GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Karen Twelves, Dale Horstman, Matthew Klein
System: The Shadow of Yesterday
This system keeps really rocking for me. In this game we played with the healing rules and the recovery scenes which both felt like the origins of so many recovery actions in other games I love (like Lady Blackbird, Blades in the Dark, etc). Make recovery into a meaningful action. A chance for the characters to connect. I love it.
Personal GM Goals for the game
I’ve been watching a fair bit of dungeon tube lately (Ginny Di, Mystic Arts, and Questing Beast mostly) and the often suggest ideas that I think are useful in any game. I wanted to try out a few off there suggested approaches as well as one I remembered from when Judd and I were talking about the Shoeless peasant.
- Create a point crawl with plenty of options (and not investing in any specific choices!). I kicked off the game with a premise (travel go the mountains of Qek to find the last ember of Sky Fire) and Haka has the Key of the Mission, so I have a good sense that unless they run into something compelling enough to change their priorities the characters will keep moving north to complete their quest. That said, I want the trek to be full of choices along the way rather than a single path to follow.
- Reduce the Time Until Next Impactful Choice (TUNIC). I find that my GMing style tends to linger on moments to flesh out the experience, but that means a lot of me talking. I want to work more on centering the players actions.
- Create a world with a few known locations and lots of open spaces to explore. I wanted to simultaneously give the sense that are KNOWN locations (like the Leafless Oak, the River of Tears, the Three Spears) and and a whole lot of UKNOWN in the middle. This was both so that I didn’t have to prep everything and so that I had room to add in things as needed. Either when Haka sought out the Dream Lily at the base of Silver Elms, or when I want to reinforce the danger of the forest with the presence of a Moon Panther.
Finally, I wanted to practice the more general advice of asking more questions. At the start of the game I gave the players (and their characters) an arbitrary quest (find the last ember of Sky Fire) and while I asked a few establishing questions in the first session about the Sky Fire, we didn’t have a strong sense of why they were going.
Prep for the game
I did a lot of prep for this session. My original notes were: River of Tears (Threat: Rapid and Rocks). That was enough but since I had time I asked myself some other questions. What would Sorcerer Zedwick do when the heroes escaped via trebuchet? Any chance they could find a boat on the river, if so, who owns it? What else might they find when flung into the middle of the canopy? Surely, rare herbs to tempt Haka away from the mission. Perhaps memories of Aonghüs’ lost tribe? Something terrifying for Tamarin to fight? Are there any landmarks or important sites? Here’s what I came up with:
Last Moments
We ended the last session in a pretty spectacular way, the characters launched out of the enemy camp via trebuchet into parts unknown. I loved it so we ended with them in mid-flight!
I started the session with the things the noticed as they flew through the air and reached the zenith of their parabolic arc (if not character arc).
Tamerin looked back and saw her companion Zooshie strain with all their might to launch the trebuchet and then join the battle between the goblins, who employed numbers and guild, against the sorcerer Zedwick and his fell magic. Just as the camp was disappearing in the distance she saw him throw three fingers at them and three shadows flew from his fingers after them. I was inspired by the Erol Otus art in Basic D&D, those fire fingers will live with me forever.
Aonghüs saw the light in commander Priya’s tent cast shadow puppets of the commander and Aphrita doing battle, then the image to be obscured as the inside of tent was splattered with blood. He felt the moon metal of her gifted bolo weigh heavy in his pouch.
Haka, ever looking towards the mission, saw over the trees of Khale, past the Sea of Teeth, and into the mountains of Qek, where the he saw the last ember of Sky Fire still glowing, and from the light it cast, a band of Ammeni scouts, only distinguishable by their flag, encroaching to the fire.
Personal Issues and Keys
I wrote down a few notes about things that might come up for each character that would either expand on established fiction or hit one of their keys.
Tamarin, I wondered if any would ask “Who are you?” or know her reputation as the Spear-Biter, or Spell Breaker. Also, I figured it would be good to have a big brawny pirate for her to challenge for glory.
