I’m gearing up to run The Riddle of Steel for the first time, and thought I would make some actual play posts covering the game setup and how it runs. I was inspired to try the system by Ralph Mazza (Valamir)’s rant on RPGNet about detailed character backgrounds, and the follow-up thread posted by Balbinus about practical tips for implementing situation driven play. Unfortunately, my internet forum fu is not strong enough to include links to those threads, but hopefully some of the more technically capable folks who were involved will do so. I also want to try implementing some of the ideas from Chris Chinn (Bankuei)’s RPGNet columns on Protagonist play, as well as various Forge GMing techniques such as scene framing, bangs, etc.

I have not gamed with the two folks who will be playing in the game before. They are an engaged couple in their 20-30’s whom I met through an email exchange after selling the guy an extra copy of Heroquest I had. We seem to have some similar ideas about wanting player driven story, so hopefully our styles will mesh. For myself, this is my first foray into more traditional, “crunchy” gaming in a long, long while. For many years I’ve been more of an Over the Edge, Everway, Prince Valiant, Puddle kind of guy, but the idea of TROS’s Spiritual Attributes and realistic but dramatic combat hooked me, and convinced me to invest the time to learn the system.

The three of us met over lunch earlier this week and discussed possible settings. I had a list of settings I’d like to try out the system with, including Midnight, Fading Suns, Middle Earth, a number or renaissance and enlightenment historic periods, and Westeros, the setting for the Song of Ice and Fire novels. I found the setting included with the TROS rules (Weyrth) to not be very inspirational for me, thus the alternatives. The consensus was for Westeros, which is a very good fit for the gritty combat and passion driven play of TROS. Since the setting is also very low magic, this allows me to avoid dealing with TROS magic as well, which I don’t care for (not because it is powerful or potentially game derailing, but because the mechanics are a bit involved for me and basing effects on scientific rationales just leaves me cold).

We are meeting tonight to work out the situation for the game (including timeframe in relation to the novels, geographical locale, etc.), and to make up characters tied into the situation. From there I plan to work up an R-map and core conflict based on the character’s SAs and the situation, work up a few bangs, stat up some NPCs from the R-map and bangs, and jump right into play next week. If anyone has any suggestions for other prep that is necessary for this style of game, please let me know. I think with a solid idea of the conflict, NPC motivations and goals, what the players want the game to focus on as shown by their SAs, and some improv tools like a name list, I should be in good shape to run a game that everyone is invested in and that will be driven by the PCs, who will definitely be the protagonists.

I’ll post again after the initial situation and characters are developed.


John Marron

Hey, I'm really glad you found that rant useful. I phrased it as a rant, partially out of frustration, and partially because you do tend to have to be a little controversial to get much attention over the shear volume of posts at RPG.net Ultimately I was very pleased by the quality of the overall discussion that came out of it.

Sounds like your off to a great start. The only tips I'd add.

Don't go in completely blank slate. Be sure to have a couple of situation ideas in you hip pocket just to get discussion going. I'm not familiar with Westeros, but if the books are as good as I keep hearing, I imagine it wouldn't be much trouble to come up with something appropriate.

Don't develop too much, but a few nuggets like "villages held hostage by an unemployed mercenary company turned bandit" or "a dieing lord's heir has not been seen for years, and now outside forces are coveting possession of his land" (suitably flavored for Westeros, of course) can help. Ideally I'd suggest haveing each of your other players bring a couple of their own, stressing that they are just talking points to start from.

Alternatively, if everyone is a fan of the book, come prepared to discuss your favorite situations from the book and use those to generate the ideas for establishing something similiar (not canonical, but inspired by)

In any event, I find that seeding the brainstorming in this way in advance makes for a more productive session. Once the framework of the situation gets established (likely weaving in several of the nugget ideas together, while abandoning others), NPC and PC character ideas will just start suggesting themselves.

The details and nitty gritty can then be filled in by you in prep for your first session of play.


My second big tip would be to keep in mind the very important fact that the Game Master (you) is a player too. Too often, I think, GMs looking to cede some of the creative authority to players feel like they have to cede it all, and their role is reduced to just being a conduit and implementer of the players ideas. Not so. Its just as important to have the GM excitedly buying into the situation as the players, so don't be shy about putting your own suggestions and preferences into the mix.

