TROS- Legnds of the Fey

[Jake Norwood]

I don't really want to make this into a long post, so if I leave out something you want to know, then ask.

The last two wednesdays we've been playing a Siehe-only campaign in The Riddle of Steel. The cast of characters:

Ben Moore "Kai'hae'lu": A Fey-siehe lladwr, or "killer." He's harsh, gruff, and violent, but loyal to the groves and all things Fey.

Earta "Cariad Chwarae": A Fey youngling who plays and romps about, with too much cuirosity for her own good.

Shannon "Arwyllyn": A Fey woman with a bow and a sword, and who is completely enamored with the alien world of men.

Megan "Draig": a little winged seelie dragon-girl the size of a cat.

Stew "Vantz": an Unseelie Gremilin with one hell of a lateral lisp.

The first two sessions have focused on events within the Court of Brennin Coch-Coeden, or the Fey King of the Red Tree (it'd put the redwoods to shame). The focuses of the game are the shrinking of the Elven world, the relationship between elves and men, the elvish holocaust of Uglub, what happens when one elf sheds the blood of another, and the "Riddle of Souls" that plagues the fey-siehe.

Observations:
-This is some of the best role-playing many of my group members have done. They are enamoured with their characters and with the magic of everything. A sense of wonder--it's great.

-All of the characters have magic, which is pretty wild. The first game several of them aged considerably, and in doing so learned their lesson really quickly. There was a grand total of 2 months aged between all five of them last session, although several spells were cast. The control that so much magic gives them over various events is wonderful, and certainly breaks any chance of running this like an old D&D campaign.

-The elves are sad. It's a beautiful and probably cliche thing, but it's gorgeous...the players have really tapped into the decline of their people. The first game ended with Arwyllyn being laid half-dead (from a fight with a new Hef type in OBAM) at the foot of the Red Tree. Bathed in firery light and dancing autum leaves the King of the Red-Tree rode up on his fairy horse and healed her (attatching a leg that had been destroyed, amongst other things). As she looked into his sad eyes she watched the magic of the healing age him...watched his hair grow just a little bit, and she saw that a being that has been alive since the dawn of time just willingly walked another step closer to his death for her. It left the player shuddering.

-The entries in Of Beasts and Men are amazing. I've brought two in so far (one from each game, including the "Three Swords" that can be read about in the TROS forum). They are wicked-powerful, and not to be trifled with, but also quite mortal. In the first session they took out this new Hef breed that could have killed any of them with one hit, regardless of armor (it might need to be toned down, Brian). They did it with magic, of course, by blinding it, causing its hair to grow 4' long, and eventually Commanding it to tear its own head off.

-I'm getting really quality material for the Fey section of Sorcery and the Fey, which really might be one of the damned coolest books I ever write if it keeps going like this.

-By trying very hard to capture the essence of Grimm's Fairy tales and other folklore and legends in the setting and events, the players have really integrated themselves into the mythos. They *are* the fairy tales, after all, and I find them acting like it all the time. They have convinced men that they are angels, followed one home to watch from afar, and snuck into a barn dance. They have killed men that have wandered too far into the forest, and saved one with a great eagle (Tokien, anyone?). They are beautiful and gentle and terrifying.

-We're really pushing the system to its limits, and it's helping me to see what areas might be refined in future supplements/editions/whatever. It also is motivating me to do so in a fashion that is compatible with our goal of fast-play.

-Lastly, as always, the SA's run the game.

Questions, comments, feedback?

Jake

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Jake,

Can you give us a breakdown of a powerful spell being used, in play, in which the player-character does not age? I'm interested in seeing how a knowledgeable player uses the magic relatively safely (as expressed in general already by the comparison you made between the two sessions).

I'd like to know about the in-game as well as rules-based context for the whole thing.

Best,
Ron

[Jake Norwood]

Well, that depends on your definition of a "powerful" spell. Some general trends that I saw pop up second session were:

-Use of Formalized spells
-Use of gestures and/or dialogue (optional because they're elves)
-and, of course, getting those SA's in there.

All of the above can drop a CTN by up to 4, I believe.

Yesterday Cariad, the playful one, wished to speak with a plant about what had happened in its immediate vicinity. The CTN was 7, IIRC, and got lowered to 5. She used 2 dice to cast it and then 7 to resist aging, and got a little bit lucky (although she had luck dice waiting "just in case," as this character is trying *very* hard never to age at all).

Jake

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Jake,

Interesting and enlightening. Here's another question: have any SA's changed? I recognize that many or most may have increased in value from their starting scores (which in my experience happens very fast in TROS), but I'm more interested in either of these:

1) A score drops because a player-character acts "against" it (e.g. denies Faith)

2) An SA is changed to a different one because a player spends two of them to 0 and changes one of them

Based on my play so far, these things happen in/around the third or fourth sessions, so I'm curious to compare with someone else's game.

Best,
Ron

[Jake Norwood]

1) A score drops because a player-character acts "against" it (e.g. denies Faith)

I generally don't do this too often, but rather I encourage a player to change their SA so that they can benefit from in. In my experience "no reward" is about as good as punishment, especially in TROS.

2) An SA is changed to a different one because a player spends two of them to 0 and changes one of them

Based on my play so far, these things happen in/around the third or fourth sessions, so I'm curious to compare with someone else's game.

This has happened, with at least 2 players. So far we've gained a passion for a human lost in the woods (the Arwyllyn character, above) and a Destiny to become a scourge to humans (the Cariad Chwarae character, above). It's especially fascinating to watch the two characters, both of which started out enamored with the mystery of "mankind" go in two very different directions based on the different experiences they've had.

Jake

[Brian Leybourne]

The entries in Of Beasts and Men are amazing.

Sorry, I didn't quite catch that, can you say it a bit louder? ;-)

I've brought two in so far (one from each game, including the "Three Swords" that can be read about in the TROS forum). They are wicked-powerful, and not to be trifled with, but also quite mortal. In the first session they took out this new Hef breed that could have killed any of them with one hit, regardless of armor (it might need to be toned down, Brian).

Presumably you're talking about the Ape variant :-)

I agree that the stats on that beastie are may be slightly OTT. I'll have another look at that entry and get back to you via email, but really - I don't see a huge problem with it. There are some things that you should really just run away from :-)

After all, nine foot tall white yeti-like creatures with horns are bad enough, but when they're swinging through the trees at you, howling, and their upper body is twice the normal size, it's brown trouser time.

But yeah, I take your point. I'll have a think and let you know.

They did it with magic, of course, by blinding it, causing its hair to grow 4' long, and eventually Commanding it to tear its own head off.

Now I have this big stupid grin on my face. Damn cool stuff. See, it can be beaten, and all it takes is a party of five who are entirely Fey sorcerers... :-)

Brian.