Greetings and Campaign Notes....

[doubtofbuddha]

Ah, fair enough....


Actually what I have so far is a collection of players, their characters, a setting and a general desire to give them a fun experience within the context of the camapign.

I am still trying to figure out what exactly I want to do with the campaign that would be able to involve all of the players and allow them work towards each of their personal goals.

I do think that the campaign should probably center at least in part, around the attempts by the Red Earth faction attempting to annex Esrolia. I am not planning on following the timeline wherein the Red Moon is destroyed by Argath (or whatever his name is) so I feel no computations about having the results of the campaign go off in a different direction from Glorantha "canon."

The Esrolain Foot Soldier and Lunarize Carmanian Petty Noble both want power. He wants to achieve it by bringing the dominion of the Lunar Empire to Esrolia and she wants to achieve it by finding a way to become a queen of the nation.

The Esrolian Scholar and the Puma Person Hunter both have goals that are easy to manage within the context of the game, as they are simplistic and easy to tack on to other things that are going on. The Scholar wishes simply to write and experience adventures which he can turn into stores. The Hunter just wishes to learn more about Esrolia and her family.

The foreign Warrior and Devotee of Babeester Gor is even easier as her goals are very self-centered. She wishes to achieve a deeper understanding of herself and her relationship with society. To determine if, despite what she was taught, she really exists as a human being and if the ways of her home culture were truly the "correct" way to do things. Is everything she was taught as truth wrong and if so does that make her existence a lie?

So basically I need to do something that allows the first two to work towards their grand goals while the latter three still get oppurtunities to interact with their more personal goals.

Jesse D.

[Russell Hoyle]

Mike,

Fan-fucking-tastic post (your 2nd post up from this one)

Thanks for the education! I like the clarity and no-nonsense description of all the cool stuff in Sorcerer. I shall be referring my players to this thread (and keeping it on a list of favourites).

Cheers
Rusty

[Mike Holmes]

I do think that the campaign should probably center at least in part, around the attempts by the Red Earth faction attempting to annex Esrolia. I am not planning on following the timeline wherein the Red Moon is destroyed by Argath (or whatever his name is) so I feel no computations about having the results of the campaign go off in a different direction from Glorantha "canon."

Sounds like excellent backdrop material. Why am I thinking of Casablanca suddenly? Hmmm.....

The relationship map thing is exactly what you need to have all these characters going after their own thing. It's precisely this sort of diverse motivation that the methods we're using here allow. So...

The easiest way to make up R-Maps is to steal them from other media, and beat them into shape. Casablanca is perfect in a lot of ways, but too small. So I'm going to use a technique that I've been using recently that I'll call Double Mapping. Meaning that I'm going to enlarge the map by smacking a whole 'nother map from another movie on (movies are almost always too small, hence why I tend to use plays and operas instead). Lesse, as long as we're doing Bogey, To Have and to Have not seems a good fit with Casablanca. Hmm. Large group. I'll just tack some more stuff on as necessary. See if you can catch the who's who.

If what emerges seems to you to be suitable use it as is or with whatever modifications you see fit. If it's not for some reason (and not knowing the situation, it may well be), then use it as an example of how to do it yourself.

----
Refugees fleeing from areas where the Red Earth faction is in control are pouring into [a small coastal city] making trouble for the locals. The Red Earth faction has enough authority here that they've gotten the local government to ban sea travel to prevent a mass exodus. But the locals still have some of their own control.

Still many people are trying to leave and the price for smuggling them out is astronomical.

Map
(I made up the names fast - change them if they sound funny to you)

Priestess Naera - a Red Faction intelligence person in this area, in charge of enforcing the travel ban. She's a priestess of a cult subverted by the Red Faction. Also, she's a delagator, not a doer.

Queen Rahal – Local ruler, the Queen is walking a thin line between maintaining her independence and personal beliefs in the old ways, and placating the Red Faction members who are starting to spread their influence throughout the area. She most wants anything that will secure her power base. Past that, she would prefer a return to the old ways. She's just not too willing to risk the first for the second.

Leera - Inn/Tavern owner. Leera's is where deals are made to get people out of Esrolia to Esvular, Heortland, and other places. Leera just wants to be left alone to make a profit. As such, she doesn't participate in these dealings, despite them happening on her property. She has, recently "aquired" two passes allowing travel from Unsa.  

Unsur – this brute of an Esrolian man is a thug who is hiding out at Leera's. Recently murdered two Red Faction couriers. His only goal now is to be able to drink in peace and forget that the authorities are pursuing him (he's really fun when he's partying). Unsur is Hidika's sidekick, working on the ship when he's not drunk.

Captain Rousia - Local constable who works for Queen Rahal. She understands the political situation well, therefore does what Naera wants most of the time. But she doesn't really like them muscling in the way they are. She knows that Unsur is at Leera's, and has told Naera that he's a suspect in the killings (but hasn't done anything about it herself). Knows that Sabunda is looking for passes, but hasn't said anything about that. Knows most everything, really, but plays dumb.

Sabunda - A saboteur and noble who has been working to stop the Red Earth and has been forced to flee for her life after having been discovered. Married to Ahaelik.

Ahaelik - Married to Sabunda and the cause. Leera's former lover, and quite an attractive guy (Good Looks 15W). A dilettante who has learned a lot in his travels about Esrolia.

Hidikha - Owner and captain of a ship. Like Leera, she doesn't want to get involved, but does want to make a profit. And she has her eye on Mircos.

Gerisa - Local Anti Red Faction agent. Wants Hidikha to smuggle Sabunda out for her. Has a plan to raid an old tomb complex that he has learned about on a small island nearby (they are ancestors of Naera's so he feels no guilt in raiding them) to gain the gold he needs to pay Hidikha to take Sabunda.  

Mircos - Esvulari man who wants to return home as he doesn't like the political turn of events. He works at Leera's as an entertainer (initiate of Donandar or something), and is in the process of seducing Hidikha to get him out. To make it work he has to convince Hidikha that she should come along to Esvular. Not as good looking as Ahealik, but very charming (10W).


Bangs
It's funny because the ones that you said were hard, I found easy, and the ones that you said were easy, I found difficult. Note that all the questions are rhetorical, to be answered in play by the players actions, and can have any answer, not just those implied by the questions. The players will surprise you.

Patrol – Naera comes to the Esrolian Foot Soldier (EFS) and asks for him to look for the murderer of the two couriers (knowing that his loyalties are to her cause). She directs him to Leera's where she's heard from he captain that there's a guy hiding out. This is, of course Unsur, who EFS will recognize when he sees him as a guy he used to be friends with when Unsur was also a footman a long time ago. Give the player a free relationship to Unsur (forgotten until now). Does EFS turn him in or not? And does he follow up on the web into which Unsur has gotten himself tangled? Note that if this PC has some suitable sidekick already, then replace Unsur with the sidekick.

Wolf - Captain Rousia notes EFS at the bar, and puts the moves on him. She's not really very good looking, (Plain 13), but she uses her position to pressure him (have fun with the switched roles here). Does EFS play along? He could use the contact to help with the cause here in town. Or does he resist? Or, does he fall for her (she is quite intelligent)?

Plotting – the Lunarized Carmanian Petty Noble is staying at Leera's. She's trying to establish herself her in Esrolia (does she have an established power base? I'd think not if it's a starting character), and has gotten to know Naera who is sympathetic to her cause as she sees LCPN as someone who will support the Red Earth cause. As such, she has introduced LCPN into Queen Rahal's court. There the Queen takes a big risk, and takes her into her confidence and tells her that she'll receive an important post if she works as a double agent against Naera. Does she accept the offer, or does she stay loyal to Naera, and report on the Queen? Or play them both off against each other for greater gain (and larger risk)?

Bar Buddy - LCPN has been spending time at Leera's with this fun lowlife, Unsur (free relationship again). One night when he's really drunk he spills he says some things that might connect him to the murders. How does LCPN use this information?  

Tomb Raider – The Esrolian Scholar (ES) recently was contacted about researching the location of the tombs of Naera's ancestors by Gerisa. Now she asks him if he knows anyone who'd be amenable to raiding a tomb. Does he go to get the adventure he's looking for, or does he report the illegal activity? To the captain or to Naera (makes a big difference)?

Tomb Raider 2 – I'm going to guess that the player will go, meaning that the first isn't much of a bang (but, heck, I could be wrong, and the player should have the option). They go to the tomb and have an interesting adventure (write up five rolls that they have to get by – make it short and sharp, because the adventure isn't the real bang). After they return, Gerisa asks for ES's share of the loot for the cause, explaining the situation. Does he narc now, or join the conspiracy and real adventure? Will he find that adventures have an impact on real life unlike in stories?

Big Adventure – If ES falls for Gerisa's adventuring ways (which she'll be amenable to – stress and trauma tend to produce relationships), then she asks him to go with the ship to Esvular to help guard the guy. Does he go on the big adventure, or insist on staying?

