01-09-2021, 03:31 AM
Character: Lucas Alder
Which Event: Finding the Lion: The Library
Responsiveness: Very good! Narrations were quick after people finished posting and were detailed. Good ability to roll with what we were doing even when it was a bit hectic.
Balance: Very rough, but understandable. The first part was a bit of a fluke since we all forgot monster health resets every round of a battle. When that problem got fixed, the fight went a lot better but was easier than expected due to the boss not being able to overwhelm what amounted to a half-healer party with the abilities and relative strength it had.
The second battle was very overtuned as a result. Playing against a wind/poison/gravity build with large AoE stuns, Vacuum Vortex, and mist form was not fun. The first round I and Chezara managed to whittle down the EC's health little by little by the end (after everyone else got bursted down while stunned) by playing extremely defensively and trapping with Barrier to run away. The second round I was three-shot within the first 20 seconds of the round, and the other survivors managed to whittle down its HP over 2 minutes or so. It was extremely feast-or-famine and I felt like I was punished severely for being the only Armed character in the party.
I think it would be a good idea to test out some of these builds beforehand if you're allowed to use DM powers for a trial run. Maybe against people in the death box or volunteers. Luckily none of us rolled a 1 so we all scraped by pretty well (Was rolling a 1 a perm? You didn't explain that since nobody got it, so it might be a good idea to set the standard beforehand), but I definitely recommend asking your next group to post their stat numbers and possibly giving their party roles so you can balance around that.
As a general rule, I would also say to consider alternatives for challenging a high-healing party other than pure damage. For example using an ability or gem that reduces healing to force certain party members to pull back while you punish the others. Or area denial AoEs that can force people into not standing in their pools.
Storytelling: Good! I felt like it was an interesting scenario with well-written descriptions, and in each challenge there seemed to be several ways to proceed.
Fairness: Reasonable. A few of the people in the group got wounds from the overtuned part of event, but none were permanent. I don't know if we could have gotten permanent wounds if we rolled 1s, so I can't comment on that aspect, but since it's all fixable with medic attention or time the balance didn't severely damage our characters.
Overall: I liked the scenario and even though the execution was rocky with the fights I think you're re-learning things and it will go a lot smoother next time. I'm a little sad our group didn't try a more measured approach to dealing with the challenges, but there were IC considerations that made everyone act as they did.
Any other comments: Keep at it and good luck!
Which Event: Finding the Lion: The Library
Responsiveness: Very good! Narrations were quick after people finished posting and were detailed. Good ability to roll with what we were doing even when it was a bit hectic.
Balance: Very rough, but understandable. The first part was a bit of a fluke since we all forgot monster health resets every round of a battle. When that problem got fixed, the fight went a lot better but was easier than expected due to the boss not being able to overwhelm what amounted to a half-healer party with the abilities and relative strength it had.
The second battle was very overtuned as a result. Playing against a wind/poison/gravity build with large AoE stuns, Vacuum Vortex, and mist form was not fun. The first round I and Chezara managed to whittle down the EC's health little by little by the end (after everyone else got bursted down while stunned) by playing extremely defensively and trapping with Barrier to run away. The second round I was three-shot within the first 20 seconds of the round, and the other survivors managed to whittle down its HP over 2 minutes or so. It was extremely feast-or-famine and I felt like I was punished severely for being the only Armed character in the party.
I think it would be a good idea to test out some of these builds beforehand if you're allowed to use DM powers for a trial run. Maybe against people in the death box or volunteers. Luckily none of us rolled a 1 so we all scraped by pretty well (Was rolling a 1 a perm? You didn't explain that since nobody got it, so it might be a good idea to set the standard beforehand), but I definitely recommend asking your next group to post their stat numbers and possibly giving their party roles so you can balance around that.
As a general rule, I would also say to consider alternatives for challenging a high-healing party other than pure damage. For example using an ability or gem that reduces healing to force certain party members to pull back while you punish the others. Or area denial AoEs that can force people into not standing in their pools.
Storytelling: Good! I felt like it was an interesting scenario with well-written descriptions, and in each challenge there seemed to be several ways to proceed.
Fairness: Reasonable. A few of the people in the group got wounds from the overtuned part of event, but none were permanent. I don't know if we could have gotten permanent wounds if we rolled 1s, so I can't comment on that aspect, but since it's all fixable with medic attention or time the balance didn't severely damage our characters.
Overall: I liked the scenario and even though the execution was rocky with the fights I think you're re-learning things and it will go a lot smoother next time. I'm a little sad our group didn't try a more measured approach to dealing with the challenges, but there were IC considerations that made everyone act as they did.
Any other comments: Keep at it and good luck!