In can be a difficult balance to give ideas and suggestions as a GM and yet avoid the other players feeling obligated to "follow the GM", but it sounds like you're likely well beyond such worries.

Valamir wrote:
Don't go in completely blank slate. Be sure to have a couple of situation ideas in you hip pocket just to get discussion going. I'm not familiar with Westeros, but if the books are as good as I keep hearing, I imagine it wouldn't be much trouble to come up with something appropriate.

Don't develop too much, but a few nuggets like "villages held hostage by an unemployed mercenary company turned bandit" or "a dieing lord's heir has not been seen for years, and now outside forces are coveting possession of his land" (suitably flavored for Westeros, of course) can help. Ideally I'd suggest haveing each of your other players bring a couple of their own, stressing that they are just talking points to start from.

Valamir wrote:
Alternatively, if everyone is a fan of the book, come prepared to discuss your favorite situations from the book and use those to generate the ideas for establishing something similiar (not canonical, but inspired by)

Valamir wrote:
My second big tip would be to keep in mind the very important fact that the Game Master (you) is a player too. Too often, I think, GMs looking to cede some of the creative authority to players feel like they have to cede it all, and their role is reduced to just being a conduit and implementer of the players ideas. Not so. Its just as important to have the GM excitedly buying into the situation as the players, so don't be shy about putting your own suggestions and preferences into the mix.

In can be a difficult balance to give ideas and suggestions as a GM and yet avoid the other players feeling obligated to "follow the GM", but it sounds like you're likely well beyond such worries.

Your idea of a game sounds amazing. I looked at the site for The Riddle of Steel and I am well impressed with what it says is going on in the game, though I haven't read any of the book. I have also read the series that you are going to run your game in and that sounds great. If I could suggest some things about the game then read on, if not stop now. If you were going to be including some magic into the game then I good place to play would be in the north in the land of the Starks, because they still believe in the old gods and such things as magic and creatures that live in the woods. But if you are going to stay away from magic then the ideal place would be the south and you could easily throw the characters into a lot of political schemes going on around the iron throne. If I could help suggest anything else about the game world I would be more than happy to discuss it with you as I have been doing a lot of thinking about the world of Westeros for a strategy game that I'm developing with a friend of mine.

Steven – thanks for the setting suggestions. I want to avoid magic for a while, so we have decided to set the game in the south.

We had our situation and character design session last Friday, and all in all, I’m very pleased. We decided to set the game in the capital (King’s Landing), just after the first big death in the first novel (I’m going to try and avoid spoilers for folks who haven’t read the novels yet). This death will plunge the realm into civil war, which is our opening situation. I’m not sure if this is too general a situation. I’m trying to make sure the characters are tied in to the upcoming events, but I think I didn’t push enough for a more immediate and personal starting point.

The two characters are a knight (played by Christopher), and a lady in waiting (played by Adrienne).

The Lady (not named yet), Lady in waiting to the Queen:

Priorities: Race F, Social B, Attributes C, Skills A, Profs D, Gifts E

Social 7 Strength 2
Wits 3 Agility 4
Willpower 4 Toughness 2
Perception 6 Endurance 2
Mental Apt. 6 Health 3

SA’s

Passion: Love of family (Baratheon) 2
Passion: Loyalty to the Queen (Cersei Lannister) 2
Conscience 1
Drive: To find a kindred spirit 1
Destiny: To be a kingmaker 1

Skills – Courtier 6 / Entertainer 6 (lots ended up at 5, with a few 4’s!)

Gifts and Flaws: Allies (minor) the queen will do her minor favors
Troublemaker

Combat Pool – Dagger 7

Obviously, she’s no fighter. Her player described her as deliberate, thoughtful, and perhaps manipulative. She’s a born courtier (Social 7 and Etiquette 4, Intrigue 5, and Sincerity 5). Her troublemaker flaw manifests as malicious gossip meant to provoke conflicts rather than the usual fight starting, and this causes her some twinges of conscience (usually after the fact). Her passions may come into conflict fairly quickly since her family and the Queen’s will come down on opposite sides of the upcoming war.