Friends? - The Puma Person Hunter (PPH) and Mircos have recently been spending time together (again, free relationship if the player wants it). She spends some time hunting illegally in a small forest south of town to make a living, but Mircos is the only person who has taken a liking to her so far, and she spends a lot of time with him. Mircos is intrigued by her cat nature, and could fall for her. He tells her that he has a contact with some information about her family, and that he'll bring it to her later. Then in the next scene PPH catches Mircos trying to seduce Hidikha (in order to get her to take him to Esrolia). Does PPH swallow her pride to get the information she wants? Or does she confront her only friend? (And more importantly can they work out their relationship's problems in general?)

Info Source - Living at Leera's PPH encounters Ahaelik one night trying to drown his sorrows. They get to talking, and commiserating. Turns out she knows a lot about Esrolia, and can help PPH there. Hopefully PPH gets infatuated with this individual (males are much more approachable than females in Esrolia because of their lower positions), which will be completely problematic as he's already involved with two women, both of whom he loves. How can PPH have both a friend in Ahaelik and get the information she wants without scaring him away?

Working for the Man – The Foreign Warrior and Devotee of Babeester Gor (FWDB) is working security of late for Sabunda. The thing is that Sabunda has taken her on because she can't afford anyone else (FWDB has trouble finding work because of her ethnicity). She abuses FWDB accidentally, referring to her as having inferior ancestry in an off-hand way and the like (she's very biased towards "pure Esrolian ways"). Does FWDB take the abuse, or quit the only job she's likely to be able to hold down? When the chips are down and her boss is in danger, will she defend him or not? What does that say about how she feels towards her heritage? Her current culture? Her goddess?

Ritual - Queen Rahal needs some information about a Babeester Gor ritual (she's hoping to boost up the sturdyness of her men-at-arms in case things come to a head).  The Queen reluctantly sends for FWDB. What does FWDB want in return for her services to the Queen? What does that say about things like respect, and place in society?


There. I hope that it's in time for you to get something out of it before your game (you may have to alter it drastically to get it to fit). If not, then hopefully it'll serve as an example for next time.

BTW, I think that it's likely that I've included some continuity error in the above, or some contradiction (happens with this much material). Can anyone spot any major problems?

Mike

[doubtofbuddha]

I will post a more in-depth reply later, but I just want to note that you got the sex of several of them mixed up. :)

The Lunarized Carmanian Petty Noble is male, the Esrolian Foot Soldier (an Initiate of Vinga) is female. :)

Oh yeah, and when I said Red Earth Faction, I meant the Lunar Empire. The Red Earth Faction is the local group helping them out.

I have also only seen Casablanca once and never saw To Have or Have Not so I doubt any who's who guesses would be even close. Unless I cheated and looked at the IMDB. ;)

Otherwise it looks most interesting and definitely serves as an excellent base (and a great example).


I will post more later.

[Mike Holmes]

The Esrolain Foot Soldier and Lunarize Carmanian Petty Noble both want power. He wants to achieve it by bringing the dominion of the Lunar Empire to Esrolia and she wants to achieve it by finding a way to become a queen of the nation.

I thought these were in order. That is I assumed that since you posted, "he wants" first, that this clause applied to the first character listed in the first post, and so on. Oops.

That said, it shouldn't be too hard to fix. And in any case, I assumed that you'd have to change things around some to adjust for things of which I'm not aware. For example, a Vingan? That adds a whole lot of other possibilities. Really, I should have asked for more details as religions in HQ are more important than Occupation in terms of your alliances. Lesson learned there. I was just in a hurry.

I'm familiar with the Red Faction and how it relates to the Lunars (having just read up on it for this). Just wasn't sure where you were in the timeframe. If the Lunars are actually invading currently, that works even better. Gives everything a time pressure sense. In that things have to happen before the Lunars actually arrive. Which is just like Casablanca (the Nazis in the film are the Lunars, of course, threatening to overrun the world). People fleeing makes more sense because they think that the Lunars will end their way of life.

Mike

[doubtofbuddha]

Ahh..... okay, I am just about to start working on my revising and reworking of your sample.  I will post it when I am done.

The Lunars aren't invading but there has been rumors of troop build-up in the Abandoned Lands.

Also I think it would be more appropriate for people to flee for Werenelia than for Elsuvar, mostly because that land is already under the "control" of the Lunars.

As for religions....

The Lunarized Carmanian Petty Noble is an Initiate of Natha. He isn't particularly devout though, and I imagine he mostly became one as a means to an end (aka gaining position with the Lunars so he can gain his own territory to rule eventually).

The Esrolian Foot Soldier is an Initiate of Vinga's Spearthrower aspect. Mostly because I don't have Storm Tribe yet. The player is entirely new to role-playing, and she picked it because she really liked the description of Vinga.

The Calandran Devotee of Babeester Gor has a pretty strong relationship with her deity, mostly focused on her growing realization that her goddess and way of life isn't the truth.

The Puma Person is a practioner of the Bush Voice practice of the Puma People Ancestor's tradition. Next to nothing has been written up on it, but I plan on building on it..

The Esrolian Scholar is a common worshipper of the native religion and has no plans on developing anything beyond his native abilities. He has some ideas about myth-magic, and starting to develop his abilities to bring about characters from his own personal myth into the real world (like the myth hero he does now) and eventually changing and altering real world myths. So basically we will be developing mostly talents and personal magical abilities and he looks at religion more from a scholarly position than a religious position.

Jesse Dean

[doubtofbuddha]

Premise: The Lunar Empire has been steadily mobilizing troops in preperation for the eventual acquisition of Esrolia. Not only will this provide for an expansion of the Lunar Way, but it will allow them to gain access to the rich southern ports of Esrolia, and the jewel of the southern coast, Nochet.

Cut to Rhigos, second largest city of Esrolia, and one of the strongest centers of Lunar influence thanks to the the political power of the Red Earth faction. Refugees have been steadily moving into here from all parts of Esrolia, but especially from regions along the Building Wall, they seek to escape the potential conquest of the Lunar Empire. While many people have stuck to their tribal lands in the face of the potential conquest, others value things such as family, life, and liberty far more than the lands of their ancestors. They seek safety in Wenelia, a homeland of Orlanthi who, while not matriarchal, at least Orlandthi.

Unfortunately for these refugees, the Red Earth faction has enough authority in the city to influence to enable the banning sea travel to prevent a mass exodus.  The control is far from complete, however, as a number of the local Queens are members of the Warm Earth faction. While not completely opposed to the Lunar Empire, they are cautious of it, and resist the words of the Red Earth, for now...

Many people are still trying to leave and the price for smuggling them out is astronomical.

Relationship Map

Priestess Naera - a Red Faction intelligence person in this area, in charge of enforcing the travel ban. She's a priestess of Ernalda, in her She Who Waits, Lunarized form. Also, she's a delagator, not a doer.
Esrolian 17 (Esrolian Customs, Esrolian Geography, Find Cooperative Solution, Speak Esrolian, Urban Survival, Fear Dragons, Respectful of Ancestors, Loyal to Family, Member of Red Earth Temple of She Who Waits)
Priest 17 (Pray for Hours, Charismatic Presence 18, Know Earth Pantheon Myths, Worship Earth Pantheon, Lead Sacrifice, Mythology of Ernalda 20, Orate, Pious, Persuade 21, Proud, Sedenyic Philosophy 4w, Strong Willed 20, Soul Vision 20, Umerciful to Enemies 2w)
Abilities: Conceal Motives 5w, Command Followers 17, Influence Pavel 19, Lie 15, Political Savvy 1w, Rhigos Knowledge 19, Understand Trends 20, Speak New Pelorian 17
Personality: Delegator 14
Equipment: Eye of the Red Moon 15
Relationships: Devotee of She Who Waits (Ernalda The Queen subcult) 5w, Influential in Local Politics 10w, Loyal to Lunar Empire 17
Magic*: Earth Queen 20 (Command Earth Animal, Command Earth Daimon, Dismiss Earth Elemental, Exorcise Earth Spirit, Enchant Copper ritual, Summon [Earth Daimon] +3), Find Another Way 17 (Calm Anger +3, Create Ring, Rally Women, Shame Husband, Stop Argument +2, Think of the Children), Earth Mysteries 20 (Insert Feats Here)
* Concentrated Magic. Subject to the Lunar Cycle.
Followers: 3 Initiates of She Who Waits (Ernalda the Queen subcult) 17; Pavel, Lover and Bodyguard (Warrior 17; Spear and Shield Fighting 5w, Scan For Danger 18, Love Naera 15; has a spear, medium armor and a shield giving him a +3/+4)

