by Edge on Fri Jun 01, 2007 4:41 pm
Should Zee All Knowing Peacock Graduate?
Review: Yes. This student deserves to graduate with flying colors. Not only does he have the natural grace to continue on to RPGing, but it won’t be long till he’ll be at the top of the RPGing lists. I don’t say that to be nice, I’m saying it to be serious.
Peacock, there are Four lessons I teach to my students; The Five Senses, Communication, and Power. The first and final lesson being the Promise; and you’ve kept to it though you weren’t one of my students.
Praise: You’ve got a great handle on your character and what he’s feeling. You paint his struggles and his troubles with a deft hand, giving your character a sense of an innocent while letting him be intelligent. Also you’re not afraid to see the world around your character and give some internal clues as to what he’s feeling. Also you know how to break down your flashbacks- that's important too many people used blocks of info dumping to cover for their flashbacks.
In the beginning I saw more fluff, but you narrowed it down as you went.
Critical: Being a magic user as my favored character, I know this also means having limits on your magic. I didn’t see the draining of energy or a cost. Remember even if it’s minor magic, there has to be a cost in some way. At least hint at the cost of your magic loss by blood, energy, or some kind of headache. For other characters in books may not have this kind of restriction, but as an RPGer we have to keep in mind of the balances of power.
Also I would like to have seen more interaction with the NPCs. Even though this RPG wasn’t set up for much NPC interaction, as you are in the city for some part of it, I would have liked to see some beggars, or kids playing. Some kind of proof that this city was alive. Even if your character cannot interact directly, he can watch and maybe catch some hint of the cultural values. Maybe even some questionable actions going on in the shadows.
Grade: 96
Teacher Review
Also apart of this should be the teacher review. Looking over how Azmodai handled his student, I say he did a fair job of it. Yes it was a little bumpy for going on a trip in the middle of it. But over all I can’t find much to complain about other then this.
I believe the student should have been more exposed to more situations to interact with. However as this is the Academy’s first shot, it’s not expected to be perfect, nor should be. We learn from our mistakes.
Suggestions: I half wonder if there should be a formula to look at here. Each tutor no doubt has a different starting point, a different time. It would be interesting to enter to talk to one another as to setting up one world to play in. Though before the protests come flying in, I’ll take the time to post this idea separately.
I like that Azmodai keep the RPG fairly consistent with the cityscape, but it felt like it was all in one place too much, too much darkness, maybe not enough scene switching.
Teacher Grade: 94