February 2017 Highlights

I'll write a full highlights later after some sleep lol but for now:

The Maiden uses *Escape Artist*. It's super effective.

Tomato friend

Informing the Magistrate and the Seneschal that I'm going to try to kill Jun and asking if they'll heal him once he stops moving. Then doing it.

Homunculi meetings

Rest of party once they realize I took off down the road in the same direction that Kleiden left in: "Where are you going?"
Kes: "Where do you think?! Back to work!" *walks off alone to keep tracking the alpha werewolf*

Bar tenders

Startling Zelrech by popping back up from Feign Death because he had run over to help her despite not remembering who she is.

Warm boop of True Distant Heal from Willow

Talking with Starling about why we have 2 names

Fire elemental popcorn plan

Wandering merchant NPCs with Dustin and our body guard Nick H. who survived his job interview and is definitely getting a raise.

So, I've not done a highlight post in awhile but to start it off...

Alisia, I had no idea this was your first time ST'ing, you and the rest of the staff did an amazing job keeping things flowing this event.

Having a memory noticed was very sneaky. I only wrote mine down because I thought it was a meme going around and just something the KR folks were doing. I had no idea it actually had to do with the event. I'm sometimes clueless OOC too. But it made me smile knowing that the staff is watching us....always.

First off, excellent theme for the event. As someone who DM's a lot of tabletops, I can't help but think from that perspective when it comes to having hooks and plot and stimulating encounters. Being able to create a central plot framework and then trust your players to act it out is a bold move, and it speaks volumes when you release the control you have as a storyteller. There are many people who can learn from that example you set, by letting players guide scenarios, you can get very organic, very immersive role-play out of them. And this was definitely an RP-central event.

That's not to say this is ALWAYS the best idea, but damn, you all played the card and executed it perfectly. The role-play I saw this event was through the ceiling, and that means immersion was at a perfect equilibrium by causing people to look inwards and really think about their characters, their history, where they've come from, what all of it means. It's powerful stuff.

-So in order. Npcing was tons of fun on Friday night. My fear was the cold was going to keep us from really having fun with it, and I initially dreaded being hit by cold latex/boffer weaponry. These fears quickly subsided once we got in game. a nice 30 minute outing as Ice Elementals turned into a fun 45 minute melee.

The best part of that, was being able to bury myself in snow, and come crawling out of it at someone, causing them to scream in terror and run, right before I fell on my face in an undignified manner not very becoming of an ice elemental in its natural habitat.

-Playing a pack of goblins and trying to use a formation. The RP we had amongst each other was a ton of fun before the PC's arrived. and while our little group didn't last long it was nice to be able to test out a particular ability combo I've been curious about and seeing it in action.

The best part of that, was being able to utilize the combo and down Aleister. I'm sure people understand this, but it's possible to discourage NPCs by nullifying ALL of the abilities we get sent out with. Its not fun when we get utterly roflstomped and it makes us wonder why we even bother when the fight is so obviously one sided. NPC's may exist to provide the heroes a reasonable challenge, but it's no fun for us if we can't get a good hit in every once in awhile. We don't need to win by any means, but at least let us have fun while we lose.

Aleister was immediately healed up, and in my moment of glory I was cut down, but I didn't care, I don't need to take tags to have fun. It was fun to actually have one of my abilities work (even if you could've blocked it).

-Grim murdering an entire pack of us as Undead by himself. We fell like sheaves of wheat, to the left and right, to the point where he had a hard time walking because of all the bodies. And then one spiteful undead throwing a snowball at him, his look of confusion, followed by the immediate Slay that resulted in her untimely potato sack drop of a death. Undead Snow Angel, Grim is super dangerous right before bed on Friday, nuff said.

-Werespiders. Getting to go toe-to-toe with the witch hunters on a fun little mod that actually allowed us to go one-on-one with each of them at different points without getting blanket-beat. Stalking them through the woods, making sure every-time Tracking was called to respond from a different position. Getting to harpoon Angeliana, yanking her to me and discovering she can actually beat the snot out of someone before skittering off into the thicket. Mistake.

Sneaking up on Jed right as another Tracking was called, only to echo my callout right as I'm about to strike him, he turns, the bewildered look on his face over his shoulder as I start wailing on him, his RPD and recoil were so awesome! Right before he started mopping the floor with me and my body points started vanishing like hot donuts at a Krispy Kreme. Mistake.

When players Role play their damage and attacks, it makes combat much more immersive than the normal number crunching game it is.

