Post by grrraall on Oct 1, 2009 4:56:25 GMT -5
After Sword for Hire and Blue Frog Tavern (see the "Blue Frog Tavern" thread), I played The Beggar of Khazan (BK) with the same character. I had to halve all of his stats and he lost all of his possessions from the onset – nasty surprise! The adventure had not really started yet, it all happened in the introduction. After one or two combats, my character's CON almost reached -10 but he somehow made it out alive, still very diminished and with less than 100 new experience points for the whole solo. I would recommend to use a brand new character for this solo (because in that case, you don't have to halve your attribute points). Secondly, it bears no resemblance with BFT. Quartz and Gina are mentioned, but also characters that my rogue had never met before and whom he was supposed to know from BFT. Very puzzling indeed. The adventure itself was not bad, but the relationship that was established with BFT was largely artificial, I felt. The general tone is entirely different, with little or no humour and a rather gloomy background story.
I then went on to play The Shadow Thief (SF), which is funnier than the previous solo but has a major drawback. The name, background and personality of your character are pre-defined and you don’t have much say about his behaviour. Secondly, the text of each paragraph is too long, sounds more like a book with multiple choice options than a T&T solo. My character got out alive of this adventure too, with only 38 g.p. and 341 XPs. In the last paragraph, it is said that my character looted the bodies of 2 trolls and a companion in arms, but I’ll never know what he found, because there is no information about that in the text…
Overall, both mini-solos were a bit disappointing. The playing experience was more akin to reading a short story than playing a T&T solo. That being said, it wasn’t boring either. It just felt somewhat unfinished. Those were also mini solos and not fully-fledged T&T adventures, so you cannot expect the same level of entertainment as in BFT or Sword for Hire. BK and ST are more like short trips with little reward but real dangers. I liked the idea of an experienced adventurer becoming a beggar and needing to start again from scratches. The idea behind ST (i.e. working in a tavern) was less original. "that guy" already designed solos on the same theme (Ham Fat and Khazan). However, I liked the effort to create a setting: Safe Harbour, the City of Villains, ruled by Lord Shreskin and his Imperial Elite Troll Guards, etc. There are many NPCs in both adventures, which gives them character and local colour. I am eager to see how Middleclaw’s future solos will evolve. When you look at Michael Stackpole’s Elemental Dungeon (probably Mike Stackpole’s first attempt at designing a T&T solo), you cannot help but think that it couldn’t possibly have been written by the author of City of Terrors. However, it has. Solo designers do improve, if only they get some feedback from the players. That is why I wrote this.
I then went on to play The Shadow Thief (SF), which is funnier than the previous solo but has a major drawback. The name, background and personality of your character are pre-defined and you don’t have much say about his behaviour. Secondly, the text of each paragraph is too long, sounds more like a book with multiple choice options than a T&T solo. My character got out alive of this adventure too, with only 38 g.p. and 341 XPs. In the last paragraph, it is said that my character looted the bodies of 2 trolls and a companion in arms, but I’ll never know what he found, because there is no information about that in the text…
Overall, both mini-solos were a bit disappointing. The playing experience was more akin to reading a short story than playing a T&T solo. That being said, it wasn’t boring either. It just felt somewhat unfinished. Those were also mini solos and not fully-fledged T&T adventures, so you cannot expect the same level of entertainment as in BFT or Sword for Hire. BK and ST are more like short trips with little reward but real dangers. I liked the idea of an experienced adventurer becoming a beggar and needing to start again from scratches. The idea behind ST (i.e. working in a tavern) was less original. "that guy" already designed solos on the same theme (Ham Fat and Khazan). However, I liked the effort to create a setting: Safe Harbour, the City of Villains, ruled by Lord Shreskin and his Imperial Elite Troll Guards, etc. There are many NPCs in both adventures, which gives them character and local colour. I am eager to see how Middleclaw’s future solos will evolve. When you look at Michael Stackpole’s Elemental Dungeon (probably Mike Stackpole’s first attempt at designing a T&T solo), you cannot help but think that it couldn’t possibly have been written by the author of City of Terrors. However, it has. Solo designers do improve, if only they get some feedback from the players. That is why I wrote this.
