Questions for players....

[m-danson.livejournal.com]

Since the game is in a state of change right now I think it is a good time to ask for a player status report...

Game based questions
1) Any complaints? Any thing you would like to see more of or less of? What do you like?
2) Based on (1) do you have any suggestions?
3) Is anybody else's work schedule going to do something funky in the near future?
4) Are the remaining players okay with a three person game group for the near future?

Character based questions
1) Are you happy with your character and his present direction?
2) Tell me a bit about what is going through your character's mind lately?
3) Tell me a bit about his goals and how he's changing.
4) What does he think is going on?

Comments

[dracodraconis.livejournal.com]

Game based questions
1) Any complaints? Any thing you would like to see more of or less of? What do you like?

Unlike iron_pheonix, I would like to abbreviate the discussion a bit and move on to doing things. Discussion is nice, but it's nice to move forward in the game somewhat rather than spending the evening hashing out a fine detail.

2) Based on (1) do you have any suggestions?

We need to be willing to take more risks.

3) Is anybody else's work schedule going to do something funky in the near future?

Nope.

4) Are the remaining players okay with a three person game group for the near future?

I would prefer four, but agree with iron_pheonix in that I'm not willing to sacrifice game quality. We have a good group, I don't want to spoil it by bringing in someone who doesn't fit.


Character based questions
1) Are you happy with your character and his present direction?

Yes, he is developing his crime-scene analysis skills which, combined with his medical knowledge, is his "nitch".

The racoon I'm not as happy with at the moment because I don't get to use him as much. He's the more impulsive side of the personality, fun to play as a chance from the serious and worrying Max. He is much more fearless than Max so well suited for getting into trouble. That is the fun in playing this character, he will get into trouble as the very nature of his personality.

2) Tell me a bit about what is going through your character's mind lately?

Mr.Coon tends not to have too much going on in his mind except what he is focused on: food, fun, and learning more magic. I'm trying to add magic skills to his bag of tricks so that he can be more useful for infiltration.

Max has two things in his mind. First, he suspects the existence of a brain structure that focuses magic and is tied into conscious thought. He hopes to find a cure not only for Susan but for the other coma patient. His second thought is that Det. Banks is trustworthy so we shouldn't have to spend so much time going around behind her back and jumping at shadows. he was trained not only as a forensic examiner, but as an emergency room physician. You just have to trust the people you work with and make decisions in a timely manner. People die if you spend too much time in debate. He is, as a result, getting frustrated with paranoia and debate, prefering to just get on with his job.

3) Tell me a bit about his goals and how he's changing.

I'm rounding out Max by adding complementary skills: blood-stain interpretation, sculpting (for recontructing victims or assailants), and then magic to perform crime scene analysis (perhaps triggered by his Analyze: Crime scene skill that I keep forgetting to use)

At the moment Mr. Coom wants to turn metal into dust (after some frustration with picking tough locks). In general he wants to build up a repertoire of magic that can assist him in spying and infiltration. He has a flash defense, but that is a last-restort knee-jerk reaction to personal danger.

4) What does he think is going on?

Max believes the fey have infiltrated the police force to make sure that they don't discover the existence of them or their allies. He pictures Avalon as being located somewhere in London with a Prince much like Sarah, but more secretive. He believes the cult was formed in the 1800s around Jack who has learned to maintain his soul (or what's left of it) through blood-sacrifices. The Catholic side screams "deal with the Devil". He is following up on his suspicion through his research into blood-cults. The fey, fearing they will be discovered inadvertently if the investigation continues as it has been, have taken the risk to guide the ratcatchers around their existence by offering to help.

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

I think the reason I'm not willing to take a lot of risks is that the world feels dangerous. Sean has a pretty hefty self-preservation instinct, considerably more than Fionn did.

A more natural-feeling way of limiting discussions might be to have events occur during conversations. Phone calls, alarms, "chance" meetings, etc. all have a place in hustling things along. Windows of opportunity can be used to force our hand. Too much of this, of course, can leave a bad taste, particularly if we get drawn into doing things that, if we had had as much time as players to think about it as the characters had, we wouldn't have done.