[HOE] Unity Opinions

[Lister2500@aol.com]

Just to get this out of the Lost Colony spoilers thread, and simultaneously chip in my two cents...

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I loved the Unity. I first got it and read it, not critically, but just to find out all the nifty stuff that was going to happen. Then I thought about it for a while, and started to notice some of the linearness (I just made up a word!) and a few other problems here and there. But I didn't buy the book expecting a perfect, ready-made adventure. There's no such thing, after all, so I went to work and made some adjustments here and there. I didn't read any of the "Canned Speeches" verbatim, I just made sure I knew the gist of them ahead of time and put my own spin on them. In the big battles, I went through several rounds of quick combat, then ended them with a few rounds of regular combat (for example, after the fight at the start, I had the PCs deal personally with the opponents who remained standing around them). I made sure all the characters got chances to interact with each other and the NPCs, so they weren't just running around, fighting, then running some more. Just small changes, here and there, like anyone would do to any published adventure.

The result? Fantastic. It took us four sessions to get through the whole thing, and every one was fun as hell. As far as my roleplaying experiences go, that was probably one of the best. There were huge titanic fights, the likes of which you almost never get to see in serious RPGs, because it'd just be too over the top and ridiculous. But it worked here, because the whole game had been building up to it. There were monumental occurances: important people died, and the entirety of the Wasted West changed. There were all kinds of chances for heroism and plenty of spots for interesting roleplaying (the engine room, interacting with Hellstromme, being in Denver, the utterly terrifying escape from the walkin' dead, etc.). And, most importantly, my players loved it.

Now then, of course there were some problems. It is a pretty straightforward adventure (fight a bunch, receive box, take box elsewhere). A few spots were insanely difficult, too, like the fight with the brain 'glom. To deal with the straightforwardness (another new word!), I just made sure to include plenty of details, and made sure the players got time to roleplay and not just fight. That's the sort of thing you have to do with any published adventure, no matter how good. And the difficulty... Well, twisted SOB that I am, I almost went and made things even harder. I mean, this is the climax, right? It's not supposed to be a cakewalk. But in the end I kept it pretty much as difficult as it was presented, and the result was three dead PCs out of eight (split between four players). Pretty good ratio, I'd say. 

And, of course, the all important and very subjective question: Did I enjoy it? Hell yeah. Problems? Yeah, I can see them now, just looking through the book and thinking about it. But while we were playing, damn did I have too much of a good time to care. :)

So, Shane, my thanks for such a kickass book. To those who enjoyed it, you know what I'm talking about. To those who didn't, maybe you should come over and let me run it for you. I assure you, you'll change your mind. :)

- Neal, The Un-endorsed PEG Fanboy

"Bow before me, roach, for I am your lord and master!"