[Sorcerer & Sword] & Pickup Play

[Dragon Master]

I was talking with some gamers I know recently about how difficult it can be (especially this time of year) to find a consistent group for an ongoing game. The conversation turned to ways previous groups we'd been in had handled it, and my thoughts turned to what system might be chosen, if you know in advance that you'll be dealing with that kind of a situation. And naturally, given the source material, my thoughts turned to & Sword.

The idea that I have in mind is to follow the model of the Conan stories, where you jump forward and backward in their stories. Has anyone tried this before? I have a nagging suspicion I'm setting myself up for a more difficult task than I think I am.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi! I'm not sure I'm seeing the connection between your two topics, (i) inconsistent player participation and (ii) non-chronological play. Can you help me see what you mean?

[Eero Tuovinen]

I've done non-chronological play in TSoY. I find that it's entirely a non-issue once you actually do it. Just treat it the same way a literary author would, and you'll be fine. "This is a story from before our hero journeyed over the sea. At this time he was still friends with guy X. Now let's see what happened."

[Dragon Master]

@Ron: I'm coming at it, I suppose, a bit from how groups I've been in previously have handled it. We had a different campaign for each combination of players, and would frequently choose which campaign to run based on which one all the players who attended that night had characters for. I'm thinking of using the time jumps to a similar effect. That is to say, bouncing either forward or backward in time to a point where a different combination of characters are there.

...

Though that being said, the same thing could be achieved by just disregarding any kind of set timeline entirely, so I suspect I was just latching onto a piece of the mechanics to solve a perceived problem.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi James,

I think I see - using the attendance as a way to say which time-period you're playing in? That's an interesting idea, although the way I wrote the rules, I was thinking in terms of being well-informed about what we knew about the character at all points played in his or her life so far. You should try this and write about it, as I'm interested to see how it works.

[Dragon Master]

@Ron: First I'll need to see if the game makes, but if so then I'll try this out and report back. Right now I'm checking a couple meetup groups, as well as my own gaming circles, for interested players.

[Dragon Master]

The vote has come through, and the players are more interested in Sorcerer than &Sword, but I'll be keeping this idea on the back burner till I get to try it out.