A Land Far Away

The last few days have been very nostalgic for me, obviously, as I have not haunted ALFAs boards with any consistency for years now (around 4 years actually – I looked up my posts – my prior post before this month was in Sept. 2009, and I have not played or posted regularly since May, 2009.)

Dropping in and reading through the library was a blast. So much awesomeness I totally forgot about. And its been way cool to chat with everyone again.

I can safely say my best hardcore role-play experiences, both as a DM and as a Player, all came in ALFA. So why did I leave? Boredom mostly, and a change in interest – I lost interest in hardcore role-play. It is not that ALFA really changed, I did. Besides, I peaked early – my NWN1 experience ALFA was simply the most awesome role-playing experience ever. ALFA’s NWN2 was good, it just couldn’t match up (for me) to the awesome campaigns I took part in during NWN1 – this was a function of timing, luck, DMs, people/players, etc. I am sure others had vastly different experiences than I, and that many find playing in NW2 ALFA just as rewarding as the earlier version.

Anyway, I never had role-play experiences outside of ALFA as good as I did in ALFA. I consider that the true magic of ALFA. Corny, I know, but hey, what can I say, I am old so I get maudlin and nostalgic when I think back on the past (and forget all the crap that came with it!).

So, to that end, here is my “Best of ALFA” list, from my perspective. I certainly encourage others to post their own lists and thoughts because we all saw things differently, no doubt. I do this in part because of the recent drive to get old-timers to return, but mostly, I am doing this for me because I am very much enjoying reminiscing about the past (hey, I never tried to hide the fact that I am selfish).

Alright, my “Best of ALFA” and “Worst of ALFA” (note – worst doesn’t mean what you might think it means – here, “worst” means the hardest moments/incidents in the game) – I put up similar kudos and thank-yous in the past, but this one comes after 4 years of perspective gaining distance (and memory-losing time).

Best PC Death: Squamatus playing Babras during “the Night of Three Knives” drow raid on Daggerdale, which was the climactic event of my “drow in Daggerdale” campaign. For three in-game years, the drow had terrorized Daggerdale, sort of, by lying to them about a coming invasion of “Cormanthor Drow” (Vhaerun worshippers); the Cormanthor Drow didn’t exist of course – it was a ruse to keep the locals from attacking the Lolth-worshippers.

In the end the drow launched a raid on Daggerdale (you can find the whole story of the raid in the library as “The Night of Three Knives”). At the end, Squamatus’s dwarf PC, Babras, who had been antagonized for 3 in-game years by this half-field drow assassin, learned that the assassin had kidnapped his grand-daughter, Keriwen. So Babras went after her alone. He killed her apprentice, then fought her in single-combat along the shore of an underground river. During the fight it quickly became clear that the assassin was going to kill Barabas, but Squats sent me a tell, and I paused the fight so we could chat. Squats said he knew he was going to die since the assassin outleveled him, had poison, was an evil-bitch, etc. But, he wanted to try something crazy that the game-engine couldn’t do – he wanted to tackle the assassin and take her into the water. So, I broke out my rule-books and tried to learn the grapple rules (epic fail) and so I did the best I could to make up some rules. The rest we played out like pen-n-paper, and ultimately, Squats came through with the big die rolls when he needed them – Babras tackled the assassin and took her into the water as he was dying of poison, and by wrapping her up in his plate-armored death grip, he drowned her and saved his grand-daughter. It was, at least for us, a totally epic death. One of my all time favorite moments of DMing too. Many kudos to Squats for seeing that through.

Honorable Mention on PC Death: Burt’s drow rogue. He deserted my murder-team while we were in the Abyss (for good reason too) and when he returned, I sentenced him to death and the murder-team CvC’d him. Burt took it like a man and did not complain; he knew it was the drow way and he went with it – major props to Burt. You got to love the folk who play in ALFA.

