I had such a good evening deciding which skills of Breaker and Render to take - did I want more enemy types or more powers? How do I foreshadow the skills they’re going to take later in the game? Some thinking about the arc for the Black Oak Knights - they’re cool enough to deserve an arc. Which head is Shreya bringing back?
I made a bridge map, roll20 is all prepped. Map is to reduce our mental load while we all learn the new system rather than for the grid. No need for a grid. Two big clocks - “Blow the Bridge” and “Incoming”.
I introduced the Hexed, the Shadow Witches (conceptually my fav enemy, I can’t wait to do a The Thing episode), the Gaunt, Hounds, Transformed, Burnt, and the Black Oak Knights - but all very briefly. A Burned tree in the middle distance, the Shadow Witch was trying to get some Hexed across the bridge before it blew up, so they took out the Gaunt to help their cover, Zenya sniped from the tollhouse and the Hounds showed up at the last minute. Then Shreya’s back at camp scene with Chimera. I think I hit a good balance of lore-dump, teaching them mechanisms (most of them are brand new to FitD) and having a good time.
They took to Resists like ducks to water (nu’uhing me all night long!), and then rolled amazingly on them, so they got out practically unscathed. Gonna have to make Zenya scarier next time. We used the Band of Blades Play Aid Notecard pack (Wild Hunt Studios) and I think that was a real help, being able to see their options laid out like that. Everyone loves Wreck.
I LOVE the Evil Hat roll20 sheets package. Such a huge help. But I don’t think we’re gonna fit a full cycle into an evening after we all work a full day and get into all the deep RP my group are going to enjoy. Gonna have to figure out how to split the cycle so it ends on “I go do the minimal prep for missions”.
3 of the 5 specialists are Zemyati, so I think we’ll be taking some deep dives into the Black Oak Knights, really looking forward to that.