Actual Play – Airwomen of the 588th (7/31/2015)

Night WitchesGM: Steve Segedy
Players: Kristin Firth, Sean Nittner, Michele Royal, Jeff Croff, and Eric Hope
System Night Witches

We ran mission after mission, and pushed the Germans back with everything we had. Some of us didn’t make it back. Some of our planes were burnt to cinders. We didn’t stop flying.

Actual Play – World of Abingdon Meadow (7/31/2015)

the warrenGM: Sean Nittner
Players: Phil Vecchione, Tali Halevy, Arvel Ben Dor, John Alexander, and Pamela Alexander
System: The Warren
World: abingdon meadow

This has got to be easiest game in the world to run. I’m serious.

I admit I get anxious every time I run a new game for the first time. Will I get it right? Will I know what to do? Will I entertain my players? These aren’t questions I should ask myself or fret about, but I do.

The Warren (or is the warren?) is Powered by the Apocalypse but so simple and elegant that I didn’t even realize we were really playing until the rabbits were in too deep. I’ll go into that more in a bit, but first, here are our bunnies!

We had Pumpkin the not so fast, Lily the tagged, Nibble the frantic, Spot the brave, and Bounder. From the get go I loved the game because everyone started drawing their rabbits. Tali had some pretty amazing skill and ended up draw both her rabbit Nibble, and her husband Arvel’s rabbit Spot. (Also the two of them were on their honeymoon, which was just wonderful).

Asking some questions

We started with the Warren questions. Things like What part of the meadow marks the warren’s location? What do your sense tell you about the warren? And why aren’t you in charge?

After then answered those, with a positively delightful story about Spot running back from a farmer’s house with hounds of hell chasing him down (told by Nibble) we had a pretty good feel for where the rabbits lived. Then I picked a few of the stakes questions that I was interested in finding out answers to. What things do they prize in the warren? What other animals live nearby? What problems do the humans cause?

All pretty standard fare, right? Right. Yes, but then the situation questions… wow, they just started us off:

Is it night or day or somewhere in between?  It’s day.

Why are you so far away from the warren? We found a really good looking beat and we’re all working on trying to dig it up.

How did the hunters get between you and the warren? Their dogs sniffed us out.

What other animal shares your hiding spot? A chipmunk named Stoat.

And boom, we were off to the races. Nervous Stoat asked the rabbits if they would politely leave his log so the dogs didn’t find them all hiding inside it. Brave Spot bolted to draw their attention. And much terror ensued! What I loved was that all we had to do was ask ourselves “what would happen next?” in order to move the story forward and to keep presenting challenges (terrifying ones at that to the rabbits.

Highlights

Lily was so scarred by the dogs almost catching her, she’ll never be able to sneak again because she so jumpy now (harm)

Spot innovated a new move “Bite the nose that sniffs you”. When an animal is sniffing it’s nose in your warren (or burrow you’re hiding in) and you bite it, roll strong. On a 10+ it recoils, on a 7-9 it does so but you have to choose one:

  • It will be back soon
  • It remembers you, and will take this personally!
  • It fights before retreating, take a scar.

Spot chose that it would remember him and the dog, Carl Crandon III, shouted in the name of his ancestors that he would drive these awful rabbits from his home it it was the last thing he ever did.

Nibble using her sense of space to find out where a good hiding spot is! Bounder running around in circles around the hunter to try and draw their fire and give the others a chance to bolt!

There was much panic and much bravery. And digging and hiding among the cabbage!

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Actual Play – Stepping up to Scurlock (7/31/2015)

ghost_titleGM: Sean Nittner
Players: Steve Moore, Joe Lawrencelle, Michael Holmes, Alex Holmes, Eric Bontz, Eric Riggenbach
System: Blades in the Dark
Score: Scurlock Manor

My first time running Scurlock Manor, and for a very full crew. We had:

  • Samuel Swiftstrike, the ex-Severosi defender who was cast out for concealing his brother’s crimes.
  • Thunder, the tattooed Severosi bouncer. Kin to Samuel, they traveled to Akoros together to evade arrest.
  • The Spider, an Akoros thief catcher cast out of the Bluecoats for taking bribes. He used to catch deserters and send them to work outside the walls. Effectively a death sentence.
  • Silas Jag, a Tycherosi drug peddler who, at the behest of a wealthy patron Rosalind Kellis, has set up shop in Duskwall, often dipping into his own product for the supernal high it provides.
  • Skorn, the Skovlander tribesman who got out just before it was too late.
  • Ovadai, the whisper.