Haka, I wanted to give distractions. Things that might tempt them away from the mission. Khale is dense in rare herbs and vegetation so listed a few herbs and their special properties that they might encounter
- Peacock Moss (causes those who touch it to have the feeling of being watched)
- Sunberry (can be distilled into a whiskey Sunshine that prevents the imbiber from lying)
- Gripweed (grows in graveyards and gives visions of death)
I also thought about what having a past life means, and how frustrating it would feel to have a memory that you can almost reach but it alludes you because it was from a past life. Since scent is is such a strong memory trigger, I wanted to offer up scents that would stir a past life.
Aonghüs has the Key of the Lost Child (which means his tribe is gone) and the Key of the Imposter (posing as the First Mate of the Doomed Bloodbark). I know it’s a contrivance but to me this calls for the actual crew of the Doomed Bloodbark to appear…and be pirates (stealing from the heroes if the opportunity presents itself. Also, I wanted to ask the question of what happened to Eoghann.
River of Tears and other dangers
The River of Tears was once tranquil, but now rages into the Sea of Teeth. There are several theories for why the change happened. Perhaps it as the Ammeni building dams which constricted one river and made another overflow? Perhpas it was that the “teeth” from of the Sea of Teeth have fallen, causing an obstruction in the river that makes it run faster? Or is it that King Khale’s tears issue from the Green World as he laments his many tribes falling to warfare and infighting?
The forest canopy is thick, it will soften their fall, but is nearly impossible to see through. The stars are hidden above. It is a wet and thick jungle, difficult to traverse through.
Here’s the possible threats and opportunities I sketched (we used most of them):
- Crash Landing
- Rapids & Rocks on the River of Tears
- Getting a boat (owned/guarded by pirates)
- Zedwick’s shadows
- Recovery scenes
- Herbs and strange growths (moon metal, mushrooms, etc)
- Thick Forest (difficult navigation and traveling)
- Family in need
- Moon Panther!
Recovery questions
I misremembered the recovery rules (hah!) and thought that I asked questions during them, which isn’t true. I wrote up some things I wonder about and still got to ask a few of them during different scenes of the game.
Tamarin. Who was closest to you in the litter? What was the last thing they said to you?
Haka. So many find comfort in the illusion of reality. Why do you want to dispel it? Who taught you about herbs and poisons?
Aonghüs. Touching the SkyFire means forgetting your childhood. What past terror are you eager to shed, or what treasured memory do you fear losing?
NPCs
The NPCs I wanted to keep track of:
- Zedwick, felled sorcerer (scarred, vengeful, potent magics)
- Commander Roya (curious, tempered)
- Evelnia, First Mate of the Doomed Bloodbark (Cocky, Proud) [Ratkin]
- Bowdyn, strongman (Undefeated in battle, tattooed, kind, diseased) [Human]
- Ysabel, quartermaster (Calculating, Conniving) [Elf]
- Deslin, sailor (Scrawny, tattooed, fire eater) [Human, added in game]
- Moryn, pirate who died when cannon fire destroyed his ship (Gripweed Memories) [added in game]
Map time!
Thirty minutes before everyone was going to arrive I realized I wanted to place to hold all these locations and ideas and raced down to my office to sketch out a rough map. In doing so I ended up thinking of a could of new ideas: Crescent Bay (hand made by the Khale) and the Three Spears, a hilltop with three tall trees that jut above the canopy and offer a view for miles around.
Was that too much prep for a game we’ll likely only play a few sessions of? Too little? I’m not sure. I know that I was really happy to have things like peacock moss and gripweed in my notes when Haka started looking for herbs!
The Play is the Thing
Our heroes, after taking a majestic view from the flight through the night air, succumbed to gravity once more and came crashing down into the thick canopy of the Khale forest. Tamarin tumbled and twisted as Ratkin do and landed with only superficial scrapes and bruises. Aonghüs seemed to be welcomed by the forest itself, the treetops nestling him to safety [Superb +5 on his Endure roll], but Haka came crashing down hard.
