Yesterday was our latest RPG session, continuing our use of Fantasy Grounds for a virtual tabletop. Of note, this was the second session after switching back to Fantasy Grounds Classic on Friday (following several performance issues with Unity). Fortunately, the software was much more stable, and at least from my view, more responsive.
Unfortunately, the session itself was rather rough – though primarily a factor of my own lack of preparation, and the repetitive nature of the storyline. Most of the current story is around the group traveling in a sandbox-format exploration, seeking out and eliminating magic dragon pillars. As each pillar is removed, the ultimate target (the Fortress of Sorrow) becomes weaker, and able to be assaulted. However, given the dragon theme of the campaign, there are no less than 8 towers to eliminate, which became rather trivial after the first several. The group rather quickly identified that a Dispel Magic would shut down the pillar, and the defined guardians have not been much match for the group.
Given the sandbox nature, it makes it challenging to prepare and be aware of the details of each of the encounters – it is difficult to predict if the group will go left or right – and most of the scenes, although detailed, have challenges in interpretation. As a result, I found myself floundering over the information, disrupting the story flow, and building frustration at least in my own mind.
Various technical challenges also plagued the session – we continue to struggle with audio issues from several sources, and the remote nature is leading to some of the group to operate less as a coordinated team. The first is purely technical, and will eventually sort out, the second is more of a social aspect.