Queen Rahal – Local ruler, the Queen is walking a thin line between maintaining her independence and personal beliefs in the old ways, and placating the Red Faction members who are starting to spread their influence throughout the area. She most wants anything that will secure her power base. Past that, she would prefer a return to the old ways. She's just not too willing to risk the first for the second. A nominal member of the Warm Earth faction.
Esrolian 17 (Esrolian Customs 5w, Esrolian Geography, Find Cooperative Solution, Speak Esrolian 20, Urban Survival, Peaceful, Fear Dragons, Respectful of Ancestors, Rules over Family, Member of Esrolian Temple of Orenddanna the Queen)
Tribal Queen (Petty Noble) 17 (Bluster, Debate 15w, Dueling, Exert Authority 19, Grooming 1w, Identify Social Status 19, Look Imposing 20, Politics 10w, Protocool 19, Ride, Sing, See Comprimise, Aristocratic, Elistist, Court Contacts, Wealth 10w2)
Initiate of Orendanna the Queen 17 (Ernalda the Queen subcult) (Initiate, Just, Know Earth Pantheon Myths, Worship Earth Pantheon, Commanding Presence 1w, Meaningful Glare, Mythology of Ernalda, Orate 5w, Persuade 20, Proud, Strong Willed, Unmerciful to Enemies, Soul Vision)
Abilities: Command Followers 20, Dagger Fighting 15, Know Rhigos 17, Rule City 5w, Sense Deception 18, Speak Heortling 17, Speak Calandran 17, Speak Esvulari 15, Speak New Pelorian 13, Understand Consequences 18
Personality Traits: Cautious 20
Relationships: Queen of Rhigos 20, Member of Warm Earth Faction 14
Magic: Earth Queen 17, Find Another Way 18, Leadership 20
Equipment: Ancestral Amulet of the Queen of Rhigos 2w, Extravagent Clothes (+4) 15
Followers: 3 Servant 17, 6 Bodyguards 17


Leera - Inn/Tavern owner. Leera's is where deals are made to get people out of Esrolia to Wenelia and other places. Leera just wants to be left alone to make a profit. As such, she doesn't participate in these dealings, despite them happening on her property. She has, recently "aquired" two passes allowing travel from Rhigos.
Esrolian 17 (Esrolian Customs 19, Esrolian Geography, Find Cooperative Solution, Speak Esrolian, Urban Survival 20, Fear Dragons, Respectful of Ancestors, Loves Family, Member of Temple of Imarja and Our Good Friends)
Innkeeper 17 (Bartend 2w, Bargain 19, Clean Inn 20, Cook Food, Cudgel Fighting 18, Estimate Market Value, Know Customers 20, Know Rhigos, Manage Inn Staff 2w, Persuasive)
Worship Imarja 17 (Esrolian History, Mythology of Imarja, Worship Imarja, Feminine, Practical Sensible;  Talents: First Aid Self, Listen to Ancestor, Stay Awake, Stay Sober; Feats: Cook Tasty Food, Look Good)
Abilities: Duck Behind Cover 15, Calm Drunk 17, Good Senses 16, Know Rhigos 20, Pretty 15, Speak Esvulari 16, Throw Daggers 17
Personality: Attentive 14, Good Listener 17
Equipment: Imarja's Blessed Everful Flagon 16, Throwing Daggers (+1)
Relationships: Underworld Contacts 13, Boss of Servants 17
Followers: 4 Servants 17 (to serve patrons)

Unsur – this brute of an Esrolian man is a thug who is hiding out at Leera's. Recently murdered two Red Earth faction couriers. His only goal now is to be able to drink in peace and forget that the authorities are pursuing him (he's really fun when he's partying). Unsur is Hidika's sidekick, working on the ship when he's not drunk.
Sailor 17 (Sail Ship, Dagger Fighting, Climb, Endure Weather, Hold Drink, Know Sea, Navigate by Stars, Seamanship, Swim, Tie Knots)
Sidekick Abilities: Attack From Concealment 18, Drunkard 15, Brute 6w

Captain Rousian - Local constable who works for Queen Rahal. She understands the political situation well, therefore does what Naera wants most of the time. But she doesn't really like them muscling in the way they are. She knows that Unsur is at Leera's, and has told Naera that he's a suspect in the killings (but hasn't done anything about it herself). Knows that Sabunda is looking for passes, but hasn't said anything about that. Knows most everything, really, but plays dumb.
Esrolian 17 (Esrolian Customs, Esrolian Geography, Find Cooperative Solution, Speak Esrolian, Urban Survival, Fear Dragons, Revere Ancestors, Defensive about Family, Member of Earth Pantheon Temple)
Foot Soldier (Ordinary) 17 (Army Regulations 19, Identify Foe, Make Camp, March, Scan for Danger 18, Scouting, Swear Like a Soldier, Fight in Guard Unit, Spear and Shield Fighting 10w, Crossbow Fighting 19, Rhigos Guard Traditions 1w)
Earth Pantheon Worship 17 (Know Earth Pantheon Myths, Worship Earth Pantheon, Nurturing, Practical; Common Magic: (Talents)First Aid Self, Hide in Cover, Listen to Ancestor; (Feats) Strike Deity)
Abilities: Good Senses 16, Hold Ale 15, Know Rhigos 5w, Plain 13, Play Dumb 4w, Run Quickly 17, Run in Armor 14, Speak Calandran 14, Speak Elsuvari 17, Wirey Strength 15
Personality: Ambitious 16, Intelligent 19, Perceptive 15
Equipment: Finely Crafted Spear (+4) 15, Medium Armor and Shield (+4)
Relationships: Captain of Rhigos Guard 17, Leader of Soldiers, Serves Queen Rahal 15, Understanding with Naera 18
Followers: 12 Ordinary Foot Soldiers 17

Sabunda - A saboteur and noble who has been working to stop the Red Earth and has been forced to flee for her life after having been discovered. Married to Ahaelik.
Esrolian 17 (Esrolian Customs 19, Esrolian Geography, Find Cooperative Solution, Speak Esrolian 20, Urban Survival, Fear Dragons, Peaceful Reveres Ancestors 10w, Loves Family, Member of Vingan Temple)
Petty Noble 17 (Dueling 19, Exert Authority, Grooming, Identify Social Status, Politics 20, Protocool, Ride, Sing, Ambitious, Aristocratic, Warm Earth contacts, Wealth 5w)
Initiate of Vinga the Spearwoman 17 (Mythology of Thunder Brothers, Mythology of Vinga, Running, Spear Fighting 18, Throw Javelin 19, Wilderness Survival)
Abilities: Appear Innocent 16, Climb Wall 16, Hide 17, Know Rhigos 17, Lay Low 15, Running Jump 18, Sabatoge 5w, Sneak 20
Personality: Biased Towards Pure Esrolian Ways 18, Hates Lunars 20, Loves Esrolia 15
Equipment: Spear, Leather Armor, A Brace of Javelins
Relationships: Married to Ahaelik 20, Member of Warm Earth Faction 14
Magic: (Affinities) Combat 17, Movement 18, Protection 17; (Talent) Listen to Ancestor 20

Ahaelik - Married to Sabunda and the cause. Leera's former lover, and quite an attractive guy (Good Looks 15W). A dilettante who has learned a lot in his travels about Esrolia.
Esrolian 17 (Esrolian Customs 5w, Esrolian Geography 5w, Find Cooperative Solution, Speak Esrolian 20, Urban Survival, Fear Dragons, Peaceful, Loves Family, Member of Earth Pantheon Temple)
Petty Noble 17 (Dueling 20, Exert Authority, Grooming 19, Identify Social Status, Politics, Protocool, Ride, Play Harp, Aristocratic, Elistist, Warm Earth Faction Contacts 20, Wealth 5w)
Imarja and Our Good Friends + Curbside Society 17 (Esrolian History, Member of Curbside Society, Mythology of Imarja, Worship Imarja, Practical, Sensible; Common Magic: (Talents) Hide in Cover, Make Fire, Seduce, Stay Sober, (Spells) Confuse Opponent)
Abilities: Good Looks 15w, Know Foreign Customs 18, Read Body Language 16, Recognize Language 15, Speak Caladrian 17, Speak Elsuvari 17, Speak Heortling 17, Seduce 16
Personality: Dilettante 20, Charming 15
Equipment: Dagger (+1)
Relationships: Loves and is Married to Sabunda 20, Loves Leera 16, Members of Red Earth Faction 15


Hidikha - Owner and captain of a ship. Like Leera, she doesn't want to get involved, but does want to make a profit. And she has her eye on Mircos.
Esrolian 17 (Esrolian Customs, Esrolian Geography, Find Cooperative Solution, Speak Esrolian, Urban Survival, Fear Dragons, Forgot Ancestors, Black Sheep of Family, Member of Earth Pantheon Temple)
Sailor 17 (Sail Ship 5w, Cutlass Fighting, Climb 18, Endure Weather 19, Hold Drink, Know Sea 5w, Navigate by Stars, Seamanship, Swim 18, Tie Knots)
Initiate of Pelaskos the Fisher 17 (Fishing, Know Earth Pantheon Myths, Worship Earth Pantheon, Worship Pelaskos the Fisher, Member of Temple of Pelaskos)
Abilities: Captain Ship 5w, Identify Pirate 16, Ship-Board Fighting 20, Speak Caladran 15, Speak Elsuvari 17, Speak Wenelian 14, Wealth 3w
Personality: Attracted to Mircos 14, Pragmatic 17
Equipment: Mirrorsea's Mistress 2w
Relationships: Captain of the Mirrorsea's Mistress 20, Lead Followers 17
Followers: 4 Sailors 17
Magic: Boats 18, Fishing, Overcome Sea 19

