I asked my BW hardcore player if TB was scratching the itch or if he was in the uncanny valley. He laughed and said it was the latter, although he liked it fine.

The mechanics: yah for sure. Everyone at the table thus far has a good head for them. The BW players have some bad habits (misunderstanding what a TB Instinct is, how help works, etc.) but not bad at all. But Torchbearer is a fundamentally high-handling-time game. That’s just how it is. So a big table tends to magnify that, like, a lot. One player started working out their conflict scripts to maximize skill and ability advancement, for example. That’s high level play but it doesn’t come for free.

That’s a good insight into Turns. Our expedition leader is also one of our quieter players and he hasn’t really invoked his privileges much at the table. Everyone’s kind of running around doing what they want, which is turn-expensive but again doesn’t matter so much because they’re camping a lot and generating a lot of checks along the way.

Light was kind of a hassle but also kind of fun. It was an ever-present problem, which is a good thing. It feels much grindier and difficult than when they first showed up, fully lit and well rested.