October highlights

Sean Williams wrote: In the future, I hope to engage with more players. I had a ton of questions about a ton of people, but was too shy to ask them. I didn't get to explore the Lands as much as I would have liked either, but that's all the more to do next time. I very much felt like a new adventurer to a new land - I learned just enough to scratch the surface but there are oceans of depth beneath to explore.

Shoot me a message any time, man. I can get you the answers you want, even for the silliest of questions.

Sorrow.
Rage.
Suffering.
Fear.

4 things…. All which can build character in small doses and break them in large amounts.


Kudos to Chris Zipeto for an unusual Event Weekend and one that seemed to work fairly well- and very appropriate for a October Event. Perhaps I’ll manage to portray a Big Bad for you some day… (still on the checklist of KR Accompliment/achievements I’d like to manage.)

That said, despite events leading into game (dude- Friday afternoon was one thing after another!!) I recovered and had some serious fun. It’s a short list right now as I had a long weekend followed by a superlong day of work yesterday.


Friday Night Highlights-
Father Brazen and the Confirmation. Gene, I love it when you bring out Brazen and its great to interact with you as him. All the work done to better rep the faith has paid off with the interest of many a player in the faith and teachings… The Revelations about the two types of light crafting as well as confirmation about the Crucible’s role… Thank you very much for portraying him and bringing him out on occasion. It makes THIS Priest player as well as the rest of the Faith super happy.

Avoiding Sorrow- Rudy, Duncan and Mercer in the grand scamper avoiding getting got. Must remember 15 feet from path of advance….

The Music Box Marauders… Getting taken down by a bunch of toy dolls and the resolution of said capture and the awesome Stepping Up of two Blood Spirits… John Higgins, you and Forest ran an excellent Mod and mad props to the Doll Patrol for being spooky to face and smart.

John, your crazy Evil Jester Construct and the keystone cops chase at the end- gave me some laughs and a bit of closure/satisfaction. I don’t like clowns… and Duncan HATES jesters… Dropping your NPC was cathartic.

Saturday Morning…

JOINT FAITHS MASS!!!! The VERY FIRST one ever in the history of the Game that had ALL PANTHEONS represented…. And almost every deity had a rep there. Super Awesome RP and excellent jobs by both new players getting up for the first time in front of a crowd AND for the nervous Veteran Priests who don’t normally speak. Embrace the Role and have fun with it.

Sorrow. Well… This summed up the first half of it.

(don’t remember who said this)“Look…. There’s Rage; he’s lurking behind Sorrow and her minions”
(me) “He’s hiding…. because the Git be a coward at his core…”
(Rage comes walking up with a purpose at this point through Sorrow’s troops)
(Aldric in a wry tone) “I Think he heard you…”
(Me) That’s fine…

Reece…. Damnit son, use the Mental Defenses once in a while, wouldya?
Chris G- connected to the above statement, awesome save bro. Thank you a lot.

Sat Volunteering Psion Mod- Guys, you just don’t know what you are faced with… and it will be a blast for the next part. Steve, I look forward to this….

The Passing of Radiziel. I don’t think it could have a better home.

Feast- I think I could have eaten enough of it to have to be rolled out of the Inn had there been enough food to do that. That good.

Fear Mod.
The most Epic Intercept I have ever done with this Character. Ever. Much like Dave not knowing how Aldric kicked him to the rear of the Brain Bus, something similar to me happened as Duncan took over and just *reacted*.

Come the Rules change, it looks like a class dropped might be picked back up. Was SOooooooooooo not planning on that but sometimes RP (and the part of the psyche that is your Character) just plain says otherwise.

Post fear…. The coming down from the mod and the warm fire down at winterdark afterward. I too will have a story to post on FB. I’m just not sure how I am gonna write it.


Sunday highlight was taking two young Rangers on a hike to show them a different part of Travance and The Way of the Ranger. Awesome educational RP and a good way to stretch legs in the morning.


I know there is more but some is a bit fuzzy and some not at liberty to reveal.

See you guys at the Ball and Next Event!

Cracking up with Nicholas L. and some other newer players in the barn before lay-on, made all the more hilarious by the fact that we were trying to stay quiet. Happy Halloween, buddy!

Chris Zipeto's lay-on speech--entertaining, funny, and sweet (reminds me of someone) and introducing everyone to the OK check-in system. It was the first opening announcement I've seen in a couple months, so it was even more of a treat.

What was exciting to no end, was seeing a character that existed only in writing, appear in the flesh--and not one vest, but two. Rob Davis, take a bow, sir. There was admittedly little background information that I gave you and not much time to prepare, but it was a sight being a fly on the wall for those encounters.

Allanna B. and Ashley-Lynn, good lord, the fireworks in the Barracks. It's been a while since I've seen RP that passionate.

