[OOC] Chatter

[xenavire]

That really was interesting. I am going to make more of an effort to play well from now on - that article let me see a few mistakes I have been making.

[brisub]

Funny. I saw that today, too, and emailed it to xenavire. Good stuffs!

[Delvarian]

Lol yeah, you emailed it to me too Brisub. I saw it right after I posted it here. Great minds think alike.

[brisub]

I have a Teflon™ memory sometimes

[xenavire]

Well, I see there is an opening where there is little happening to advance either story... Does anyone have any ideas that might create an opportunity to advance? I am thinking of asking that girl something, but I can't think of much that fits the context of what is happening in the game. At best I can advance my own character story, but I don't want to leave the other players catching up, especially when they are 'taking the lead' right now.

Any ideas? Right now I am thinking A) ask the girl about goblins, or B) climb a tree to scout around.

[SolarDragon]

Or possible Del could throw my character a bone to pull either group along, since it's still unconfirmed which end I'm heading into.

[SolarDragon]

Double posting but are people still round? This game hasn't moved for a long time and I don't see any Leave posts.

[UltraBlackone]

I'm around but don't know if the DM is..

[brisub]

DM was taking a breather because we had a little too much drama. Hope we resume soon because I <3 Elliseth

[xenavire]

Del will come back at some point, just need some patience and dilligence. Keep eyes glued here, and we can always chat while we wait. If Del decides it is over though, I am sure it will be posted here.

I am considering trying to turn a game I am DM'ing (the world at least, and maybe some or all of the story arc) into a visual novel (I have the story, but I will see how difficult the rest is with some research.)

So I have a question - would anyone play a visual novel based entirely off a semi-standard DnD story with a lot of personal touches, even if it ended up not having a lot of anything except multiple choice questions? I would love to have some hard choices, some thinking puzzels, and more in it, would those fit well with an adventure?

[SolarDragon]

I'm around to play Del!

Could you expand what you mean xen?

[xenavire]

Well, take this game as an example since we are familiar with it. The visual novel would probably have new characters based on the characters here (I don't feel comfortable stealing player concepts, so they would only be similar enough to get into the same situations.)

The game would then focus on your decisions, so you could end up with group A or group B, climbing over the mountain rather than going through it, etc.

But that is the story, would it be interesting enough on it's own? Or would it need gameplay added to nake it interesting? Dice rolls, action scenes, puzzles and problem solving, or is it solid how it is?

Taking from Phoenix Wright, one of the most popular visual novels, the story was super linear, and it turned out great because of the gameplay elements (crime scenes and court cases). Would a DnD based visual novel need a hook like that to make it popular?

[brisub]

I would give it a try, but don't know how it would actually work. As a player, I don't really enjoy the dice part, anyway. I prefer to say what my character is doing, and let DM roll and tell me the results.

[xenavire]

Yeah, that is more or less how I feel about it too... I was considering trying combat, letting it resolve based on choices rather than dice roll. For example, you simply choose parry, use shield, attack, and you would see a result based on what you chose. No need to bother with loot or anything, although certain sequences might require you to get a key etc

I know to make it the best it could be, it would require multiple paths, many choices, and Baldurs gate grade (probably far higher) story and npc interaction.

For example, every playthrough could turn out differently. Perhaps the first time you take a shortcut through the woods, and get ambushed by spiders, or you could go around and have a chat with a farmer, who tells you about some local lore, which leads you to choose a different destination than you had originally thought.

As for the npcs, perhaps you try and fail to bribe a guard, but maybe you had a chance to chat with him in the tavern earlier - if you had been nice to him instead of tipping a tankard of ale on his head, maybe he would have let you go, rather than throwing you in prison.

[brisub]

Like I said, I'll give it a try and see how it turns out.