The forest, which had been filled with the patter of birds and insects went quiet as the heroes crashed to the ground, in pitch black darkness beneath the canopy. The couldn’t see their own hands but eventually found one another and tried to get their barings.
Aonghüs climbed into a tree to try and get a view above the tree line. Though he couldn’t climb high enough to see, he could hear the coursing of the River of Tears and and had a vague sense of where “west” was. Haka, smelling the rich earth and verdant growth nearby, groped their way through the trees, looking for a silver elm, and the dream lily that grow at their base. The lilies glowed with the faintest moonlight, giving Haka a vague sense of where “south” was. Tamarin, was scouting for dangers. She had seen the shadows fly from Zedwick’s fingers and didn’t now how fast or how far they could travel after them. There were no shadows to be seen in the darkness. Unfortunately, as the wildlife acclimated to their presence, Tamarin didn’t here a single threatening sound, she heard dozens. Everywhere she turned it seemed a twig was snapping, a branch was pushed aside by something moving, or the breathing of a beast could be heard.
Tamarin alerted Aonghüs when he climbed down from a tree, and the looked for Haka, but they had wandered off in search of dream lilies. The forest seemed to not only block light, but muffle sound. Aonghüs handed Tamarin one end of the moon metal bolo and then started moving in the direction they hoped was “away” from the threat. They moved cautiously but quickly realized their predator was easily keeping pace. Knowing they couldn’t outrun it, Aonghüs sent Tamarin scuttling up a tree and he turned to face the oncoming attack. The Moon Panther leapt to pounce, revealing itself by bring silver eyes that reflected the moonlight even from under the canopy, but Aonghüs dropped low and ducked beneath it’s vicious claws. With only a moment he clambered up the tree as well, the panther hot on his heels. It’s claws tore his leggings, bit into flesh, but couldn’t quite catch the Khale warrior before the tree enveloped him and the panther could not climb further.
Aonghüs make a bird call to Haka indicating he and Tamarin were safe, but Haka (whoever knows where Haka is) should not try to follow them.
Meanwhile, Haka had sat among the dream lilies and meditated upon the familiar smell. The sun rose up from the western sky and just as quickly receded into the east. Days passed quickly in reverse as Haka witnessed the collapse of the Crescent Bay fortifications, back to their assembly, and further back to when it was cut from the river bank. They saw themselves, a past life of themselves, injured by moon metal with a would that would not heal. The watched their past life perish at the Leafless Oak, back in an age when there was still many leaves upon it. For a moment, the thought to call out to their past sell, “There, look there, the herb you need to heal yourself is right there.” But it was in vain, they died with their hand upon the tree.
Making it through the night
Aonghüs and Tamarin stayed in the tree, swapping stories of their past adventures. Some of them were exaggerated (Tamarin, key of Renown) and some were completely fabricated (Aonghüs, key of the Imposter) but both were comforting and helped our heroes find their emotional centers [Instinct Recovery]. After sharing Aonghüs broke into song that helped calm Tamarin’s nerves from the earlier chase [Healing Level 2 Instinct Harm].
I asked Tamarin who was closest to her in her litter and what was the last thing they said to her. It was her mother (her siblings were easy to mistake for one another, there were so many of them). She told her “Stay here. Don’t come out.” That was the last time she saw her.
I asked Aonghüs about his father Eoghann. When did he see them last? He we went out one day to roll an herbal relaxant and never game home. Aonghüs heard that he had run off to become a pirate, and, whether it was to follow in his footsteps or just because he didn’t know what else to do, Aonghüs set off to be a pirate as well (or at least tell people he did). Aonghüs heard that Egohann was the First Mate of the Doomed Bloodbark, and always hoped he’d see him one day on the seas.