You two, Sam, Evan, Isaiah, it's been a fun ride watching your characters grow and develop over the last couple months, especially in relation to the plot.

Andrew and Trevor--and yeah, I couldn't even type your names without snorting--you guys were awesome. Thanks for being chill(!) about having the you-know-what somewhere else. Quite the interesting use of First Aid at 3:00 a.m. by the way, on the heels of using a skill I hadn't used before... twice. It felt like a moment out of Chet's DnD campaign.

Tristan, and the ever-eccentric characters Ben sends you out as. How I was concerned and in-stitches (in-game) at the same time, was an interesting combo.

All of my volunteers who threw on cloaks and wandered through the woods, thank you. It was a treat to hear your stories afterward. Dan H., that scene could not have been more comical. "Wait!? What did you say!?" And the RP in the Barracks and you literally crawling underneath the table. Thanks again, man.

Divine providence when I was about to start a mod and realized I left a weapon and garb for a late-night mod back at Logistics. When I got there, two floodlights with colored film had returned from another mod. Thank you to all my NPCs for helping set up and putting on a good show; thank you Dani S. for literally hopping in at the last second because you just wanted something to do. I really appreciate it. When we got those lights set up, I finally saw Rachel M. fully prepped with make-up and garb. You looked terrifying and amazing. Mars, thank you for your patience, and for stalling the town long enough for us to make last-minute preparations.

Reed, thanks for being a good sport, bud, and for diving into the role-play.

Feast with some Grumpy Dwarves, Zelretch, and Mad Mac Molansey. That and continuing Chet's semi-proud tradition of eating with his hands. Chicken Cacciatore be damned. Tasty meal, Damian. Poor Zelretch.

Forest, bro, Sunday was definitely fun day. That went in several unexpected directions and I'm glad you were part of it. Everyone involved in trying to tackle (at some points literally) Jacob's wolf on Sunday morning, props. Jenn C., thanks for letting me conjure up some results. Jacob, you rolled with everything and the mod was all the better for it. Thanks, brother.

Calan and the shenanigans down at Ostcliff. Such enthusiasm, IG and OOG. I love it.

The Argenti wedding. Actually tearing up a bit in-character and having a couple inner monologues as a result.

It's only getting better from here.

A great first event. Thanks to Ostcliff for kidnapping my young man. Victor very much enjoyed his first time in Travance, well except for the harbingers bit.

I loved all of the rp and being able to be a physician and that work was wonderful. I was tired on a OOG level from all that RP.

It's wonderful to see the entire camp being used, it's great. Though I am going to need to get a wool coat....

Thank you for a fun first event.

John T. wrote in his highlight that I got "Kicked back to the back of the Brain Bus", by Aldric. To explain that, some players have had that moment when their character has its own opinion and reaction to things, independent of you. In fact, you are not needed at that moment, and take a seat, buster, I got this! That was what happened on Friday night to me. Aldric went ape on Rage, after watching it engage in combat against his friends. I blew my card on him, literally everything went into a random npc encounter on an early Friday night....

Saturday we did the All Faith Mass. This is the first Mass in the game's long history in which all faiths came in peace, listened to each other's sermons and united to provide the lay worshippers present, boons from the Dieties. If that was not enough, I was asked to teach Mass, for both a Valosian Priest and a Priest of Malyc. So naturally I threw them to the wolves, together, and made them share a sermon. (They did great by the way)

The plan was to roll up to the morning Main Mod for Sorrow with all of the Clergy and potentially we had some heavy hitters. That did not come to pass, so I wound up going into the mod with Duncan and Ephrem and a few others. Little did we know that Rage showed up, on the chance that we did come in force. He was going to hang back and then Duncan had to taunt him... Aldric kicked me to the back again and I wound up engaged in a half hour battle with Rage, ignoring minions, Sorrow and pretty much all else. The mod ended before I could dent Rage, and then I had to go looking for refreshment potions, (thank you Rudolf) so I could actually fight him again in his Mod. Before I could I stumbled over to Ostcliff where they were having a feast of their own. That was a lifesaver as I need to strip out of my armor and get hydrated as I was overheating badly. I dont break character as Aldric if I can help it, so if you see me in a t-shirt without any armor or tabards, something is wrong. I spent a couple hours there before moving on. Thank you to Ostcliff for hospitality!

The Rage mod was a battlefield...and Aldric didnt even bother kicking me back, he was already driving when I hit the field. I had some skill refreshed, but still was hurting for that mod, but I did my best. The rest of the town was pretty focused on Rage too, so I just followed along and kept up. Matt was a trooper through all of this, as he took a beating for almost an hour, had to break for water twice and dump clothing due to the warm weather. Seeing him regenerate from eating his animated puppets gave me the idea, but he needed to find a way to wrap it up anyway. So Aldric used a Seal of Vengeance to end it. Mind you I had no idea what he had left, and I had very little left by then. But, luckily, after a breif duel, he fell. Cue the RP for the United Church to banish the Harbringer and I was left sore, and very tired.