Gerisa - Local Anti-Red Earth Faction agent. Wants Hidikha to smuggle Sabunda out for her. Has a plan to raid an old tomb complex that he has learned about on a small island nearby (they are ancestors of Naera's so he feels no guilt in raiding them) to gain the gold he needs to pay Hidikha to take Sabunda.
Esrolian (Esrolian Customs, Esrolian Geography, Find Cooperative Solution, Speak Esrolian, Urban Survival, Fear Dragons, Revere Ancestors, Defensive about Family, Member of Earth Pantheon Temple)
Warrior 17 (Endurance, Guard Camp, Know Lunar Tactics 20, Know Rhigos 18, Listen, Spear and Shield Fighting, Archery, Recognize Fighting Style 19, Recognize Foe, Ride, Scout, Fyrd Fighting, Brave, Determined)
Worship Destor the Adventurer 17 (Boast, Devotee of Destor 18, Dodge Attack, Jump, Mythology of Orlanth, Mythology of Thunder Brothers 20, Sense Change in Weather, Soul Vision, Sword and Shield Fighting 5w, Curious, Responsible)
Abilities: Avoid Trap 16, Hide 17, Inconspicous 18, Know Rhigos 4w, Lie 20, Open Lock 14, Sneak 16, Wealth 18
Personality: Adventurous 20, Hates Lunars 18, Risk-taker 15
Equipment: Lock Picks (+5), Sword, Leather Armor, and Shield (+3/+2)
Relationships: Member of Red Earth Faction 17, Sartarite Contacts 20
Magic: (Affinities) Combat 18, Movement 18, Wind 17

Mircos - Esvulari man who wants to return home as he doesn't like the political turn of events. He works at Leera's as an entertainer (initiate of Donandar or something), and is in the process of seducing Hidikha to get him out. To make it work he has to convince Hidikha that she should come along to Esvular. Not as good looking as Ahealik, but very charming (10W).
Esvulari 17 (Esrolian Customs 18, Esulvari Customs 18, Heortling Customs 18, Home City Geography, Home City Politics, Speak Esvulari 20, Urban Survival 19, Enterprising, Fear Dragons)
Entertainer (Lute) 17 (Compose Entertainment, Concentrate, Sing Stories 1w, Good Memory, Group Performance, Know Rhigos People, Play Audience, Presence 18, Spot Trouble, Clever, Eloquent)
Worship Donandar (Harmonize with Strangers, Memorize Music, Mythology of Donandar, Perform, Play Lute 5w, Read Emotions, Sing, Worship Donandar, Happy, Musical, Outgoing; Common Magic*: (Talents) Sing in Another Language, Feel Tones, Make Music Visible, Unforgettable Melody; *Concentrated Magic)
Abilities: Attractive 17, Dagger Fighting 20, Dodge Attack 16, Esrolian Geography 17, Duck For Cover 15, Speak Esrolian 15, Seduce 20
Personality: Charming 10w, Easy-going 15
Equipment: Sweet-Sounding Lute 15
Relationships: Works for Leera 13


Bangs
Patrol – Naera comes to the Esrolian Foot Soldier (EFS) and asks for her to look for the murderer of the two couriers (knowing that his loyalties are to her cause). She directs him to Leera's where she's heard from the captain that there's a guy hiding out. This is, of course Unsur, who EFS will recognize when he sees him as a guy she used to be friends with when Unsur was also a footman a long time ago. Give the player a free relationship to Unsur (forgotten until now - Old Friend of Unsur). Does EFS turn him in or not? And does he follow up on the web into which Unsur has gotten himself tangled?
Scenes: Neara interacting with the EFS, EFS and Unsur.

Recognized! - Captain Rousia notes EFS at the bar, and recognizes her as the High Queen's guard who got banished for sleeping with the HQ's son. She attempts to get friendly with the EFS and then, after finding out what shes up to, tries to blackmail her. What does the EFS have that could keep Rousia's mouth shut? Is it really important for her to keep her secret to herself? Is her banishment going to chase her for the rest of her life?
Scenes: EFS and Rousia.

Plotting – the Lunarized Carmanian Petty Noble is staying at Leera's. He's trying to establish himself in Esrolia as he lacks an established power base, and has gotten to know Naera who is sympathetic to his cause as she sees LCPN as someone who will support the Red Earth cause. As such, she has introduced LCPN into Queen Rahal's court. There the Queen takes a big risk, and takes him into her confidence and tells him that she'll use her influence to help marry him into the power structure, if he works as a double agent against Naera. Does he accept the offer, or does he stay loyal to Naera, and report on the Queen? Or play them both off against each other for greater gain (and larger risk)?
Scenes: LCPN and Queen Rahal, LCPN and Naera

Bar Buddy - LCPN has been spending time at Leera's with this fun lowlife, Unsur (free relationship again). One night when he's really drunk he spills he says some things that might connect him to the murders. How does LCPN use this information?
Scenes: Drinking With Unsur!

Tomb Raider – The Esrolian Scholar (ES) recently was contacted about researching the location of the tombs of Naera's ancestors by Gerisa. Now she asks him if he knows anyone who'd be amenable to raiding a tomb. Does he go to get the adventure he's looking for, or does he report the illegal activity? To the captain or to Naera (makes a big difference)?
Scenes: Gerisa and the ES, (maybe) the ES reporting

Tomb Raider 2 – I'm going to guess that the player will go, meaning that the first isn't much of a bang (but, heck, I could be wrong, and the player should have the option). They go to the tomb and have an interesting adventure (write up five rolls that they have to get by – make it short and sharp, because the adventure isn't the real bang). After they return, Gerisa asks for ES's share of the loot for the cause, explaining the situation. Does he narc now, or join the conspiracy and real adventure? Will he find that adventures have an impact on real life unlike in stories?
Scenes: Tomb Raiding, Raiding Aftermath

Big Adventure – If ES falls for Gerisa's adventuring ways (which she'll be amenable to – stress and trauma tend to produce relationships), then she asks him to go with the ship to Esvular to help guard the guy. Does he go on the big adventure, or insist on staying?
Scenes: Leave Esrolia?

<n>Friends?</n> - The Puma Person Hunter (PPH) and Mircos have recently been spending time together (again, free relationship if the player wants it). She spends some time hunting illegally in a small forest south of town to make a living, but Mircos is the only person who has taken a liking to her so far, and she spends a lot of time with him. Mircos is intrigued by her cat nature, and could fall for her. He tells her that he has a contact with some information about her family, and that he'll bring it to her later. Then in the next scene PPH catches Mircos trying to seduce Hidikha (in order to get her to take him to Esrolia). Does PPH swallow her pride to get the information she wants? Or does she confront her only friend? (And more importantly can they work out their relationship's problems in general?)
Scenes: Time with Mircos, Mircos in Hidikha in Leena's

Info Source - Living at Leera's PPH encounters Ahaelik one night trying to drown his sorrows. They get to talking, and commiserating. Turns out she knows a lot about Esrolia, and can help PPH there. Hopefully PPH gets infatuated with this individual (males are much more approachable than females in Esrolia because of their lower positions), which will be completely problematic as he's already involved with two women, both of whom he loves. How can PPH have both a friend in Ahaelik and get the information she wants without scaring him away?
Scenes: Encounter with Ahaelik

Working for the Man – The Foreign Warrior and Devotee of Babeester Gor (FWDB) is working security of late for Sabunda. The thing is that Sabunda has taken her on because she can't afford anyone else (FWDB has trouble finding work because of her ethnicity). She abuses FWDB accidentally, referring to her as having inferior ancestry in an off-hand way and the like (she's very biased towards "pure Esrolian ways"). Does FWDB take the abuse, or quit the only job she's likely to be able to hold down? When the chips are down and her boss is in danger, will she defend him or not? What does that say about how she feels towards her heritage? Her current culture? Her goddess?
Scenes: Working for the Man

Ritual - Queen Rahal needs some information about a Babeester Gor ritual (she's hoping to boost up the sturdyness of her men-at-arms in case things come to a head). The Queen reluctantly sends for FWDB. What does FWDB want in return for her services to the Queen? What does that say about things like respect, and place in society?
Scenes: Working for the BIG Man

Anyway, as you can see (assuming you bothered to read what I did for statting out the characters (;)) and the few adaptions I did, it works well for the most part and serves as a good start for the campaign as a whole.