I think some of my favorite part of Blades is the character and crew creation. Because it gives me a chance to ask all sorts of fun questions, like, “so if you had just a good life before, what are you doing slumming it in Duskwall now?” or “how does your friend feel about that?” The questions invariably bring out the worst in the character and tell me something new about Duskwall and it’s inhabitants.

Gen Con Special

For Gen Con I decided to try out my new score sheet, Scurlock Manor.

One of the questions it asks is basically what just went wrong? The players have three choices: Lord Scurlock; vampire, Magical Enchantment, and It’s Alive! The score you captured is fighting back.

For this session the picked Lord Scurlock, a good choice. The follow up questions to that are “How does he outmatch you physically and magically?” and “What do you have to offer him?”  My intent here is that Scurlock is a Tier 3 faction all by himself. He doesn’t trifle with the likes of you. To enforce that though, I wanted to give them both a impossible wall and away around him (you don’t fight the 8000lb gorilla, you find away to give it bananas).

The players chose that he had unmatched strength and magical wards on his house to stop any who would try to channel or attune but himself. This was particularly fun when Silas Jag was lurking in the shadows and Scurlock was suddenly beside him whispering in his ear. As Silas used his shadow cloak to disappear in the shadows, he reappeared across the room, only find Scurlock’s cold fingers wrapped around his throat and lifting him with ease off the ground [Mechanically, he tried to prowl away as a Risky action, rolled a 1-3 result, and was put in a Desperate Gamble to get out]

As for a bargaining chip, the decided that Roric, the old head of the Crows, now dead by Lyssa’s hand, was Scurlock’s man in crows foot. The blades had information on Lyssa they could barter to help him regain his hold in Crows Foot.

I like it!

The plays the thing

In play the ended up not handing over Lyssa but instead convincing Scurlock that they were competent thieves (they had broken through his defenses after all) and that they would work for him. New clocks started as they had to both a) prove themselves to Scurlock and b) figure out what to say to Bazso Baz. Would he buy that they were “playing the long game” on the Scurlock?

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Left to right: Silas Jag, Samel Swiftstrike, Skorn, Ovadai, The Spider, and Thunder

A note to Harper

As of version 3.0 effect level modifiers don’t seem to do anything if you roll a 1-3.  In this case Silas Jag rolled to prowl and had a fine quality item (shadow cloak) and potency (from his Lurk ability Ghost Echo, as we considered Scurlock’s attention supernatural by default). However, when he rolled a 3 and things went badly, I chose to put him a desperate position, but the player (understandably) wondered what his two effect level were good for in this instance.

Actual Play – Save Game (7/30/2015)

Save GameGM: Sean Nittner
Players: Jason Herald, Donny Harbilie, Amanda Green, Adam Green
System: Fate Core
Fate World & Adventure: Save Game

My first game slot was a two hour game and Save Game was picked. Woot, I’d done a lot of preparation for it, including making Zelda, Samas Aran, Spy Hunter, and a Tetris block as characters.

For being a Evil Hat guy, I don’t actually run a lot of Fate (as evidenced in my past actual play reports). So I did a bit of brushing on the rules (read: I read Save Game) and made some characters (see above) and talked to Rob Wieland (creator of Save Game) on the internet, and generally considered the games that I was drawing inspiration from. Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Bionic Commando, Contra, Metroid, and the like. What kinds of things happen in those games, and what kinds of unexpected things happen as well.

After some time, I felt prepared!

Magna MonkThe play is the thing

In a two hour slot we were able to get the characters picked, create some signature moves (my standard half baked method of Fate char gen), and reviewed the rules enough to get going (first 20-30 min).

Then we ran through the troubles in Tar Zangeles, including

  • A fight with the Mohawk Ratz, which the diffused by convincing their leader (the Big Cheeze) that fighting them was a mistake (combo of Taunt and Chat).
  • Saving a kid on the beach from a glitched shark and learning of Landshark Larry’s trouble.
  • Making their way through the Grand Banana Hotel, sneaking past the impenetrable guards, scaling the collapsing hotel (thanks anti-grav tires) and finally knocking the big monkey off his perch.

Good times were had by all!

