[Meta Thread] Lord Windos' PokeRole Adventure 2: The Wild Lands

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

There there, my dear Windos... *hugs and headpats* You are doing great as a GM, yes you indeed do, I do much enjoy your wild ideas ('wild' in both a positive and at times negative sense). Perhaps you just got to brace yourself at times to not let the creative and 'crazy but fun' idea/thought of what happens get the better of yourself, as you realized and stated yourself already (which is much appreciated, aka it's great that you realized it yourself and are down for improvement; and further encourage and take into account player feedback!) For an example that just springs into mind, if a random table brings up an overly erratic event or one that will almost definitely come down to bite the player sooner or later (what immediately springs into mind is that [Die for me]-cast of Bern or Vernon summoning a Belliadon via Metronome), give it a thought first whether it's REALLY a good idea to go for it and whether it wouldn't be better to instead roll the dice again discreetly - Not to say that I don't like these event though, no! I love them, to be honest! I can also see that they might be 'too much', however, depending on preferences or player's taste.

(...)Going forward, I won't be doing a Super Boss Encounter like THIS for a loooong time. If their is going to be grueling content like this, I'll do it more in a 'progressive-linear' form that includes most everyone involved rather than the divided and complex method I did with this.(...)

This. This is MUCH appreciated, yes it indeed is. I enjoy dangerous and serious Encounters and even more so Major Encounters, but perhaps not so much/they come with a bitter aftertaste if they happen early in the campaign OR (or rather, OR/AND) they happen to on top have a big chance of death of player and Pokemon before the journey has properly begun in the first place. I do would like to see more of such things and I still want to tradeup for a Major Encounter for Bern and Zephy at some point, but I would like for it to happen with a proper warning and preparation from both sides.

(...)I've scared off Phantom from continuing due to the brutality of the Masked Wolf(...)

That's not directly your fault. This is more like....PARTLY or INDIRECTLY your doing, to put it blatantly (sorry for stating it like that). I don't really feel like you 'scared me off', more so that you rendered me/Bern unable to continue the Encounter. Which can be seen in a positive and negative light, I'm not that sure which side weights more - one things for sure though, I don't really mind that I dropped out of the Encounter, perhaps it's for the better even to give my PC the chance to recover after so many eventful things on their part and for me to wind down after the event gave me severe anxiety of loosing Bernhard as an PC before the journey through Sutalör has even begun.

(...)I plan on the Party leaving Bayhama shortly after their rest, since I image everyone is probably raring to get at the wider (and Wilder) region after such a prolonged tutorial. What way will depend on various factors, but regardless it'll be clear which ways are going to be heavily suggested In-Game. I heavily prefer the Party stay as one regardless of which way you leave the city,(...)

I'm very down for that, yes please and yes indeed! And double and bold 'yes' for staying together as a group, aka NOT splitting up (for now). Just two thing I want to happen/open ends on my side before we leave:

1. Collecting my reward from the Gleam's family for saving Saph and having a chat with the whole family
2. Contacting the laboratory Umbrelong escaped from to learn more about her/them

If these can be outplayed between us in the GameThread before we leave Bayhama please, it'd be much appreciated. Preferably not in a flashback if possible, but I'd be fine ifhandling these via PM, as I feel that handling both these two events AND continuing the story very quickly gets chaotic and overwhelming on my (and perhaps your?) end.



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As for which option I prefer in terms of your poll...


I'm honestly on the fence about 'A Fairy Slight Retcon' and 'Stay on the Course'. With a small lean into the slight recton. For reasons that I do want to see an epic fight of the party (without Bernhard, but with Equinox), I am very exited to see that Mysterious Peron and their Toxicroak in action, and I want to receive huge rewards for having dealt with that Sandlossugeist. I don't like a lot of publicity on my end/for my PC however, so an other 'Being' dealing with that Sandlossugeist at the cost of Consequences sounds like a decent middleground.

But honestly, regardless which outcome will be chosen, can I still have that Mysterious Person perform that sugery for re-attaching my Gauntlet pretty please? (EDIT: At the cost of giving away Steelene the Mawile) That's like...what's on my mind the most right now, I'm absolutely not ready to leave Bayhama/continue the story and campaign with Bern rendered defenseless (^v^; )

Edit: Also, if we do go for Option #1, will Lunn in particular be revived or can we preferably agree that she did not, due to how traumatic her death was? I'm not too keen of an hiiiighly awkward situation where Lunn comes to Bern to get back Steelene, and he's like 'I gave your Pokemon away to a shady person, sorry'

*Humbly accepts your affections* You're too good for this world, Phantom....

Yeah, the Die For Me and Vernax situations got out of hand too. It's a bit too far along to neatly retcon them, but I do promise to prevent RNG from choosing anymore.....explosive options on my tables for a good long while. You guys need a break, or as much of a one as you can get in a high octane adventure like Wild Lands provides by default.

Player Death and DANGER will significantly increase as the game goes on and whenever the group is exploring outside of Sutalor's major cities and settlements, so even if I keep things relatively mundane you best be watchful and careful lest your PCs get inconvenienced.

Major Encounters are not always Deadly and Dangerous by default, but they are assuredly B I G and bombastic that are all but guaranteed to carry long term consequences for those involved. Be aware that Timing, Location, and Intent matters a lot in what creates Major Encounters and  whether a location can handle a shake up a BIG EVENT can cause, or otherwise you could OOC cause a cavalcade of OH NOES for everyone caught up in its wake.

Noted about what you want resolved, dear! We can do them just fine in the GameThread Post-Timeskip, but if PMs are your preference we can do such things there and I can latter post the whole 'Mini Plotline' here for others to enjoy once its resolved. Well, unless you want any in the PMs to remain Private, which I will accommodate, but generally I do want everyone's impact on the game to be visible for all so use such privileges judiciously please....

If Fairy Slight Option is taken then Mx. Mysterious will just....tag around until a sufficiently BIG Fight (or Fights) happen to repay their debts to your PC. They'll remain mostly out of sight from everyone else unless requested to be out in the open and therefore will not interfere with things unless your want your PC to badger them for some reason.

The Surgery will regardless take place due to acceptance of the Trade in and out of the game, yes.

Lunn would be revived by Fayette, since she was a direct casualty of the Super Boss' machinations. Don't worry about them, though, since any issues her survival will be resolved one way or another. Also, if she does come knocking around you could just have Bern say that Events and Fayette's intervention prompted Steelene to be 'sacrificed' for the greater good, which is technically true if you squint at it long enough....