>>5530565>>5530667That vid almost made me spew coffee all over the keyboard, Schiz--nicely done!
>QM:It's the pothole I've most recently gotten stuck in, actually! When I started Bones I had a framework of the overall goal: 'Stop the Lich' and how to accomplish that. At the time that was all I needed after having a few drinks--next thing I know I'm twenty threads in. I don't recommend flat-out planning TOO much material beforehand... most of the time your readers will surprise you and you'll be subconsciously drawn to follow your own prepared material.
Instead I recommend writing 'nodes'--events, characters, or encounters that you can kinda intersperse around the quest when you need them. For example, I knew players would eventually go after Rocky, the leader of a group of Skeleton Greasers, so I built several encounters that revolved around the High School they all attended and it worked out pretty okay. In short, though, it's really hard to put an exact number on how much prep works in this medium--I still can't tell if my improvised stuff was better than the crap I planned.
Anyways, that's what I've been thinking about as I plan my next projects. I don't want to go into a BIG quest again soon, but I DO wanna run something. Just trying to figure out how to get going again, I guess.
>Player:Used to follow 4 or 5, but that number's diminished due to work and other responsibilities. It also gets harder when QMs flake or disappear for a while.
>General:Started using 4chan back in High School, I think, specifically /v/ and /tg/. I remember catching a few quests on the latter before we were exiled over here and it kinda inspired me to one day write something similar... didn't get to do it until recently, but it was a blast! Definitely feels lame to not be writing every day now.
>Misc:If we're talking /qst/-related I resolved to run something this year. I've got a few ideas swimming around in my head, but like Bones I don't wanna run it out of obligation--I want to run one that I legit enjoy writing.
>CombatI'm a total wet blanket when it comes to number crunch in /qst/s, so I tend to go light on the calculations and lean more on storytelling than anything else. In Bones pretty much everything was handled by a Best of 3 d100 roll with appropriate skill boons and maluses including combat.
If I had to ascribe a reason as to why I didn't use specific values like HP and other things in Bones, I'd say that it gives me and the players a bit more wiggle-room. Players aren't constrained by Magic Points or anything and I get to describe the fight, damage, and other elements in a more creative way. It also allowed players to have more fun with write-in attacks, which I think gave Stan more character in how she fought. Lastly, removing 'HP' made fights a bit more tense, I think--there was no telling how tough the fight would be or how much fight the enemy had left in them.
