Before I begin, let me thank you for the criticism. It was done in an intelligent and respectful way, and I'm big on self-improvement. I crave criticism so I can get better and get that much closer to perfection. But enough self-aggrandising from me. Moving on!
OOC: As a force engine does has Zen been getting positive modifiers at all during the fight?
No, he has not. I've been purely going on the d20. The original system was going to give modifiers/penalties for classes, but I put that on the backburner for a pure d20 minimalist RTD. The point was for me to ease into a more mechanically inclined system. Zen SHOULD be getting modifiers for melee combat, in theory, for his class.
In general has anyone been getting positive modifiers by doing things related to their class? Are we miss interpreting our classes? I think AbstractTraitorHero has been doing shadowy things, but failed on a majority of them. I fine with difficult games, RNGs, and bad luck, but Never mind, I think I'm just complaining to about the RNG.
So far, the only positive modifiers have been for [20]s. Since we're not using d6, and we're using a more sandboxy system, the [20] is more of a reward-critical hybrid, where you get interesting bonuses (maybe a small group of followers who give you extra rolls per turn) outside of combat. I did this because you can't critically make a sandwich or drink tea. Plus, it gives more flavour to this RTD, in that a [20] will always be something positive. The drawback is that you can't modify a [20]. If you were given a +1 bonus and you land a [19], it's a [19], not [19] + [1]. I think that retains the "oh shit random fun!" factor.
Actually here are some suggestions: I think this should be less minimalist. Give more description of people, places, and things so you can flesh out the world more. For me, something about this game feels off. An original and unfamiliar setting (correct if I am wrong) without description makes it harder for one to easily envision. Also I think there should more partying. Maybe I'm being too hasty, but I actually hope Zen ends up in a cell next Kana so our characters can interact. The game is not bad, but I feel these things could improve the experience. I'll post/double post an IC hopefully soon.
You're talking full-on DnD shit? Like stats and all that? I thought people preferred freeform RPGs here. Might have misjudged. I do agree with you and admit that because the setting is so original, you're all going to have a hard time going from European to Asian/mystic/Egyptian/Polynesian. It's hardly ever been done. I'd go as far as saying never been done. Anyway, I'm open to (more) suggestions. How mechanical do you want it? I want to keep enough freedom in for y'all to enjoy it and not make it too linear.
I was hoping you'd all meet up in Terminus, but I didn't want to metagame and sidetrack you from whatever plans/arcs you wanted to explore with your characters. In any case, thanks for letting know how my GMing is. I'll be making sure to put some more quality in the updates and look forward to your input regarding mechanics. I have one in mind but it might be torture. It's a -x penalty for rolls where x = the number of people not in a party. In a four-player game, if you only have one other partier, you get a -2 roll penalty (since you lack 2 more people). Again, though about doing that before but scrapped it last minute.