Best Campaign in ALFA: Vendrin’s War of the Spider Queen campaign. Before any of my prior DMs (especially Muse) takes offense, this is not a judgment on comparative DMing skills – Vendrin was a great DM, but so was Muse and so were others. But … Vendrin ran the ultimate campaign for someone playing a drow priestess of Lolth, like me. The chance to actually participate, as a major player, in the whole “War of the Spider Queen” series of events, including the Silence of Lolth and the eventually selection of the Yorth’ae (Lolth’s chosen – my PC was NOT picked! LOL) was unbelievably AWESOME. Many thanks to everyone who took part, including all the members of my House Auvryndar, later House Valakasha, murder-team (Zak, Burt, others), and most especially to Vendrin – awesome, awesome campaign.

Worst Moment in ALFA: Killing Intharra, Zakharra’s PC. My PC, Sheyreiza, met Intharra when we were still lowbie-characters (like, 3rd level) in Skullport. She stayed by my side until we were the highest level drow in ALFA, at that time, around 9th or 10th level. It was like, 2 years of real time that we were together, like sisters. But, in-game, Lolth demanded that Sheyreiza sacrifice Intharra, or get sacrificed her self, so, I/Sheyreiza, had to CvC Zak/Intharra. And it sucked. It sucked sooooo bad. I am not complaining about the DMing – Vendrin was right on, and he DM’d it perfectly – it just sucks to kill the closest thing you have to a sister and a best-friend in-game, while at the same time taking away a character from one of your best friends knowing that will rip her heart out. Those are the kind of hardcore role-play moments that ALFA generates though, and I have found them nowhere else. It was terrible, and it was awesome, and to this day I feel bad for having to kill Zak’s PC. So, to Zak I send my love and my guilt – but no regrets. Lolth demands what Lolth demands, and that was the price of being evil that day. Too bad I have more of a conscience than Sheyreiza. C’est la role-play.

Best Frenemy: MStaley’s Hignar. Hignar met my PC, Shey, when she was in the Battlehammer clan dungeons. I didn’t see him much for a long time after that, but one day, he came recruiting for allies for the war against the Shadovar. Shey and he talked, and Shey had to make some sacrifices in-order to return to Menzoberranzan and recruit drow for the war – sacrifices like, say, her soul (to Lolth) and Intharra (again, to Lolth – though it was really so Shey could become a Yathtallar, a high-priestess). Anyway, with Shey firmly in Lolth’s grasp, her relationship with Hignar became … challenging … for both of them. There was a lot of maneuvering and verbal sparring – Higgy could have crushed Shey (he was at or nearing 20th level, while the highest Shey got was 14 I think, maybe 15 or 16 much later) … but Shey arranged for hostages (kids) and always had some sort of leverage to keep herself alive. It was a really dangerous game (at least for me – I posed little threat to Higgy, except morally) but I loved it. Seeing Higgy walking towards us down the road always caused the heart to beat a little faster – is this our time? Is he going to kill me today? How do I stop that? It was great – many thanks to MStaley and Hignar (and yes, I know, a lot of people have a lot of problems with MStaley/Higgy, but, setting aside the various accusations and such, he was great fun to role-play with).

Best In-Game Comrades in ALFA: I can’t give just one; this goes to three folks – Zakharra (Elvaelayl, Intharra, Faerylene) who stayed my friend despite the fact I CvC’d Intharra, Mr. Duncan, with whom I have had three incredibly fun on-again-off-again relationships Sheyreiza & Jain’n (tragic ending), Vellya & Vaya (less epic tragic ending, but still ended badly), Lotus & Xujja (no tragedy, just a whole lot of seriously twisted fun). While my PCs have had relationships with others, Mr. Duncan’s PCs and mine seemed doomed to forever come-together, burn as hot as the sun, and then explode in anger, jealousy, insecurity, etc. Since he has been happily married in real life for years, while I go from one relationship to another, I am guessing I am probably the root of the problem (of course, some of Duncan’s PCs were serious playas’ – Xujja in particular). Finally, wherever Mr. Duncan goes, there goes kiyoti – I especially remember Nylo, the stealthy scout of Lonely Wood. Silent, deadly awesomeness – so awesome, I had to make Nylo an NPC in my pen-n-paper D&D campaign. My thanks and much respect to Mr. Duncan, Zakharra, and kiyoti. There are more players to thank than I can count or remember, so my props to these three will have to stand-in for all the props I should be giving out.