The Knight, Ser Osric Lannister:

Priorities: Race F, Social B, Attributes C, Skills D, Profs A, Gifts E

Social 3 Strength 5
Wits 5 Agility 7
Willpower 4 Toughness 4
Perception 2 Endurance 3
Mental Apt. 2 Health 4

SA’s

Passion: Love of family (Lannister) 2
Passion: Hatred of family patriarch (Tywin Lannister) 1
Drive: To become a lord 3
Destiny: Hurt the ones he loves 1
?

Skills – Courtier 8 / Knight 8

Gifts and Flaws: Beauty of Legends (minor), Overconfident (minor), Arrogant about his station (minor)

Combat Pools – Greatsword 14, Lance 12

Obviously, he is a fighter. Pretty much a combat monster, in fact. His player described him as fairly ruthless in his pursuit of status, but with an almost pathetic desire to be loved. So far, he’s basically a good looking, arrogant, spoiled rich kid with a big ass sword. He’s a cousin of the Queen.


I wasn’t as clear as I might have been about SA’s while we were doing the characters, which led Chris to have to change some of his to the above. My next step is to work out an R-map of the court and big players in the war, decide on some opening bangs (n the absence of kickers), and get the SA’s into play. We’ll see how the lady’s conflicting passions will play out, and how the knight reacts when asked to perform actions that advance his family, but also advance his hated uncle. Any suggestions for tightening up the situation or good bangs given the above setup would be appreciated.

John

Well you have one character that is Baratheon and another that is House Lannister and just with that you could do a lot. You could have an attempt on someones life and maybe have the two houses think the other did it, or maybe both houses are put in danger and they come together to stop the threat as a team. You could also do something with the Dornish people they are in an interesting situation. They have an alliance with the king and mutually protect eachother, but at the same time it's its own nation just within the borders of another. And those two you mentioned sound like interesting sessionsas well.

We had our first actual play session last night, and I think overall it went very well. I’m going to try and avoid spoilers for those who haven’t read the novels yet, but if you are sensitive to that sort of thing, you may want to skip this thread. Also, I believe one of the players may be reading this thread (Chris), and if so, please feel free to chime in with your own observations.

We worked out where the PCs fit into the (huge) cast of NPCs from the novels. Ser Osric (the knight character) is Kevan Lannister’s youngest son, squire to King Robert, Tywin Lannister’s nephew, and first cousin of Jaime, Cersei (the queen) and Tyrion. This allowed the player to start considering how close he is in the succession to inherit his family’s lands and become a great lord, his drive SA. It will be interesting to see which path to becoming a lord he chooses (the two I see right now are shining on the battlefield in the upcoming war or a lot of underhanded scheming and possible fratricide). Jessamine is a second cousin of King Robert, a young lady not long in the capitol, serving as a lady in waiting to Queen Cersei. The PCs know each other and have frequent opportunities to appear in the same scenes at court as they are tied to both sides of the royal family.

I decided to roll the start of the game back a little in relation to the books. We opened with the grand tournament held to celebrate the appointment of the new King’s Hand from early in the first novel. I wanted to allow the player of the knight to try out some fighting and allow the player of the lady to get in some social schmoosing time at the feast afterwards.

Ser Osric (BTW - the use of “Ser” instead of “Sir” is an affectation of Martin’s in this setting, not a re-occurring typo on my part) participated in the jousting while Jessamine hung out in the royal box and eavesdropped on high level discussions and a royal family tiff. Ser Osric rode to a draw on three passes vs his first opponent, then sent his next opponent, Ser Lucos Hall, a minor Tully bannerman, flying with a solid hit. He drew again vs his cousin Jaime Lannister, and was finally unseated by Ser Loras Tyrell (The Knight of Flowers - not surprising). Osric used his “Love of Family” SA dice on a few of these jousts since the player argued that family pride was on the line. I found that the level of die rolling and my unfamiliarity with the system led to my focusing a lot more on the mechanics of the game and a lot less on description than I normally would. I’m guessing that this will become less of a problem as we all become more comfortable with the system.