The heroes of Tendoria

Actual Play – Speed Torches (8/17/2014)

torchbearer-rpgGM: Sean Nittner
Players: John Kramer, Alan DeSmet, Steve Nix, Scott Harloot, Brian Habenicht, and Jesse Butler
System: Torchbearer
Module: Stone Dragon Mountain

Games on Demand was hurting really hard for two hour games, so when Ajit asked me if I could run Torchbearer in two hours I said sure. I mean, I had done it last year with Under the House, so why not do it now with Stone Dragon.

Except, Stone Dragon starts with a perhaps prolonged social environment and I was worried we would spend the session there, so I just skipped it. Lets start the game at Location 2, The Mountain Ascent.

Also, I didn’t bother going over any of the rules. I just told people to read their beliefs, instincts, and pick a goal.

Speed Turns

Part of moving quickly meant less note taking for me. Suffice to say the adventurers took to the mountain like rocks. They clambered up it, got lost, dug up dead adventurer to take their supplies, hunted for game, and then ended with a fight!

Thoughts on the Game

I learned some interesting things running this game.

First, the base camp location is great, but it shouldn’t be first. Torchbearer starts best with action and the base camp takes a while to wind up to action. We’re moving stuff around.

Teach Torchbearer just a bit at a time is doable, but there are a few challenges.

  • Players instinctively want to find answers on their character sheets. But if they can’t read a character sheet, time spent deciphering it pulls focus away from the game.
  • As a GM I want to be fair to new players. I can think of ways for them to gain advantages (via using traits, creating supplies, describing their actions to leverage the fiction in their favor) when facing challenges and I feel a sense of obligation to give them their best shot. However, often doing so means introducing every option they could take, which slows the game again. In particular, if not told, nobody would ever think to gain checks…but introducing that mechanic when you’re not in the perfect situation (oh, you can’t succeed in this test anyway, why not gain a check to make this a bit harder, it’ll help you later) can send players into dice outcome probability calculations mode.
  • Telling someone, no you can’t use your Clever trait to help someone else is a bummer, especially when they they are trying to help someone who is skilled and they don’t have any of the appropriate skills to help with, so you don’t even have an alternative to offer them.
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Those who remained!

 

 

Actual Play – For Olive (8/16/2014)

the warrenGM: Steve Segedy
Players: Jason Morningstar, Kristin Firth, Jeremy Friesen
System: The Warren

Tag line for this game: Apocalypse World meets Watership Down. Rabbits = humans; humans = the apocalypse.

Tag line for this particular instance of this game: Damn it’s late, I need a drink. Oooh, open spot at a table with Jeremy, Kristin, and Steve. Sure, I’ll play.

Introductions

When I sat down to play, after just finishing running Stone Dragon Mountain my brain was a bit addled. Jeremy, Kristin, and Steve were sitting at a table that clearly had two players absent. Each of the Morningstar boys had been called off to other duties. I was supposed to go down stairs and have a drink… instead I sat down in front of Thorn.

2014-08-16 23.40.46

Our rabbits had be terrorized by a half blind possom named The Captain and his bobcat muscle Monette. There was a certain understanding that The Captain was in charge and that if we didn’t want trouble, we’d pay him his due, which in this case was a tasty rabbit.

When I sat down some fierce negotiations were already underway. Thorn, and later Squeak had charged the bobcat and stunned him, which gave him pause, but later just made him angrier than he had been. Olive was negotiating with him as he was toying with Milkweed, ready to finish him off anytime Monette got bored.

Olive entreated him to have mercy though and made a deal. Milkweed would live, but Monette would get the first pick of Olive’s next litter.

The Plan

I discovered Thorn was the one that got the attention of Monette in the first place. Also, he had been captured once before, put under a colander and left for days by a human having fun. He dug his way out but had never been the same since.

Milkweed (Jason had returned from an experience) mated with Olive. So did Squeak and Thorn, but it was Milkweed that took a real shine to her. He encouraged her to just come back with him to the swamp. Not enough room for all the rabbits in the warren, but enough for both of them. Olive couldn’t go. She didn’t have the heart to leave behind the rest.

We talked about moving the entire warren, but our den leader refused. It took too long to make this place, better to pay The Captain his due.

We wouldn’t have it though. We would trick The Captain and Monette, with a little help from the rascally raccoon Boupignon… who also fancied Olive.