I do have a few questions though....
In the past I generally haven't ran very many romantic plotlines, though I am not opposed to it as I know some GMs are, they just haven't happened. When you talk about characters falling for each other and such, how do you handle it? I mean I can see how to handle the NPC side of things, but how would you handle having a PC fall for a character. Granted, I could simply have a roll and tell the player, "Your character is falling in love with so-and-so" but that seems to infringe on their will to run their character a little bit.

Also, as you can see above I noted the scenes I could see arising from each "Bang." Do you think I have a pretty good handle on the subject? I noted that there seems to be a little bit of a discrepency in the number of scenes each character gets. The FWDB gets 2, the ES gets 5, and the rest get 3. Am I misreading something?

Further on the topic of scenes, do you have any reccomendations on how to manage them? I am pretty familiar with the more typical plot and character oriented D&D session games (as opposed to dungeon crawls, et al), but this is quite a step in a different direction from that. In particular I am concerned about keeping the players entertained as I am switching back and form between them. (Though the thought of them never having to get involved with the same group intrigues me greatly).

Any more advice you could give me would be great. What you have already given me has been invaluable. We play tonight, but even if it is after then it would be useful for me in future sessions.... :)

Jesse Dean

[doubtofbuddha]

I'd put them up against an enemy they can all hate - The Malkioni! So Heortland has been taken over by Richard the Tiger Hearted, and taking over Esrolia is next on his agenda. Rokari missionaries are sent in secretly to sow dissent and destabilise the Queendom. Pick a Malkioni hero band and make them the instrument of Richard's plan. Maybe Richard, or one of his over-zealous henchmen, is in league with the Vadeli as the result of some unspeakable pact.

Perhaps they're trying to spread plague or an infestation of chaos creatures in the city, then offer to help get rid of it and thus gain influence.


Simon Hibbs

Ooooooh..

Actually, looking back on this, this is a good idea. I think I will be using it a little farther down the line.

Thanks :)

[Mike Holmes]

Sorry that I didn't get back to you in time (I'm often unavailable on weekends).

Looks tight to me, Jesse. Good catch on Esvular, and the choices you made for religions, etc, look great. Did it go well?

Note that I wouldn't have bothered to stat the NPCs. I'd have given them keywords as seemed appropriate, and then just created stats on the spot as I needed them. It's a lot less work, and as these characters might not end up being long term (some will, some won't), I don't lose the effort put into statting them if they dissappear for any reason.

OTOH, if you just like statting, what the heck. All looks very nice to me. :-)

As for the Bangs, I think the scenes that you envision look fine. The thing is to play it fast and loose. That is, if you see a better way to insert the Bang in play, then do that. Don't have it planned out that you need to do X her, and Y there, and with only A and B present. Just throw them out as they seem to make the most dramatic sense. You'll know it when you see it. The idea isn't to ensure that the things happen per the Bangs so much as the questions that they imply get asked in play. (OTOH, it may happen that the scenes that you've thought up are the perfect way to go - you just can't tell until you play). So, did they work well? Did you exchange them for anything?

As far as framing scenes, just use some narrative technique to get from point to point. For example, as you feel one scene wrapping up, just say, "And they spend the next couple of hours chatting together. Meanwhile, on the other end of town there's a secret meeting of strange bedfellows going on."

Just tag off the last scene, and then start to frame the next. Some people even use explicit direction techniques like saying "Cut", and then "Zoom in on a scene at the port. As the camera pans past the various ships in the harbor, it settles on Zim and Zam talking at a shoreside cafe. Zim says, 'Do you have it Zam?'"

Did you try something like that? Did it seem difficult or easy?

As for Romance, I know it's hard to do, but try to think about it as just like any other interaction. That is, if you had an NPC trying to get a PC to switch sides in a political conflict, how would you play it? Play the romance stuff the same way. That's intentionally vague, because some groups are used to interactions being handled mostly by talking them out. Other's allow the system to intervene. Did you encounter this in play?

Really looking forward to hearing how it went. Did the players get what you were trying to do? Did they resist, or did they take to it?

Mike

[doubtofbuddha]

The session ended up being pretty short tonight thanks to a combination of the fact that 1) I was late getting back from a Christmas party at my aunt's (thought I think my friends forgave me considering all the munchies my aunt gave me to bring back. ;)) 2) I had to be to work at midnight. For my Night Watch job. I did get to go through a scene with each of the characters and ended the night on a cliffhanger after the EFS convinced Unsur to give up some information.

Some general notes on what happened:
The new player (the one playing the EFS) felt a little overwhelmed at times especially with some of the gamer jokes that people were making from previous sessions. I think the group was a little bit too rambuctious (and loud) when I was trying to run things with other members of the group. I will have to talk to them about that before next session.

The ES flubbed on his roll to find out information about the ancestors of Neara at the beginning of the game so he didn't have anything for Gerisa. Gerisa tried to convince him to go on the adventure but he played dumb (as in I am naive and timid) until she defeated him in a contest of her Advenerous vs. his Timid. I was impressed with his willingness to go along with the results of his roll for his character's actions. An interesting note is later on when I was giving the EFS an overview of some of the political stuff, he asked if he knew any of this information. I told him to roll his political knowledge roll (one of his ten abilities) and he got a critical success. So I gave him the information, resulting in him suddenly remembering who Neara was after the events of the conversation. I am kind of curious as to what he will do with this information.

I was able to get through a scene with the PPH and Mircos, where they were interacting while hunting in the forest, but I kind of flubbed it. I layed his compliments on a bit too thick and it came off as a little bit silly/desperate rather than charming. I am still getting the hang of playing of romantic-style rping and will have to think about alternative things to do for the next session.  (The fact that most girls seem to initiate stuff with me rather then me successfully starting things with them probbaly doesn't help my skill in that either :P).

With the FWDG I divided her scene with Sabunda up in breaks between other people's scenes, and decided to use it as an extended contest between her "Vengeful Under Stress" and Sabunda's "Biased Towards  Pure Esrolian Ways" for Sabunda trying to put the FWBG into place and the FWBG trying to prevent herself from lashing out and killing Sabunda. We had gotten through two rounds, with Sabunda winning one and the other before the night ended. I am thinking we should have declared a different ability then Vengeful Under Stress for the contest, but otherwise that went well. The player seemed to enjoy the interaction though she found it a little bit funny at first. I also made sure to pepper it with plenty of racial slurs and decided that part of the reasons she is acting like this is because of the stress over being forced to hide out.  I also decided to throw in the fact that she was hiding out in Leera's. This has resulted in her spotting all of the PCs except for one that evening (and a reasonable portion of the NPCs too).

The Lunarized Carmanian Petty Noble decided to change his character a little bit before play, instead becoming a Darra Happan ex-calvary Petty Noble with similar goals but less of a focus on the Lunar Way. I only got through the scene with him wherein he was drinking with Unsur, and Unsur implied that he knew something about the killing. He also particpated in the EFS's scene.

I was able to get through 1.5 scenes with the EFS. The first one started with her sparring with her eunuch sidekick and him getting a fumble. Whoops. I decided he dislocated his shoulder (getting a Hurt) even though their goal was only to defeat each other in sparring. Neara showed up and after some akwardness after the EFS's player got used to role-playing for the first time she agreed to investigate the murders and headed over to Leera's.

At Leera's she saw Unsur and the DHPN having a drink and decided to question them since they were drinking and thus more likely to be amiable to her questions. She also spotted the FWBG and Sabunda at another table and Mircos trying to seduce Hidikha (and doing a pretty effective job at it). She came over and questioned Unsur and the DHPN, who succeeded both at using his Way With the Ladies at a -5 to guess her favorite drink and his Drinking Buddy with Unsur ability to get Unsur to leave him alone with the attractive Vingan. She stopped Unsur from leaving and basically straight out asked if they new anything about the killings using her Seduction-5 augmented with Assertive, though I think she should have been able to use Attractive as an augment too now that I think about it. I also probably should have not given her the penalty as that is pretty appropriate for the seduction ability. I had him resist wit his Drunkard and she got a major defeat. So I had him ask about why, she said she was just curious (or something like that) and the session ended with her agreeing to go up to his room to discuss it.

As you can see, for the most part I just went with the scenes as written. Though, I improvised with the FWBG and just threw an extra in with the PPH to (poorly) establish a basis for her relationship with Mircos.

I warned the group before-hand that I was going to try doing something new and things went pretty well, I think. I haven't talked with all the players yet but for the most part I was satisfied.

I think I have the mechanical stuff down for handling romance (basically an extended contest between appropriate abilities) its just I need to work on my skill with dealing with the interaction side of the contest so they can take it seriously.

