Tassu Q&A

[Tassu]

Ask anything! Well, almost anything!

[Hotaru Tsuyo]

*hugs* First the notaquestion: Thanks for the fantastic game and worldbuilding! Events remain flavorful and a lot of fun, and I enjoyed poking around the edges.

For those on the periphery, is there a snyopsis of the many plots running around? (or heck, I guess I could open this up to the crowd in OOC chat).

Favorite NPC? Yours or others
Favorite event?
Is Ayame going to forget about her carved up space rock by this time next year?

[Tassu]

*hugs* First the notaquestion: Thanks for the fantastic game and worldbuilding! Events remain flavorful and a lot of fun, and I enjoyed poking around the edges.

You are both most welcome and too kind. ^^

For those on the periphery, is there a snyopsis of the many plots running around? (or heck, I guess I could open this up to the crowd in OOC chat).

I can only talk about my plots.

Bayushi Mineichi had a possessed ancestral sword. The gaki within had some control over him - though eventually bursting free and slaying his wife at dojo as they were sparring. The Scorpion priests lied to him, explaining that it had been a sudden portal or another sort of invasion - and gave him a fake sword so he wouldn't know his actual ancestral sword was running around in Desolation. This gaki was 'Massacre'. Massacre became conscious and started killing people bit before the game and started maiming people near Desolation - 'he' was the 'Beast of Kinuran' Gebu song about. While players slew him, part of his soul remained in Mineichi - and remain still.

Meanwhile even before the game Mineichi was known to lost temper with the lawless, putting heimin and criminals to sword without mercy. This is why he was called 'Crimson Clad' - 'Drenched in Blood of Others' was bit too taboo.

Cue bit before this game rest of the four ancestral evils pushed their way into Desolation in hopes of recovering their 'brother'. This would be Darkness (PC's fought on D3) as well as Rout and Madness (PC's fought on D11). Yakumo was 'tainted' by her proximity to Massacre's spirits and her own Disadvantages - allowing Rout and Madness reach out to her. With some help from a temple, she, Koyuki and Seika defeated the gaki, banishing them back into gaki-do for decades and ensuring they could not retrieve Massacre's fragment from Mineichi.

Darkness remains at loose in the city, not particularly drawn to human emotions and thus a little bit weaker than the other three.

Favorite NPC? Yours or others

'Laaaaaame'

Favorite event?

Sole Survivor Battle Royale Tournament

Is Ayame going to forget about her carved up space rock by this time next year?

Yes. Likely before that. Her collection has 20.000+ pieces. She can hardly remember what she bought last week.

[Hato]

Thanks for the epic game Tassu, hope to see your world again in two years

Mechanics wise what was amusing to me was that at first I was like "Well this is a Winter Court, but no negotiation game) Then it dawned on me you'd reformulated it, where we were bartering for the clans mysterious amount of koku with info and by extension heists.

It was definitely a lot kinder than previous Winter Court games of "You must succeed or horrible things will befall your clan!" You could really choose the level of stress you wanted in your life. Want a totally chill game? Play clan samurai, and partake in a bunch of fun low-stake events. (And wow those were well designed.) Want higher risks? Go ronin. Want really high risk? Go play in Desolation. It really felt like it was a game for everyone.

I'm sure you'll need some time to mull over the lessons learned, but I'm curious if there are any mechanics that you're really proud of in particular, that you think people should adopt into their games? Conversely, anything mechanically you'd like to mail yourself in the past telling them to change it before the game starts?

Thanks again!

[Tassu]

Thanks for the epic game Tassu, hope to see your world again in two years

All the people, too kind!

It was definitely a lot kinder than previous Winter Court games of "You must succeed or horrible things will befall your clan!" You could really choose the level of stress you wanted in your life. Want a totally chill game? Play clan samurai, and partake in a bunch of fun low-stake events. (And wow those were well designed.) Want higher risks? Go ronin. Want really high risk? Go play in Desolation. It really felt like it was a game for everyone.

Sorta planned. With the pandemic still going on, I thought no-one wanted doom and gloom.

I'm sure you'll need some time to mull over the lessons learned, but I'm curious if there are any mechanics that you're really proud of in particular, that you think people should adopt into their games? Conversely, anything mechanically you'd like to mail yourself in the past telling them to change it before the game starts?

I like how the Heists and Information made ronin essential part of the game and gave players meaningful reason to interact with them. In most games, ronin are oddities and you have no reason to talk to them, besides being IC and OOC kind. This arrangement allowed the thematic 'I don't really like you buuuuut' approach. I am not sure if this is universally good solution.

Also each clan had one of these in their clan-PF. Which meant that instead of us having to hunt down all meta-game points and score events, players collated all meta-game information into single place, where it was easy for us to toss it into excel file in google docs. That players had a right to read, so they could ensure we had recorded everything correctly. This saved so much time! If and if you have faction metapoints in your game, I recommend this lazy-ass approach.



As for things I'd change...

Well, I'd tell myself that while the Information Ratio plan was likely solid, some factions started with too high amounts of Information. 15 should probably have been 13, 20 should have been 15 and so forth - to make the race a bit closer.

[Kitsu Kanna]

First, thanks for game and everything.

Second, the question on the background of my mind for some time now is "What happened to/at Winter Court?". Might be the bias of the limited number of threads I interacted with of course, but I never really felt like the Emperor and supposedly a ton of other important people were on planet. There were a lot of parties of course, but in a gigantic city with a high concentration of rich dilettantes, this is likely true of every week of the year?

Was it more designed from the start as a background hook more than something the game would be about?