Day of Reckoning

When Monette returned he was already in a powerfully foul mood. Boupignon had told him that the rabbits had babies but they weren’t going to give them up, they were going to fight to protect them. He arrived ready to eat us all, and was aggravated even further when Olive and Milkweed taunted him from safely inside the warren. He pawed at the whole tried to catch a hold of anything he could.

After being thoroughly frustrated and ready to tear apart the entire warren with is claws, Montette heard another taunt, this time form outside the warren, coming from Squeak. Enraged he gave chase and saw that both Squeak and Thorn were outside. They ran and ran and ran. They ran all the way to the Wake Maker’s camp, where Thorn, despite his early trauma, had been slowly befriending one of the small ones.

They ran down a long pier over the water, right towards one of the Wave Makers, with Monette close behind until there was a deafening crack that came from above, and the bobcat fell dead. The noise caused a horrible panic and Thorn fell into a crab pot, while Squeak bolted away. Thorn’s last wish would be that Squeak tell the den of their bravery and that he take over as leader of the den (the den leader had died during the time it took for Olive to have young).

Thoughts on this game

For two hours (or less, I think I only played the last 90 min) a whole lot happened in that game. More than I am recalling now as I’m writing this. The life if rabbits is terrifying and frantic indeed!

The harm move of loosing moves is particularly well thought out one. By the end Thorn could not Help or Hinder others due to an injured foot, give anything his Full Attention due to a swat at his eye from Monette, and could never again resist panic due to the sheer terror he felt hearing the gun shot and then being trapped in a crab pot. I’m not sure how this would work in long term play, but for a con game it was perfect.

I think I played Thorn a bit more calculating and martyr-like than make sense for his low steady and shrewd scores, but I liked the idea of him realizing he brought the trouble there, and that it was on him to take care of it. The fact that he had been trapped under a colander by a human wasn’t something I knew about till we were already committed to the idea, but it just make the action that much more dire when they told me.

I love the Bayou setting that Jason wrote up. Lâche pas! Lâche pas la patate! (Don’t drop the potato!). Adding voice descriptions did a ton to flesh out the characters, both Steve running them and for us as players.

There is a horror element to the game that I think is important to convey early on. It could have been that this happened before I sat down at the table, so I may be speaking out of turn here. I noticed that I played Thorn much more bold than I probably should have. We were rabbits and rabbits are afraid of everything. I think my response was something like players in Call of Cthulhu who grab shotguns and ammo in hopes to be able to shoot the eldritch horror to death when the tropes of Lovecraft are really looking for them to embrace their hopelessness and isolating in an uncaring world. It comes down to player agency. In games like Apoc World, this isn’t an issue. The characters are super competent and so the limits of their actions are generally only determined by the boldness of the player and the dice rolls.

In horror though, you need another limiter. Moves help, as they show you what you can do. But they don’t necessarily make it explicit what you can’t do. For instance, in an Apocalypse World engine Horror game, a move like “When you face a deep one, roll+sanity. On a miss, you loose control of your character for a time. On a 7-9, you’re deeply scarred and lose something of yourself. On a 10+ you steel yourself against the horror and are able to act again once it has passed.”  In none of those instances does the character get to “act” but their inability to maintain control can still be measured.

It seems like the same could be done for the Warren, either in discussing the principles of the game, or in the moves themselves. Resist Panic is a good one, I think it covers a lot of what I’m going for, but definitely wasn’t a limiter in our game. We had to roll it, and only barely made it several times, but were able to proceed. I think it could be harsher, but I also think that may not be fun for the players.

Bubbles from The Wire is a good example of playing out the inverse side of competence. His moves are centered around dealing with suffering and loss. Making the best he could in a world/situation that was constantly punishing him. And he’s a reminder that it’s not about doing nothing, it’s what you do when succeeding isn’t an option, breaking even only happens rarely, and most of the time, shit his just hitting the fan.

Actual Play – Stone Dragon Sages (8/16/2014)

torchbearer-rpgGM: Sean Nittner
Players: Wil Hammerand, Frost Holliman, Joshua Gay, Pamela Alexander, John Alexander, and Patrick Day.
System: Torchbearer
Module: Stone Dragon Mountain

Game number two at Gen Con! Of the players Frost was familiar with Torchbearer, but the others were new to it. They took to it quickly and had the right spirit about diving in doing their best.