The best parts of having what stats I had, were that they definitely favored my ideal playstyle, Hit-and-Run. The people who built those cards did a good job, while the number of abilities I forgot 3/4ths of, the ones I did remember were balanced and fun without being too overwhelming for the PCs. Being able to engage for a few hot seconds and then bolting off to regenerate made the few NPC's on that mod a creepy threat, but appropriately gauged without combat being too one sided and crowding ever being an issue.

-Waking up saturday after nearly freezing to death in the Barn. I vastly underestimated the lack of heat in that building and should've definitely brought more blankets. I Willowed up and went IG.

Funny enough, I don't remember a lot of what happened during the day specifically! I didn't end up in any combat other than main mod, and staying INC was easy because everyone else was focusing so much on the effects of their waning memories.

-Bar Mass was definitely fun. Willow always tries to attend masses when he can because it's fascinating hearing the different clergy talk about their faiths. I'd love to attend a Dark Clergy mass too, but they're harder to find. Hearing the story of Galmachis and Gaia, as well as hearing about Valos and the Ascension Wars was deeply moving. The thing I liked was how of course Dave's cookies are amazing, but also how it was a Q&A format. Willow is an inquisitive little thing, so I asked a lot of questions about the gods, and I got a lot of answers. Seeing the subtle roleplay between Aldric and Damien was also fun, as they were politely sharing their pulpit for specific questions, and whenever one knew the other had a better answer, they'd pass the proverbial baton so-to-speak. This made the conflict that erupted later all the more potent as in retrospect, it spoke volumes of how far the different creeds and religions have come in the terms of acceptance and tolerance.

-Thalia teaching Willow how to write down his memories he wanted to keep without really understanding how to write or draw. This was probably Willow's first real encounter with frustration as he thought it was unfair how he had to write when before he's always had people write letters for him. It was tough to RP but it was totally worth it. Little did I know this would cause something far more dramatic to happen when the final memory pull hit.

-Being baptised to Valos.
-Improv Fusion Dance with Bill Black, not rehearsed ever, but somehow perfect.

-Forgetting how to speak common resulted in some of the most hardcore charades I've ever played and forced people to communicate with Willow in very fun and interesting ways. Psions mentally speaking my thoughts, Aella being able to use Willow's body language and more instinctual dryad communication methods to convey his thoughts and feelings, as well as convey other people's words to him.

In that moment it was fun to see the difference between a Dryad who has grown and adjusted well within a humanoid society over the years while still retaining memory of what they used to be like, versus one who is still quite "green" when it comes to understanding people who needs a guiding hand in some cases. Very organic RP if I may say so myself.

-The cute RP between Blue Kestrel and Willow. Willow had never introduced himself to her even before the memory loss, but once the final one hit, it was like he was meeting this person for the first time, like he'd never seen her before. The lack of speech on Willow's part and Kestrel's kind interaction made it a fun moment, which sparked a lot of internal IC introspection as later on Willow remembered a neighbor to his grove who was also a beautiful Nyad whom Kestrel reminded him of.

-Feralish Annora giving Willow a glare, him backing off because wild instincts say he shouldn't keep eye contact with an alpha. Then Annora giving him a worm as a gift, now friends again!

-The outbreak of chaos that hit when the final memory wipe happened. It broke people down to some of their most base characteristics. No polish, no decorum in some cases, and it made evil people into nice people, and nice people into scary religious zealots. It was glorious to see a different side of these PCs that normally due to their current status or associations would be impossible to realistically interact with.

Bob was a pretty nice guy actually! And Caldor apparently really likes to procreate!

-The Bards using music as a method to not forget people and continuing to play those songs so they don't forget. It was a somber but hopeful concerto of musicmakers sticking together, even when their very memories were being plucked away piece by piece. The jam session was improvised and natural, and I couldn't help but stand there and listen to it. We need more Bards more often! Super immersive for me when people play music INC.

-The combat was a complete clustercluck. But I would rather it be inside than outside where people could slip and break their faces.

On that same note, I loved the use of Seal of Vengeance. I never knew what that ability was or what it did until it happened. But being able to give the NPCs a break from being thumped on by a bunch of yelling people was nice. It's hard to produce enough npcs sometimes to keep combat from being a blender of calls and screaming, but I liked how it had the ability to isolate one person, give them a moment and the npc a moment to really square off and have a little fun.

In the future, I'd really like to see more abilities/scenarios happening that allow individuals or even small groups of individuals to square off in a more even-keeled combat scenario and even have that ability swap with other combatants throughout the mod. This gives individual people or groups of people a chance to shine in what normally is a mosh pit of a melee that feels pointless when the NPC honestly can't keep track of all the abilities hitting them. When you don't feel like your abilities are doing anything, you're either gonna cause a hold, or you're gonna feel useless since the NPC is not able to Roleplay damage from 20-30 sources all at the same time, otherwise we'd see just one person standing there convulsing the entire mod from all the damage and effects and that's not fair to the NPC either.

