+1 to OP, fully agree.

Speaking only to tone, not the mechanical issues, it is very super oppressive. There are only a handful of people encountered who I would want to quest for, or adventure with, although Wyll, the guy with a demon pact, seems like the nicest of the bunch. I don't feel any motivation to want to adventure with any of the party outside of necessity to get the tadpole removed, then I'd happily lone-wolf the game unless better party members come along. At present with what we've been given, I don't care about any of the premade adventurer's stories, I am using them to heal the tadpole then looking to bail if the option presents itself. I also am annoyed that apparently many random NPC's just can instantly sense you have an illithid tadpole in your head, I guess they got an advanced copy of the script for the game. These are not conducive to an engaging story, more like just oppressive, heavy handed, narration. The sense of freedom and choice vanishes when the game actively works against you doing other than what it wants you to (multiple skill checks to pass something the story doesn't want you to, but only one to fail it for example). This is the epitome of a crap DM, in that its railroading and its hand-waving to make the game do what it wants more than what the player wants.

Last edited by Dominemesis; 19/10/20 12:19 AM.