Re: [HoE] Heart of Darkness review

[Doug Stalker <dougs@technologist.com>]

Dusarat@aol.com wrote:

> "How  good was the series?"
>
> Good general  story line    but the adventures did a   terrbible job of
> giving the Posse  a reason to give a flyin Skedadle. Literally, every  hook
> for the adventures is "The posse is asked by a    mysterious   character to
> seek after the Heart of Darkness..".    The Posse's facing big nasties,
> bigger nasties, and   undead   half-breed alien bloodsuckers,   and yet has
> little reason to care about this  carefully crafted series of   action
> sequences the adventure provides.
>

> SPOILER SPACE

Especially for out Posse (ie: Nick) in case I use any of these ideas.


















>
> In the  last part, it makes a point to state the ONLY person who can  hurt
> Stone is the NPC!!   Now since you have an all-powerful villain (Stone, who
> can't be killed and has all the harrowed powers at level five and an
> adventure  writer who seems to have little idea of exactly HOW nasty that is,
> think a moment, have stone start using the harrowed powers in tandem, he's
> got the wind.  You have a  god-like opponnent,  who  will have ten actions
> every round, and who has no weaknesses?),  AND the stereotypical all-powerful
> NPC (Jackie Wells), the posse' seems to pretty much be there to spectate.
>

Oouch.  Feng Shui has character of similar power level to that:  Draco, who has
all transformed animals powers, all Fu powers, and any other powers he needs.  It
makes  a specific point of saying don't ever let the PCs face him in combat, just
let them see the effects of his passing through .  I've always thought of stone
in the same way:  Less an NPC to fight, more a massivly powerful Plot Device.


>
> I would  say the advantures are play-able, and fun!     good villains an
> sequences   just with an overall lack of 'we should care because?', I suggest
> one or more of the following changes.
>
> 1) at the end of the first part,   when they   are empty handed, Hellstromme
> expresses his  displeasure    by having a servant meet with the party saying
>          "I am  sorry you lost the  item, it is unfortunate.  Especially
> since it has medicinal properties.    Hellstomme needed it for some research
> since exposure to it or places where it has been seems to cause people to
> contract a  unique form of consumption, a form  you are now likely to have.
> I would suggest you go after the gem, for your sakes"
>
> See?  THERE's motivation!,  Especially when Jackie tells them in part three
> that's a  load of donkey droppings. Have em go through half of it fearing
> Death, THEN they'll beheartbroken when   they don't have the gem at the end
> of  part II

Have hellstrome infect them with something mild, enough to start bringing out a
rash and slight headaches/nausea, and they'll get real paranoid.  Just so they
don't think Hellstrome is bluffing.   Or maybe he isn't bluffing. Maybe the gem
does cause disease, but can also cure it.



>
>
> 2)   Give them a way to hurt Stone and a way to  somehow get the  drop on
> him, otherwise the climax is senselees slaughter.  Perhaps the Gem has
> anti-harrowed powers?  Perhaps the Half-breeds can rig something with their
> force fields to trap him.  I rather like killing off Jackie and giving
> the Posse her Gun.

I take it her gun is the only thing that can hurt stone?


> I never like combat NPC's  much anyway.

I hate them too.  I always forget to include them in combat.  Because of teh way
we hand GMing back and frth, each GM has a NPC character of his own each time he
runs something... It's a lot easier not to use them than it is to include them.
Besides, the GM doesn't need any more characters to control.

>
>
> 3) This is my fave, cut out Jackie Wells,   and  put your Posse in her place.
>  That's right,   send your HoE posse back in time to save the future.  then
> you have motivation, excellent   role-playing ideas, and Stone may have an
> ace or two,  but so would a posse from 200 years in the future.
>

This has the problem of making several ABs useless, such as junkers.  Doomies
would need Ghost rock to recover strain, templers would lose... At least their
greater rewards, maybe more.  Sykers would really kick butt though,  as would
cyborgs (lose the SRU and your'e in trouble though)

Of course, it would make a good change of direction ofr the HoE posse.  Give teh
Doomie a ghost rock lantrern to let him get back strain at the normal rate, Get
the junker to convince a bunch of tech spirits to come back with him in some sort
of containment device... It's workable.

--

 - doug -