GM: Rae Nedjadi
Players: Josh Hittie, Sherri Stewart, Sean Nittner
System: Tomb Raider
There a few things we need to try out, so Rae organized a new playtest to try them out:
- Time Tightly Spiraled, the adventure by Liam Stevens
- Mavericks, our new team playbook of young arrogant explorers who have just learned about raider society.
- The new Seek the Tomb mechanics in the investigation phase.
- A couple of new playbook moves
CATS
We started off reading the section about Content, Aim, Tone, and Subject Matter. Notable changes in the Aim section:
For this playtest we’re focusing on the new Mavericks team playbook, the new version of Seek the Tomb, and if there’s time and inclination, the new tomb moves. The goal is to see if the anti-colonial intentions of the game still hold up against the risk-taking Mavericks, and if getting to the final tomb feels easier to grasp. However, the general aim remains the same! Can the Explorers race against time, and will their determination be enough? We play to find out.
Safety Tools
We reviewed the safety tools
- Green, Yellow, Red
- Romance check-in
- Conversation Tools (Pause, Reload, Skip Ahead, and Tune)
More and more I find myself wanting to have a stamp that says “The Usual Stuff” so I don’t have to name all the things I don’t want in a game. It’s kind of the same every time. I don’t want games that feature sexual violence, or violence against defenseless animals, child, or elderly. There may be some game that is all about one of those themes (e.g. Bluebeards Bride or Grey Ranks) but unless the game requires them (and is specially focused on confronting them) I just don’t want it.
Resources
We immediately jumped into the Pinterest board to find characters, and also linked the glossary for the adventure to help with definitions and pronunciations of Māori words. I love that when you play a game you start using words you wouldn’t normally and with a good pronunciation guide hopefully you learn to say them correctly (or at least less wrong). Liam notably did a fantastic job on the guide, so while my pronunciation of Tane-Nui-Tiwhatiwha (pronounced ta-nay NU-ee tee-fa-tee-FA) is still poor, it’s getting better!
Message
As with all TR games, it starts with a message from someone that draws the explorers into the adventure. This one was from Jacquie Hobson, a former raider who settled down in Aotearoa. We took turns reading one paragraph at a time out loud:
| Kia ora e hoa, it’s been a long while. How’s life? No doubt filled with adventure and sights extraordinary. I am slightly jealous but settled life is not so bad, the sights here are something else. It’s peaceful here, a place forgotten by time. My friend, Aunty, says it’s because Time is a Spiral and that The Past is the Present is the Future. It sounds a bit silly but it’s nice. It’s home. Which is what I wanted to message you about. Home is next to a volcano, Tane-Nui-Tiwhatiwha, which I monitor for research. It’s started to stir recently, when all data says it shouldn’t. All other geological factors are normal, but this old mountain is coming to new life. Stranger still, only the locals, the Ngati Ikurangi and their Tohunga (think holymen) can go near the mountain without it becoming volatile. Scientifically I cannot explain it. The Ngati Ikurangi speak of the legends of this place. They say the mountain’s stirring is an ill omen. A sign that something is amiss with the Breath of Ikurangi, the essence of their ancestor that lives within them all. But it’s also more than that. They talk about it like it’s some tangible thing that combines the past, present and future. As an idea it exists within all of the tribe’s people, but it’s also supposedly housed within the mountain. It’s complicated, think philosophy meets archeology via spirituality and you’re halfway there. Anyway if it goes bad then its BAD bad apparently. Like time delaminating bad. And get this: they bury their Tohunga, the holy men, up in Tane-Nui-Tiwhatiwha’s volcanic chambers. A place within the mountain called The Tomb of the Tohunga. I tried to get a closer look at this tomb once, but only the Tohunga know where it is, and they dont trust me, the joys of being married to a cop. But you on the other hand are an easier sell, though Koro being sick is an issue. Hopefully Aroha comes to her senses. Anyway, a tomb and unnatural phenomena, this mystery has got you written all over it. Also, suspicious people have turned up, claiming to be a geological research station. I don’t trust them. I have a feeling you might know who these folks are. This all reminds me of years ago when we were on that reservation in the Pacific Northwest, and all the enemies you tend to collect. So consider this my formal invitation for a visit. The twins keep me so busy I would appreciate your looking into it. And hurry will you? The mountain’s activity is picking up daily and I worry there won’t be a valley here much longer if you take your time. No pressure! See you soon Jacquie |
The sections highlighted in bold are the facets of the adventure. These are the important elements that we’ll be linking truths to during play.
Danger Chasers
I’m not sure if it was Sherri or Josh, but one of them said “as brash Mavericks, we should totally have a YouTube channel” and the idea of Extreme Danger YouTubers just took off. Think storm chasers but going into tombs! This made our decisions about belief and origin really easy.
We blundered into raiding by causing an avalanche in the French Alps (the Children of the Wolf adventure) cutting off a team of Raiders from getting to the tomb. They would have exacted revenged on us if not for a mysterious patron who stepped in as our benefactor, offering us both protection and guidance in exchange for heeding their wisdom when exploring in the future. Win, win. Nothing nefarious here at all!
For gear we selected
- A cursed artifact that attracts dangerous mythic power – Thanks mysterious benefactor!
- A set of wartime vehicles repurposed for high-octane action – Thanks generational wealth an privilege!
For Allies and Nemeses we selected:
- Ally: Janine Wilder, a romance novelist turned raider. Because I will never not be in love with Kathleen Turner from Romancing the Stone.
- Nemesis: A rival group of bloodthirsty raiders who only believe in power. The rival group of raiders we unwittingly thwarted.
