I ran [Trollbabe] last night for the first time!

[dunlaing]

We had a good time, although the majority of the session was spent introducing Trollbabe to two of the three players and character creation.

I'll post the recap of the session as a reply to this post.

One issue that came up in play involved a conflict in which Kitte was trying to brush past some Trolls that wanted her to stop. We ran it as a combined Social+Fighting conflict with an Exchange by Exchange pace. We had a decent Fair and Clear stage and then jumped into it. Kitte's player failed the first roll and narrated her injury. At this point, Moira's player asked if she could do anything to help out Kitte in the conflict.

I responded with a bold "Errr,...umm..." I'm honestly not sure what the proper response should have been. I went with saying that since she was not involved in the conflict, that she could only help out using the normal rules for re-rolls (if Kitte had had her as a relationship). I'm not sure if that was right though.

Should I have allowed Moira to enter the conflict at that point? If so, how would she even help out mechanically?

Also, is it kosher to use someone else's Trollbabe as "a sudden ally"?

[dunlaing]

This is the recap that I sent to the players:

The Clothes Make the Trollbabe

So far we have met three Trollbabes. Pending Dave's status, we may add another.

Kitte (Nate) is a 7. Her turn-ons are handheld weapons and Trollish
magic. She is feisty. Her hair is big, shaggy, long, and earthy. Her
horns are not too big, but they do spiral once. She has a magic sword
with a ruby and carries a pouch full of dragon knuckles. She wears a
chainmail bikini, although it is just barely visible behind her torn
animal skin clothes. She doesn't believe in repairing (or cleaning)
her clothes, so she merely replaces them once they've taken enough
wear and tear.

Moira (Mark) is a 5. Her turn-ons are throwin axes and Trollish magic.
She is perky. She has big hair with blonde highlights and water
buffalo horns. She always carrries with her a lucky amethyst and a
bronze fibula and she is always well equipped with axes, flint and
steel, and other useful items. She wears a stylish doeskin catsuit and
invests a lot of time and care into her clothing, making sure that
repairs are quickly and aesthetically made and everything is kept
reasonably clean.

Kitte and Moira met across a river from each other while en route to
Foggy Bottom. Each of them being the first other Trollbabe that the
other had seen, they struck up a shouted conversation in which they
learned that they were both headed to the same place. Moira tried to
impress upon Kitte the value of keeping one's clothes in good repair,
which Kitte scorned. Kitte then convinced that the river would be
narrow enough for Kitte to jump across, and that Moira should simply
jump across the river instead of wasting time looking for a narrower
point. Moira jumped, but failed to make it all the way across. She
landed in the water near the Western bank and Kitte helped her out. We
learned that while Kitte may not pay much attention to her own
appearance, her sword is in immaculate condition.

Kitte and Moira (who had decided to walk together) spotted smoke
rising from the woods. They headed that way to investigate and came
upon a band of Trolls, who demanded they stop. Kitte decided to stride
proudly through them, while Moira held back to see what would happen.
Kitte was blocked by a Spiny Troll (there are some Trolls who have
spines on their backs. Those guys are serious business). Kitte
attempted to brush past him, but he was too fast for her and she was
knocked down in front of him, her face gashed and her pride wounded.
At this point, the conflict moved out of the realm of Fighting+Social
and directly into the realm of Fighting as Kitte charged the troll.
Unfortunately for her, the Spiny Troll was able to best her at first,
causing many deep scratches in both her clothing and her skin. Kitte
rallied though when she grabbed a strong vine off of a tree and
whipped it at the Spiny Troll. She was able to get the vine lodged in
his spines, and he was stuck to the tree. She was then able to push
past the other Trolls, who were cowed by her defeat of the Spiny Troll
and thus she and Moira were able to continue on their way.*

Easter (Jim) is a 4. Her turn-ons are Athletics and Trollish magic.
She is insightful. Her horns are thin (antelope girth), smooth, and
closely curving, followig the graceful curve of her skull. Her hair is
stiff and naturally bleached from plenty of swimming, and she has
considered cutting it off to cut down on drag in the water. She is a
long distance swimmer who often travels by swimming and walking and
wears a waxed leather jerkin and shorts. She carries a deck of cards
in a waterproof box and a piece of worked ambergris.