Meanwhile, Haka sat in a forest grove, unmolested by Moon Panthers, but having difficulty resting. Their eyelids fluttered as memories of past lives still evaded them. What were they trying to say?
I asked Haka who taught them about herbs, and did they also teach them poisons? It was Razadan, their human partner, who was no trapped by the illusion. They died years ago, but they taught Haka which herbs will heal and which ones will harm.
To the Leafless Tree
In the morning our heroes found each other once more, and made their way to the Leafless Oak. It was the one location that any of them knew with surety (thanks to Haka’s memories) and it contained healing herbs that would help Haka and Tamarin recover from their wounds.
On the way Aonghüs occasionally noticed his shadow seemed to misbehave, separating from itself ever so slightly. Just as he was picking a banana-like fruit from a tree, knowing you’ve got to get the ones in the shade as those exposed directly to the sun will make you sick, he could have sworn there were two shadows of his hand, not one. But when he looked again all was normal.
It took the first half of the day trumping through the forest to get to the Leafless Oak. Where Aonghüs might have looed for paths Haka was traveling as the crow flies, directly through all obstacles in their way. When the arrived they saw the great oak that was not truly leafless. At the very top there were perhaps a dozen or so leaves remaining.
At its base were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of funerary stones, placed in memory of the fallen. From these graves a spindly twisting weed grew. Aonghüs walked among the grave sites offering reverence. Not all of these stones were dedicated to fallen Khale, but most of them were. As he examined one stone he noticed the gripweed slowly twist around his ankle. He looked down as the rough surface of the weed make his wounded leg sting with contact. When he looked he saw a mighty canon ball hurling toward him. It narrowly missed but the explosion in the ship hull caused an eruption of flames and his ship was going down. Aonghüs flinched and fell back, once more in the present, free from the memories of death imparted by the gripweed. He looked at the stone, it belonged to the pirate Morwyn, who died horribly on some doomed vessel.
Haka, meanwhile had weaved their way to the tree itself and placed their hand on it’s bark, the same place where they had done before in a past life just before dying. There they found the peacock moss growing at the based of the truck. The moss grew in circles of vibrant colors that naturally looked like the “eyes” that form in peacock feathers. While it had healing properties, touching the moss also gave you the sense of being watched, an uncomfortable experience in an uncomfortable place.
Already past mid-day, the heroes did not want to travel again at night so they made camp at the edge of the clearing, just outside of the burial grounds but before they would once again be in canopy. The made a fire to warn predators off and Haka made a poultice that eased some of Tamarin’s injuries. She did not like the feeling of being watched, the but the topic caused Aonghüs to speak up about the strange shadows he witnessed earlier.
Tamarin used her “instinctual” abilities (actually Three Corner Magic) to divine the source of the aberrant shadows in the firelight.
The Commander’s Tent
We cut to the Sorcerer Zedwick looking into what at first appeared to be a black mirror, but then we realized it was simply reflecting the night sky of the heroes and the embers of their fire were also visible within it. Zedwich himself was concealed in shadows as he spoke “Commander Priya, the interlopers have been distracted from their mission and now visit a burial ground. I believe they will return soon, but we’ll take advantage of their lost time and move our troops forward.” Priya was rebandaging a cut on her shoulder and she nodded a the sorcerer, who even in the shadows looked misshapen from the horrible attacks of the goblins. The sorcerer reassured his commander “One eye burned away by violence. Another eye opens.” He flicked his hand and the image of the heroes vanished….
Just as Tamarin completed her divination spell. There was nothing the matter. All seemed well as far as she could tell [Failure on her roll].
To the River
In the morning a mist set into the clearing, but it did not penetrate the forest. Aonghüs led his companions westward towards the river. It was a long but invigorating hike [recovering vigor pools] that took all day. Each time it seemed they might have lost their way, the sounds of the river would return again to guide them.
