This coming Saturday will see the first session of my groups new HeroQuest run. (I abandoned the previous run out of my frustrations with my own GMing. I decided that what I needed was a bit more focus.) The Lunar Empire has quickly become one of my all-time favorite settings, & the brief tagline for "The Moon Revolutions" on the Hero Wars hotspot map in HeroQuest was intriguing enough for me to come up with this:

"The Celestial Game"

Instability threatens the Lunar Empire. The teaching of Unlike Ways--controversial beliefs and practices--is in dispute.

A student at the Temple of the Conquering Daughter in Jillaro has been found dead of an apparent suicide. She had been accused by the Head Professors of investigating, and possibly practicing, Unlike Ways, but she died before the matter could be fully resolved.

The High Priestess wants the student's death and studies to be investigated quietly and discreetly. However, the student's father is Tribune Krentius, commander of the local Lunar regiment. Taking it upon himself to deal with the situation, Krentius has surrounded the great Temple with his troops, allowing no one to enter or leave until the mystery surrounding his daughter has been solved. Krentius has declared his intention to investigate the mystery himself, but the High Priestess has so far been able to keep Krentius and his soldiers out of the Temple complex. Tensions between the soldiers and Temple denizens are riding very, very high.

While the Inner Imperial Council debates this alarming chain of events, the Imperial Synod, taking matters into its own hands, has secretly dispatched an agent to resolve the matter in Jillaro...

Setting: Jillaro, a large, Lunar city of around 20,000 people, is the capital of the satrapy of Sylila. Designed by the hero-goddess Hwarin Dalthippa (the Conquering Daughter who married the chieftan Ingkot Axe-and-a-Half and brought Sylila into the Empire), Jillaro is full of paved streets, plazas, statues, and murals. The great Oslir river runs by the east side of the city. On the northern edge of the city is the broad acropolis, which is dominated by the Temple of the Conquering Daughter.
The Temple of the Conquering Daughter is a mighty religious center and school. Dedicated to Hwarin Dalthippa, it is a massive complex of temples devoted to the various Lunar gods, libraries, classrooms and study halls, and dormitories for priests, professors, and students. The Temple is the primary religious center of Jillaro and the most prestigious academy in Sylila.

Narrator Characters:
Mother Iphrina, High Priestess of the Temple of the Conquering Daughter--A beautiful and magnetic woman in her late 50s, Iphrina is a comforting caretaker, an astute politician, and a fierce defender of her Temple. Mother Iphrina is well-known in Jillaro and well-loved by the Temple priests, scholars, and students.

Tribune Krentius Ferrius, Commander of the Red Rising Star Regiment--Known as "the Wolf," Krentius is a man in his early 60s with silver hair, icy blue eyes, and a stony demeanor. He's well-known as a brilliant soldier and a charismatic leader. He's also known to be something of a fanatic when it comes to the Empire. Krentius is a zealous Lunar, but he has a great hatred for more esoteric and problematic beliefs, especially those that stress the mysticism of the religion over the authority of the government.

Vella Ferrius, Temple student--Vella was a beautiful, intelligent, well-spoken young woman and a promising student. Her suicide has come as a shock to everyone who knows her.

Centurion Darscion Errio, Commander of the Flying Hound Company--A thin, muscular man with a boyish face, Darscion is young for a centurion. Some whisper that he rose so quickly in the ranks because of his noble background. Others maintain that he is brave, intelligent, and loyal. Darscion is one of Krentius' most-trusted aides. Despite his prowess in battle, Darscion is generally shy and soft-spoken. It is common knowledge that Darscion was planning to marry Vella, and the two had Krentius' blessing.

Centurion Laxaerius, Commander of the Sword Dancing Company--Laxaerius is handsome, square-jawed, and very charismatic. Known more for his leadership and political skills than his fighting, Laxaerius is another of Krentius' highly-trusted aides.

Tarinum, Head Professor at the Temple--A stern, serious man in his mid-40s (although he sometimes seems much older), Tarinum is a brilliant scholar and a poor teacher. He obviously prefers books to people. Despite this, Mother Iphrina seems to hold his council important, and she frequently consults him on matters within the school and temple.