Scariest Character in ALFA: Mashan Tain, Lafter’s rogue. I know that there have been more dangerous characters in later years (Hignar among them), and by the time I retired Sheyreiza after the War of the Spider Queen, she was pretty goddess-like herself, but in those early, formative days of ALFA, no one struck fear into the hearts of other players like Mashan. The guy was a ghost. If a door opened or closed unexpectedly, players would immediately freak out thinking it was Mashan entering or leaving … and as a DM, I can safely say it often WAS. That guy was everywhere, but no one ever saw him unless he wanted to be seen. I saw PCs bump into him in a crypt and not see him. And he was rich. Couple all that with Lafter’s easy-going-but-don’t-f*ck with me forum style, and there was no one that first year or two of ALFA more scary than Mashan.

Character I most wanted to hang-out with in-game: Muse's rogue, Shae. She was an apprentice of Mashan Tain's and I/Sheyreiza had a serious crush on her that I had no idea how to act on - so I didn't. But I loved that character. Thanks Muse.

Best Pillar of ALFA (early to middle years): Wynna. The white-lady and I had our battles, all played out in the forums – some openly, most not. We traded victories and defeats and we rarely saw things the same way, other than we both loved ALFA (though we often saw ALFA much differently). Despite all that, I think Wynna was the first real rock in the foundation of ALFA, and its most important one. She held this place together when it seemed like nothing else would, and she was almost always a polite, but firm, voice of reason amidst a cacophony of impolite and selfish screaming (often by me).

Best Pillar of ALFA (middle to current years): I don’t know – this is for y’all to say. Hialmar maybe, for his technical support of ALFA? Others? I don’t know who or what has been holding this place together, but kudos to you (or to y’all if its been a real team effort).

And last, but not least – in fact, the single most important “Best of” for me … the “Best Moment Role-Playing in ALFA Ever (for me)”: Sheyreiza confronting Eilistraee herself in the heart of Lonelywood. Muse was our DM, and when Eilistraee appeared, I thought … how can someone RP a GODDESS?!? But then .. the emotion took over. By the time Eilistraee worked her way around the circle, addressing each of the other drow and elves there one by one, and the goddess came to Shey, I was feeling the moment more than I ever had before or ever did after; I felt her pain, her grief, her anger, her loss – or maybe it was all mine coming out through her (more likely, I know – I do go to therapy) and when Shey came face to face with Eilistraee, it all came pouring out in a flood of emotion. And then Muse responded, and it was the most awesome, perfect response ever and it not only blew Shey’s mind, it blew mine. That night, that moment, was the best role-play experience I’ve ever had – it was beyond awesome – and I have to give major thanks to Muse, Mr. Duncan, kiyoti, Zak, and all the other elves of Lonelywood and the player of Amenia, but more than that, I have to say thank you to ALFA itself, because that moment, that campaign, could not have happened without ALFA existing. So, many thanks.

This has mostly been about me walking down memory lane of course, but I hope it inspires some of our old-timers to return, or shores-up the faith of ALFA’s die-hards. ALFA has its own magic, I’ve seen it and felt it. Thanks.

thanks, I think we could put this in the ALFA Chronicle for our NWN1 time period, mind if a copy the post over? There's currently a library project to chronicle all our past plots and things.

By all means, do as you wish. I've not heard of this "ALFA Chronicle" of which you speak! I must check this out. Of course, anything I have to contribute would be older than dirt, but alas, we must each do what we can.

Or not. Its a free country. More or less.

Mikayla wrote:
Scariest Character in ALFA: Mashan Tain, Lafter’s rogue. I know that there have been more dangerous characters in later years (Hignar among them), and by the time I retired Sheyreiza after the War of the Spider Queen, she was pretty goddess-like herself, but in those early, formative days of ALFA, no one struck fear into the hearts of other players like Mashan. The guy was a ghost. If a door opened or closed unexpectedly, players would immediately freak out thinking it was Mashan entering or leaving … and as a DM, I can safely say it often WAS. That guy was everywhere, but no one ever saw him unless he wanted to be seen. I saw PCs bump into him in a crypt and not see him. And he was rich. Couple all that with Lafter’s easy-going-but-don’t-f*ck with me forum style, and there was no one that first year or two of ALFA more scary than Mashan.