Turn by Turn on the Mountain

Turn 1 – At base camp they quickly tended to Dermot’s wounds. There was much negotiating over how they would do this, try to clean the wound and save the leg, or cut off  the leg and save he man. Beren argued fiercely to cut off the leg, Dermot countered that without his leg he could never get vengeance for his sons. Ulrik refused to cut off the leg and instead tried to treat the wound. [Healer Ob 3. Fail: Twist] Dermot thrashed in pain and the operation took place but too much blood was lost. In his last dying words he begged that his sons be avenged.

Turn 2 – Having made quite a spectacle accidentally killing Dermot, the tried to butter up the Sharwa in the base camp in the hopes of gaining supplies for the road. They got them, but they came with a grave warning about the gods and their anger. Jhala, one of the Sharwa women equipped them with rope, an ice pick, and the certainty of their doom! [Persuader Ob 4. Fail: Condition Afraid]

Turn 3 – Feeling short on supplies, and eager to make use of the base camp’s provisions Karolina set out to go hunting for game. The sun moved fast in the western sky however and soon was dipping below the mountain. Any game she might have caught quickly escape her in the dim light [Hunter Ob 2. Fail: Twist]

Turn 4 – Annoyed that so little progress had been made and already daylight was fading, Beren urged everyone to light torches and start climbing the mountain. When the trail was lost Karolina and Takia tested out many routes  up the loose gravel until the found a sturdy one, gaining much needed ground to reach the canyon above. [Pathfinder Ob 3. Success]

For all their efforts now the party really did feel like making making camp. Their bellies were rumbling as they were all Hungry and Thirsty.

Spell – Unwilling to make camp so exposed to the elements, Varg cast upon the wisdom of the Sage to read the sign written in Sharwa. With dangers in either direction they opted for Khumba’s pass, unafraid of demons.

Camp Phase

Instinct – Varg made a map of their progress down to base camp [Cartography Ob 2. Success]

Instinct – Gerald prepared some of his fresh fruits, berries, and cony to make a delicious stew for all [Cooking Ob 2. Success]

The Adventure continues

After camp they had one last harrowing near slip down the mountain, only saved by borrowed rope, and much effort was put into hauling up beleaguered companions.

 Thoughts on this game

I think this is the first time Dermot died. It was the circumstances under which he died, that made it really memorable though. It was an Ob3 Health test no matter what, but how Ulrik tended to his wounds was of critical importance to Beren. It showed him that Ulrik and Dermot were both soft and couldn’t handle the realities of the world. For Dermot that meant bleeding out and dying, who knows what it would eventually mean to Ulrik.

Overall despite saying it was not her “type of character at all” Pamela blew me away with her depiction of Beren. One of the best I’ve seen yet. Accent, attitude, and begrudging bravery!

Developmental notes: The Sharwa should want something (or somethings) from the PCs. Give them something to trade for. Dermot needs to be more forthcoming with information about Kumbha.

Actual Play – You can go home again (8/16/2014)

sparksnevadaGM: Mike Olson
Players: Jim Peterson, Sean Nittner, Karen Twelves, and Matt Spelitzer as Croach, the Tracker.
System: Sparks Nevada (Playtest)

Shine your astro spurs and don your robot fists, cause it’s time for…

Sparks Nevada, Marshall on Mars!

Queue up the old timey music because Mike Olson is ready to run outlaw varmints out of town with his in development rules for a Sparks Nevada RPG.

Karen and I, recent fans of the show (because Mike told us about it) were super excited to play… and the game did not disappoint.

Setup

The game is still in development, so a large portion of this is subject to change, but here’s some of the awesome things we had at the table.

A basic into to the space western genre, the Thrilling Adventure Hour radio show itself, and a pretty novel form of roleplaying, one the is nearly exclusively dialog and sound effects, as necessitated by a radio show! He then pulled out a small speaker setup and played the theme song for us:

When there’s varmints need a’ catching
And young ‘uns need a’ saving
On my rocket steed I race across the stars
For I’ve sworn by the burrs of my astro spurs
to right the outlaw wrongs on Mars
(Yes he rights the outlaw wrongs on Mars!)

And I’m from Earth!

You can go home again

This time we find our heroes traveling together on a perilous journey to celebrate the Martian holiday Ka-wan-zah (it’s Kwanzaa). This would be the first time Croach the Tracker had returned to his tribe since he set off to fulfill his onus (onus) to Sparks Nevada. The cast of course was Sparks and Croach, accompanied by The Red Plains Rider and Cactoid Jim.