I handled scene changes merely by describing the initial conditions for it, i.e. describing what was going on, the surrounding, etc. and then letting the PCs interact with it. It seemed to work out really well. I would have felt silly using "cut", etc. :-P

The only area I really had an issue with rules-wise was how to handle using hero points in play. The puma person wanted to pick up attractive (after Mircos was complimenting her about it) and the EFS wanted conceal thoughts so she could hide her nervousness about interacting with Unsur and the DHPN. I went ahead and allowed it (at 1 point for each of them), but looking it up in the book later it seems that them gaining abilities should be more something that happens by developing them in play or training between sessions.

I also think I could have given some more work characterizing with Esrolia itself was like. I also think I am going to flesh out the EFS's tribe a little bit more as she wants to be a Queen, and that will require the support of her tribe to accomplish.

Also how should I deal with characters who have abilites like spirit face and soul sight? Should I reveal the random godlings and spirits who wander around the world or just not use them unless its appropriate?

Jesse D.

[doubtofbuddha]

No comments, Mike?

[Mike Holmes]

Sorry, missed your post somehow (didn't see a New Post marker for the thread). I was starting to worry, actually, that it had gone all terribly haywire, and that your group had eaten you or something. :-)

The session ended up being pretty short tonight ...

You may find that with some of these methods that short is better. It gives you more of a chance as GM to regroup between sessions and write up new Bangs.

The ES flubbed on his roll to find out information about the ancestors of Neara at the beginning of the game so he didn't have anything for Gerisa.

Hmm. I can see why you did the roll, it gives the PC a chance to display his talent. OTOH, Bangs often require that you just skip that stuff. I'd have said that he was successful previously with the search, and put him at the point of deciding whether or not to give her the info. Again, the conflict is whether or not he decides to go, not whether or not he finds the info. So I'd make that certain in this case.

Gerisa tried to convince him to go on the adventure but he played dumb (as in I am naive and timid) until she defeated him in a contest of her Advenerous vs. his Timid. I was impressed with his willingness to go along with the results of his roll for his character's actions.

Hmmm. Interesting. At times I wouldn't suggest that this is a good idea. That is, by making this a roll, you're taking away the decision of the player. OTOH, by making it a roll you're using the engine for what it's for. So, themeatically the player said no, but ended up going along anyhow. Which I dig a lot.

The question is would you have accepted it if the dice had said that he didn't have to go? Because that would be a viable solution.

All this said, this was the weakest Bang in some ways as I'd said previously. So the result seems pretty cool to me. Sounds like an imaginative youth being conned into going by an experienced rebel. Neat.

An interesting note is later on when I was giving the EFS an overview of some of the political stuff, he asked if he knew any of this information. I told him to roll his political knowledge roll (one of his ten abilities) and he got a critical success. So I gave him the information, resulting in him suddenly remembering who Neara was after the events of the conversation. I am kind of curious as to what he will do with this information.

Which information, the fact of Naera's family background? Or something else? In any case, it sounds like precisely the right way to handle it to me.

I was able to get through a scene with the PPH and Mircos, where they were interacting while hunting in the forest, but I kind of flubbed it. I layed his compliments on a bit too thick and it came off as a little bit silly/desperate rather than charming. I am still getting the hang of playing of romantic-style rping and will have to think about alternative things to do for the next session.  (The fact that most girls seem to initiate stuff with me rather then me successfully starting things with them probbaly doesn't help my skill in that either :P).

One easy technique is to step out of character and explain what's happening OOC. "You get the feeling that he's hitting on you." Tie it to a roll based on perceptiveness or something if you like. The idea is that if you can't make the character perform, narrate it. Better yet, like in your other example, roll something. Doesn't have to be consequential, but the mechanical effect can be impressive itself. That is, once the player sees the character's Charm Ability level, they'll get that it's supposed to be really charming.

With the FWDG I divided her scene with Sabunda up in breaks between other people's scenes, and decided to use it as an extended contest between her "Vengeful Under Stress" and Sabunda's "Biased Towards  Pure Esrolian Ways" for Sabunda trying to put the FWBG into place and the FWBG trying to prevent herself from lashing out and killing Sabunda. We had gotten through two rounds, with Sabunda winning one and the other before the night ended. I am thinking we should have declared a different ability then Vengeful Under Stress for the contest, but otherwise that went well.

Remember that you can change up for subsequent rounds if it seems appropriate. For long term contests this is particularly appropriate. I have this character who's seducing this guy's wife in another game, taking a month to do it (during which time she's teaching him Selfrock Teaching). I've used different Abilities on every roll so far. The end comes on Saturday, and I can't wait to see what happens. :-)

The player seemed to enjoy the interaction though she found it a little bit funny at first. I also made sure to pepper it with plenty of racial slurs and decided that part of the reasons she is acting like this is because of the stress over being forced to hide out.  I also decided to throw in the fact that she was hiding out in Leera's. This has resulted in her spotting all of the PCs except for one that evening (and a reasonable portion of the NPCs too).

Note how things get mixed up? Soon the PCs will be chasing after the PCs for things, and scenes with multiple players will become common.

The Lunarized Carmanian Petty Noble decided to change his character a little bit before play, instead becoming a Darra Happan ex-calvary Petty Noble with similar goals but less of a focus on the Lunar Way. I only got through the scene with him wherein he was drinking with Unsur, and Unsur implied that he knew something about the killing. He also particpated in the EFS's scene.

Did he do anything about the knowledge that Unsur gave him? BTW, did you substitute any of the map NPCs for followers?  

I was able to get through 1.5 scenes with the EFS. The first one started with her sparring with her eunuch sidekick and him getting a fumble. Whoops. I decided he dislocated his shoulder (getting a Hurt) even though their goal was only to defeat each other in sparring.

Cool detail. Cool start.

Neara showed up and after some akwardness after the EFS's player got used to role-playing for the first time she agreed to investigate the murders and headed over to Leera's.

At Leera's she saw Unsur and the DHPN having a drink and decided to question them since they were drinking and thus more likely to be amiable to her questions. She also spotted the FWBG and Sabunda at another table and Mircos trying to seduce Hidikha (and doing a pretty effective job at it).

See how things just naturally seem to come together? :-)

She came over and questioned Unsur and the DHPN, who succeeded both at using his Way With the Ladies at a -5 to guess her favorite drink and his Drinking Buddy with Unsur ability to get Unsur to leave him alone with the attractive Vingan. She stopped Unsur from leaving and basically straight out asked if they new anything about the killings using her Seduction-5 augmented with Assertive, though I think she should have been able to use Attractive as an augment too now that I think about it.

Point it out to the player. Really they have to be responsible for finding their character's advantages. I sometimes point stuff out, but I don't hunt the sheet for appropriate Abilities. Sometimes the fact that something got left out can say something about the contest. For example, you could later narrate, "you see him shake his head to clear his vision and he says, 'Hey, yer pretty cute you know that?'" Indicating that he'd been hitting on her prevbiously based mostly on beer goggling. That sort of thing.

I also probably should have not given her the penalty as that is pretty appropriate for the seduction ability. I had him resist wit his Drunkard and she got a major defeat. So I had him ask about why, she said she was just curious (or something like that) and the session ended with her agreeing to go up to his room to discuss it.

Well, it might not be romance, strictly, but you got something going on between the characters. :-)

As you can see, for the most part I just went with the scenes as written. Though, I improvised with the FWBG and just threw an extra in with the PPH to (poorly) establish a basis for her relationship with Mircos.

IOW, you're doing perfectly.

I think I have the mechanical stuff down for handling romance (basically an extended contest between appropriate abilities) its just I need to work on my skill with dealing with the interaction side of the contest so they can take it seriously.

Like I said above sometimes no acting is better than bad acting. Make short, effective comments, and let the dice do the talking if you don't have something good.

Or, alternately, you can ask another player who's good at this to play the part of the character that's making the advance. This is a good way to match sexes of characters to players if that helps (see Ron's Sex & Sorcery). Just brief the player on the NPCs motives for the scene and let fly.

I handled scene changes merely by describing the initial conditions for it, i.e. describing what was going on, the surrounding, etc. and then letting the PCs interact with it. It seemed to work out really well. I would have felt silly using "cut", etc. :-P

So, when you felt a scene had ended you just interjected with setting the new scene? That's good narrative method. Or did you just let things die off? That's not so good. Once the characters have made the nifty decisions that the scene presents, get to another scene by whatever method works for you. Don't let things drag out. Don't worry about interrupting, the players will appreciate what you're doing. If they have a concern they'll let you know and you can always go back.

The only area I really had an issue with rules-wise was how to handle using hero points in play. The puma person wanted to pick up attractive (after Mircos was complimenting her about it) and the EFS wanted conceal thoughts so she could hide her nervousness about interacting with Unsur and the DHPN. I went ahead and allowed it (at 1 point for each of them), but looking it up in the book later it seems that them gaining abilities should be more something that happens by developing them in play or training between sessions.

There's some debate on how to work with this. The real question is what the players are comfortable with. Did they like how you did it? I would. So it all sounds kosher to me.

