Redfeather Dreaming, oh my! (minor general comments, not really spoilers)

[PhilHibbs]

I've played through Redfeather Dreaming, the solo adventure for ducks, twice now. It's a lot of fun, very well put together, highly recommended.

I created two characters, neither of which were heavily combat-focused, and my advice is: don't do that! If you don't have decent combat skills and damage, and at least moderately good armour, it's going to be a short journey! Still worth doing, so don't let me put you off, but if you want to enjoy all the content then you will need to run through it several times.

I've now created an absolute combat monster character - they even have a damage bonus!

Fortunately the duck character in my campaign, who I will run it for as a one-on-one, is a Humakti and so can look after herself in a fight so she should do okay.

[PhilHibbs]

There's one place (310) that says " ADD the keyword MOON to your tally." Does that mean the same as " Add one to your tally for the keyword MOON"?

If you "note down the current fragment number" and go to an encounter, then return to the fragment, does that mean to repeat it from the start? I assume so but that confused me for a while.

Edited May 14 by PhilHibbs

[PhilHibbs]

Big Bill did really well in the adventure, so if you want to play through it once and get the most out of it, take a combat monster in. The other approach, as I said, is to just play through it multiple times, either with the same character or with clones or variants to explore more possibilities.

Another process question - what is the long footprint path for on the tracker? Are you supposed to write the fragment numbers on it, so that you can avoid making multiple identical choices?

Edited May 15 by PhilHibbs

[BakerDE]

On 5/14/2024 at 5:19 PM, PhilHibbs said:

It's a lot of fun, very well put together, highly recommended

Why thank you very much, it is deeply appreciated.

On 5/14/2024 at 5:19 PM, PhilHibbs said:

and my advice is: don't do that!

It is true. So some insights and design background. One of the things that we were trying to bring out is the sheer awfulness of the Upland Marsh there is just so much that can kill you (Bit like Australia only danker) and it is no place to be on your own. Another point was to try and play off the dichotomy of the ducks - let's face it weak and a penchant for being cowardly but belligerent and stubborn at the same time. We hope we got a good balance between narrative and action and there is always the option to simply run away (but where's the fun in that?). Curiosity however will always triumph and it's about the risk vs reward (I'm not sure if that is aimed at the player or the character :}). There are things in RD that would make a RLP moisten their loincloth in the same situation but as Jeff Richard and others have said these things exist in the world and RQ has always held that attraction for me at least. Hopefully, the narrative is strong enough with humour, pathos, a little bit of frustration and a sense of impending doom to give an insight into an imagined psychology of the Durulz which we have presented in DuckPack that will keep folks wanting to try the adventure over again (and everyone who has given feedback has said it is replayable) try different approached (There is always another way) or different characters (and violence is always an option).

 

[BakerDE]

On 5/14/2024 at 6:40 PM, PhilHibbs said:

There's one place (310) that says " ADD the keyword MOON to your tally." Does that mean the same as " Add one to your tally for the keyword MOON"?

Yes - sorry if it was unclear (it's not a typeo it's an unclear command). You should add one to the tally for the Keyword MOON.

On 5/14/2024 at 6:40 PM, PhilHibbs said:

If you "note down the current fragment number" and go to an encounter, then return to the fragment, does that mean to repeat it from the start? I assume so but that confused me for a while.

Yes - so the idea was you are in location A and "Something lumbers out of the fog". You resolve the encounter but you are still at location A. You haven't moved to a different location (fragment) so you don't lose a bead but you are still stuck so make an Upland Marsh Lore roll again (or not if you prefer YGMV :} and then again to see where you might end up. And yes you might get another encounter in the same location.

Does that help?

[BakerDE]

On 5/15/2024 at 1:36 PM, PhilHibbs said:

Another process question - what is the long footprint path for on the tracker? Are you supposed to write the fragment numbers on it, so that you can avoid making multiple identical choices?

Yep, the trackpath was put in for *exactly* that reason (if you wanted to). One thing we wanted to avoid was people getting stuck in an endless loop because of die rolls. The tracker can help the player break that possibility (especially if you succeed in an Upland Marsh lore roll and just want to know where you have been - I mean the marsh is pretty monotonous but you are a duck and once you get your bearings you're going to go "Oh haaaayy wait a Gata damn minute I know this place"). Also one of the things I remembered about solo adventures was the number of times I lost my place or the piece of paper I was keeping notes on so it just made sense to include it in the tracker sheet (okay I'm old and forgetful and easily distracted)

On 5/15/2024 at 1:36 PM, PhilHibbs said:

The other approach, as I said, is to just play through it multiple times, either with the same character or with clones or variants to explore more possibilities.

Well, that is kinda what we hoped people would do - it is a 326-node adventure with a time mechanic and multiple outcomes. What we hoped to achieve was a sandbox feel more than a run on rails (Again one of the things I disliked about the old choose your own adventure games was you always ended up facing off the dragon/demon/litch king whatever). What we tried to do was present the Upland Marsh as a character in its own right, exploring its history, embellishing the cannon and sometimes making stuff up out of whole cloth for a character to explore. That also gives the player to try out a duck and explore its strengths and weaknesses and in the frame of the adventure can serve as a session 0 to build up confidence in role-playing a duck character that is more than comic relief. 

Maybe that's a bit over the top (It's true but let that pass) but the other consideration was replayability, a 326-node solo quest is no small undertaking and we wanted people to get as much out of it as we put into it. Why? Because we are geeks and love Glorantha and we hope that the people who buy our modest offerings find them fun, useful, play them and just enjoy them :} If we succeed in that then we have made the world a little better and that's all anyone can really ask for.