GM: Ron Stanley-Trees
Players: Derek Guder, Meguey Baker, David Piccolomini, Sean Nittner
System: Troubadors
A storytelling game about performers traveling from town to town, helping townsfolk with problems and trying to make a living off their performances.
We played traveling minstrels in an ahistorical feudal society. Our band included:
- Aelwyn, the Fortune Teller (Sean)
- Kell, the Rebel (Derek)
- Jorenn Johann, the Wild One (David)
- Abraxus Gage, the Stage Hand (Meguey)
Our band of knife throwers and fireworks igniters and speech makers and cross-bearers were at a poor church preparing to perform a passion play for peasants on hard times.
The one valuable possession the church could claim was the cross, which they lent to us for the play, and we lost it. Or rather someone stole it!
Our adventures included distracting the peasants with firework displays to buy time, phasing off abbot Ozman by speaking truth to power, telling Sister Gloria’s fortune to find who stole the cross, chumming up with lord Trundo’s guard to distant him while we searched Trundo’s wagon for the cross (and found it), and then putting on a play which ended with Abraxus taking the stage (just as Aelwyn predicted he would).
Thoughts on the game
The dice pools were built from our own trait ratings, personal inspiration, troupe inspiration, connections, and, if our action matched the mood of the scene, the scene die. That felt like one too many dice. Consolidating personal and troupe inspiration felt like the easiest way to narrow that down and did the best job of making sure every bonus die added felt distinct.
Our session met the game’s intended tone of lighthearted with moments of profundity.
Our characters lacked a good way to tally consequences and repercussions. Not sure “wounds” or “harm” is the right way to go, but it needs something.
Ron was concerned it might be boring without mechanics for violence but that was never an issue for us. Violence never felt like the direction to go and we had plenty of fun doing what we did.
The situation was built off the suggestions we made during character creation which made it very personal and rewarding but that also put a lot of cognitive load on the GM.
Our characters didn’t experience much tension between each other but there was some heated moments with the NPCs!