I learned everything I know about being a rogue from having Croaker apprentice under Mashan. When he was in a group he was always the scout and as the scout, you follow his orders when you are on the move. When he says stop, you stop. This was serious business. I remember once being tail-gun Charlie (making sure that Mandos(?) didn't drop an ambush on us from behind) for a group of 10 or more PCs when Mashan was taking the lead. I think Croaker was level 3 or 4 or so at the time. All of a sudden, Mashan pops out of stealth beside Croaker and says something like "That's it mate. We're leaving." Croaker was like, "What?" Mashan said, "They've rushed by me twice now, so fsck-em" We left. I wasn't about to say no. Mashan got Croaker out of the dungeon and Mashan went back inside. The group ran into a near disaster. And I am quite sure that Mashan was there to pick over the remains.

Nobody played a more capable rogue than Lafter, I certainly never came even close!

But I can safely say that Croaker may be the only PC to break Mashan's jaw with malicious intent and live to tell about it. But that is another story.

Thank you for taking us with you through those memories.

You have reminded me that ALFA was built by,and is still held together because of, people with great passion and talent. Passions collide and drama unfolds at times, but true adults can put their differences aside when it matters and hopefully find a common goal. "Don't fight in front of the kids, your gonna upset them and make them cry!" I should hope ALFA continues to attract mature gamers that can handle the tantrums that "Mom and Dad" throw from time to time. Doing all this on the broken back of a defunct game engine is nothing short of remarkable.

I would dearly love to see alot of the old players return and enjoy alfa again. If it has changed too much for that to happen then I am sorry for them and wish them luck with whatever they find to replace it.

p.s. hats off to playing out the consequences of being an evil PC. I get the idea sometimes that players choose evil as an alignment so they can be the super cool dude everyone fears in game without really paying for those choices like you had to do. Also love the fact that the victims (if another evil type can be called that) took it like adults. All in all sounds like a great group to RP with. I will say that I believe this spirit is still very much alive in the alot of the players and DMs I have been involved with for the past year.

Posts like this remind me why I fell in love with ALFA, but also why I get frustrated by ALFA2 at times... these days alfans say stuff like 'drow are nothing to be afraid of, just elves with more abilities' (as if surface elves using smart elven-y tactics aren't nasty...), rogues are considered jokes because they aren't uber at toe to toe game engine combat, everyone rushes ahead of the scout (largely because mobs are nearsighted in our current ruleset), and every other cvc or PC death is accompanied by whining and complaints to the DMs or PA. Oh, and Death magic like Slay Living and Finger of Death is, of course, Inconvenience Living and Finger of Unconsciousness...


ALFA2 is a softer, gentler, kinder place... which is great out of game, but ingame/IC, it's part of the reason why things sometimes feel a bit like limp, wilted lettuce and rather hamfisted compared to the past.

This post gave me nostalgia. It made me reach out to Squamatus and he said he might give this another try

Ithildur:

. . . and Death magic like Slay Living and Finger of Death is, of course, Inconvenience Living and Finger of Unconsciousness.

Your whole post was good, but that line really cracked me up.

Boom:

This post gave me nostalgia. It made me reach out to Squamatus and he said he might give this another try

Success! My work here is done!


Of course, that won't keep me from posting ...

boombrakh wrote:This post gave me nostalgia. It made me reach out to Squamatus and he said he might give this another try

Post this stuff in the Retention Forum, you big lug! I need to keep track of this stuff.

*channels Jerry Seinfeld about a certain latex salesman* And you want to be my Lead Admin!

...

Oh, and Ithildur ... I play scared. Really scared. My first months here scarred me for life. I don't trust anything to be easy or to go as planned!

Scariest Character in ALFA: Mashan Tain, Lafter’s rogue.

I only heard of Mashan as lore from the early days.... the ALFA days of unregulated levelling, permanent attribute increases, and absent wealth guidelines





When my PC Malcer Angalstrand was in full flight leaving the Sword Coast as the Shar faction imploded in a wave of CvC and traitors blew our cover, exposing the remaining survivors to a near universal urge to purge us fully.