Easter came ashore East of Foggy Bottom after swimming across the Bay
of Tears. She is not the sort of Trollbabe that walks around bays. As
she climbed up onto the shore, she saw a young boy (15? 16?) coming
out of the woods and crying. She asked hima few questions and he
looked at her cautiously and a bit fearfully. He started edging away,
but Easter was able to coax him not only into staying, but also into
answering her questions. She learned that his entire clan (as far as
he could tell) had just recently been wiped out by Trolls while he was
down on the shore practicing his singing. He saw the men of his clan
spitted by the Trolls, although the only conflicts his clan had ever
had with Trolls before had been in the songs his father taught him.
She also learned is name, which sounded like Cullin O'Clare, but
considering that he is Celtic, is more likely spelled Cuchullain
Ui'Cullaioghre or something like that. While talking, she led him
unwittingly back toward the clan's lands instead of toward the Cliffs
of Fate that he wants to get to.

As Kitte and Moira continued toward the source of the smoke, they
talked. Kitte intended to convince Moira that Kitte was the dominant
Trollbabe and that Moira should follow her. Moira intended to give
Kitte a bit of a comeuppance in regard to her somewhat less than
impressive performance against the Trolls. In the course of the
conversation, Moira was able to humble Kitte a bit, particularly by
pointing out that during the conversation Kitte had managed to lead
them significantly South of their intended path, and the two forged a
friendship.

During play, Jim gained a Relationship with Cullin. What was the
nature of the relationship Jim (or have you not figured that out yet?)
Do you intend him to be a companion? A friend? An enemy?
I believe that both Kitte and Moira gained a Relationship with the
other one. I remember Mark saying that he was writing it down as a
companion. Not sure about what Nate wrote down (sidekick?).

There were only three conflicts (Kitte vs. the Trolls, Easter vs.
Cullin, Kitte vs. Moira), so there weren't that many opportunities to
add relationships (and not all were taken advantage of--Kitte could
have taken a Relationship from the Kitte vs. the Trolls fight. It
could be interesting to make the Spiny Troll an Enemy, or a
Stalker,... or even a sidekick)

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,
My apologies for replying so late to this thread.

One issue that came up in play involved a conflict in which Kitte was trying to brush past some Trolls that wanted her to stop. We ran it as a combined Social+Fighting conflict with an Exchange by Exchange pace. We had a decent Fair and Clear stage and then jumped into it. Kitte's player failed the first roll and narrated her injury. At this point, Moira's player asked if she could do anything to help out Kitte in the conflict.

I responded with a bold "Errr,...umm..." I'm honestly not sure what the proper response should have been. I went with saying that since she was not involved in the conflict, that she could only help out using the normal rules for re-rolls (if Kitte had had her as a relationship). I'm not sure if that was right though.

Actually, you were right. Conflicts, once begun, cannot be entered in the way you're describing. Yes, if trollbabe #2 had a relationship with trollbabe #1, then she could be brought in as a re-roll. Otherwise, the players should remember that if they want their characters involved in the same conflict, then they need to say so when starting the conflict.

Also, is it kosher to use someone else's Trollbabe as "a sudden ally"?

That's an interesting question. The answer, regretfully, must be "no." There are a number of subtle reasons for this that mainly concern long-term play and the trollbabe-trollbabe relationship and conflict rules.

Best,
Ron

[dunlaing]

Thanks Ron! The response was timely enough, as we're not playing again until Wednesday. It's great to be able to get responses like this from the author.

Here's a link to the thread about the first time we've played Trollbabe. This past week was the second time. Jim (Supplanter) is playing Easter. Dave (who played Babsah in that game) wasn't present but we expect him in future sessions.