Re: OOC, Deux
I would love to continue. I don't want to lose the characters we have, unless the players decide they simply cannot keep playing them (totally understood, Reanna and Sari!).
I don't mind a little railroading, either. :)
Stories change. They grow, they evolve. Perhaps one set of stories for this group is finished - the one you talk about above, Hawk. That group has done some incredible things, and people have reached amazing heights. There have been crescendos in their personal stories. That's not to say that everyone needs to change, but that the old characters now have space for new stories. :) Or to move off, if their players can't play that specific character any more.
No shame there at all! :D
But the older characters, including Jancus who did come in before any of the new people, they form a solid core. Even if Sari decides to change characters and Reanna can't find the time/energy due to (far more important) real life needs, that leaves Elec (partly NPC'ed, but still played wonderfully by the GM, and that's a treat to see), Eladrin, Sukuden, Bron-Bron, and Jancus. It does make Elec's situation a bit tricky, given the really impressive love story he shared with Sari, mind, but nothing is impossible to work through.
I love the cast - every one of them. That kobold is still there, looking for a cause. Those two rogues have grown into new positions and responsibilities, and yet find themselves at odds sometimes with that growth. The paladin has found love and a new purpose. All of these things, I think, show the growth of the heroes through their journey, and continues that story you began soooo long ago.
I think you're still doing it justice now. :) The stakes may have changed, the characters have become something deeper. But still. Might it be a matter of grasping that idea, realizing that the characters have grown and changed, but still are the same in their cores? And tying that together with the current plot (hooray for gross generalizations, but I'm not the plot-writer so I'm unsure of specifics :)?
As for the leaving characters, assuming they do go (and will be terribly missed!)?
Perhaps the Drow has found her calling and her place. And the bard has enough to document, and needs to bring it to the world. Or take a rest, because that's sometimes necessary as well.
Thoughts? Am I just rambling?
Another important question - are we still having <I>fun</i? And is the GM still having fun (rather critical, that!)?
I am! :D
Maybe we need to get smashed back to nothing, to lose all our fancy gear and stuff, and have to work our way - *ducks hail of thrown stones*
^_^