Trust me, if I get hit by a sever limb or whatever, I wanna know, but don't be upset if I can't hear your tag called through the chorus of battle that is our combat system. That's why having isolated combat is more fun.

-The memories being returned to us in an overwhelming way was incredible. The way people violently reverted back to their former selves, while still having memory of what they had done over the past few days, I expect that to have lasting consequences and inspire a LOT of role-play down the road. People who forgot loved ones who were lost, and embraced a state of unknowing bliss thinking they were still alive, then the crushing reality of the truth coming back. Characters who in the present were "evil" who forgot what made them that way, and then being reminded of who they once were. *Squees* This is the stuff stories are made of and it makes me wish I could read every single one of your tales from cover to cover!

-Lots of roleplay following that, adding what I learned to what I knew, caused Willow to grow quite a bit (laugh track plays).

Going forward I am solidified in what I want to do with Willow and where his stories are leading him for now. I finally feel like I have a true direction and that's an amazing feeling when you finally feel like you're not part of the audience or supporting cast, but you feel like you have a story worth telling.

I'm really tired, and sorry for the book, but I needed to get all that out!

Gnight Travance!

Alisia - and the team who helped her - and all the NPCs - this event was incredible. It was challenging, emotionally engaging, and really rewarding. Thank you all, and thanks to all the other players who ran with it! In no specific order, highlights...

- About twenty-some-odd hours of babysitting Belegchand's progressive amnesia. Consistently amazing roleplay, including some real gut punches (okay, I did not know Starling would be so emotionally impacted by someone else not being able to do a Light spell, but there it was; I did know she'd be impacted by hearing someone use a different name for her in a really unexpected context and that was GREAT). Seriously. I could go on and on. To everyone who got involved here, and especially to Matt for really going hard on memory loss: spectacular.

- But I will add, Rachael's brilliant 4am "If Found, Return to Starling" sign was the cherry on top.

- Roleplay between dinner and main mod: Wow. Even though I was really exhausted by that point and sorely tempted to just take a nap in the Inn, staying semi-conscious to talk to memory-wiped Travance was so worth it. Cara managed to crush my heart into tiny pieces by being hopeful and happy (ow), and Starling got to ask quite a few people if they had any idea why she and so many of her crew had two names.

- The transfer of Maelstrom: a lot of hugging, a lot of cold and a lot of shouting. Thalia was absolutely brilliant, and I am ridiculously excited for what comes next!

- "Okay, I get it, homunculus are real after all, but a homunculus that's also an insane clown? No, that's just a step too far, that has to be fake. Let's go prove that this is just an imaginary clown." Followed shortly by: "... okay, it's not imaginary, mistake, mistake, MISTAKE." Late night field trips with Amalthea and Utgard (aka, what happens when you play major NPCs for the plot that's happening in the Inn and don't want to be involved as your PC, you should go looking for the murder clown instead).

- Do a ritual. Have a god in the shape of a book appear. Get transported into a book? And that's not even the weirdest thing. Thanks, Matt and Drew, that was completely unexpected and completely great.

- Winged Victory's small contingent this month. Few birds, many feelings.

I think this may end up being a common theme, but this event gave Starling some shoves in the right direction, some new and interesting questions to try and answer, and a heck of a lot of introspective character development. I am ridiculously excited about what comes after this!

It's always interesting seeing the story from the non-PC side of things, when you're the world coming to life and they're scrambling to figure you out.

That said, blood, sweat, and tears is often more literal than figurative. There are things you don't see that go into creating your weekend roller coaster. The coffee. The lack of sleep. The hearts skipping a beat. Fingers frantically tapping away on a keyboard and a never-ending worry that the end result, what comes after the lay-on call, won't be absolutely amazing. You feel the palpable tension in the run-up to the event and the moments between the mods and feel a greater sense of appreciation for the real-life magic behind the scenes.

Alisia, thank you for letting me take part in your first story--and for being right there when I needed to clarify things. So often. Poor Starling with her head on a table in the Inn waiting for the Prophet's mind to not be so cloudy. Thank you Michaela for trying to clarify certain bits of information while in-character (no small feat!) and Drew for offering super-simplified explanations when the Prophet's own were lost in translation.

Thank you (again), Lauren F. for helping with the homunculi make-up, as well as Hayley V. and Mars for trying so hard to draw black markings under my eyes only to have me ruin it with my tears.

