I have repeatedly expressed my opinion that a fine balance is not necessary in a cooperative game. In the third game, when playing against the AI, no one thinks about balance; it's just an entertaining pastime. But when playing against a person, rules immediately arise, and it turns out that it is not possible to upgrade fairies with vampires.
I'm writing balance as a plus because the main condition for a game with permanent death has been fulfilled – "do no harm." None of the characters died from a random encounter around the corner, and the game could have been broken by such actions. I perceive the choice of tunnels by Tiberius and Sarael as a kind of Russian roulette, rather than a battle.
So there is nothing wrong with the abundance of easy battles, especially since there were a couple of "close calls."

Cons
1) Complete linearity.
What upsets me in a "live" game with a host is the lack of an open world. There is a list of pre-planned locations that must be traversed linearly, and you can't go anywhere else. Went to the harbor – "found nothing," went south from the lake – "found nothing."
And the next point is about the same:
2) Here it's dense, there it's empty.
Some situations that the host had well imagined in advance were brilliantly described. The world in such cases turned out to be truly alive. For example, "the palace of the tecora," or the scene in which we hear the conversation of Lucia, Vincent, and Kraznak, I also really liked the conversation between Alex and the hermit, and the fisherman in Siyotoyukyu was not bad.
But where the world appeared before our eyes spontaneously, it was simply empty.
For example, on the island in the jungle (!!), we did not meet a single bird, not a single insect, and did not learn anything about the vegetation. The lake was probably very interesting too. It never rained, and we didn't even look at the sky, we didn't see the sunrise or sunset. We were as if walking in a cardboard box through the jungle to the destination.
There was a wild boar, excellent. The captain even ordered it to be cooked. But we didn't even try it! If it had been cut into small slices, fried in a pan until crispy, with onions and carrots! So that those who read would salivate.
3) Rather meager quest content.
Only in fact. Potentially it was better, but, due to various reasons, we didn't see everything.
The quest with the anemometer in Limiskla could have been interesting, or the quest for Alex with the savages, if we had defeated the histeoses, or the quests with the two remaining skulls.
In fact, only the quests with battles and the shops were memorable to me. Basically, just the battles. Not to say that there were no other quests, but there were too few of them.
About the three trials in the temple, I need to say separately.
First. I'm not against a very difficult puzzle with a vague interpretation of symbols. This is even good and logical. But it is completely illogical to assume that the players will guess ten out of ten. This is simply impossible. Moreover, it doesn't matter who presses the levers (as in the third trial). It seems to me that it would look better if a person pressed the levers one by one, and if they made the wrong choice, they would lose 30 hp without the possibility of healing. Then there would be an opportunity to figure out the answer and some adrenaline.
Second. There wasn't one. The players didn't participate at all.
Third. Of course, the Sky is not a professional "puzzle master," but in general, it turned out not bad, it diversified the game, so to speak. I know that there is no such word in the Russian language, but let's assume that I meant the character from Batman.

Overall, the impressions are good. Thank you for the game.