Alura, Head Professor at the Temple--An intelligent and passionate woman in her 40s with fair skin and long, red hair, Alura is considered to be an exceptional, insightful scholar whose council is important to Mother Iphrina. It is commonly known that she and Tarinum are involved.

Andikot, Head Professor at the Temple--Andikot is a husky man in his early 40s with thick, dark hair and an impressive beard. Andikot is well-liked by the students, despite being loud, argumentative, stubborn, and moody. His manner, however, tends to alienate the other professors and priests. He is known to be one of the foremost authorities on Lunar history and mythology.

Gray Estara, agent of the Imperial Synod--Estara is a beautiful, young woman with short, black hair and fierce, dark eyes. Wrapped in a gray robe and cloak, she has just arrived in Jillaro to investigate the situation at the Temple. Few know anything about her, but those that do know of her as a brilliant problem-solver.

Septon Murzelm, Commander of the Fire-Eater Squad--Laxaerius' aide, Murzelm is rarely seen away from the Centurion unless he's on a mission for his superior. Murzelm is in his mid-20s, ruggedly handsome, and a good soldier, but know to be fairly humorless.

Gwin Errio, Temple student--A slight, wide-eyed, pretty young woman with long, brown hair. Before Vella's death, the two were inseparable.

Bendrek Errio, local noble--Bendrek is a noble of the ErrioUnit clan and the highest ranking noble in Sylila after the Satrap. He's a tall, intimidating man in his early 50s with a wry sense of humor. Everyone knows Bendrek is intensely protective of his children.

Cynasta Ferrius--Krentius' noble-born wife. She's in her early 40s, but looks much younger. Cynasta is known to be compassionate, friendly, and whimsical--a stark contrast to her dour husband.

* * *

We got together a couple of weeks ago & made characters (& then due to one circumstance & another have been unable to play until this weekend). What we ended up with is this cast of heroes:

Warryt Dosh (play by Ryan)--A Lunarized Dara Happan scholar & teacher at the Temple. He's an acolyte of Andikot. He's also a member of the Servants of the Almighty Dragons & a student of draconic lore. It was he that got Vella into Unlikely Ways--the study of dragons. He is desperate to keep any investigation from happening, due to his involvement & the negative reaction people have to fans of dragons. He also wants to get Andikot out of the way & replace him as a Head Professor.

Septon Alaerin (played by Julie)--Lunarized Sylilan, commander of the "Death From Above!" Squad, & aide to Centurion Darscion. She's a major badass with an axe or javelin. She also emulates Tribune Krentius & wants to be the one to solve the conflict, to distinguish herself in his eyes. Alaerin has dreams of rising through the ranks as a career soldier & becoming a warlord someday.

BevekSoo "Goes-Afar" of the MoraSoo Clan (played by Mike Holmes)--A Darjiini petty noble from an area that is claimed by Sylila but heavily Darjiini. His hometown is currently being claimed by a Sylilan noble (who does, by rights, own the land the town is on). The noble wants the dirty Darjiini evicted. Bevek, a diplomat, has traveled to Jillaro to appeal to the Satrap for help in the dispute. A former student of the Temple & a friend of Lord Bendrek, he wants to help solve the conflict & get in good with the Jillaro nobility.

I also suggested we create a common myth connected to the setting & conflict. Mike blurted out, "How about how Endyryk the Wise got lease of the hill the Temple is on from a hill daimon called Orimfestor?" Ryan & Julie both agreed that they liked that. I took that sentence & wrote up a myth that can be a small heroquest at some point.

Some of my favorite character bits (just from character creation):

* BevekSoo's two followers, a retainer nicknamed "Chunk" & a sidekick nicknamed "Drum-Strike." I also like his personality trait of Dry Sense Of Humor.

* Alaerin's ability of Cut The Crap. (Easily augmented by her common magic Project Voice & her Yanafal Tarnils affinity of Warlord.)

* Warryt Dosh's ability "Who? Me?"

I'm really, really looking forward to running this. And after we play, I'll post what happens.

Sounds great. My group is going to be moving to Jillaro sometime soon so I will probably be taking advantage of this information. :)

J.

Once again I have a character doomed to dislike Ryan's character - Darjiini have "Resent Dara Happans."