We opened with banter… now that may not seem like anything special, but banter is the heart and soul of the radio show, so the fact that Mike built it into the system (currently a Fate inspired mechanic where aspects are unlocked by playing on your cues, gimmicks, and relationships) was excellent.

Red bickered with Sparks about being crazier than Hot Pants on a Polar Bear, Sparks told Croach he was gross, Croach corrected all of them, and Cactoid Jim was at once wonderful and totally differential to everyone. This was like solid gold material here.

Our story revolved around returning home in which Croach had to persuade Barlok the Wise to allow him back into the tribe despite the protest of Praytrop the Contrary. Thankfully all of Croaches good deed pay dividends (onus) and he was allowed to join them, but before the celebrations could commence Science Aliens, or maybe it was Technology Aliens (ain’t but two sides of the same coin if you asked me) flew a spaceship over them with plans to drill a hole in mars… right through the Ka-wan-zah celebration.

As we had previously asserted when wrangling a heard of disgruntled hypercattle, Red had made some improvements to Sparks Nevada’s lasso. With that, Cactoid Jim issuing everyone to safety, and Croach’s self sacrifice (onus), Sparks was able to lasso up the wormhole generator and open it below the alien spaceship to suck them all in.

Now isn’t that some thrilling heroics!

Left to Right: Cactoid Jim, Sparks Nevada, Croach the Tracker, The Red Plains Rider, and our Narrator.
Left to Right: Cactoid Jim, Sparks Nevada, Croach the Tracker, The Red Plains Rider, and our Narrator.

Thoughts on the game

Mike uses some mechanics that really work well for the game. Specifically the cues and gimmicks, as well as the drama pool. All encouragements to engage in the activities present in the radio show: witty dialog, character revealing banter, and world building via observations of it.

What wasn’t as strong for me was the actual resolution mechanics. There were strong incentives to play the game correctly (bonus dice, check boxes being checked, aspects being unlocked, etc) but when it came to the dice rolling itself, it all just felt a little flat. Like, of course we’re going to succeed, we’ve got this giant pile of dice, and wouldn’t it be lame if we didn’t, so yeah, we win. I’m not worried though, dice mechanics can be worked on, it’s the core action of the game you’ve gotta get down, and this version has it!

Trouble is awesome.

I’m from Earth.

That is all.

Actual Play – My Grudge Stick! (8/16/2014)

torchbearer-rpgGM: Sean Nittner
Players: Shaun Hayworth, Jason Gunter, William Jordens, Robert Dixon, and Albert Anderson
System: Torchbearer
Module: Stone Dragon Mountain

Okay. Torchbearer at Gen Con. No problem. Did it last year and had lots of fun Under the House. This year, I’m running my own adventure though. Stone Dragon Mountain. One I know is at shortest a two-parter.

Prep work

I think I’ve got Torchbearer prep down to a science.

  • Spiral bound print out of the rulebook, complete with tagged chapters
  • Three player decks composed of a custom grouping of cards
  • A bag of coins to serve as look
  • Red poker chips for Disposition
  • Black poker chips for Checks
  • Fate/Persona coins (originally made for Mouse Guard but they work well here)
  • Seven sets of dice (in different colors)
  • GM Screen
  • A folder with character sheets, table tents, and the adventure

Luckily most of this stuff packs dense!

Climbing up that down mountain

Adventuring Phase

Turn 1 – In base camp Gerald set about showing the locals how to cook, in an attempt to better their mood and impress them. [Cook Ob 2. Fail: Hungry and Thirsty]. He succeeded but in doing so built up quite an appetite himself!

Turn 2 – Outside of the camp Karolina tried to befriend Dermot, but he was insulted by her condolences [Persuader versus test. Fail: Twist]. Enraged by her words Dermot jumped on Karolina when tumbling down the mountain side with her.

Instinct – Always on the watch for Karolina, Beren tackled Dermot and pulled him off, but in the rucks Dermot’s axe gave him an ugly gash across the dwarf’s hip [Fighter versus test. Fail: Injured]

Camp Phase

Disheartened by their early setbacks, the adventurers opted to make camp with the Sharwa

Instinct – Karolina set out to go hunting for game on the mountain [Hunter Ob 5. Fail: Twist] She spent hours trying to hunt a hare when she realized something was trying to hunt her.

