Riddle of Steel: Myria

[Matt Snyder]

I'm chompin' at the bit here at work. Tonight I'm Riddle of Steel with a new group. Er, actually an old group. Oh, nevermind. A _different_ group than my usual routine.

This should be very interesting, actually. Our GM intended to simply use D&D for a home-brew world created by him and another friend called Myria.

But, he (the GM) was also very interested in this game he had heard about somewhere -- Riddle of Steel? Yeah, I told him, I shared a hotel room with the guy who wrote the friggin' thing! So, I let him borrow my copy, and he LOVED it.

The beauty was how amazingly similar his home-brew world and Weyrth are. He eagerly wanted to try the RoS in his setting, and no we're off and running. (Hey, Jake! For what it's worth, me letting him borrow the book resulted in three new buys for you! Woo!).

Here's the rundown of the group:

I'm playing Aksander Kuthien, a landless noble with the Bad Reputation flaw. I've been dispossesed of my imperial land and title by a friend-turned rival. Now, I'm in another country to begin plotting my return.

Flash -- the only other member of my "normal" group, and a regular in this "new" group -- plays Nyrmic Valaros, a scoundrel duelist, whose drive is to be the greatest swordsman in the world, despite his meager social status.

Lisa (Flash's wifey) is playing Nate, a retired soldier who joined the army in an effort to win sufficient social rank to earn the respect and hand of his childhood sweethart, Alyssa, daughter of the local lord. But, she's since been married, and Nate's become an ugly drunk.

Hobie's character name escapes me. Anyway, he's a retired (?) soldier and one helluva lecherous soul. He and Nate are chums.

Wendy's character name also escapes me, but she's playing a troll, um, babe. (Go Ron! You're on to a meme here!) She's a kind of saltwife/seawife raider whose lost her daughter to those damn Draken Elves.

We actually have already started a first scenario, but it got cut very short. The scenario is something of a Snatch affair. It seems there's a large jewel, in the possession of my character's uncle (and patron), though unbeknownst to me. Nate and his soldierly pal are guarding the place, while Nymric has been hired to steal the thing. The trollbabe and I managed to strike a bargain after she saved my skin in the markets. She's my body guard, much to the dismay of my uncle's household.  Should be interesting to see how the heist goes down and what it's all about.

The interesting thing for me is watching a new group with a different, unstated social contract at work. It's actually fun for me to find my role there, and I'm sure we'll be off and running with a fantastic RoS campaign. They seem to have taken to it like proverbial fish to water.

For those interested, check out: http://www.radseek.com/myria

I'll post another report about tonight's session.

[contracycle]

Flash -- the only other member of my "normal" group, and a regular in this "new" group -- plays Nyrmic Valaros, a scoundrel duelist, whose drive is to be the greatest swordsman in the world, despite his meager social status.

It's interesting how frequently this comes up.

[Matt Snyder]

Flash -- the only other member of my "normal" group, and a regular in this "new" group -- plays Nyrmic Valaros, a scoundrel duelist, whose drive is to be the greatest swordsman in the world, despite his meager social status.

It's interesting how frequently this comes up.

True, but one great thing about the Riddle of Steel is the many spiritual attributes that round out a character. Flash initially placed all his eggs in one basket -- the Drive SA. But, he has to take five other SAs (can't remember if this is a game requirement or just our GM's requirement). So, it's forced him to rethink his character, create some other connections and relationships, and better round out the character.