[Tassu]

Second, the question on the background of my mind for some time now is "What happened to/at Winter Court?". Might be the bias of the limited number of threads I interacted with of course, but I never really felt like the Emperor and supposedly a ton of other important people were on planet. There were a lot of parties of course, but in a gigantic city with a high concentration of rich dilettantes, this is likely true of every week of the year?

Emperor was not at attendance. It was never 'The Winter Court'. But it is true - most actual diplomats present were 'important people' and 'not on the screen'. The gist was that the efforts of PCs that fought the ignoble and messy war in the shadows stands as proxy to the doings and goings of the 'important people'. This was very much by design.

Having players play super important people - or having them interact with them adds gravity to a game. Yet with gravity comes stress. I wanted players to not feel bad if they were not doing well for metagame. Here a character is just a cog in the machine and lack of success is not strictly because what that character does in-universe. Less stress, less anxiety - fewer upset players.

[Matsu Hide]

Thank you Tassu for being really dedicated and hard-working. You kept going even when you had COVID. I appreciate your work on the game and enjoyed watching the gaki fight from afar.

[Kuni Koyuki]

Tassu, you are amazing and wonderful. You also put on one hell of an amazing show. Thank you so much for running the game!

If you could have had more time for one more NPC interaction, who and what would it have been? Little more guiding on that, is there one still lingering in your mind as a "That would have been neat to do, if only."

[Dai]

Don't think I have any questions but thank you so much for the game. It was amazing especially considering what you (and many of us) were going through. Great job!

[Tassu]

Thank you Tassu for being really dedicated and hard-working. You kept going even when you had COVID. I appreciate your work on the game and enjoyed watching the gaki fight from afar.

Well, I am glad that my trauma and anxieties have some productive outcomes. You too, are most welcome.

Also, thankfully my covid was mild - even if mild cough kept bugging me for few week afterwards.

Tassu, you are amazing and wonderful. You also put on one hell of an amazing show. Thank you so much for running the game!

If you could have had more time for one more NPC interaction, who and what would it have been? Little more guiding on that, is there one still lingering in your mind as a "That would have been neat to do, if only."

You, on the other hand, are far too nice.

Yogo Sadae was supposed to be the man-slut - his role stolen by a somber Mineichi. Alas, I did not have spoons to play him as he was there to set the mood rather than carry the plot.

Don't think I have any questions but thank you so much for the game. It was amazing especially considering what you (and many of us) were going through. Great job!

Thank you!

[Boogiepop]

Hello! Hi! I just wanted to say that you ran a great game (my stuff completely aside)! Thank you for doing what you do to make Banner possible!

[Tassu]

Hello! Hi! I just wanted to say that you ran a great game (my stuff completely aside)! Thank you for doing what you do to make Banner possible!

No, you make Banner possible! Thim too. Without you two, this game would have not happened.

[Hotaru Sakura]

The event pacing was out of this world this game imo.

I really appreciated the info event parties peppered with fun sidegames.

I think it really elped break up tension and stuff.

Sorry for dropping the thread with Mineichi and Seika, it was just a bit stressful to properly asnwer as a timied notquiteroninanymore to the Lord Magistrate in pitch black while eating food ><

[Utaku Yesugen]

I have no questions. Only wanted to convey my appreciation for keeping up a wonderful series. It's not easy and I admire the dedication.

[Susumu Yakumo]

Thank you so much for a great game! I wasn't at my usual level this time around, but I had a good time when I was around. Always a joy and a pleasure.

I think you guys managed to pull off a competitive faction-game without any of the feelbads that often come with it. <3


Was Yakumo the only option for Mineichi's storyline (she seemed to have the background and Disadvantages to get dragged into it), or were there others that met different points of interest for that Gaki-storyline?

[Tassu]

The event pacing was out of this world this game imo.

I really appreciated the info event parties peppered with fun sidegames.

I think it really elped break up tension and stuff.

Sorry for dropping the thread with Mineichi and Seika, it was just a bit stressful to properly asnwer as a timied notquiteroninanymore to the Lord Magistrate in pitch black while eating food ><

You are welcome and no worries. ^^ The pacing was very much deliberate and while not perfect, I think it worked out pretty well.

I have no questions. Only wanted to convey my appreciation for keeping up a wonderful series. It's not easy and I admire the dedication.

My trauma has some advantages.

Thank you so much for a great game! I wasn't at my usual level this time around, but I had a good time when I was around. Always a joy and a pleasure.

What it is with these people, everyone all too kind. It was just a game long in making. It's easy to make it look good and effortless when you spend far too long building it.

I think you guys managed to pull off a competitive faction-game without any of the feelbads that often come with it. <3

I was curious if it could be done. Turns out it's not impossible.

Was Yakumo the only option for Mineichi's storyline (she seemed to have the background and Disadvantages to get dragged into it), or were there others that met different points of interest for that Gaki-storyline?

There were multiple avenues to get that particular plot going! From Mineichi wandering the streets drenched in blood to Mineichi attacking players in dojo (and brutalizing them with bokken).

[Usagi Rei]

Thank you again for running such a terrific series. Banner is always a joy to play, and this time was no exception.

Errr... is Mineichi okay now? As I read it, he's still got the bad soul inside him. Is this going to cause problems, or is it dormant?

[Tassu]

Thank you again for running such a terrific series. Banner is always a joy to play, and this time was no exception.

Pandemic of overtly kind words!

Errr... is Mineichi okay now? As I read it, he's still got the bad soul inside him. Is this going to cause problems, or is it dormant?

Well, yes and no. He has fragment of gaki in him. But the gaki able to pull the fragment out are as dead as gaki can ever be.

[Hotaru Sakura]

Which was your favorite Tassu event?