Sweet. I love picking on his characters. I've been practicing my line, "Chunk...get him!" :-)

Thematically, I'm curious to see if Bevek will get mixed up in any of the claims of "Unlike Ways." That is, I think that Darjiini animism is just outlandish enough that prejudice against his kind could lead to him being accused of being some sort of collusion with the bad guys. In any case the cultural differences are going to be fun to explore.

Mike

Do you happen to have a keyword for Hwarin Dalthippa?

Also did you have her as a seperate deity or a subcult for some other one and if so who?

doubtofbuddha wrote: Do you happen to have a keyword for Hwarin Dalthippa? Also did you have her as a separate deity or a subcult for some other one and if so who?

I went on the HQ list & asked what Hwarin Dalthippa's affinities are (assuming that she is, in fact, large enough to warrant her own cult). I'm using those affinities to improvise. Since none of the PCs are actually initiates or devotees of her, it's not really all that important. Yet.

Fair enough.

My players aren't either, but I like collecting Lunar HQ bits and pieces. Plus my players are going to be there soon so it might have come in handy.

How are you playing initiates and devotees of her? Since that might actually come up..

Oh, I love collecting bits about the Lunar Empire, too. I frickin' love the Lunar Empire.

So far, the only character (PC or NPC) who actually worships Hwarin Dalithippa is Mother Iphrina, the High Priestess of the Temple. (I figured it was only right that the High Priestess of the Temple of the Conquering Daughter actually be a devotee of the Conquering Daughter. It's probably not a dealbreaker, but it would certainly help on the resume & in the interview.) I see her as practical & down-to-earth, very canny politically, & a caretaker to her priests & teachers, her students, & her school. And not above kicking some ass in a fight if need be.

Also, as far as style & visuals go, I imagine the Lunar Empire as much less "Roman" & far more "Byzantine," with some Arabian Nights thrown in for good measure.

Right. I am currently running my game in a small town outside of the City of 10K Magicians so I haven't been able to get too much into that yet, but with Jillaro I should be able to push the flavor down a bit more.

Btw, what do you see as the major differences between Roman and Byzantine?

doubtofbuddha wrote: Btw, what do you see as the major differences between Roman and Byzantine?

What Nick said. Also, I see the costumes & architecture as more ornate & oriental than what most people think of as Roman style. (I see the Dara Happans as Roman--all straight lines & 90 degree angles. Lunars are minarets & domes & curvy lines.)

Fun first session, Josh.

My favorite moment (biased, of course) had to be critically failiing my roll for my Darjiini Traditional Approach-Someone-Like-I'm-Someone-Important Dance processional that I was trying to use to get noticed by the local Tribune. Nearly got Julie to have her character Alaerin attack my character due to it's ill timed presentation. Sweet.

Second favorite was Alaerin dragging Ryan's slimey character Dosh off to see the Tribune. Dosh had been trying to implicate everyone in the temple in the practice of Unlike Ways, and nearly touched off a riot. Oh, and near riots are almost as hard to ignore as a rain of toads.

Mike

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Mike. Ryan & Julie both said they had fun, too. And I thought it was great.

I'm working on a long write-up right now.

Okay, at last, here's a summary of Saturday's game:

I opened the session describing a shot of the full, crimson moon in the night sky, then a pan down to a small riverboat pulling up to the Jillaro docks. A lone figure in a gray hood and robe steps out and walks up the dock to where two soldiers, Septon Alaerin and Septon Murzelm, are waiting. “I’m Gray Estara, agent of the Imperial Church Synod,” the figure announces. “I assume you were sent to meet me? Take me immediately to Tribune Krentius.” In the Tribune’s tent, Krentius is meeting with his aides, Centurion Darscion and Centurion Laxaerius. Septon Alaerin walks in and introduces Gray Estara. Tribune Krentius says he doesn’t have time to meet with Estara now and tells Darscion and Alaerin to deal with her. Outside, Darscion and Alaerin tell Estara to come back later, much to the agent’s obvious dismay. The Darscion takes Alaerin aside and tells her he is recommending to Krentius that the Tribune negotiate with the High Priestess and resolve the situation as diplomatically as possible. Alaerin emulates Krentius (in fact, it’s one of her personality traits: Emulate Tribune Krentius, which she used later to augment her command rolls) and makes it clear to Darscion that her loyalties like with the Tribune, as should his. Darscion explains that through his sister, a student at the Temple, he’s learned that if a hostile force enters the Temple, the Temple Guardian will shake the Temple to the ground. This convinces Alaerin that a forceful entry would be a bad move.