As they walked I asked Haka another question. So many find comfort in the illusion of reality. Why do you want to dispel it? Haka’s partner Razadan was dead. They were a human and so they would not not back. It was not fair that Haka and other elves were trapped within immortality and that others simply had one life to live and then were gone. If life is just an endless cycle of suffering, then how could it be anything else but a trap. Haka sought to break the cycle, know death, and maybe, perhaps, find Razadan again.
Crew of the Doomed Bloodbark
At last they saw the glittering of the river through the tree line and the beach that formed around crescent bay. Before they entered the beach however, they heard voices. Jovial jests, orders barked, and the straining of effort.
A ratkin in charge of a small group was leading them through repairing a small river craft. A board had be broken or damaged and was in the process of being replaced. The board was soaked in water to be pliable but it still took the incredible strength of a giant human man to bent it to the shape of the hull so the others could pound nails into place and seal the gaps with tar. The leader cried out with pride “There are none stronger that Bowdyn, or I’m not Evelina, the first mate of the Doomed Bloodbark!”
The other pirates cheered. At least most of them did. Their elven quartermaster Ysabel watched the operation with careful scrutiny and reminded them they would need time for the tar to dry and their rations were running low. In more hushed tones, but still audible to the companions, they discussed the dangers of the Ammeni catching them, but also how they would be showered with praise and riches if they returned with their “bounty” to the captain of the Bloodbark. Clearly they had taken something valuable!
The heroes watched all of this surprise. Could it be, Aonghüs’s lost tribe? His beloved crew? Only no, he knew none of them. He told them that it might be bad if the crew knew who he was. They might want to know why he had left, might blame him for the horrible accident, or worse, might press gang him back into service. So a plan was concocted for Aonghüs to disguise himself and “pretend” to be a land lubber with no knowledge of the sea at all. Tamarin and Haka were ready to support him, the plan was made, but just before he stepped out onto the beach he told them the real truth. “I made all of that up. I’ve been on a boat but I’m no pirate. I heard my father became a pirate so I pretended to be one as well.” He stepped out of the tree line with his boon companions standing befuddled by the truth.
The quartermaster who saw him first approached, but all the other pirates were drawing their weapons to look menacing as she greeted them: “Who are you that trespasses on the camp of the Doomed Bloodbark and her crew of bloodthirsty pirates?”
“We’re travelers heading north. My companions and I overheard your rations were running low. Perhaps we can share some of ours?” Aonghüs held out some fruit they had picked along the way as a peace offering and showed that he was unarmed.
“Companions?” Ysabel asked, the tension rising as the pirates began circling around Aonghüs. After a moment Haka and Tamarin stepped out, also showing that they meant no harm.
Aonghüs was able to, at least temporarily, calm the situation with his winning smile and offering of food. Most of the pirates sat around the campfire, divvying up the spoils and resuming their boastful stories, except Ysabel and Evelina who stood back a bit, whispering to one another about whether to slit the heroes throats here on the beach or further down river.
Haka approached them and they stepped back behind the boat so that Haka speaking with them meant he was not visible to the others. “We’re travelers heading north. We have useful skills like knowledge of herbs and the natural surroundings that we could offer in exchange for passage in your boat.”
Evelina started with a smile “Oh, you’re just lost travelers in need of a ride—”
“—Or are you spies sent by the Ammani trying to infiltrate our mission. I can hear your accent ” Ysabel continued as she pressed the tip of her blade into Haka’s back.
Haka’s throat was dry as they swallowed and tried not to make any sudden movements. “I promise, we are not working for the Ammeni, we’re on a quest to find the last ember of Sky Fire in the mountains of Qek. We’ll aid you as best we can on the way north.”
[I then asked Haka to make a couple of rolls. The first was persuasion, which had a nominal success, the second was Detect Lies, which failed.]
Evelina took back over the conversation “Very well then. It seems we can each benefit each other. Once the boat is ready, we’ll set sail together.” Easy. Too easy.