Ser Loras eventually won the joust by defeating Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane. Gregor, none too pleased by being beaten by this pansy flower wearer, drew a weapon and approached Ser Loras from behind as he received his prize from the king. Jessamine was the only one to notice this in the royal box, and her player, noting her conscience SA, decided to call out a warning, despite the potential to gain a powerful enemy in the Mountain. This kept Gregor from braining the handsome young knight, and earned Jess an SA point in conscience. I took this opportunity to bring up how SA points are used in character advancement again, and at this point I think I saw a little dawning of awareness of how the SA system works in the players. Unfortunately, this was the only SA award I made in our short session (2 hours). I think as the game heats up and we start directing the story towards the player’s goals, I’ll be handing them out a lot more frequently. We’re all learning how TROS works as we go along.

At the feast that night, Loras asked Jessamine to dance, and thanked her for her aid, giving her a possible connection or ally. There was more political discussion, royal couple fighting, and Ser Osric became buddies with the knight he had beaten in the joust. I dropped a few hints about the political scene, but wasn’t as successful at conveying the central conflict of the game and who the players are as I would have liked to be. The central conflict is “Who will rule Westeros?”, and the stakes are control of the land, people, power, and wealth of the kingdom. The main factions contesting this are the five major noble houses (Baratheon, Lannister, Stark, Tyrell, and Greyjoy)

We tried out the hand to hand combat next, and Ser Osric went on to half-sword an unfortunate man at arms’ knee to a bloody pulp in the next day’s melee. That night, the queen approached Osric in Jessamine’s presence, and asked him to make a peace offering of two skins of fine wine to the king on their hunt the next day. Jess picked up on the fact that the queen meant for the king to come to some harm, and Adrienne, Jessamine’s player, immediately saw that this was a moral dilemma for her character. Does her love of family (the king is her cousin) prompt her to warn him, or does her loyalty to her benefactress the queen make her keep her mouth shut? We broke for the evening at this point, but I have to say that I was very pleased with the way TROS prompted the player to face a meaningful decision about her character. Either way, she’ll garner some SA points, but the decision she makes will say a lot about how the player sees her character, and help point the direction the rest of the game will go in.

One final observation and I’ll stop rambling (I promise!). I found that we were all falling a bit into the trap of trying to be too true to the setting as written (myself in particular). We’ve discussed the fact that we’re not uptight about being perfectly accurate in regards to setting details, and that we fully expect (and want) our story to diverge from the novels, but it was hard not to try and get the “facts” of the setting right. If you’ve read the novels, you know that there is a cast of hundreds of interrelated NPCs, and a fairly detailed and interesting (if not particularly exotic or innovative) backstory to the setting. I think this is a problem with playing in any “licensed” setting, and again, I hope it is a problem that will fade into the background as we all get into the groove of our game.

John

Sounds to me like a perfectly splendid beginning. I particularly like how you didn't hesitate to make the characters nobility and built in a bunch of blood relations. From what I've heard that's pretty much the hallmark of the novels, but is an excellent option for play in any setting. I love breaking the stereotype of PCs having to start out as peasant farmboys and work their way up.

This kept Gregor from braining the handsome young knight, and earned Jess an SA point in conscience. I took this opportunity to bring up how SA points are used in character advancement again, and at this point I think I saw a little dawning of awareness of how the SA system works in the players. Unfortunately, this was the only SA award I made in our short session (2 hours). I think as the game heats up and we start directing the story towards the player’s goals, I’ll be handing them out a lot more frequently. We’re all learning how TROS works as we go along.

I dropped a few hints about the political scene, but wasn’t as successful at conveying the central conflict of the game and who the players are as I would have liked to be. The central conflict is “Who will rule Westeros?”, and the stakes are control of the land, people, power, and wealth of the kingdom. The main factions contesting this are the five major noble houses (Baratheon, Lannister, Stark, Tyrell, and Greyjoy)

We tried out the hand to hand combat next, and Ser Osric went on to half-sword an unfortunate man at arms’ knee to a bloody pulp in the next day’s melee.

