Fred Jones: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/qTDMJygWccW
Daphne Blake: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/ha72vT3nR8vn
Velma Dinkley: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/tnFR7Vi5dLf
Norville “Shaggy” Rogers: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/qErCykWwgsySM
Scooby-Doo: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/PjPBSe3LeEy
Scrappy-Doo: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/BXTLufQcnVRj

Victoria Anderson: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/BXYea9AcEQ2yv
Moe I. Dewopp: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/H9YevBE67qrc
Dana Young: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/dLJEhgLfTfZu
Deianira Lopez: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/dt32r5vpAa7
Bufferton Bumberley: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/iHFFnpRYv9dSr
Edward Edgar Edwards: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/Y8SveiSarTEuh
Lorelei Lopez: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/h9XbG4Ct3YkQ
Blaze Hoffman: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/r5xRVZfKteR
Dario Jumpman: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/vnjaTiV2Nc2
Gabby the Funny Clown: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/kc86VKjrUQFDw
Elisa Mays: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/CddZ7jBAqwRU

Mystery Inc.: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/hPGLBP2EmXbZ

Monster Buddies (Vicky and Psycho): https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/qsDtiHdnmtKCj
Monster Pals (Deianira and Gabby): https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/tCnVpTTQHbPK
Monster Comrades (Gabby and Psycho): https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/re2yN3Be28wY

The Retro 60s Diner on the Edge of Town: https://www.quicktopic.com/53/H/Qxz6vcuRhjAy

—A lot of people talked about a smaller cast size, and I think that’s a good idea. This one was mostly so large because of the canon characters, and because I didn’t want to leave anyone out. If all of the cast was original that wouldn’t be a problem. I also think having an original Mystery Gang might be fun.

While it would stink to limit sign-ups for this kinda game, if they were made to happen more frequently (which a smaller cast would allow for) then everyone would get the chance to play eventually.

—The cards definitely need some work. I wanted the main five cards to be more or less on the same level of usefulness, but everyone was always trying to get Raise Morale or Search for Clues, and Be the Bait was awful. It might be better to make new cards than try to fix these five honestly.

The abilities were similar in how some were way worse based on which card was used for them, but even the good ones were pretty lame. One idea that came up near the end was that characters could get to play their ability card without having to draw it first. I think this could work, though who knows if abilities would even be a thing in a future game.

—I think minimizing the chance factor would be a good idea, especially if the cards were more balanced. One idea I liked was everyone having their own deck that didn’t get reset between turns, since this allows for more strategy while still ultimately being random. That would also be way easier for the GM to deal with then having to randomly deal cards out. Alternatively people could choose from a list of actions each turn, but the cards would have to be designed perfectly in this case.

—Pacing was bad yeah, but a smaller cast would help with that. Having a Split Up phase every day wasn’t that bad with less people, and having less monsters would keep the game from climaxing early.

—Balance between Heroes and Villains is probably the biggest issue here, and also fairly complicated since I’m not entirely sure which needs buffing. Having a smaller cast would make the Villains weaker in the early game, and making Villains’ attacks depend on their position would be a good quality of life change to give Heroes more to deduct from. However, Villains would need some substantial buffs to compensate.

I think allowing every Villain to raise Fear and letting them all know each other would help, especially with a smaller cast. Additionally they could have used a better deck of powers, since many of the Monster cards weren’t even touched.

Balancing Courage and Fear gains seems like the most difficult part of running a game like this, so maybe they should be thrown out. Giving Villains a more reliable way to take out Heroes would probably be the best way to do it, but if they were able to instantly eliminate people it’d be overpowered. I’m not sure what the solution is here, but maybe a “Health” system for each character would work better.

—I don’t know if a saboteur role would be needed in future games. If it was, I like Winston’s idea with the traps to make it a little harder to guess their identity. If not, well, those traps just sound really fun and cool, so maybe a monster could get them instead.

—I’m with some people here that I was hoping for more, goofier RPing. Future GMs should try to do a better job of facilitating that. I wanted to do that with the monster attacks and RPing the Split Up phases, but that would have made the pacing even worse.

It might help to add more to the Talk it Out phases. As it is now there was little reason to actually discuss who the monsters were because you were better off waiting for more evidence, and after getting it the answer was too obvious to merit discussion. I’m having trouble thinking of good solutions for this though. I don’t think characters should actually die in these games, though that could arguably address the problem.

—Going along with what I just said, I think the current Unmask and Accuse feature is kind of lame and pointlessly complicated. That would be a good place to start when adding more to the Talk it Out phases. Maybe a more traditional execution vote would work fine, or a modified version of that.

Okay, so to start this off I'd like to say, again, that I enjoyed the game a bunch. I love Scooby-Doo and the relaxed, casual nature of the game appealed to me more than something like Black Fable. The gameplay was fun but, as we pretty much all agree, could use some work. I'm not entirely sure how to go about doing it, though, aside from either buffing abilities or getting rid of them entirely.

Btw, these points are just being written as I think of them, so things may appear disjointed.

My biggest gripe and point of confusion with the game, however, was the cast. First off, it should have been 11 people maximum. Second, and this may seem controversial, but I'm surprised I was expected to care about the OCs? I don't mean this in a condescending way, but I always, first and foremost, saw them as game pieces on the board. The fact that some characters had a backstory or motivation that went beyond what would be the standard in a normal episode of Scooby-Doo was just something I wasn't expecting nor was willing to even indulge in. Third, the OCs themselves just felt like they were trying too hard to be dysfunctional that it just took away from them as a group. Fourth (and this is a big one), if you wanted to have a Scooby-Doo game involving a band, why not include the Hex Girls and remove 3 OCs? It would have balanced the glaring OG vs OC ratio. I also feel like some of us may have had different ideas on what to expect from this game in terms of game vs. RP, which is where the RPing issue in the game's latter half comes up (I know I'm a guilty party (GET IT??) there but it's over now).

My final point-thingy is that the next game shouldn't involve Scooby-Doo at all. It's clear only like, two, maybe three people even care or know beyond-surface-level things about the franchise. If there's going to be an OC Mystery Gang, then that's fine, but just keep the canon characters away for the betterment of everyone.

To close out, thank you PB for running this. It was a fun experiment and I hope someone tries their hand at running another game like this (maybe the series could just be called "[x], Starring You" to differentiate it from the other forum games).