Adventures in Rokugan (ongoing)

 So, yeah, I'm terrible at keeping up with between-session conversations and all the piles of possible channels/servers in Discord - especially when work gives me some time to think, but not Discord access. I believe a question was posed about thoughts on the state and future of the Adventures in Rokugan game, though, so here goes...

In general, I'm enjoying the time and look forward to it more than feel burdened by it. The start time is a little earlier than ideal, but I don't mind making it work on Saturdays. So, net positive overall.

I'm a touch "meh" on the mechanics of AiR. I like the familiarity of D&D, but the Rokugan-specific stuff doesn't feel very rewarding. Granted, this may just be my pick of a shadow acolyte, but I feel like I'm getting more functional mileage out of the sharpshooter feat than all of the special class abilities and level-ups haven't been particularly exciting. I've been tempted to multi-class into something else to see if something there feels better, but that feels a little counter to design. I also suspect AiR lacks some L5R depth for those more familiar with that system, but that really isn't me, so not sure there.

If I pin down my greatest complaint with the game, that would be engagement. Some of this is the nature of online, text games. Still, I feel like some players, and in recent months our GM, are regularly distracted elsewhere and/or are too tired/worn to focus on the game. From others' perspectives, I may well be guilty of this too - that's always a concern for me in these games as I have a tendency to be on the quiet side unless prompted. I struggle with that constantly, so I can't really hold it against others if they do the same, but it still feels to me like things lag in this area. Not sure there's a silver-bullet fix for that and it's possible my mind may be blowing it out of purportion.

The plot thus far has been reasonably engaging. We've worked through defeating some supernatural stuff, securing a cursed artifact, and now retaking a base of operations. There seems some definite building up in reforming the Jade Magistrates as an active office/power. I've been a little in-the-moment to really see that, but I like it. It feels a bit like forming up Dragon Age's Inquisition or any number of other games where the player(s) build up a power base. I suppose the next logical extension is to take petitions and run missions from that new stronghold.

What's next from a character point of view? Okay, time to admit great personal failing: I don't know. I'm sort of winging it (pun?) with Kure. I didn't have a very strong concept starting out.

From a mechanical perspective, I don't see much to really plan for. She's a shadowy archer and will continue to be. I don't see anything as far as gear or abilities that is going to change or amplify that much. The nature of those shadow abilities is kinda of swingy too, being light-level dependent. And there's also not much else to be done rules-wise to emphasize the Kitsuki investigator aspect. I mean, okay, Investigation is trained and... what else can you do? There may be a feat that could add a couple points on rolls, but that's about it.

Mechanics aside, I can try to play up that investigator aspect a bit more when circumstances allow. Beyond that, I'm not real sure what to do or where to go with the character. Try to play up some bird-cat or bird-rat dynamics more? Early attempts at flirty teasing didn't go anywhere (which is fine). I think I'd like to see more intra-party connections build up in some fashion, but that's not to say the group hasn't seemed to bond well as trusted companions.

And... hmm... not sure what else to say. That's what comes to mind at present.