Meanwhile, in the Temple, the scholar Warryt Dosh runs into his mentor, Andikot, carrying as bunch of scrolls. Andikot is on his way to a meeting with Mother Iphrina and the other Head Professors. As they walk to the meeting, Andikot asks Warryt his opinion on the situation. As he goes into the meeting, Andikot tells Warryt he thinks Mother Iphrina should let the military in to run the investigation. Warryt, who is the teacher who have the dead student the suspect lore, is nervous about this, but says nothing.

At the manor of noble Bendrek Errio, a servant interrupts Bendrek, relaxing in his mosaic bath, and says a diplomat in strange garb has arrived with attendants. The Darjiini BevekSoo “Goes-Afar” enters with his retainers, “Drum-Strike” and “Chunk.” Bendrek recalls getting a letter from Bevek about the situation with the Darjiini town. He says he like to help, but he’s busy right now with the situation at the Temple. Bevek offers to help in any way he can. Bendrek gets out of the bath and takes Bevek to meet a guest staying at the manor.

Warryt is eavesdropping outside the meeting room, listening to Andikot loudly argue for the military to be let in. “Someone in the Temple probably gave Vella any Unlike Ways lore she had. Everyone here, including me, is a suspect. We need an outside party to investigate.” Tarinum sternly disagrees, saying the military have no jurisdiction over the Temple and it would set a dangerous precedent to let the military in. Alura argues both sides, apparently trying to get some compromise going. Suddenly, someone taps Warryt on the shoulder from behind: it’s Gwin, Vella’s best friend. She has a scroll in her hand, which she reveals to be one of Warryt’s Draconic lore scrolls that he gave to Vella. He snatches from Gwin’s hand, but she tells him she has more of the scrolls hidden. She threatens to reveal him, unless she helps him. She wants her brother, Centurion Darscion, to get the credit for solving the present crisis. She wants Warryt to suggest the military be allowed in, with Darscion leading the investigation. Warryt says he’ll think about it.

Bendrek takes Bevek to a suite in the manor where Cynasta, the wife of Krentius, is staying. Bendrek asks if she will talk to her husband about backing off, but she refuses: she’s not sure how she feels about his actions and she thinks she would make him look weak to his soldiers if she convinced him to change his course. Bendrek relents. Mike assumes that Bendrek and Cynasta are having an affair, so as they leave the suite, he has Bevek sing a Darjiini song that says, essentially, “I’m looking everywhere but where the people are having sex. I see nothing, I hear nothing.” Bevek offers to leave immediately and talk to Krentius and try to resolve the situation.

Warryt interrupts the meeting to tell the Heads that Gwin “revealed to me that she also was investigating Unlike Ways.” He holds up the scroll, attempting to frame the girl. Unfortunately, Ryan doesn’t roll all that successfully, and the Heads remain skeptical. Mother Iphrina suggests they take a break to collect their thoughts. After everyone leaves, Warryt sneaks a look at Andikot’s scrolls, but finds them to be of little interest. He leaves the meeting room and surprises Alura, who is talking to Andikot. She hurries off to find Tarinum.

Darscion tells Alaerin he doesn’t want Estara to enter the Temple, and he wants to keep her from Krentius as long as possible. As Darscion leaves, Bevek approaches with his retinue, performing a traditional Darjinni dance and chant to introduce himself to everyone. Unfortunately, Mike blows his roll for the dance and finds himself surround by Alaerin and her squad. Julie outrolls Mike in a contest for who can be more authoritative and orders him to leave. Bevek dejectedly goes back to Bendrek’s manor. Gray Estara then approaches Alaerin and demands to speak to Krentius. Alaerin tells her she’ll have to wait, so Estara declares she’ll enter the Temple, which is her right as an agent of the Imperial Synod. Alaerin orders her to stop. Estara draws out a nasty hand-scythe. Alaerin draws out her mighty Full Moon Bear Clan battleaxe. (I asked Julie if she wanted to resolve this with a simple or extended contest. Everyone agreed that it was too early in the game for an extended contest. So we both rolled and Julie easily won.) Estara runs at Alaerin and suddenly leaps over her, lands behind her, and swings the scythe. But Alaerin turns and knocks Estara back with the axe, the scythe flying out of the agent’s hand. Alaerin puts the axe blade right at Estara’s neck and tells her not to enter the temple until the military tells her she can.