Think of it this way, using the method of chargen where you develop the character in play, this is exactly how the Ability would have appeared. What'll happen is that later, when the characters are more established people won't ask for such things. Because they too will feel that it's silly for, say, a number of contests to have gone by in which appearance would have been imporant, only to have it show up later. Basically, over time the characters will become more solid, and give you more and more in-game reason for any changes.

OTOH, some people just say that a point is a point and that all the player has to do is explain it away. "Oh, sure my character has been studying sword in his off time." The only mechanical question is whether to charge the double cost for something "unrelated" to play. I usually only charge that if it's between sessions, and the player is just adding something for kicks with no rationale to play at all. I still allow it, however. :-)

I also think I could have given some more work characterizing with Esrolia itself was like.

Know what I suggest for this? Good old Box text. That is, write up some statements between sessions to put out there at the beginning of some sort of scene. For example, if you want to really detail the architecture of Esrolia, have something about the Queen's palace prepared for the next time any player comes to it. Have something set for some cultural note to be inserted before the next scene at Rick's, uh, I mean Leera's. :-)

I also think I am going to flesh out the EFS's tribe a little bit more as she wants to be a Queen, and that will require the support of her tribe to accomplish.

Pile on the NPCs. The more the merrier. Remember that there's no plot to mess up, so any addition like this is only a good thing. Let the players decide what's interesting to follow up on.

Also how should I deal with characters who have abilites like spirit face and soul sight? Should I reveal the random godlings and spirits who wander around the world or just not use them unless its appropriate?

Employ them in Bangs. These are NPCs effectively, just strange ones. Make some up, and figure out reasons that they need the PCs.

Other than that, just make them part of the scenery. For example, have them roll entering a temple to see the guardian daimon. If the player is interested, then the scene can go that way. Just like anything else. But basically there are two sorts of NPCs, those who you know need the PCs, and the rest of the world who are background. That doesn't mean that the background doesn't have motives and such. Just that they're background until a PC "promotes" them to foreground status by taking an interest in them. When that happens, write them up in more detail for next session, perhaps incorporating Bangs based off that NPC. If you do, however, be careful. If you don't relate thier motives back in the direction of the Relationship Map, then they may drift off from the rest of the group. This isn't horrible, but you can end up playing separate games if this happens. The point is, try keep the original R-Map grabbing at these characters to maintain PC to PC play.

The big thing now, is to make more Bangs. The biggest advantage to this sort of prep is that continuing prep is easy. What seemed to interest each player most? Make up one or two short Bangs for each based on that. Alwys stay a step ahead. That doesn't mean that you always have to use Bangs, however. Remember that if a player wants a particular scene to just go with that. You're still in the early on where you may need to prompt action with Bangs a lot. After a while you may need them less as the players just get a sense of what they want to see their characters do.

Glad they didn't eat you? It's only better from here on out. ;-)

Mike

[doubtofbuddha]

Well if the group had decided to devour me alive, at least I would be good eating. :D

Hmm. I can see why you did the roll, it gives the PC a chance to display his talent. OTOH, Bangs often require that you just skip that stuff. I'd have said that he was successful previously with the search, and put him at the point of deciding whether or not to give her the info. Again, the conflict is whether or not he decides to go, not whether or not he finds the info. So I'd make that certain in this case.

Yeah, I was thinking that would probably have been the best way to do it after I had him roll. Whoops.

Hmmm. Interesting. At times I wouldn't suggest that this is a good idea. That is, by making this a roll, you're taking away the decision of the player. OTOH, by making it a roll you're using the engine for what it's for. So, themeatically the player said no, but ended up going along anyhow. Which I dig a lot.

So do I. I guess screening players helps! (Three layers. #1 is on-line interview. #2 is in-person interview. #3 is three session probation period with the understanding we can eject you later if you are causing unwanted conflicts among the players.)  I think it has, on the whole, improve the quality of the group with effects such as the one listed.

The question is would you have accepted it if the dice had said that he didn't have to go? Because that would be a viable solution.  

Definitely. I am very much against rail-roading and by forcing him to go along with things, I would have been railroading him. By making the roll I was suggesting that she would be attempting to convince him to go with her on the adventure. If she failed then she would have given up on him and we would let things progress from there.

Which information, the fact of Naera's family background? Or something else? In any case, it sounds like precisely the right way to handle it to me.

Previously he didn't know anything about Naera. With his success at his political roll he was able to find out who she was and her position within the city. So while before he lacked an undrestanding of whose ancestors he was investigating, he now knows exactly who they are. (Though he decided to go anyway. Apparently he doesn't have much consideration for society)

One easy technique is to step out of character and explain what's happening OOC. "You get the feeling that he's hitting on you." Tie it to a roll based on perceptiveness or something if you like. The idea is that if you can't make the character perform, narrate it. Better yet, like in your other example, roll something. Doesn't have to be consequential, but the mechanical effect can be impressive itself. That is, once the player sees the character's Charm Ability level, they'll get that it's supposed to be really charming.

Yeah, I have used techniques like that in the past, and it would probably be wise to apply it to this situation too. Plus it would be able to handle any akwardness that might arise from the me role-playing romantic interactions between female NPCs and my male players. (I have more female players than male players. ::smirks::)

Remember that you can change up for subsequent rounds if it seems appropriate. For long term contests this is particularly appropriate. I have this character who's seducing this guy's wife in another game, taking a month to do it (during which time she's teaching him Selfrock Teaching). I've used different Abilities on every roll so far. The end comes on Saturday, and I can't wait to see what happens. :-)

Yeah, she hinted that she had some sort of plan on what to do if things go poorly, so I imagine she will be trying some other sort of ability. ;) I imagine that if I am particularly impressed with someone's role-playing or plan that I will give them a bonus to their roll.

Note how things get mixed up? Soon the PCs will be chasing after the PCs for things, and scenes with multiple players will become common.

Indeed! I am beginning to think its a player's natural inclination to be in a group. ;) Though, I think some of the players are less likely than the others to get involved with each other. Even those who do get involved with each other are going to take quite a while for it to come about.
Also, if the DHPN decides to play double agent in the attempt to gain personal power over power for his Empire he might end up in opposition with some of the PCs!

I am also kind of curious as to how things will develop if one (or more) of the PCS end up taking a trip to Elsuvar while the rest stay in Rhigos.

Did he do anything about the knowledge that Unsur gave him? BTW, did you substitute any of the map NPCs for followers?

He didn't really have time. Besides I only really gave him information about him knowing about the murders rather than committing them. But they were still drinking when the EFS showed up and started questioning them. She has since lured Unsur up to his room thanks to her seduction (I am wondering how he is going to react to her wanting information but not giving him what she sexually implied. On one hand he is a brute, on the other this is a matriarchal society...hmmmm...)

No, I did not map any of them to the followers. None really had ones that fit an appropriate role (one is a mythical hero that only appears in times of need, two are foreigners, and one is a magical talking sparrow)

So, when you felt a scene had ended you just interjected with setting the new scene? That's good narrative method. Or did you just let things die off? That's not so good. Once the characters have made the nifty decisions that the scene presents, get to another scene by whatever method works for you. Don't let things drag out. Don't worry about interrupting, the players will appreciate what you're doing. If they have a concern they'll let you know and you can always go back.

Oh, basically when ever I saw an approrpiate cut in the drama I skipped out to someone else. For the FWDBG I did that after each interaction. For the EFS and the ES I did it after they had finished their interactions with their NPCs....

So basically I just cut the scene at the finish of a particular interaction sequence. I could have probably run multiple interaction sequences on top of each other but I think that would have probably annoyed the other players and left the potential for akwardness.

There's some debate on how to work with this. The real question is what the players are comfortable with. Did they like how you did it? I would. So it all sounds kosher to me.

Yeah, I just felt kind of weird about them suddently acquiring abilities in the middle of the session. I mean whats to stop them from just saying, oh I have this ability rather then spending the time to train for it?

Granted I probably should trust my players a bit more than that and try to step a little bit away from trying to simulate things, but its a difficult hurdle to overcome.

Pile on the NPCs. The more the merrier. Remember that there's no plot to mess up, so any addition like this is only a good thing. Let the players decide what's interesting to follow up on.

I will start piling on the NPCs a bit more, but she has since decided she doesn't want the political and religious duties that would come with being a Queen. ;) She's kind of young for it anyway. And is a Vinga worshipper rather than an Esrola worshippers. I will keep in mind the plan for a general expansion of the maps, even if it means I make redundant NPCs.

I think I will start out with a captain of a local mercenary group, some of the Calandran Warlords who control the border region between Calandraland and Esrolia, (which Rhigos is nominally part of) and whatever else I can think of needing.

Oh, and I have long held the view that there is "no plot" to mess up. I present situations and let the PCs decide how and if they will deal with them. Usually they end up following my carrots but I am fine with them going off in an entirely different direction.