Covering my ginger hair with black mehron and giving me eyebrows to rival Groucho Marx, Rachael may have accomplished the impossible. In all my time spent as Kassim, not one person came up to me and asked, "Hey, are you Nalick right now?"

An early St. Astrid's Day miracle.

Jokes while she was painting. "Jeff, I think you might have a soul now." Also the the facial markings that stayed on through the night while I slept.

Throughout the weekend, you guys took full advantage of the memory loss and the look on Drew and Alisia's faces when you asked how far you could crank it up, was absolutely great. That people were coming to blows at Feast because they forgot their better angels.

Larry sending me out as a possessed commoner and telling me to ham it up. Proceeding to be the biggest demonic ham I can be, occasionally glancing over to Larry beaming and giggling before Annora drops me.

The meeting to discuss Homunculus City and the terms, with the Baronial Council. Interesting scene. Brutus and Bartholomew getting up at just the right time to go to the bar while the rest of us stayed behind. I love the OOG chemistry the Brothers have and the quiet chatter between Vallius/Dustin and me.

Aleister in said meeting. I don't think I've had the chance to see him in action like that in a long time. Props, Steve.

The general atmosphere in Logistics on Friday night and jokes flying out of my mouth. Sweeney rolling in with full Reginald garb and everyone on the room losing whatever was left of their collective sanity.

At the end, the Crone disappearing into the blood and running full-speed out of the Inn. The only thing Edmund and Hurgar saw, was a guy with markings on his face running for the exit. I'm about to reach the barn when Drew calls a hold to narrate the Prophet dropping into the ground.

Hurgar calls, "Intercede!"
"I dive in!" shouts Edmund.

Drew then narrates a little story that ends in Edmund shrieking like a banshee.

Sunday morning, walking into town just in time for breakfast as Nalick and telling people how he'd forgotten he was a Guard, but the people at the Export/Import company "Closed Cases" (I had no part in coming up with that name, I swear!) didn't seem to mind him continuing to do the work.

Actually getting a chance to RP with Faila, but wow do I need to be careful what I wish for.

Defending a Plant Suggestion that said I was a cat, but pretending to act like a cat anyway and pawing at Thalia.

JASON FELDMAN BEING A MONSTER MARSHAL FROM ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE WORLD, via Skype.

Braving the snow and hail to baptize a former Glommite into the Andorran fold. Cute scenes. Caldor and Danae welcoming her warmly into the Light. Her pet snake being Befriended by Caldor. The woman renaming the snake "Hope" after the baptism took effect--and no lightning striking either of us.

Some light teasing by Swyft, Zelretch, and Tessa. Nalick adjusting his vest accordingly and exiting stage left.

A few personal achievements I'm proud of: actually eating a decent amount of food and in general, feeling more competent in my ability to RP, and also running my first mod!

Nick, Hannah, Jack, Austin, and I'm sorry for forgetting your name, thank you so much again for being part of that. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. Watching (and narrating where I thought necessary) was a hoot and hopefully you'll get to be on the receiving end of the hijinks!

CRAB. PEOPLE.

Justin W. discussing possible mods where two crab people tell horrible puns but are worried people might become too crabby and--SHHHHH! SHHHH! Hilarity.

Clytie bringing my staff over on Sunday morning and telling me I need to be more careful with it; not explaining well enough why it was okay if I didn't bring it with me everywhere I went; telling a pun that would explain it better and her wonderful deadpan threat of shanking me, going into deeper detail of course.

I want to start this by thanking Drew and Alisia for being the absolute best "Choose your own adventure" writers I have ever seen! Absolutely loved it, so glad it happened!

Figuring out what I can forget, and then realizing that none of the people around at that time could be considered major enough to be forgotten. (Sunglasses fall from the sky) DEAL WITH IT! (But nah I love all of ya'll)

Forgetting more and more things lead to me forgetting about the ceremony we did to keep our memories. So at one point I just keep losing more and more and wondering, "what lead of to this one thing, why would I remember this, it doesn't even seem real."

Congratulations Alisia, Drew, you made me forget being a witch hunter. All of it, unfortunately I couldn't roleplay having forgotten long before going to NPC shift but it was amazing.

I also want to thank both Clytie and my amazingly bad luck for having an epic scene at sword point. Then finding Gideon down the road and turning it into a great hostage situation. What they didn't know is that I had forgotten so much I went into existential crisis mode, wondering why I even fight with this town and help them. Every moment debating on whether or not to fight just turn it into PVP. Kinda glad I didn't.

Can't believe I forgot, HOMUNCULI! So much fun with the Homunculi plot going on, getting to talk to the father, A.K.A Heimdall (TOTALLY CALLED IT A MONTH AGO!) Can't wait to see where this goes!