The Blue Tower

kelvedon · May 2013

This is my first quest. Having never used the Foundry before, I found it was quite a learning curve. But an enjoyable one. I have plans for 3 more quests that follow on from this one and once all are complete I'll wrap them all up into a campaign. I'd appreciate it if you could review this quest and leave me the appropriate feedback. I'm more than happy to review others quests.

Quest Name: The Blue Tower
By: @kelvedon
Short Code: NW-DKHWQ6FU9
Mission Type: #Combat
Average Duration: 20 to 30 mins
Amount of Combat: 90% of encounters are combat, 10% are story
Starts at: Protector's Enclave
Mission Summary: A beautiful princess is rumored to be held captive in a tower not far away. As a brave adventurer, you should go to the tower, rescue the princess, and maybe even find some loot.

Note: Eligible for Daily Foundry bonus

Cheers
Kelv

angrysprite · May 2013

All quests are "Combat and story" - what is the ratio, percentage wise?

You say "Lots of combat" - but that could be a very bad thing.

Have you test-played it with a level 40 character? Just asking. I'll give your quest a go with my level 42 Cleric. But I'm not hopeful on being able to complete it based on your description of "lots of combat". Most "lots of combat" quests cannot be completed solo at high levels and I prefer solo play. it's gotten to the point I don't bother with Foundry quests at all past level 40.

Just FYI.

If I can't complete it - I'll post here.

kelvedon · May 2013

Thanks for your response Angrysprite. I've measured the encounter numbers and 90% of them are combat and only 10% are story. So I've amended the mission type to combat. I have play tested up to level 28, which is my highest character, so I'd say its probably tuned for sub 40 characters. I have ensured that the encounter placements are such that you will rarely pull 2 encounters at once. There are some wandering mobs, so if you are unlucky a wanderer may turn up in the middle of an encounter. Although you can usually see the wandering mobs a fair way off. The ratio of the combat encounter types is: Hard 16%, Standard: 42%, Easy: 42%.

There is 1 situation where you pull a hard and an easy encounter at the same time.
There are 2 situations where you pull a standard and an easy encounter at the same time.
There is an encounter (standard mob) that will spawn another encounter (standard mob) immediately on completing the first encounter. I have removed the 2nd encounter.

Cheers
Kelv

angrysprite · May 2013

It sounds like you have it figured out!

A lot of newcomers are are stacking standard and even hard+hard because they aren't aware that encounters scale *exponentially* at level. I'll go in and look for this this afternoon - if I can finish it, I'll give a fair review and rating, I'll also post here for you (and give your thread a bump).

FYI on my rating style: I always presume three stars (average quest similar to Cryptic Proper) - so anything more than three is bonus from me, anything less are concerns from me. I always say why I rated the way I do.

angrysprite · May 2013

Fish in a barrel type - though it was fun (and not an exploit by any means) - At the Tower District... my though at this point is "wait, there's more?" Perhaps you should split these into separate quests?

First note (writing this as a I play) - Starting point is "Any zone exit, such as Protector's Enclave Gate".

Speaking with "Amethyst" - the third option would work better in OOC text (Yellow, I think).
You mention to ignore the PE pip on the map - you should reposition it where you want it (this text is unnecessary I think)
Spelling: Nashar should be Nasher
Immersion - heading through the "back door" has transported me from Blacklake district into a sunny oasis. LOL

Top of the hill - you say to head east, but the path is pointing west.

Okay two Battle-tested Orcs and one Ogre? Barely made it out alive - but doable.

Okay in the mines now - this quest is going on too long now. Really - you need to split this up. It's becoming a grind. Okay this one is short and sweet. Whew.

Okay - here are some Foundry tips to consider:
When encounters are counted in the storyboard - they should all be there. Otherwise I don;t know which encounters to kill to reach that goal. I had to kill all of them just to be sure I got the ones that were required - so I suggest all in the storyboard of none (I can still kill them and get credit even if they are not requirements in the storyboard).

Set some props around the encounters to give them a reason for being there - tents, camp fires, empty treasure chests, anything.

Set the encounter to wander, that way they won;t be just "standing there with their fingers up their derriere" LOL

Split this thing up a little - too many maps... stop after Blacklake, start second part at Tower District. That way each is a nice little 30-minute jaunt.

Good job, by the way, on encounter choices and spacing - thank you for not stacking (except for the Ogre and Orcs - but well done) - that felt like the main end-battle (*then I transferred into the mines map - uh...)

It played well on a level 41 Cleric so balancing is excellent. I did suck a few pots, but nothing too drastic. It's an excellent first go. Just fill it out a little in scenery and flesh out the story a little more (give me motivation to help these people) and remove some of the storyboard stuff that isn;t necessary.

I foresee awesome stuff coming from you once you get a good handle on how and what you can really do with the Foundry!

kelvedon · May 2013

Hey Angrysprite, I just checked here for your feedback. Your feedback doesn't relate to my quest, it must relate to someone else's that you reviewed.

By the way, I have done a fair bit more work on this quest and would appreciate you reviewing it.

Thanks
Kelv

The Blue Tower

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