(This was something I felt like I failed on the last time I ran HQ: describing one-roll-resolved scenes in a cool way. I tended to just gloss right over them. This time around, I fully intend to make physical scenes look as cool as possible, and want to encourage the Players to do the same. I want to lead by example.)

Warryt sneaks into Tarinum’s office to hide some Draconic scrolls, to frame the scholar. In the process, he finds hidden scrolls revealing that Tarinum is, or was, a member of an outlawed faction, the Fellowship of the New Wane—a group of Lunar zealots that think the Empire is bringing the Lunar religion down. Warryt puts the New Wane scrolls in a place where someone could easily get them.

The next morning, Bevek’s retainer Drum-Strike is in the kitchen, happily chomping away on whatever food he can find. Lady Cynasta comes in and confides in him that she is terribly upset over the death of her daughter. She is grateful to Bendrek, an old childhood friend, for letting her stay at his manor, rather than in her empty house. Drum-Strike goes and wakes his master and, using his Keep Master Appraised ability, informs Bevek that while they are close, Bendrek and Cynasta are not having an affair.

Alaerin gets up and leaves her tent, only to see Murzelm slipping out of Laxaerius’ tent. She meets Laxaerius and asks him why Murzelm was leaving his tent so early, and Laxaerius gets rather defensive and evasive about it.

On his way to see Andikot, Warryt meets Alura, who seems to be coming from Andikot’s quarters and seems to be in a bit of a hurry. She asks Warryt if he’s seen Tarinum. When Warryt tells her he hasn’t, she says she’ll just go to Tarinum’s quarters to get the scrolls they all need. Warryt gets to Andikot’s quarters, and Andikot tells Warryt he’s decided it’s time to start bringing Warryt into the meetings. “Can I trust you to support me in recommending compromise with the military?” Andikot asks. Warryt replies, “Of course!”

Gwin appears outside the Temple and gets Alaerin’s attention. “I need to speak to my brother, can you get him for me?” Alaerin, grumpily, agrees half-heartedly. But as she walks by the line of soldiers encircling the school, she hears a commotion ahead. She rushes forward and sees a group of soldiers with drawn scimitars threatening a group of students holding rocks in their hands. It’s obvious the students have already thrown some rocks at the soldiers. Alaerin uses her authority to diffuse the situation before it gets out of hand, but Warryt sees what’s happening. He walks up to the main soldier and slaps the man across the face for threatening the students. Warryt begins to walk back to the Temple as the soldier draws his sword and rushes the scholar. He swings, but Warryt whips around, his Dragon Dagger in his hand, and slashes the soldier’s arm. Alaerin runs up and subdues Warryt (after a nice simple contest of wills), frog-marching the scholar off to see the Tribune.

Bevek gets to the Temple and sees Murzelm getting some scrolls from Gwin. Murzelm then walks off and into a tent with the scrolls. Bevek tries to get information from the soldiers standing guard, but they act dumb about the whole matter. Bevek goes to Krentius’ tent just as Alaerin and Warryt get there. Alaerin briefly explains what Warryt did, Warryt trying to weasel out of it, but Krentius says he doesn’t have time for this and orders Darscion to deal with it. Then he asks Bevek who he is and what he wants. “I’m BevekSoo of the MoraSoo Clan, and I believe I can help you.”

--And we ended there. I really enjoyed the whole session. I was pleased with myself for being better at describing cinematically-cool fight scenes, especially as they were all simple contests decided in one roll. I loved how Mike poured on the Darjiini culture flourishes, like Bevek's "I don't see any infidelity" song and his "approach & introduce" chant & dance. Great stuff.

joshua neff wrote: Bevek sing a Darjiini song that says, essentially, “I’m looking everywhere but where the people are having sex. I see nothing, I hear nothing.”

Hi Mike,

Based on the information I have concerning the Darjiini, which mainly comes of having assisted Mark Galeotti in running the "Birth of the Goddess" LARP, I would say you are doing a fine job exploring their culture. You might consider buying Bevek a Cultural Sensitivity ability, given his efforts thus far to avoid discomfitting his Sylilan hosts. :)

I might just do that. OTOH, his Sylilan Customs probably covers that, along with his Nurturing, and some other Darjiini personality traits.