Feast. Damian that was a good damn feast man! Hot at the table, filling and enough for seconds. Thumbs up!!

The night I was on NPC duty for the two last main mods, did what I could, but mostly just messed with Wren as he was in an Eye of the Storm. That was fun. Tried to mess with Edmund, but Rudy shattering forced my arse off. For the last bit with the Lord of Fear, I fought a bit more. Had fun with that too.

Sunday I did a quiet Bar Mass with a few new players, then got roped into dealing with the Wild Mages and the Lantern from hell. Purifiers? Ok, got to do more intel on Radical Fringe groups of the Church. Anyways, its always nice to have prayers that provide a niche role that is needed. Priest of Law, meet Chaos Curse, zap it with Negate Chaos many many times.

Overall, thank you to Chris Z. whose demented mind set all this in motion over two years ago, and set characters against their own fears. Thanks to all the STs and Marshalls who helped bring this to a resolution. SO much character development happened due to this plot line, and still will, as I need to talk to Aldric and calm his butt down about that Rage fella.... no idea that he was going to wind up reacting that strongly. Things might change a little with him, we shall see. See you all at the Ball!

Hiya, folks! Friendly, neighborhood ST here!

As most of you know, I ran the event, and helped get people hyped for a spooky, psychological horror-themed October event.

What some of you might not know is the particular way I try to approach horror. I like horror that has a point. That makes you think, makes you face things about yourself or your character. I LOVE the levels of immersion and roleplay that people reach when in horror situations. Case in point, this event. I saw so much amazing roleplay this event, and I lost count of the number of people who came up to me excitedly telling me how this plot had created character development for them, whether they had encountered a Harbinger themselves or just helped their friends who had. I heard great stories from all kinds of people, from people I've been playing alongside of for years, to new players who were excited to jump right in.

I have to give a shout out to each of my Harbinger NPCs.

Matt, you're an absolute madman. Wearing all that costuming and that absolutely SICK mask made by Yamaira, and still managing to fight everyone and mess with their heads.

Stacey, you came into this so apprehensive and worried you'd mess it up. But then you got into costume and you knocked it out of the park. I never had anything less than complete faith in you.

Shane. I can always count on you to instantly get exactly what I'm going for when I just throw 20 half-formed mad ideas at you and bring it to larger than life. No matter the role, you take the framework I give and run with it.

Ben. 2 years ago, I asked you if you'd be interested in playing a very different role than what you were used to. And together we utterly wrecked some peoples' characters emotionally. And now, 25 months later, you helped serve as the cap to the event that has caused so much significant character development and rp between people. All while barely able to breathe in that horse skull mask. As soon as you put on the costume for the Lord of Tears, I immediately saw that we were on to something. Your presence haunted people. People just seeing your silhouette in the distance turned and ran. You were a magnificent combination of eerie creep factor and sinister mind manipulator. You helped me run a very different kind of story at this game. Thank you.


No lie, I was a bit apprehensive about this event. Psychological horror can be a bit of a gamble for a game that doesn't often use it as a story device. There's a lot that can go wrong with it, but it seems that by and large, the focus on character interaction and overcoming a character's personal demons helped make this event an overall success.

Highlights!

-The looks on peoples' faces when the opening cutscene of the event started.

-The amazing costuming jobs done by the Harbinger NPCs

-The whole seance scene Friday night. From the circle of salt, to the look on Bill Hannings' face when Jason Feldman's voice came out of the speaker to seem as if it was coming from Robin's mouth. It was eerie, poignant, and started the event off with high atmosphere.

-The Warden's personal session with Marcus. Dude, you take everything thrown at you, roll with it, and see everything as an opportunity to enhance your rp. It's a great attitude.

-Trying to go to bed at 5am while wearing a mask turning into leading Belegchand, Cara, and Starling on a merry chase for almost an hour culminating in some super touching and heavy rp. Alice, don't think I didn't catch what you did there.

-Watching people come together to flip the bird to the Harbingers metaphorically on each main mod. Not only in terms of teamwork, but in actually making emotional connections with each other. Warms my black little heart.

-The AMAZING scene that was the hangman's tree that served as Suffering's anchor point. With all the bones, chains, and rope, bathed in that red light. It was damned spooky and so freaking cool. Sadface that the light died before it could be used at Fear's mod.

-Watching Swyft, Rudy, and Kyras finally get closure in killing the Lord of Tears after 2 years of torment. I'm so happy to have seen you three grow and get that richly deserved revenge.

-Everyone who put up with Aengus and his shenanigans. Especially Maeve. Sorry, not sorry.

See y'all in November!