Time, Treachery, and Treasure

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

So far, you've been doing a good job of finding those edge cases in creation, or where I came to a conclusion because that is where my brain stopped rather than the problem ended. There are some questions I would like to pose more directly to the group.


Was character creation adequately quick?
Do fights resolve in short order, or become bogged down?
Are the concepts presented in a way that is easy to learn? Has anyone had trouble picking up on the SDI/DR system?
What might make the character sheet more useful or improve these aspects?


Combat is supposed to be somewhat dangerous in the game. Is that how it is playing out, or do seem more like action heroes than victims?
Have Nemesis Rolls / low metal ability problems come up?
How about the choice between self-healing and leveling up others?
Any suggestions for increasing tension or more horror focused role-play?
Has the scarcity system been helpful detrimental to the game?


As stated on the page of my blog - you players deserve to be recognized in both the forward and the setting. Presumably, you are now responsible for the official representation of Reading England (So far, there is only about the isles, and a second about Europe reliving the 1600s.)

Names of Play-testers and their characters (Perhaps with sheets shared via google docs) will appear in the game.

Any questions about the background, technology, aliens, and so forth are welcome, its a lot easier to write when I have some direction rather than just a list of topics.

[Rob Lang]

Was character creation adequately quick?
Character creation was ok but could have been quicker with some more examples and character archetypes. The question the players asks is "What can I be and how do I make my stats be like that?".

Do fights resolve in short order, or become bogged down?
Very short order. But then I am the kind of GM that moves on if the player dilly dally.

Are the concepts presented in a way that is easy to learn? Has anyone had trouble picking up on the SDI/DR system?
The concept isn't hard to get your head round but needs a nice diagrammatic way of showing how to work out what dice you roll. Perhaps more examples and better description can help there. In each example, try and explain one facet at a time.

What might make the character sheet more useful or improve these aspects?
I'm rubbish at trying to suggest advice on character sheets. I think the current one takes up a lot of space, I still want to have a bash at making one.



Combat is supposed to be somewhat dangerous in the game. Is that how it is playing out, or do seem more like action heroes than victims?
Second session was a combat tester, third session was supposed to be about plot but turned into a mini-mosh. Byrn (close combat, two swords) took some damage. Having reanimates with 2 Necro Points makes all the difference. I've not thrown anything too nasty at them yet.

Have Nemesis Rolls / low metal ability problems come up?
Not yet, combat hasn't got so desperate that they have needed to spend any Deadening or Lucidity.

How about the choice between self-healing and leveling up others?
AP spend is something that I'm going to write a post on. Byrn took enough damage to get down to Jog and used a healing roll from another character to get one point back, taking him back to Run on the damage track.

Any suggestions for increasing tension or more horror focused role-play?
More help for the GM about how to make something scary. Techniques for introducing zombies, using the senses. Lots of examples of that.

Has the scarcity system been helpful detrimental to the game?
It's great! It adds tension to actions, giving the players the option to accept a little bit of risk for some dice reward. I used a d20 for food because we're still on day 1 of the campaign time and they began with enough food to get to Reading.

Rewards
Thanks for those. I'm going to make a new character sheet.