I must defeat that man
Ever sense Tamarin had set eyes on Bowdyn and his incredible muscles, she craved only one thing. DEFEATING HIM IN BATTLE.
As Aonghüs was talking to the pirates, and utterly enamored with Deslin’s fire eating skills (he slid a hit fire poker down his throat!), he finally got up the courage to say “Do you know my father?” (which somewhat hilariously was misheard by Evelina as “Are you my father?” [Adding a bonus die to Haka’s persuasion roll to prove they were not spies].) When Deslin and the other pirates heard the name Eoghann they all look at each other conspiratorially and were about to tell Aonghüs what they knew, when the chants “Fight! Fight! Fight! ” broke out.
Tamarin had challenged Bowdyn to a spar. “What is spar?” He asked. “When you fight to show who is better, but not to hurt one another?” Bowdyn asked a series of other questions that indicated his version of fighting was brutal murder not sparring on the beach. He did not want to hurt the little ratkin, which only stoke the fires in Tamarin’s chest to defeat him even more. The agreed no weapons (he put away his sword and one of his boot knives) and went on the beach to fight until the first one fell. [In retrospect, I probably should have made it fight till one of them was pushed in the water, but it’s fine]
Tamarin first transformed into a Wolfkin then charged at Bowdyn, who was a little alarmed to see her snout and claws grow to be so ferocious. He sidestepped her charge, but as they got to grappling, she continued circling around him, wearing him out and disorienting him. He got a hold of her a few times, but she clawed herself free. At one point her claws cut the lacing of his bracers, which distracted him as he looked down. Tamarin leveraged the opening for a mighty drop kick that send him stumbling back and to the ground. Victory was hers!
Bodwny did not get up quickly, Beneath the bracers his forearm was ashy grey and cracked. He saw that Tamarin saw, and looked to her with a mixture of pleading and suspicion. She stepped up and, despite her deadly claws helped him relace the bracers. The whole time he contemplated crushing her tiny head so that she could not share his secret, but somehow she seemed “honorable” (a word he didn’t have much context for) and he needed her help to do this without the other seeing. “You are a good fighter Tamarin, but you are a better person.”
Tamarin really didn’t know how she felt about that, but this was not the time for philosophical considerations. It was the time for celebrating her VICTORY!!
What Rocked
I continue to find TSOY’s mechanics hold up in really satisfying ways. The core dice mechanic has enough push and pull to feel like tactical choices matter, but it’s also fast and elegant enough that our game isn’t slowed by bringing out the dice.
The secrets are just a ton of fun. Everyone as a little bit of “look what I can do” that isn’t the same as classic nice protection where everyone needs an arena to excel in and feels diminished if another character can match them.
Keys, which were ported into many other games because they are SO GOOD, continue to delight. I love watching players get XP by doing the things they say their character is about. Watching Matthew buy off his Key of the Imposter by telling his companions he was not actually the First Mate of the Doomed Bloodbark, he had never been a pirate at all, was a major change in the game, and you could feel the mechanical (10xp) and narrative heft (leaving his companions wondering who he really is) of the choice.
Everyone played their characters so well, it was fantastic to see each of them influence the world more with their choices. Speaking of choices, I felt like the TUNIC principle (Time Until Next Impactful Choice) paid off. There were lots of moments where the characters made major choices that steered the direction of the game in ways none of us expected. I wasn’t trying to determine what choices they made, but I wanted to make sure they had lots of opportunities to make them.
Thoughts for next time
- Asking Aonghüs about childhood memories. Desperate to forget, or fear of losing them?
- Offer Haka the Key of the Eternal Question (from their past life).
- Think more about the motivations of the pirates (their big wants and how they intersect with the heroes big wants).
- Consider the dangers. The heroes are spying for the Ammeni, even though they don’t know it. What did the pirates steal that is so valuable.
- More dangers. The boat is repaired but how good a job could they do on the beach? Has the tar set. Is it big enough for all the pirates and the characters and the stolen bounty?