One final observation and I’ll stop rambling (I promise!). I found that we were all falling a bit into the trap of trying to be too true to the setting as written (myself in particular). We’ve discussed the fact that we’re not uptight about being perfectly accurate in regards to setting details, and that we fully expect (and want) our story to diverge from the novels, but it was hard not to try and get the “facts” of the setting right. If you’ve read the novels, you know that there is a cast of hundreds of interrelated NPCs, and a fairly detailed and interesting (if not particularly exotic or innovative) backstory to the setting. I think this is a problem with playing in any “licensed” setting, and again, I hope it is a problem that will fade into the background as we all get into the groove of our game.

How are you tracking this cast in your game? I'd bet given the popularity of the books that someone has put a list of characters out on the internet that may serve as a useful summary of them.

I supposed I'd be the player that is reading. I'm Ser Osric's player. :D

I agree that the game went well -- I think part of what was going on, at least for my own part, was hesitation. It was the first time that I gamed with John and I wanted to see how he'd do things. As much as I try to be mature about things like character deaths, I'd've had some chagrin if I leapt into combat, greatsword swinging overhead, only to be chopped down like a stalk of wheat in a thresher. Now I've gotten a better measure of things, I think, so I'll be more likely to take chances. Part of it definitely was, y'know, the reasonably imposing setting. I KNEW that things would happen if I just let them.

Indeed, next session I'm sorta planning to kill the Mountain; psychologically for my part it'll be a clean break from the books and the characters will, obviously, be out on their own. (Alternately, I might be making a new character, hehe -- I even have a vague concept, so its all cool.) I think this will fit in well with his SA, a Passion that he hate Tywin, by killing one of Tywin's most useful servants, and as part of his plot to become a lord, so I might squeeze in TWO passions. Anyway, by next session I hope to have gotten into the right mindset enough to play my character as passionately as I want, now that I've seen how John GMs as well as am aware of how the setting has been oppressing me.

Valamir wrote:
Great game write-up BTW. A good blend of character action and mechanics used. In the future I'd like to hear your observations about what the players felt too. For instance was J- fidgity while the tourney going on? Did O-'s player look disappointed or pleased that his character eventually lost after putting on a good showing?

I know this is the Actual Play section, but it kind of deals with gaming. While you guys are all driving around in Maine you should stop by my old stomping grounds in Belfast and try to find a place entitled "The Game Loft" it is above a gaming shop entitled "All About Games". I used to help run both places and helped create The Game Loft. I have a friend there named Ian Howard and he and I are working on another game based in Westeros. Its a nice little town with its own little gaming community its cool.

Ralph,

Thanks for the comments. Since you initialy inspired this project, it's nice to hear what you have to say about it.

Valamir wrote: Sounds to me like a perfectly splendid beginning. I particularly like how you didn't hesitate to make the characters nobility and built in a bunch of blood relations. From what I've heard that's pretty much the hallmark of the novels, but is an excellent option for play in any setting. I love breaking the stereotype of PCs having to start out as peasant farmboys and work their way up.

Haven't your players also read the books? I would think they already know what the stakes are.

Have you talked with you players about the possibility of J- spending alot of time on the sidelines while 0- fights. Especially with a war coming up, have you considered the techniques you'll use to help share the spot light?

How are you tracking this cast in your game? I'd bet given the popularity of the books that someone has put a list of characters out on the internet that may serve as a useful summary of them.

Great game write-up BTW. A good blend of character action and mechanics used.

In the future I'd like to hear your observations about what the players felt too. For instance was J- fidgity while the tourney going on? Did O-'s player look disappointed or pleased that his character eventually lost after putting on a good showing?

Hi, I'm Jessamine's player. I'm enjoying the game quite a bit, and don't mind that there is frequent scene-switching. I generally find Osric's parts entertaining (although it's true that I glazed a bit during the hand-to-hand stuff). I do have a couple of small concerns about how gameplay is shaping up. Given the very cooperative way that things have been going so far, I hope John won't mind if I post them here.

