OOC Chatter

[Suzume Senseki]

I’ve seen lots of unhappiness about Strife. Are there others, like me, who like it? I found the balancing act and the compulsion of stress to be a lot of fun to rp AND to consider when rolling. Granted, it’s a bit more fun with real dice, but it still feels like winning when I take like 5 stride on a roll when I’m aaaaalmost at composure. It’s like pulling out that clutch 20 in a D and D game, or getting all 0s in Old5r.

I dunno, just my 2 cents.

Tbh while I'm not sure about some things I do like how it's been working so far as well!

[Asahina Bo]

I'm on team 'was unsure about Strife but is starting to like it' - but it takes a lot of getting used to, more tracking than normal, and I have the benefit of having accidentally created a character with a huge Composure pool. I can see how it could be very frustrating for those who accidentally did the opposite and are working off a pool of 4 Composure or such without fully understanding what that was going to mean.

[Seppun Yuzu]

Still on vacation weekend. Sorry for delays in posting. I'll try to update them at least twice a day.

[Shiba Raizo]

The fact that unmasking (the 5E default for all your strife going bye-bye) directly penalizes this particular game's mechanical success metric is probably another factor... if you've been crap at most events so far, losing even a single Courtship point is a pretty havy blow, basically wiping out a day's progress. So that causes issues- I think the system presumes we'd be unmasking more.

The IDEA of unmasking is cool- but it does run into a slight problem- this sytem directly links roleplaying choices to a codified mechanical effect.

I'll use mah boy Raizo here to elucidate...

Unmasking is meant to be unleashing the pent-up emotions, stifled truth, whatever, that a proper samurai keeps under an iron On.

But how many of us are actually playing with a really solid On?

Raizo's Bluntness adversity means that he already doesn't mince words like the game's baseline seems to think he would be, so what would unmasking look like for a guy who will, if asked, already say exactly what he means, and his little problem being brutally honest about how he's feeling?

I bring this up, because the way I perceive my character, unmasking is unlikely to take the form of, say, a destructive tantrum, or sobbing aloud, or anything like that. I'm honestly not sure WHAT he'd do that anyone would notice. Maybe giving Aimi a big public smooch if they were both in the same thread or something, but...

[Kitsu Moshumaru]

Speaking of, lose 2.

[Shiba Raizo]

Speaking of, lose 2.

HUZZAH!

[Suzume Senseki]

The fact that unmasking (the 5E default for all your strife going bye-bye) directly penalizes this particular game's mechanical success metric is probably another factor... if you've been crap at most events so far, losing even a single Courtship point is a pretty havy blow, basically wiping out a day's progress. So that causes issues- I think the system presumes we'd be unmasking more.

The IDEA of unmasking is cool- but it does run into a slight problem- this sytem directly links roleplaying choices to a codified mechanical effect.

I'll use mah boy Raizo here to elucidate...

Unmasking is meant to be unleashing the pent-up emotions, stifled truth, whatever, that a proper samurai keeps under an iron On.

But how many of us are actually playing with a really solid On?

Raizo's Bluntness adversity means that he already doesn't mince words like the game's baseline seems to think he would be, so what would unmasking look like for a guy who will, if asked, already say exactly what he means, and his little problem being brutally honest about how he's feeling?

I bring this up, because the way I perceive my character, unmasking is unlikely to take the form of, say, a destructive tantrum, or sobbing aloud, or anything like that. I'm honestly not sure WHAT he'd do that anyone would notice. Maybe giving Aimi a big public smooch if they were both in the same thread or something, but...

That's a good point and I think that's something we might try to keep in mind while building chars later, and also for the test of the game

One of the 20 questions specifically asks what your character does when they're nervous. That's something I've been trying to use as a guide for "I'm getting somewhat anxious" or "I'm eating up some strife" while still keeping things more or less under control. Then if he goes on to actually unmasking, it would become something more extreme, and hopefully noticeable.

Of course unmasking will also probably be noted in the thread, so that makes it easier to understand when something is actually beyond the usual.

That aside...I think it's fair to say even in tbt unmasking would usually have mechanical consequences, at least in terms of glory. So while you're right that unmasking here has more serious consequences I guess it's always meant to be a trade-off?

[Shiba Raizo]

One of the 20 questions specifically asks what your character does when they're nervous. That's something I've been trying to use as a guide for "I'm getting somewhat anxious" or "I'm eating up some strife" while still keeping things more or less under control. Then if he goes on to actually unmasking, it would become something more extreme, and hopefully noticeable.

A thousand-yard stare (Raizo's tic) is rather difficult to escalate from

[Agasha Inoshishi]

A thousand-yard stare (Raizo's tic) is rather difficult to escalate from

Honestly, for a guy like Raizo, I’d imagine he’d reveal that under the prickly there’s a guy that really cares about things.

[Shiba Raizo]

Yeah, but he's doing that anyhow