(There, enjoy your compliment sammich.)

Thanks for listening and I hope the lack of rules doesn’t bother you too much. I know it bothers some folks when podcasts don’t use all the rules.

FYI the players forget to use squad mode A LOT!

I am assuming this was the free adventure that came out just before the complete rules came out for deathwatch (or something like that). I noticed Squad and Solo mode tactics was not used nor was a team leader chosen, let alone the inclusion of Requisition points. So, I am assuming these rules would not be used during this game.

http://www.iuhealthbloomington.org/oth/Page.asp?PageID=OTH000361

Great stuff.

Other than that, listening to actual play games can help. We have another ToC game up as well that you may want to check out. It was awesome. Episode 34 – Kidnapping.

We’re getting some good play between all the games and I hope to keep the diversity going. Another Deathwatch game will hopefully be recorded this month as well. Yeah!

Thanks for the feedback and I’m glad you enjoyed it! I do take GMing seriously and really appreciate constructive feedback. Anything that helps me make the games better for my players and for the listeners is always great. I know I can always improve and always want to.

I’ll make sure that next time I run the scenario that I pay particular attention to your thoughtful comments above. The specific feedback on keeping things moving and creating tension/terror will help for a re-run (and more broadly for just about any horror game). When I have some time to revisit it, I’ll give the scenario some more thought on specific feedback. Overall, I loved the scenario. It’s a bit long for a one-shot, so I had trouble condensing it. Two sessions would have been better. The time fugue was definitely challenging and took a while in game. Breaking is up is a great idea. I also need to incorporate knowledge from the other “PCs” that aren’t being played. They get a little lost in the shuffle once the game is going.

I look forward to running this again. I also noticed you have a new scenario in the works. Sounds really great by the short description. Keep up the good work and I’ll keep buying them, running them, and posting them.

I’m glad you plan to run it again with new players; that’ll be fun. The one thing I will suggest to make it run tighter for you is to be more proactive about clue delivery; e.g., when they’re all standing on deck waiting for Shot Bravo, have Bodine give them his potted history of the Bairoko. When they’ve got Sawyer locked up in the brig and *ask if he’s said anything* or *try to psychoanalyze him*, have him be talking to his father or complaining about how his mother threw him out or talking about physics. I would also play Sawyer as initially more scared and freaked out than you had him, only gradually coming to accept his place at the center of things.

Additionally, I would foreground Sawyer’s abilities and use them to freak players out. When Juan playing Harvard tried to shoot Sawyer, that’s exactly what you want. *Say the shot hits, and have Sawyer be killed.* Then when he shows up in the next scene (“Help me get this man to sickbay!”) call for Stability tests. Have him demonstrate his weirdness fully before having him offer his explanations to the players–they should want to hear Sawyer explain himself.

By the end of the adventure, you were doing a great job cutting back and forth between the action in the engine room and the action on the bridge. But I think it hurt the drama when you let Zengetti literally send the other characters to the showers in a single “move” during the fallout scene earlier in the game. TOC is not great for tactical action, but the movement rules included in CB might have helped you control the pace of events there–the point is to have the characters who begin the scene on the flight deck confronted with the dilemma of helping out their shipmates (and maybe following orders too) or saving their own skins. Even if you don’t use the movement rules, I think it’s okay to go “Okay, you’re ordering people to go below and head for the showers–wait a minute, those guys over there don’t hear you! And that guy is flopping around a fish! And another guy grabs Walton and makes clicking noises! And Harvard just went to la-la land! And–holy cow!–that guy is running for the edge of the flight deck! It looks like he’s going to jump! WHAT DO YOU DO?” In other words: throw all that stuff at them at once, giving them a sense of chaos, imminent danger, and the urgent need for action. Then let them react. At that point, they can do what they want–all you care about really is measuring their Dose round by round based on what they do. You can use their Drives to overcome their sense of self-preservation if you want, offering them a point or two of Stability to go out on deck and pull someone to safety.

Those are just suggestions, of course, but they’re offered in the spirit of providing constructive feedback to someone who seems like he takes the craft of GMing seriously. And I don’t mean to take anything away from the great job you did of getting your players from beginning to end of the scenario in a cool way. Thanks for running the game, and thanks for posting the AP podcast! Also, I’d love to hear any comments or feedback you have about the adventure!

DM Neil needs to rescind his two drink maximum. It was great. I would gladly listen to each and every episode that Ian shows up drunk to. Ian, you need to sacrifice your liver for the good of the game.

Advice: drink more before you record. Always a good idea regardless of what DM Neil says. I think he just gets jealous when people steal his thunder.

The Dragonborn seems somewhat of a priss. I sure do hope so.

Now that Empyron has the battle axe, I hope you do something funny with it.

It’s a shame, cause Trail of Cthulhu game was brilliant and I really enjoyed it. I want more ToC with the other Game Master! Shooting baby was classic! Please, show this Delta Green guy how things should be done.

As far as prizes, I agree I need more contests. The conglomerate name is slow going. I have to do diligence to see if it is usable. I will award a prize shortly for the name I like the best regardless of the ability to actually use it. Also, why isn’t this a forum thread?

Sorry for it being a bit unconventional. I tend to just run them on the fly.

Andrew

Also, welcome back Alexander. Farewell Trym (spoiler), and hello Mikael. (Spelling? Where’s Wave when I need it…)

Just wanted to thank you guys for your show. The roleplaying is fantastic and really enjoyable to listen to. It’s also provided loads of ideas for my next game.

Since this is turning into the podcast of bad movie quotes with some D&D sprinkled in maybe you guys can do an episode where every verbal exchange includes a movie quote. My wife and I talk in movie quotes and it’s gotten so bad that now our daughter is doing it. It’s great!

Thumbs up!

Glad to see you continuing on with the fight and we as listeners sure appreciate your efforts!

Btw I am glad to see the new site and look forward to interacting with you all on the new forums.