Otamarluk & Djinn

[Uber_Munchkin]

Ok so I'm starting my first TROS game tonight and I have a vague idea of what I want to be doing with it.

The game is going to occur in and around Otamarluk as all the characters either come from there or have sufficient ties to enable them to operate there without offending anyone or getting any parts of anatomy chopped off.

I have a question though.  I'm intending to heavily involve a Sidhe court in the plotline, mostly in the background but with maybe one or two key encounters with the PC's.  However I'm going to style the Sidhe of this area after the Djinn of arabic mythology and I was wondering if anyone else has looked at doing something along these lines before or has any advice to offer?

[Uber_Munchkin]

Addendum to this, I've decided that the Djinn court is going to be similar in some respects to Terry Pratchetts view of the gods.  I.E, the gods play games with men, and they cheat.

The idea is that a powerful Djinn has claimed the PC's as his pieces and is pitting them against the pieces of other players (other Djinn or perhaps even some Sidhe).

I'm going to try and model the stories on a TROS interpretation or Arabian Nights. ;)

[Mike Holmes]

Really cool idea. I haven't heard of anyone doing anything like this, but I'm glad that somebody is doing it.

Will the PCs be normals being manipulated by the Djinn, or the Djinn themselves? Or do they have the option of either?

Mike

[Jake Norwood]

Well, back in high school I really liked the Margaret Weiss/Tracy Hickman books that were a little like this. What were they? The Rose of the Prophet, yeah, that was the series.

Jake

[Uber_Munchkin]

Since it's a first game the players are going to be Mortals, if any of them get killed I might allow the option for them to generate a new charater who is a lesser Djinn but I want to get comfortable with the game first.  Characters are generated so here's my party:

4 Mongel Tribesmen from Krym-Khanan, one who is the chiefs son, his two bodyguards plus a Shaman (Sorcerer with most of his points in the Mental and Spiritual realms).

1 Sinbad inspired Sailor/Rogue/Merchant type from Otamarluk with his traveling companion, a riddle seekr from Zhibara (I think that's the right place, the ones who put all their stead in tale telling and Panache etc).

The initial hook is going to be through the Sinbad type guy who is going to know an old trader and storyteller in a seaport in Otamarluk, this old guy is a part of a family line who are 'touched' by the Djinn, they have exceptionally long life spans but must server their masters (the Djinn of the court) as agents in the earthly realms.

The idea is that several of the Djinn have challenged one another to a contest using the mortals as their pieces, the contest is to see who can make the best tale with their pieces, most drama, narrowest escapes etc.  The only rule is the Djinn are not allowed to interfere directly or to use sorcerery, all actions they undertake must be done through proxies.

I haven't yet decided what story to put them into first, I was thinking maybe something classic like an evil but wealthy merchant takes the daughter of an honest but poor family who owe him a debt, the PC's eventually end up (for whatever reason seems to fit at the time) agreeing to help the poor family earn the gold they need to buy back their daughter.  Obviously the merchant doesn't want that so he hires bladeslingers to impeed the PC's, maybe even ending up with him refusing to make good on the deal and return the daughter, meaning the PC's have to get into his manor house and rescue her.

[Ian.Plumb]

Hi,

The idea is that a powerful Djinn has claimed the PC's as his pieces and is pitting them against the pieces of other players (other Djinn or perhaps even some Sidhe).

How do you intend to handle the manipulation of the PCs by the Djinn NPC?

Cheers,

[Uber_Munchkin]

Through agents.  The idea being that there are families of mortals who have over the years made bargins with the Djinn, as their side of the bargin these families agree to serve the Djinn for a number of generations.  This gives the Djinn agents in the mortal realms who they can use to manipulate others.

[Uber_Munchkin]

Ok peeps, I'm off for a long weekend now.  If you want to ask something/suggest something please do but bear in mind I will not be able to check this forum until Tuesday next week.

[Uber_Munchkin]

Right, I'm running my first tale tonight.  The first story that they get put into is going to be a classic.

If all goes according to plan (which it won't and I'll have to end up improvising) they'll end up agreeing to steal a statue from a wealthy merchant.

Twist: The merchants family believe this statue is the source of their good fortune and so guard it very well indeed.  The only time it goes on public display is at a party.

[Mike Holmes]

Hmm. I wasn't going to post about it, but from your responses, I see a trend that I'd like to comment on now.

It sounds like you're creating "plots" in the traditional fashion. This may just be the verbiage that you're using, but have you read the alternate philosphy on how some of us here think works better for creating plot? That is, not to have a plot, but just have "stuff" that relates to the PCs SAs?

That's not to say that you can't have Djinn taking an interest in the PCs, or have them want a statue, or anything. Just that you can just stop there. So that you assume that you'll have to "improvise" and thus don't lose any work when the PCs inevitably go off your "plot."

Have you heard about these ideas? Are you using them and just bandying about plot sorta haphazardly? Or are you interested in hearing more about the concept?

Mike

[Uber_Munchkin]

Yes there is a traditional plot design here, but that's because I like having a idea of where my game is heading, call it a seed if you like.

So the overall 'plot' for this game in the Djinn court manipulating the PC's into a competition of stories.  That's why there have to be goals because the Djinn in the background are competing with each other.

All that stuff takes place at the highest level of the story, the fact that the Djinn are competing is something that the PC's have no control over at the moment.

Now the SA's that the players have chosen for their characters are there for 2 reasons, the first is to help to players develop their concept into a proper character.  The second is, imo, to give me a guide on what personal plot/challenges/development they would be interested in.

This takes place at a much lower level of the story and is much more under the control of the players with myself as GM providing the opportunities but they make the decision to act on them or not.

That's a nutshell synopsis of the method I'm using.

Now when I say plot I don't mean reams of A4 sheets with detailed to the last minute information on them with a narrow defined channel for the players to navigate.  What I mean is about half a page of notes and/or a mind map showing what my overall idea is, the points at which it ties into the various characters SA's and ideas of how I might develop other areas depending on what the players do.

Basically my approach is  to provide the framework of a story but let the players actions define the course it takes.  Make sure there are enough challenges to keep everyone interested and that the SA's the players choose actually come into play at various points.  Then lastly and most importantly, make sure everyone has fun.