Check – Meanwhile back at the camp, Beren would have sought her out, but his wound was killing him. Taika set out to finder her. She found Karolina watching the woods around her very carefully and wary of something around her. Taika spooked the very rabbit that Karolina had been hunting and they both used the distraction to run safely back to camp. [Hunter Ob 2. Success]

Instinct – Without any fresh game to use Gerald used his rations to cook up a hearty meal for all… or mostly him! [Cook Ob 2. Success]

IMG_2965Check – Beren, taunted by Ulrik that the locals used spike boots and that he should make some, set about crafting. He took some of his iron spikes and a hammer and tried to fashion some of his one. That damn nails kept slipping, and there was no good surface to work on, and the bloody cold was numbing his fingers. [Carpentry Ob 2. Fail: Angry] He made the boots alright, just like any dwarf worth his salt, but the wasted time rose up a terrible ire in him. He pulled out his “grudge stick” and wrote a grudge against Ulrik, that he would make the Cleric walk barefoot across a bed of Dragon’s Teeth to appreciate the value of good footwear!

Adventuring Phase

Turn 1 – Up the mountain they went until the path faded away into nothing but loose gravel and rhododendron bushes. Karolina forged ahead an with some help from Beren and Taika’s watchful eye, they found their way up the mountain and bath onto a path! [Pathfinder Ob 3. Success]

Turn 2 – As the path split, leading off east and west around Wing Glacier Canyon, the adventures did what they could to transcribe the sign at the pass. They gathered that it indicated in either direction, only varied in form. Diamond Tooth or Khumba’s pass? Beware greed from the first, a demon on the second. [Scholar Ob 2. Success]

Turn 3 – Oh god I love the nigh impassible walkway. Using a rope and grappling hook to catch the pulley lines, the clever adventurers raised the fallen bridge [Health Ob 4. Success]

Turn 4 – Ignoring Diamond Tooth they continued up the path to the river of bounty where the spotted a mother bear fishing with her cubs. Fishing for golden fish! Karolina was going to get some of those fish. The scared off the mother bear and her cubs but not without Karolina taking savage blow to her head,  claws tearing at her face and ear. [Drive off conflict won with a compromise: Karolina Injured]

Up ahead they saw the great Dragon’s Maw… open and full of promise within!

Thoughts on this game

Teaching new players how to play Torchbearer in a loud room can be a challenge. There are lots of moving parts and the noise is distracting. This game I think went better than the next one because I had Shaun Hayworth in it, who was able to help out with teaching the rules and giving good advice to the other players (especially when we were scripting the drive off conflict).

Oh my god, my favorite thing in this whole game was that damn grudge stick. I love the idea that Beren carves his grudges into a stick and breaks it when they are resolved… if ever. The banter between him and Ulrik was great.

My highest praise for Torchbearer game from Shaun Hayworth:

Actual Play – Tricky, Tricky Kobolds! (8/18/2013)

torchbearer-rpgGM: Sean Nittner
Players: Four awesome gamers
System: Torchbearer
Game: Under the House of the Three Squires

My second Torchbearer game in Games on Demand. It went of much smoother because by that point I was in the groove. As with the previous game, I had all the pregenerated characters on the table ready for players to pick. We got Karolina, Taika, Beren, and Ulrik. Sorry Gerald and Varg, next time.

Delving Deep

Right off the bat this group way impressed me. When Beren and Ulrik were about to fall, Taika jumped into action, casting Lightness of Being on them and levitating them back up to safety. Then they quickly got to work on establishing safe passage down.

Later, when they were trapped by Kobolds and had the option of trying overpower them, Karolina lead them in an effort to trick the kobolds into letting them out. As it turns out Kobolds aren’t all that smart! It such good times.

Here’s a shot of the players after the game. Clearly they are smiling too much and I didn’t do my job.

Thoughts on this game

This ran a lot smoother than the previous one because I had my stride. Both the players and I were good about leading with description and letting the mechanics follow that.

Torchbearer has this weird trust thing, where the players have to trust the GM not to completely dick them over and call for rolls on every action they take. Some players are really cautions and I think that just make the game slow down. It also create a cycle that gets reinforced. If you think every time a roll comes up the GM is punishing you, then everything eventually becomes punishment, even when you’re awesome. I was really glad that this group just did things, and then rolled dice when they had to. Awesomesauce.

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