In the most recent session, Jess earned four new SA points: two in each of her passions (love to Baratheons and loyalty to the Queen). Without giving away details that John might be intending to post in a summary, right now she's trying to juggle these two conflicting passions. However, I realized that I can't recall actually using SA dice at any point in the game so far.

I'm not remembering to check my SAs before I make rolls. The character is engaging in a fair amount of deception right now, mostly to protect Cersei, and I didn't think to ask about adding SA dice to those skill checks. Generally, I was wondering if people had suggestions for including SAs. Do I just need to form the habit of scanning the list before I make rolls, or is there anything else I should do?

The second problem is a little broader, and it has to do with both character design and playing style. The Westeros setting, particularly as the struggle for the throne progresses, is pretty brutal. There are likely to be a number of important things being accomplished by force, and non-combatants (such as my social-heavy character) are not immune to violent fallout from these events. Already, I'm beginning to get the sense that Jessamine is being swept along with little control over her fate. Meanwhile, Osric can defend himself physically and seems to be making better progress at socially advancing himself.

Part of this stems from a difference in play style. Chris is very aggressive and quick-witted, while I tend to be more cautious and don't think as fast on my feet. The other issue is that Osric's SAs work mostly in harmony, while two of my character's Passions are in near-constant conflict. While I enjoy playing it, my character's waffling is holding her back from gaining the benefits of choosing a side that Osric seems to have.

Anyway, reading back over that, I apologize if it's long or confused. I guess I'm curious whether folks who've played TROS before have any advice to offer on conflicting SAs--are they a bad idea in the long run, or just as workable as a more focused character?

I'm already looking forward to next week's game. Fun stuff. :)


Thanks,
Adrienne

Adrienne wrote: I'm not remembering to check my SAs before I make rolls. The character is engaging in a fair amount of deception right now, mostly to protect Cersei, and I didn't think to ask about adding SA dice to those skill checks. Generally, I was wondering if people had suggestions for including SAs. Do I just need to form the habit of scanning the list before I make rolls, or is there anything else I should do?

I guess I'm curious whether folks who've played TROS before have any advice to offer on conflicting SAs--are they a bad idea in the long run, or just as workable as a more focused character?

Hi Adrienne,

Those are extremely well-articulated and relevant points. Let's see if my take on them is useful for you.

Generally, I was wondering if people had suggestions for including SAs. Do I just need to form the habit of scanning the list before I make rolls, or is there anything else I should do?

The second problem ... There are likely to be a number of important things being accomplished by force, and non-combatants (such as my social-heavy character) are not immune to violent fallout from these events. Already, I'm beginning to get the sense that Jessamine is being swept along with little control over her fate. ...

... The other issue is that Osric's SAs work mostly in harmony, while two of my character's Passions are in near-constant conflict. While I enjoy playing it, my character's waffling is holding her back from gaining the benefits of choosing a side that Osric seems to have.

... I'm curious whether folks who've played TROS before have any advice to offer on conflicting SAs--are they a bad idea in the long run, or just as workable as a more focused character?

I'd also add the following.

SA points are not awarded every single time you do something that happens to correspond with an SA, but when you do something noteworthy that reinforces it.

If you have conflicting SAs, then I'd submit that every time you're forced to choose between them, that that automatically counts as a noteworthy event and earns SAs. As GM, I'd be more inclined to award SAs more rapidly to SAs that are in conflict than perhaps I otherwise would.

That's not in anyway a "found in the rulebook" rule but perhaps something to discuss with John.

For the record, my character does have conflicting SAs. Its just his Passion: Pride in the Lannisters has not yet been able to conflict with his Passion: Hates Tywin Lannister. :D

More generally, I think it is a good idea for the players to know each other's SAs to encourage them and such. I think I'll try to write mine down on a notecard to give to Adrienne and hope she does the same for me for next game session.

*goes back to strategizing how to kill Ned Stark* :)

As Chris and Adrienne have noted, we had our second session of our TROS/Westeros game last Friday. The physical conditions were a bit more challenging this time, since we play in a game store and a CCG tournament was using all of the tables, but we persevered. I’m afraid there’s no way for me to summarize the action of this session without some big spoilers for the first third of the first novel (A Game of Thrones), so if you don’t want to have some plot developments from the novel revealed, I’m afraid you may not want to read this post.


