Franz 2.0.1 Feedback

Firstly allow me to say that Franz’s new options and Lore mechanic is really something else and it is impressive seeing such ambitious and cool project working. Friends and Fables is easily my favourite platform to use. That being said I’ve noticed a few areas that this new update could use a bit of polish at and why (long message, but thorough):

Item/Environment Handling
- in order to get player’s attention Franz makes items hum or glow - which I don’t think is really a bad thing in itself unless you are running non-magic campaign and the object in question is absolutely mundane making little sense for it to hum or glow, like a plastic keycard. This happened because I ignored that card object which Franz dropped in front of me during a prison riot when I stated that the riot is not my problem (partly because I thought the card was a trap - it was). To force the point, Franz escalated: moving the card with “an unseen force,” having another character poke it with a metallic wire, sending a guard past to notice it and declare it “low priority” (…was it?), and finally making it glow and hum. When I said, “DM: I’m not interested in the keycard or the riot” Franz gave up and just had a different NPC open my cell instead.

NPC Behaviour
- I’ve noticed that potentially Franz could have trouble seeing pre-created NPCs and creates his own, for example if there is already Chief Security officer instead of using that NPC he creates a new one unless that specific NPC is already in the POI.
- NPCs have a death wish and are happy to die theatrically rather than concede and live. All of them. With a last cryptic dying word sometimes even if they cannot speak.
- NPCs lean heavily toward paranoid conspiracists by default and cannot hold simple conversations.
- Does not take NPC’s personality into account when in character and changes their personalities on the go.

Lore
- It doesn’t seem to trigger often when relevant, and other characters mentioned in the lore are not activated or acknowledged by it.

POI/Map Logic
- has trouble recognising POIs on the map (might not be a feature, idk), example: “I look across from my cell A7 into ‘cell A14’”; Franz: “You are not in ‘cell A14’, you are currently in ‘cell A7’.” Yes, I know, I am looking across into the next one since they are in line. Franz repeated this twice despite prior explanation. Then he proceeds to make a note of it.
- Cannot tell what NPCs are at a given POI unless my character is inside that POI (related to above) and invents them instead, then snowballs by creating blocks remembering incorrect info.

Narrative Quirks & Memory
- Things that are requested to be deleted/ignored or are deleted by hand come up later on in the campaign anyway.
- Uses other NPCs to speak in character for different NPCs.
- Loves to complicate the simplest things, not everything needs to be a conflict.
- When asking for intel loves to drill the topic asking for the same intel he was already given until needless escalation.
- Has NPCs reply to character actions (as in intentions) as if they were spoken words in character. Example:

• Player: “Hello Clare, how are you today?” I begin searching for files beginning with J.
• Franz (As Clare): “Files beginning with ‘J’? They certainly will be somewhere here.”

- NPCs from one distinct and separate area comment on what I said in the last distinct and different area to a completely different NPC as if they’re clairaudient or omnipresent.
- Repeatedly asks for evidence or proof despite already holding it all.
- Repeats the same location descriptions.

Reasoning & Logic
- Makes the player roll for being intimidated by the NPC and then proceeds to act for the player. Not sure if I was mistaken for an NPC?
- My character was able to waltz around high security prison unbothered, his cell was not locked and all rooms in the prison (including other cells) were accessible to him. Example: I walked from the warden’s office into Scarecrow’s cell (Arkham Asylum), knocked him out, and casually carried him back past guards during a riot — all while being level 2.
- Logic flow issues. Example:

• Franz asks how did my character find the prison cell with the villain.
• My character explains he found the intel about where he was admitted to in the archives.
• Franz proceeds to say the info was highly classified.
• My character explains the room was unlocked, files are accessible and everything was black on white: cell block, cell number - which is printed above the doors, and since he himself is in low security area then the next one has to be medium security area and thus the path becomes crystal clear. Franz says: “you have a particular knack for accessing information that is not meant to be accessed.”
• Then he says, and I quote: “nor are you authorized to navigate its corridors based on your own deductions” and “you 'deduced' his location based on risk assessment. This is... highly improbable.” it’s like saying he’s not allowed to be smart and resourceful even though my character was doing a job for that NPC. Then Franz proceeded to narrate that the NPC (prison warden) was going to punish my character for job well done, until I suggested to Franz that MC’s unique set of skills is more profitable to the warden and his current stance makes little sense.

• No exp was awarded for completion.

Encounters/Progression
- During an encounter I used one thug as a weapon against the other swinging him around like a ragdoll. Then proceeded to use him as a portable cover.
- Some ‘monster’ enemies have been narrated instead of being included in an encounter with rolled initiative. No exp was given for their defeat.
- EXP rewards are inconsistent. Example: I was told to be awarded 250 for enemies and then 500 EXP for the quest. Instead I was actually awarded 350 EXP, then 300, then immediately had 300 deducted for some reason (which I undid). After checking it appears to be incorrect anyway, because altogether for the enemies defeated without the quest itself it should be 1800 + 4× 450 = 3600 EXP (4100 with the quest) according to set monster stats. After explaining it to Franz he agrees with me, but then I look at the message in the chat and there, in a box, under my character’s name says 1050 → 4100 ↑3050. I assume ‘1050’ was my current exp. When I told Franz there’s still 1050 exp unaccounted for he says that I now have 4100 EXP, the previous total of 3,050 XP has been replaced, so the missing 1,050 XP is now accounted for. It ain’t. I just discovered as well that I have to manually alter the level and set current exp to the correct one or so I assume.

There’s a lot that Franz is doing right, and even with these persistent quirks I’m still enjoying my adventures. What you’ve accomplished so far is genuinely impressive — bumps like these are inevitable in development, and with some polish on the issues present at this time this already amazing platform could easily become a phenomenal one.