The SA's are beginning to reveal themselves...

[Overdrive]

Last night we had our second session of TROS, and although it was at times pretty slow, I think we (at least I!) learnt a lot.

As it is, the characters have been on somebody else's mission to gather intelligence on the invasion of Farrenshire.. They left from Barameir and now they got to Valden, the southernmost city in Ouestenreich. Things were pretty messed up with some soldiers from Gelure marching on the streets, loads of mercenaries in the taverns, preachers preaching for the Church, preachers trying to convert citizens to worship Uglub, people buying new locks for safety, etc. Some rather low-profile info gathering left the group wondering if the local Count was somehow involved with Gelure.. one of the characters had apparently decided that the Count was worshipping Uglub himself; he got the local Church officials to believe it too.

They (or actually their leader, a noble NPC) got an audition with the Count and things got pretty weird. The rest were socializing with the 'commoners' as there was a party at the evening. One PC snuck in the noblemen's hall and heard interesting stories about the Gelurean army movements, nearly blew his cover..

Anyway, the Count nor the group leader (Albert) was not found anywhere, and the rest of the group was told to leave next morning by rather harsh means. There was a moment of thinking, and we came to the decision that all characters wanted to find Albert and look into the Count's businesses. The SA's were basically said that this needed to be done, although the motivations and means were different..

They decided to get the Church involved, and formed an inquisition :)

Now, officially the Count was known as a supporter of the Church and thus would let the inquisitors in the castle. The Count was never found but the found Albert in a secret chamber, bound and gagged. There was the Count's younger son with two guardsmen, threatening to kill him- a fight ensued. The use of SA's, teamwork, and a bit of luck left the Count's son and one of the guards impaled at their heads (although the master swordsman PC got his ass kicked, for the second time :)

The session was fun but somehow 'empty'. I figure this is because the PC's have had practically no choice; Albert the NPC has lead the group and although I've given opportunities to do things in the meantime, there has been no real power of choice.

This is about to end:
The Count lives and is obviously furious for his son. Not mentioning the other son who is still alive. Once they see what's happened... Albert wants to get back to Barameir, and will do so. This leaves one of the PC's in charge. They still need (or want, more likely) more information, and one PC has loyalty to his father's company, and must deliver stuff to Ouestenberg. Gelure can do nasty things, Ouestenreichisch nobles at the border have done special arrangements.. There are a thousand leads and I'm gonna exploit them all; the game can go anywhere!

Phew :) Just have to take into account the SA's.. It will be easier now that we've got to know the characters.

[Morfedel]

Yeah, you shouldnt have NPCs leading the group - it makes the players feel like lackeys instead of the main characters :)

[Darren Hill]

Yeah, you shouldnt have NPCs leading the group - it makes the players feel like lackeys instead of the main characters :)

It's not so bad in the right circumstances - as in the campaign startoff above in which the intention is to get the game moving, get the players in to the thick of it, then remove the NPC and see what happens!

One of my most memorable adventures was in the old FASA game Star Trek, where the pcs were department heads on the shakedown cruise of a new ship, and their captain, a hero to most of his crew, had been in action too long and was slipping into paranoia and about to try to start a war with the Klingons. Great fun.
But a bit off-topic :)

[Mike Holmes]

What are the SAs? How are you going to incorporate them in the action next time?

Mike

[Jake Norwood]

Here's the key--

whatever your plans are, modify them if need be and

make the sh*t hit the fan

Then point the fan at their SAs. Kill everyone they rely on (NPC leaders, etc.), put what they love on the line, and burn the whole city down over it. Go nuts.

Oh, and see to it that the session ends on a climactic note, even if that means ending the game early.

They'll never have had so much fun in a night of gaming.

Jake

[Overdrive]

What are the SAs? How are you going to incorporate them in the action next time?

Listed some of these under "Give me your SA's" thread. I have no problem coming up with evil plans, especially now that the world seems nearly open-ended.

I'm looking forward to the next session.. must.. create.. time.. :)

[Morfedel]

Dude, Jake, you forgot about kicking their dog! The GM HAS to kick their dog!!!!

Here's the key--

whatever your plans are, modify them if need be and

make the sh*t hit the fan

Then point the fan at their SAs. Kill everyone they rely on (NPC leaders, etc.), put what they love on the line, and burn the whole city down over it. Go nuts.

Oh, and see to it that the session ends on a climactic note, even if that means ending the game early.

They'll never have had so much fun in a night of gaming.

Jake

[Jake Norwood]

The dog! The dog! Kill it, too! And the truck has to break down! Country music! That's the ticket!

Jake