- Nemesis: The Pledge, a colonial institution hidden within academia and politics. The Pledge is canonically part of the the adventure and it just make sense to us that most of us had academic backgrounds so we’d naturally be embroiled with them!
As a team move we took:
HIGH RISK HIGH REWARD: Limits are for losers, you’re here to win. When you Take Control as a team you may answer the following question alongside the standard move questions: Are you working as a team to escalate or provoke danger?
Explorers
Here’s the incredible explorer we made:
Fen Chao (played by Sherri), The Crafter. Fen’s has the perfect disposition to be on the camera (and despite not starting the Danger Chasers, she’s become the face of the group) and an uncanny awareness of everything around her. She had an incredible bullshit detector but still believes that all truths are objective truths.
Dash (played by Josh), The Changed. Josh started his description of Dash as a “wicked child” which I just fell in love with. Dash is an emo edge lord with an eldritch tome that talks to him and seeks to know his mind.
Jason Price III (played by Sean), The Legacy. Heir to an elite bio-hacking enterprise (Pierce Pharmaceuticals), Jason was groomed by his father to take over the family business and is currently viewed as “sewing his wild oats” as he goes on frivolous adventures with friends. Jason is forever trying to escape the long shadow of the Price family legacy. Both affectionally and mockingly called “J-dog” and “The Third”.
Legend
After creating our characters, we read the legend of the slumbering mountain aloud:
| Gather close so I may tell you the story of Tane-Nui-Tiwhatiwha, the mountain whose shadow in which we live. I must speak softly so as to not wake our slumbering ancestor. Tane-Nui-Tiwhatiwha once lived with his other mountain siblings in central lands when the earth was still young. They were a close whanau, but proud and headstrong. Alas, the brothers all fell in love with the same maiden. A violent fray was had and our mountain did not win. Like the other losing brothers he was cast out and in his grief he roamed the land alone and enraged. Tane-Nui-Tiwhatiwha’s anger was long lasting and much of the earth still bears scars from his pain. As anger faded, he mourned for his lost love, but he came to realize that what he missed most was his family. Alone, the mountain came to rest here in the valley, his tears forming the lake behind us. The spirits of the forest felt bad for him, so covered him in a cloak of trees filled with birds to sing to him. Despite no longer being alone his sorrow was still immense, and the earth shook and steamed as he went from sorrow to anger and back again. When we arrived in this valley, we found Tane-Nui-Tiwhatiwha deep in sorrow. While many feared the mountain, our priest Ikurangi took pity on the great mount. He climbed its peak, braving tremors, geysers and lava to come face to face with the mighty mountain. They spoke for days, sharing tears, pain and sadness, but a pact was made. Ikurangi would recite a powerful incantation to help Tane-Nui-Tiwhatiwha find peace and slumber. In return Ikurangi and our people would care for this valley that was solace for Tane-Nui-Tiwhatiwha, ensuring no harm would befall his cloak and bird companions. Furthermore, as we were now family, Tane-Nui-Tiwhatiwha would protect our dead within his many caves, so he would never be alone again, being surrounded by his new adopted family. And so Ikurangi led our tribe in a powerful incantation that slowly put Tane-Nui-Tiwhatiwha to sleep. It is said that he has found peace in his dreams, though he is a very light sleeper. |
Family drama. Unresolved emotional hang ups. A central figure prone to rash actions. BRING. IT. ON!
Bonds
We wrapped up by creating the bonds between our explorers. If they weren’t insufferably intertwined before, they are now!
Fen Chao
- Jason: You were there when I created my most dangerous invention. How did it hurt you — why don’t you hold it against me? Emergency faraday cage testing. Jason was backseat engineering an stepped across the threshold when it was being tested. He’s too embarrassed to say what happened.
- Dash: I love you but I can never put it into words. How do I betray my feelings to you regardless? I got to keep him safe.
Dash
- Jason: You were there when the soul artifact first touched me. Why did you leave me behind? – My heart stopped, Jason didn’t verify that I was dead dead. Too reliant on tech/artifact to check himself. Avalanche made it too dangerous to come back for me.
- Jason: You love me but the soul artifact loves me more. Why won’t you lose to the soul artifact? Jason envies my sense of self, and hates that the artifact tells me what to be.
- Fen: You love me but the soul artifact loves me more. Why won’t you lose to the soul artifact? Fen has no sense of the artifact, but knows something drives Dash, and losing him would be the worst thing.
Jason
- Fen: My legacy wronged you, someone you care for still suffers the fall out. Why don’t you blame me? Fen’s mom was a nurse. One of her patients was in the Price drug trials and died. Fen’s mom was blamed for it (despite her protestations of the trials). Fen places the blame specifically on Jason Pierce II.
- Dash: I love you, but I can’t help but hurt you. Why do you still care for me? Even though I left him for dead! Dash is infatuated with Jason. We’ve been friends since childhood.
Thoughts on the game
- I think (at least for Mavericks) we should swap the names “Belief’ and “Origin”.
- “We have made powerful enemies among veteran raiders” feels a lot more like an Origin than it does a Belief.
- “Prove Our Worth: Despite our lack of experience, our patron saw the potential in us to become members of the Society of Raiders. We seek out dangerous artifacts and powerful secrets, our temerity poses a threat to our rivals.” feels a lot more like a Belief than an Origin.
- The current order of operations. Message -> Team -> Explorers -> Legend -> Bonds worked really well!
- Pinterest was a huge part of creating these characters. I pretty much saw the image for Jason and the character manifested in my mind immediately.
- I’m delighted by the juxtaposition of artifacts between Dash and Jason. One all about death, the other about life. I’m sure that will come up over and over in game!