That said, here’s what occurred. After the tournament and feast that occurred during last week’s game, Lady Jessamine returned to her chambers to find a note written in what appeared to be a female hand stating “The king is in danger. As you love your own life, look to his”. I don’t know if this qualifies as a bang, but my intention was to spur the player into making a decision as to whether she would follow her love of her family (the king is her cousin) or her loyalty to the queen (whom she suspects of planning to harm the king). I didn’t care what decision she made, only that she make one. In an attempt to balance both passions, she approached Ser Osric (the other PC) and asked him to convey the warning to the king. She went to great efforts to hide the fact that she suspects the queen.

The next day, the king and some of the high ranking guests from the tournament went on a boar hunt. Ser Osric, as the king’s squire, went along, bringing the two wineskins of fine wine that the queen had given him last week as a “peace offering” to her husband. Her plan was that Robert (the king), a notorious drinker, would become drunk on the hunt and come to some harm. Strangely enough, the drunken king attacked a cornered boar in a thicket against all advice. We played out the battle, with Chris’s character Osric arriving after a couple of rounds, and Adrienne playing the drunk king with proper disregard for his own safety. I was perfectly happy for the outcome to vary from the book, but the king was seriously gored in the abdomen a couple of times, and only the timely arrival of Ser Osric saved him from immediate death. Osric skewered the boar through the throat with a nice SA augmented combat pool (his drive to become a lord spurring him on to save the king, his current meal ticket and best hope for promotion).

Upon returning to the city with the mortally wounded king, Osric approached Jessamine and demanded to know how she knew the king was in danger. She revealed the note, and Osric brusquely took it from her, using his physical power to intimidate the lady. Later, Osric was approached by Varys, the king’s eunuch advisor and head of “secret police”. Varys asked for the details of the king’s encounter with the boar, and hoped that Osric might supply him with further information in the future. Osric reacted with manful and noble disdain when the low born eunuch became overly familiar.

Suspecting that the effeminate handwriting on the note may have been Varys’s rather than a woman’s, Osric set Jessamine to trying to acquire a sample of the eunuch’s handwriting, unsuccessfully.

That night, the king died. Jessamine, having had some conversation with the king’s younger brother (and her other cousin) Renly the day before, sought him out only to find that he apparently had left the city. Very strange behavior, since his brother’s funeral would not be for a few days yet. Later that morning, both Osric and Jessamine were summoned along with the whole court to the throne room, where the queen presided over a ceremony crowning her 13 year old son Joffrey as king, also in defiance of custom since his father was barely cold. Osric and Jessamine both noted a lot of tension in the air, and the fact that the large numbers of city guard present were heavily armed and armored. As the ceremony concluded, the King’s hand (main advisor) Ned Stark arrived with armed men and seemed intent on causing trouble. We closed the session with weapon’s being drawn.

One of the interesting things about this session, in terms of playing in a “licensed” setting, was that we played out two major scenes that occur “off-camera” in the novel. Both the actual boar hunt and the coronation scene are not described in the book (the book uses a different viewpoint character for each chapter, and these events are described after the fact). This allowed me to feel less constrained to be true to the setting than I might otherwise have been (irrationally, since I’m consciously willing to deviate from the books). Osric plans to attack Ned Stark in the upcoming melee, so we have a big opportunity for our game to veer away from the novels there.

As far as TROS mechanics are concerned, I was much freer with the SA points than in the first session. Things are heating up and hopefully the story is impacting the characters’ SAs a bit more now. I’m finding it somewhat difficult to determine when Osric’s Drive to become a lord should and shouldn’t apply, but the player has been convincing in tying it to many of his actions, so I’ve been erring on the side of generosity, since it definitely helps protagonize his character and lets him shine. I was a bit rough with the combat mechanics, particularly with the boar fight since I forgot I had OBAM for the first couple of rounds. My prep time is minimal since I have a 3 month old at home and am either working long hours or babysitting most of the time, but I’m going to try and put more time into statting out potential NPCs for the next session’s action. I think the scene cutting between characters was better this time, and I think both players got equal spotlight time. I used Ralph’s suggestion of having Adrienne play an NPC during a combat scene, which kept her more engaged and let her try out the system. I think both players made multiple important decisions with their characters during the session, and everyone, including me, seemed to have a good time.