Malcer stumbled across a dead very-high level bardess among whose possession included a bag of holding containing nearly a hundred custom keys.

Soon the OOC drama arose as PMs flew expressing concern that Malcer holding the keys might allow him to finally discover "The Mashan Horde". DMs were worried that Mashan's enormous wealth was scatterred through undocumented P-chests all across the live ALFA servers.

Malcer spent the next 6 RL months investigating every door and chest he stumbled across.



(( The only real bonus was the discovery of the hidden hideout of the Maskite guild beneath Waterdeep. Since they had once made an attempt on Malcer's life he entered, slaughtered every NPC in there, and robbed it of every copper )) Good memories.

Mikayla wrote: “Best Moment Role-Playing in ALFA Ever (for me)”: Sheyreiza confronting Eilistraee herself in the heart of Lonelywood. Muse was our DM, and when Eilistraee appeared, I thought … how can someone RP a GODDESS?!? But then .. the emotion took over. By the time Eilistraee worked her way around the circle, addressing each of the other drow and elves there one by one, and the goddess came to Shey, I was feeling the moment more than I ever had before or ever did after; I felt her pain, her grief, her anger, her loss – or maybe it was all mine coming out through her (more likely, I know – I do go to therapy) and when Shey came face to face with Eilistraee, it all came pouring out in a flood of emotion. And then Muse responded, and it was the most awesome, perfect response ever and it not only blew Shey’s mind, it blew mine. That night, that moment, was the best role-play experience I’ve ever had – it was beyond awesome – and I have to give major thanks to Muse, Mr. Duncan, kiyoti, Zak, and all the other elves of Lonelywood and the player of Amenia, but more than that, I have to say thank you to ALFA itself, because that moment, that campaign, could not have happened without ALFA existing. So, many thanks.

Muse is still the best DM I have encountered. Plenty of DMs run a good game and I am glad for them but no one took your characters background in to account for her game events like Muse. Her use of gods and mythic creatures was pretty outstanding too, really easy to overdo it but every brush with the spiritual left you feeling pretty awed. Rather than a bunch of strangers meeting up to follow a story someone had made up ahead of time, everyone involved in her game was really tied in to it what was happening because of who they were. Really made you feel like part of your world.


I hope Muse is feeling puffed up wherever she is right now.

Mikayla wrote: Scariest Character in ALFA: Mashan Tain, Lafter’s rogue.

Amen.

dergon darkhelm wrote:
I only heard of Mashan as lore from the early days.... the ALFA days of unregulated levelling, permanent attribute increases, and absent wealth guidelines

Ayn Rands Faerun



J

Duncan:

Ayn Rands Faerun

Ha! I think that means Lonelywood was ALFA's Galt's Gulch, Jain'n was John Galt, and Shey was Dagny Taggart. Or something like that. We could do our own version, "Admin Shrugged."

I remember Mashan one day IC that became as if a breath of wind between two PCs, never to be repeated again. Daramir was walking north, Mashan walking south, they both stopped, nothing happened for like, 2 minutes, beyond normal stance emoting and a few nods,... then they both just walked on passed each other again.

Not sure who didn't want to happen what might have, but it was exciting to stand there wondering what he would say, or what Dara would say... i guess the players were both waiting to respond... but no one said nothing, so they walked on.

After that first meeting there were other meetings and chats, but not alone, on a quiet eerie deserted road face to face. heh, was cool

I was glad it went that way, ...I didn't want to be the one who killed him.






((bahaha sigh - jeepers calm DOWN would ya?! I'm less of a CvC'er than Wombat, Daramir would have healed him back up to 1hp, relax!))

Plenty of inspiring memories in this thread as well.

http://www.alandfaraway.org/phpBB3/view ... a+memories

Early Waterdeep with Jarlen's crew is still the most fun I ever had as a player, I think.

DMing was fun too. Mostly when I was getting people to sell souls or freak out when the lights would turn out. I regret never getting to the part of the Shadovar plotline where Everlund rebelled and the Silver Marches descended into civil war but what are you gonna do.

E: Reading that other thread, I wish I had explored more as a player. I don't think I ever set foot on half the servers. The only ones I really spent a lot of time on were TSM, WD, DD, and SD.