Battle of the Snowflake Keep - FEEDBACK THREAD!

[1018peter]

Here's where you can tell me your opinions on the Christmas RPG.


In addition, here are some questions that I'd like you guys to answer:
1) Would you rather have an original setting or a preexisting setting (Like, using the world of Pokemon, for example)?
2) Would you spend a sizable amount of time (about thirty minutes) to fill in a larger, more detailed character sheet?
3) In regards to question 2, how long should RPGs last if the character sheets get expanded?
4) Do you want the seasonal RPGs to be continuous (Using the same plotline/setting/characters)?

[Oranjui]

1) I'd prefer not using established fictional universes, because that's intrinsically going to exclude people who, for example, haven't played Pokemon (like me). And fictional universes that are fresh for everyone are probably more interesting than trying to work within the boundaries of something predefined.

2) Yes holy ♥♥♥♥, if my own character's exposition wasn't already enough of a hint. I've always loved character creation and worldbuilding. But I probably wouldn't make it too detail-heavy, or it could just discourage people from joining. I think it's good to leave that sort of stuff relatively open-ended; if people want to elaborate on backstory or get into sub-categories of certain initial features, let them. But don't force everyone to--because as showcased by this RPG, you can get a good 14 pages of content out of characters that didn't have a lot of exposition.

3) I think the ~1-month length that the Halloween and Christmas RPGs adhered to was pretty fine, and would have even been good for characters with considerably more detail from the get-go--most participants put a lot of heart and detail into their posts, even with relatively little exposition. But I think part of the fun is maybe that characters develop along the way, so, again, maybe it would be good to make the extended character sheet optional?

4) Doesn't matter too much, but continuity might make it difficult for new people to jump in, or even for returning players to join if they haven't fully followed the past RPGs. (e.g. I didn't keep up with the Christmas RPG very well)

Great work overall.

[Venexis]

I didn't participate but I like RPGs, and particularly RPGs of the bite-sized variety so here goes

1) Pokémon is actually the worst so no never Pokémon pls. With that out of the way, yeah, unique universes are way more creative, both initially and as things progress.
2) I'd be all for this. Sounds like some serious D&D level stuff and that's always a thing I'm down for (in fact, the idea was pitched before everyone left and never happened so double yes).
3) Ideally, D&D length. Or rather, ratio. Typical sessions back when I played was about a 6-8 hour sitting, weekly; and while that won't happen very easily here unless it happens on Discord, something like 2-3 week long "campaigns" with a short break between might be nice (provided this site crash BS ever gets sorted at least). Of course characters could be persistent between sessions, or new characters could be created before sessions, and neat death/respawn mechanics could be implemented without being overtly punishing.
4) Gonna have to go no on this one. Sorry, just not one for all that holiday type stuff.

[Vajrin]

As a participant of this RPG, I like this a lot, awesome RPG. Here's my answers.

1) I prefer original setting than preexisting setting like Pokemon. Original setting have fresh characters and plots.

2) If I can, I will. But I can't spend so much time and more detailed sheet due language problems. If my English is improved, I would spend more time for it.

3) I think about 1 month is fine. So people can fill many details into their posts.

4) Sure. I'd love to play RPGs like this again. <3

[Doram]

I did not participate, but I was reading, and I am still impressed with your ability to throw these things together, and make them work excellently. I think the spontaneity has been a point in your favor, both times, and your imagination seems more than up to the task of original universes, so I'd say that would be the way to go. I agree with the idea that not everyone will know any given established universe, but with only a little work, anyone can fit themselves into something new. I would also say that for a 1 month run, keep it to low details. If you are committing to something long term like Astra, then you might want to put more thought into it, but quick stuff should stay quick. As for continuity, I'd say that keeping it loosely tied together would be interesting, but letting the thing shape itself to each unique year's worth of participants is more important.

Great work, sir, and thank you for adding a lot to the fun of this year's events.

[Megar]

I can't believe I bloody won in a 1v3, lmaooo
I guess calling my character Robin had some adverse effect on my mentality even if it was never intentional. But ayo, those questions:

1) Original settings all day every day my dude, lets people be more free with what they do with their characters. Of course, established worlds can work, but it would still need to be loose in order to work given how these games are done.
2) Half an hour? I can spend like two hours on a character, go all out with that my dude.
3) Around a monthish, when possible. It seems to be a good amount of time for people to both fully show off their now more in-depth characters and get a good, fulfilling game done.
4) A loose sequel to previous ones can be good in some cases, but having them too tightly linked would prove troublesome for creativity on both ends.

Excellent job as usual, Peter.

[Harmless]

tfw my master plan failed because I forgot to include a detail to get back up immediately after playing dead

1) Would you rather have an original setting or a preexisting setting (Like, using the world of Pokemon, for example)?

I think original settings are the best way to go. The reason I loved Into the Shadows so much was simply because of that - Everything and I mean EVERYTHING felt completely new and something I'd want to explore meticulously compared to any other world I've participated in/observed so far.

2) Would you spend a sizable amount of time (about thirty minutes) to fill in a larger, more detailed character sheet?

on the topic of ITS: Frederick's backstory was 16 pages long. I would spend an entire day creating a single character to their fullest potential.

3) In regards to question 2, how long should RPGs last if the character sheets get expanded?

I'm not sure this has a proper answer to it, because I don't think the two are very correlated. Leader Harmless already had a huge pre-existing backstory prior to the start of Snowflake Keep, and somehow he fit in the short campaign just fine (despite being an entirely different race and all that but we don't talk about that )

I think they should last up to your heart's content. If the players make a bad, bad move that could cost them the story, then so be it. On the other hand, if there's potential for a conflict to continue (in a good way), then by all means continue it.

4) Do you want the seasonal RPGs to be continuous (Using the same plotline/setting/characters)?

Up to you. I didn't get to know some of the characters much in your previous one-off RPG's, however. If you want continuity to go into further detail about that, then be my guest.

[NanTheDark]

1) Original.
2) Yes.
3) If we're gonna get elaborate I recommend not using a forum format. If Into The Shadows taught me anything is that you can't run an RPG with a more intensive battle system or in a bigger scale without taking forever. Use either Discord or a platform like Roll20 to host it. Then, you can make things run faster. Doing stuff live is always faster. As for how long the campaign is... just make it the right size. End it before it gets stale, I guess.
4) Having a connection between the seasonal campaigns could be awesome. To build a continuous world. I'd be up for it.

That aside... I think the RPG had a very grim ending man, like, sure we won, but almost everyone got messed up But that's just me.

Also if you need super quickly made pixel art sprites to represent stuff, I'm the Nan for the job.