As always, I’m open to suggestions for improving the game, so feel free to make ‘em.

John Marron

Hi John,

As far as I can tell, people ought to be going to you and your group for advice on improving their games, instead of the other way around. Two of the specifics that stick out for me include:

1. Recognizing various limitations on your time or in a venue, and not letting it throw you during the "we are actually playing" time.

2. Not worrying about getting everything perfect at every step while everyone is still learning the game, but also making sure to improve your use of the game/rules as well, as you go.

Your SA-fu seems to be hitting just right for your group and the nature of the developing story, which also makes sense. The Riddle of Steel, like Sorcerer, often includes a kind of "figure out where you stand" phase on the players' parts, which is very distinct from the "figure out why we're being attacked or why our lives just got so weird" in many other games. So the GM's job during this phase is merely to keep providing events and to apply the respective game's powerful feedback mechanics as you go.

And I really want to say that I am enjoying reading about you having an unequivocally good time with role-playing. It's been quite a road for both of us over the last decade.

Best,
Ron

johnmarron wrote: Osric skewered the boar through the throat with a nice SA augmented combat pool (his drive to become a lord spurring him on to save the king, his current meal ticket and best hope for promotion).

I’m finding it somewhat difficult to determine when Osric’s Drive to become a lord should and shouldn’t apply, but the player has been convincing in tying it to many of his actions, so I’ve been erring on the side of generosity, since it definitely helps protagonize his character and lets him shine.

I was a bit rough with the combat mechanics, particularly with the boar fight since I forgot I had OBAM for the first couple of rounds.

*snip*

I think both players made multiple important decisions with their characters during the session, and everyone, including me, seemed to have a good time.

Ron Edwards wrote: The Riddle of Steel, like Sorcerer, often includes a kind of "figure out where you stand" phase on the players' parts, which is very distinct from the "figure out why we're being attacked or why our lives just got so weird" in many other games. So the GM's job during this phase is merely to keep providing events and to apply the respective game's powerful feedback mechanics as you go.

Ron Edwards wrote:
Scanning the list before rolling is good, and probably necessary if you're not doing it now ... but I suggest a little more. If you can make those SAs well-known to everyone in the group, both through role-playing in-character and through simply telling the other players outright, then you can enlist the other people to help you note when a given action is "for" or "against" a given SA (either of which is good TROS play).

Ralph (Valamir) points out that your SA rewards are a nice resource for buying combat-relevant skills, but more importantly (and perhaps more satisfyingly given your character concept), he also points out that a character with a relatively small combat pool can still be a beast in combat with, say, three SAs firing at maximum at once. To me, that resulting "effectiveness through passion" which brings a character alive through many a combat, is very common in rousing fiction of all kinds, in any medium.

johnmarron wrote:
That said, here’s what occurred. After the tournament and feast that occurred during last week’s game, Lady Jessamine returned to her chambers to find a note written in what appeared to be a female hand stating “The king is in danger. As you love your own life, look to his”. I don’t know if this qualifies as a bang, but my intention was to spur the player into making a decision as to whether she would follow her love of her family (the king is her cousin) or her loyalty to the queen (whom she suspects of planning to harm the king). I didn’t care what decision she made, only that she make one. In an attempt to balance both passions, she approached Ser Osric (the other PC) and asked him to convey the warning to the king. She went to great efforts to hide the fact that she suspects the queen.

I used Ralph’s suggestion of having Adrienne play an NPC during a combat scene, which kept her more engaged and let her try out the system. I think both players made multiple important decisions with their characters during the session, and everyone, including me, seemed to have a good time.

Ron Edwards wrote: Hi John,

As far as I can tell, people ought to be going to you and your group for advice on improving their games, instead of the other way around.

And I really want to say that I am enjoying reading about you having an unequivocally good time with role-playing. It's been quite a road for both of us over the last decade.

Best,
Ron