Wanted to give everyone here a quick summary of my latest TSoY session.  This is the first that I've played a full game under second edition rules, even though I've owned the game for a couple of years.  I didn't have any serious beefs with first edition, but I did notice that mechanics were very smooth.  We spent minimal time dealing with die rolls and were able to concentrate directly on the story.

This game is good for bringing some reclusive players out of their shells too.  That suggests to me that it might be a good game for introducing new role players to the hobby.  One of my players, while quite competent, tends to be a follower rather than a leader.  With The Shadow of Yesterday he was out starting trouble just to get the experience.  Since one of my constant concerns in prep is keeping him busy so that he doesn't get bored, I count that as a sign that the game is very good for creating interesting stories.

Our play was apparently interesting enough that it made a good spectator sport at the local gaming store.  One fellow watched most of our game.  I loaned him a rulebook and he made up his own character while watching.  He'll be joining our next session.  The owner dropped in for a bit too, but being the owner and seeing that he was running a tournament that day, he couldn't sit down to watch for very long.

We were playing in the Near setting, using this campaign background: http://www.obrienscafe.com/tsoy/campaign.html.  My reclusive player is playing a ratkin from Khale named Rug Rash.  His skills bias him towards thievery, starting the game with Key of the Precious.  My inventive player is playing a human outcast from Ameni named Aveline, with Key of Vengeance (Ameni Noble Houses) and Key of Conscience. 

We started off with one of my key scenes, in fact the only one of the key scenes that we reached during our session.  Rug Rash found his friend, a whore, was being abused by a city guard, and intervened to stop the beating.  Rug Rash wasn't quite the equal of the guard and was bowled out into the street.  He brought down the pain, defending his friend's honor, and took the guard's sword because it was shiny.  He doesn't have the infantry skill so can't use the weapon, but he likes the swashbuckling look of carrying a sword, making it a precious worth defending.

Aveline didn't want to be left out of the fun, so she happened to see her ratkin friend being bowled into the street and happened along just in time to interrogate the subdued guard and nip up a few points for the scene herself.

From there we managed to fill several more hours without once hitting a key scene, but sticking strictly to the storyline and staying very close to character.  In the process we also developed some enemies, including Vinny the Pimp, who was poisoned by Aveline, but notably not in Bringing Down The Pain, so he'll be back for future sessions.  We also added a lot of color to our city of Kolbesh, which went to a generic port town to a place with somebody named Vinny the Pimp, an arms smuggler named Phillemon and a whore named Pansy Bottom.

It probably wasn't my best role playing session ever, but it was near the top.  Almost certainly my best with a rule system written by somebody else (not that I'm biased or anything).  We managed to have base treachery that was inspired by Burn Notice (USA Network), atmosphere from Thieves World (without Gods on every street corner) and an audience, something I never expected to get for a role playing game.

Were there moments that the audience seemed to like more than others?  Did you allow the audience to have gift dice?