[The Shadow of Yesterday] Rats, Revenge, and Revolution (part 1)

[KingstonC]

As the moon begins it's monthly swallowing of the sun, an army lies on the banks of the Fox river, poised to claim a prize that could tip the balance of power in Maldor. And in the forest, a ragtag band of slaves, wenches, rats, and revolutionaries seeks to bring the engine of war crashing down.

This is a actual play report of the "final act" of our six month long The Shadow of Yesterday campaign. The characters are all members revolutionary cell in Maldor, living under the yoke of the odious Philippe the Dawnbreaker, living in Fox Bridge, a border town on a river. The players were:

Matt- Mat played Trevor, the cell leader. He was a master of disguise, tactics, and oratory. He was a violent, ruthless man; a monster dedicated to hunting monsters worse than himself. He had a younger brother , and was loyal to Cyric the grey, a merciless, power hungry revolutionary leader in the capitol city.

Jessica- Jessica played Kamia, a bar maid. She was a master of social skills and a brutal street fighter. She had a dependant niece. Early in the campaign, she was molested by a group of Armeni traders and vowed revenge.

Anne- Anne played Stich, a Ratkin. Stich was torn between her loyalty to her companions and her love of shiny things. Stich was a master pathfinder and fighter.

In previous games, the players uncovered a pact between Philippe and the Armeni (who's representatives coincidentally, molested Kamia)  to control the steel foundries of Ionsguard, and thereby, all of Maldor. The party formed a truce with Richard Drawcreek, the governor of Fox Bridge; a man torn between being captain in Philippe's army and his fundamental decency. The party leads an guerrilla army recruited from freed slaves.

The party returns to Fox Bridge, their hometown, to find that Philippe's army is using it as a staging ground to attack Ionsguard. Trevor, Kamia, and Stich, arriving before their army, sneak into Fox Bridge in disguise.   Kamia goes to the town bar to discover Richard Drawcreek arguing with Philippe's general about the damage done to the town by the army. When the general leaves, Drawcreek confronts Kamia, telling her that Fox Bridge is not safe for her, that she is a wanted criminal, and she needs to leave. Drawcreek also reveals that he has had to claim Kamia's nice and Trevor's brother as his own wards to shield them from being killed. A debate occurs between Drawcreek (who wants Kamia to leave Fox Bridge), and Kamia (who does not want to go). I win, and Jessica, Kamia's player, brings down the pain. Kamia used her savior-fare skill to seduce Drawcreek, while Drawcreek uses his sway skill. The fact that Drawcreek had Kamia's niece worked at a +2 weapon. The bringing down the pain process created a dramatic, high stakes playing field for Jessica's role playing and banter, which earned her gift dice from all players. Kamia seceded in her seduction attempt, and turns Drawcreek against Philippe in the process. 

Meanwhile, Trevor sneaks into the Fox Bridge tower in disguise, hoping to discover secret plans and discovers his brother and Kamia's niece instead, living as Drawcreek's wards. Trevor is angry at having his brother stolen from him, and vows to kill Drawcreek. Later, Trevor meets Cyric, who tells him that the Armeni are traveling to Fox Bridge, and have an ancient book containing the secret of steel foundry. Trevor is told to bring the book to Cyric. Trevor plots with Cyric to kill Drawcreek and Philippe, who will be coming to Fox Bridge to oversee the campaign.

Later, Trevor, Kamia, and Stich (who has discovered a motherload of shiny baubles in the armies encampment, pulls herself away by the skin of her teeth) and  meet in a dark clearing, with their guerrilla army . Kamia has brought Drawcreek, who has decided to join the revolutionaries. Trevor confronts Drawcreek about his brother. When Trevor discovers that Drawcreek was trying to protect his brother, Trevor has what can only be described as an existential epiphany. Matt declares that Trevor, realizing that Drawcreek has been a better surrogate father than he has, abandons his key of the dependant (his brother), as well as his key of allegiance to Cyric. Trevor realizes that he has become a bloodthirsty beast in his quest for revolution, and begins to seek a path of redemption (which became a key of redemption). His first step to redemption is to destroy Cyric, the man who help make him a monster. As the red sun of the eclipse rises, the party plots to ambush the Armeni and use the book as a bargaining chip in the most dangerous of games.