The big thing now, is to make more Bangs. The biggest advantage to this sort of prep is that continuing prep is easy. What seemed to interest each player most? Make up one or two short Bangs for each based on that. Alwys stay a step ahead. That doesn't mean that you always have to use Bangs, however. Remember that if a player wants a particular scene to just go with that. You're still in the early on where you may need to prompt action with Bangs a lot. After a while you may need them less as the players just get a sense of what they want to see their characters do.

Hmmm....
I don't think we played long enough for me to be able to figure out what interested each of them, leaving me slightly at a loss for future bangs. Though I could probably give the EFS more jobs that will help the Red Earth Faction so she can get vengeance against the Queen, and other things that will further the FWDBG's interest in the pursuit of religious and personal truth. More bangs for the ES will require him to decide if he is going to go on the big adventure crossing to Esulvar or not. (Same with the PPH). Oh and of course the DHPN will need to decide if he is swithing sides or not and if he doesn't switch sides future bangs will depend entirely on whether or not he chooses to rat out the Queen and what the priestess will do about it. Maybe she will have the DHPN plan a coup, perhaps with those same warlords that the Queen would otherwise ask him to deal with....

OK, maybe I do have a few bangs I could work up. :)

Hopefully they will be enough to prevent player-on-GM cannabilism. ;)

[Mike Holmes]

Yeah, I have used techniques like that in the past, and it would probably be wise to apply it to this situation too. Plus it would be able to handle any akwardness that might arise from the me role-playing romantic interactions between female NPCs and my male players. (I have more female players than male players. ::smirks::)

Exactly. If you have a good mix of players, then try what I said, and let the players play out the NPCs of the opposite sex instead of you.

I imagine that if I am particularly impressed with someone's role-playing or plan that I will give them a bonus to their roll.

Very cool.

Indeed! I am beginning to think its a player's natural inclination to be in a group. ;)

Of course it is. This is what we call Author Stance. The player thinks, "Gee, it's more fun when we mix things up, so I'll have my character go where the others are, and come up with the explanation as to why she would do so." Some people fear this sort of play, but in HQ it's almost mandatory, IMO. Especially the way resolution works.

Though, I think some of the players are less likely than the others to get involved with each other. Even those who do get involved with each other are going to take quite a while for it to come about.
Also, if the DHPN decides to play double agent in the attempt to gain personal power over power for his Empire he might end up in opposition with some of the PCs!

That's a presumption of this style of play. Players are allowed to do what they think is right for the story, and aren't bound by the convention that a PC is somehow not to compete with a PC with no in-gam reason to support this. Note that what makes this functional is recognizing the Author Stance in play. That is, while the characters may be competing, the players are not, really. They're working together to create an interesting story about the conflict that their characters are experiencing with each other. And that works just fine.

I am also kind of curious as to how things will develop if one (or more) of the PCS end up taking a trip to Elsuvar while the rest stay in Rhigos.

Another assumption of this style of play is that it's fun to finish. While the basic assumption of most RPG play is that you'll play the characters until they die of old age or something, this style assumes that at some point the character's story will be largely told. When that happens, you can just start a new character, or a whole new game. Basically, if the player decides to have their character depart from the rest, make it clear that they're making an end to that character's story. At that point, they can use their author stance to say that they want to play more and figure out a reason to have the character stay, or they can make the powerful thematic statement that leaving implies at that point. Either way it all works.

Players used to long-term play find this weird, but it really makes sense. At some point you may have just played out the characters issues. That's not to say that you can't come up with new issues for the character and play another game with them - like a sequel. It's just changing the thinking so that people realize that you can have a game that comes complete with an actual ending. How many long-term games have that sense of closure? Not many; they usually sputter out.

She has since lured Unsur up to his room thanks to her seduction (I am wondering how he is going to react to her wanting information but not giving him what she sexually implied. On one hand he is a brute, on the other this is a matriarchal society...hmmmm...)

Hmmm. Who says she won't give him what he wants? Sure she just wants a little information. But she's in a matriarchical society - surely the local moral code supports "getting some" just like men do in other lands. I'm more interested in what she does.

Note it's precisely the difference between the player's moral code, and the character's moral code that make this an interesting decision no matter what the player decides happens.

No, I did not map any of them to the followers. None really had ones that fit an appropriate role (one is a mythical hero that only appears in times of need, two are foreigners, and one is a magical talking sparrow)

One of the foreigners could probably have been wedged in. Remember it's not important the type of character, just that they serve the purpose in question.

BTW, did you give away all those free Relationships? Remember that these are "temporary" and fade as soon as you, the GM, think is appropriate, unless the player cements them with a HP. So there's no downside to giving these away like candy.

Oh, basically when ever I saw an approrpiate cut in the drama I skipped out to someone else. For the FWDBG I did that after each interaction. For the EFS and the ES I did it after they had finished their interactions with their NPCs....

Cool. That sounds good.

Multiple scenes running at once can be frustrating as you note, but consider it at times. Especially when you can "cliffhang" someone. That is, if a scene comes to some really important point where we're waiting for the trememdous decision, cut away from that scene just before they make the decision. This leaves everyone in suspense until you come back to it. This is especially good if there are similarities in the scenes that you're cutting back and forth from. Just be sure to get back quickly and get the result.

Of course, this is often the best way to end the session for a night. A big advantage of cliffhanging is that the player gets to really consider what they're going to do. So when you come back, their decision is often even better than what they'd have done in the first place. Give it a try.

Yeah, I just felt kind of weird about them suddently acquiring abilities in the middle of the session. I mean whats to stop them from just saying, oh I have this ability rather then spending the time to train for it?

Granted I probably should trust my players a bit more than that and try to step a little bit away from trying to simulate things, but its a difficult hurdle to overcome.

Remember, that they're limited by the HP you give them. So they'll do their best to only advance things that seem to make sense. You can trust the players because the system helps them make the right decision. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that whatever decision they make is the right one. It's their points, and just as much their game as yours. So why not allow them to do what they think will be coolest.

If this means adding something that seems implausible, then make up some backstory that explains why it's not. Again, they can't abuse this because they've only got so many points (which they now can't use to bump).

I will start piling on the NPCs a bit more, but she has since decided she doesn't want the political and religious duties that would come with being a Queen. ;) She's kind of young for it anyway. And is a Vinga worshipper rather than an Esrola worshippers.

Good things to keep in mind in making new Bangs. Remember that Bangs are meant to engage the player by setting up situations in which they get to make decisions based on the issues that they, the player (not the character), think are most interesting.

I think I will start out with a captain of a local mercenary group, some of the Calandran Warlords who control the border region between Calandraland and Esrolia, (which Rhigos is nominally part of) and whatever else I can think of needing.

Cool. I can see lots of ways that these guys can "spike" some of the character's issues.

Oh, and I have long held the view that there is "no plot" to mess up. I present situations and let the PCs decide how and if they will deal with them. Usually they end up following my carrots but I am fine with them going off in an entirely different direction.

That sounds good, and I don't mean to be pedantic, but I'd advocate no carrots, either.

That is, carrots sound like "hooks". Hooks are exactly what this method seeks to eliminate. Hooks can be ignored. Bangs, by definition, can't be ignored. Note that this is the GM use of Force, and I'm using that term technically to mean using authority to force characters to do things.

There's a difference between simple force and railroading. Railroading is the use of Force by the GM to make decisions for the character. We all agree that's wrong. What ends up happening is that GMs get afraid to use Force, or hide it (Illusionism). Again, we're trying to avoid that here. What Bangs do is to use Force to get characters to points of decision. And then let the player make the decision. Again, it's not railroading, because, by definition, we're not taking away what the player really wants: the ability to make the important decision.

So, no carrots. Don't "lure" players. Shove them right into the middle of things, and then let them dig their own way out (if they start their part of the narration with an "Oh, crap," and a grin, you're doing things perfectly). They'll thank you for it. That's what all this framing stuff is about. Don't let the players avoid conflict by giving them the chance to say they're not going to it. Just start the scene with them already at the conflcit with no way to retreat. Tell what their character has done to get there openly. When they see that you're using Force this way and not trying to be subtle with "lures" then they'll trust what you're doing.

Which is all probably what you were doing - I just had to say that for safety's sake.  :-)

Hmmm....
I don't think we played long enough for me to be able to figure out what interested each of them, leaving me slightly at a loss for future bangs.

If they didn't hate what you had, then "more of same" is in order until you have a better idea of where they're going.

OK, maybe I do have a few bangs I could work up. :)

I'm sure you do. Just keep thinking about the NPC motivations and how to have that lead to them "grabbing" the PCs.

That's the key with this style. Don't put out "hooks", instead have the relationship map "grab" the characters.

BTW, lest I seem like some expert at this, the reason I like to help players with these methods is that it reinforces them in my play. I'm learning too. There's just no better way to learn than to teach. :-)

Mike[/i]

[Paul Watson]

I think its worth stating that this thread has been absolutely invaluable in preparing my own HQ campaign. I have gained alot of insight into numerous topics that I was stuggling with.

Thank you very kindly.