Will the vicious Armeni be brought to justice? Will Philippe crush Maldor under a steel toed boot? Will Stich choose revolution over her horde of shiny, pointy objects? Find out in the next installment of Rats, Revenge, and Revolution!

[Judd]

How did you handle the soldiers mistreatment of Jessica's character, Kamia?

Was it an established fact in-game when she made up her character or did this terrible thing happen at the table and if so, how did you handle it?

[Supplanter]

How did you handle the soldiers mistreatment of Jessica's character, Kamia?

Was it an established fact in-game when she made up her character or did this terrible thing happen at the table and if so, how did you handle it?

I think it's the incident he covered in the Social contract bent but not broken thread.

Best,


Jim

[Mike Lucas]

Paka, I'm pretty sure Kingston answers all your questions and more in this other thread:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=17966.0

Kingston: great report! I really enjoyed the examples of Bringing Down the Pain and buying off keys. Couple of questions - I'll quote you first...

A debate occurs between Drawcreek (who wants Kamia to leave Fox Bridge), and Kamia (who does not want to go). I win, and Jessica, Kamia's player, brings down the pain. Kamia used her savior-fare skill to seduce Drawcreek, while Drawcreek uses his sway skill. The fact that Drawcreek had Kamia's niece worked at a +2 weapon. The bringing down the pain process created a dramatic, high stakes playing field for Jessica's role playing and banter, which earned her gift dice from all players. Kamia seceded in her seduction attempt, and turns Drawcreek against Philippe in the process. 

Just wondering if you had established the 'Drawcreek turns against Philippe' as Jessica's part of the stakes in the initial ability check, or if Jessica changed her intention at some point during BDTP.

My other question is, how did you find TSOY for a campaign of this duration (six months)? How often did you play on average?

Thanks again for this thread - I haven't had the chance to play TSOY yet so it's nice to see an entertaining actual play post.

Mike

[Judd]

I think it's the incident he covered in the Social contract bent but not broken thread.

Best,


Jim

Sorry, it slipped under the radar.

Thanks for the link.

[KingstonC]

Mike-

Thanks!

Just wondering if you had established the 'Drawcreek turns against Philippe' as Jessica's part of the stakes in the initial ability check, or if Jessica changed her intention at some point during BDTP

Drawcreek's turn against Philippe was my (the GM) call. Jessica's states were "I will not be talked out of leaving fox bridge". But, once she won the bring down the pain, Drawcreek's actions seemed like a natural outgrowth of his "good man in a corrupt system" issues.

My other question is, how did you find TSOY for a campaign of this duration (six months)? How often did you play on average?

We played bi-weekly, and had a total of about 15 sessions. We had it set so that 5XP=1 Advance, so within those fifteen sessions the characters went from 5 advance local heroes to 30 advance superheroes who could defeat entire armies single Handed. The system dealt with character advancement very, very well. It was a real rush to be able to move through those power levels quickly. It made the story more like fantasy fiction.

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Kingston,

Holy crap, this sounds like fun. I also, somehow, missed your earlier thread.

I'm going to guess you played the first edition of the game, although I don't know that for a fact. If so, did Bringing Down the Pain work out ok for you? (I think it works in first edition, but it makes several unstated assumptions.)

[KingstonC]

I'm going to guess you played the first edition of the game, although I don't know that for a fact. If so, did Bringing Down the Pain work out OK for you? (I think it works in first edition, but it makes several unstated assumptions.)

Clinton,

Yes! It was fun. This campaign has been the most consistant fun I've had role playing. 

I was using the first edition of the game. Bringing down the pain in first edition was really slow the first time I did it (I think I wrote a post about multiple characters in bringing down the pain), but once the characters gained a couple of advances it speed-ed up some. I started simplifying group attacks; rather than chaining the actions of five punks together, I just used one attack with four bonus dice. I also started diagramming BDTP conflicts, which simplified things a lot. I ordered the revised edition (in hardback! Awesome!) and am eagerly awaiting it.