In any case, I'm looking forward at some point to exploring the "Dark Side" of Darjiini culture. That is, they seem like a very "hakuna matata" sort of people on the surface, but I also get that their naturalism may lead to strong survival mechanisms at times. I think that I'm being inspired there by the illustration of the Darjiini with the knife in the Lunar Handbook, and trying to reconcile the look in his eyes with the description of the Darjiini. Their shamanistic practice is my best evidence, I think.

Speaking of which. I think it's always tempting to think about animists in terms of potentially progressing towards being Shamen. I know that this probably isn't what happens to most practitioners, but the idea of getting a Fetch is a fun and attractive one. For this character, however, as a noble, I think that his societal destiny is fairly set, and I really don't want to tamper with that.

So, what I'm asking here, is where do you take a Practitioner? How do they develop? Just more fetishes with ever more powerful Spirits? How many "stages," so to speak, are there to the Spirits in a tradition? I mean are there always ever larger ones? I guess what I'm saying is that I wonder what my character knows about what range of spirits there are out there, and about what makes them interesting. So I can hunt some more up at some point.

Mike

Seems to me there are a number of ways to go with that, Mike:

1) Bevek isn't the son who is directly in the line of succession. When his father & mother die, an older sibling becomes leader of the town of Gromiuk. In medieval Europe, the younger sons often became priests of monks. Likewise, Bevek could become a shaman.

2) Bevek is in direct line of succession, but at some point he is "called" by the spirits of SurEnslib & becomes a shaman. "Screw my nobility. When the spirits call, you gotta answer."

3) You don't want Bevek to become a shaman. In which case, I think what he does is continue being a practitioner, accumulating more & more spirits. As a practitioner, there's no limit to the number of fetishes & charms you can have. You are limited to having only one spirit ally (at least, as far as the rules go--but I have been known to ignore rules like that in favor of what's cool & what the player wants). There's also no limit to the number of Practices you can join--& according to the rules, many practitioners join multiple Practices. Also, Practices have their own secrets (we'll have to come up with a good one for the Agsargon Practice), which Bevek can learn when his traits are high enough.

That's just off the top of my head.

Another option is to explore the concept in Hero Wars of ... don't have the book here at work, like the khans of Prax and stuff ... sacred leaders, something like that. In other words, make up a new @60%-commitment level for your animist practice that doesn't involve a shaman, but still involves some additional magical abilities. An alternative promotion track, as it were.

Having multiple spirit allies is one possible magical benefit, as is an ability to enter the Spirit World (though probably more limited than a shaman's Spirit World Travel).

However, I think the best way to deal with very advanced practitioners is just to give them access to special or even unique spirits that most practitioners don't get access to. In HeroQuest, the Five Spirit Moons practice (I think) mentions some special, unique spirits that are known to the religion, and something along those lines is a great way to distinguish those who have accumulated a lot of magical power.

Also, an advanced practitioner will likely know the practice secret, and have a high rating in it, and that alone can be very powerful.

buserian

joshua neff wrote: 1) Bevek isn't the son who is directly in the line of succession.

3) You don't want Bevek to become a shaman.

In which case, I think what he does is continue being a practitioner, accumulating more & more spirits.

There's also no limit to the number of Practices you can join--& according to the rules, many practitioners join multiple Practices. Also, Practices have their own secrets (we'll have to come up with a good one for the Agsargon Practice), which Bevek can learn when his traits are high enough.

There's also no limit to the number of Practices you can join--& according to the rules, many practitioners join multiple Practices. Also, Practices have their own secrets (we'll have to come up with a good one for the Agsargon Practice), which Bevek can learn when his traits are high enough.

Buserian, I think that the "sacred leader" thing is sorta where he's headed in a way. I think that it'll probably work just fine with the occupation and the practice. I was thinking more in terms of those unique spirits that you're talking about. How would these be represented? Are they valid for a practice?

buserian wrote: Doesn't membership in a practice require a 10% time commitment or so? If so, there is a limit to how many practices you can join.

buserian wrote: Also, keep in mind that no matter how many practices he joins, he can only ever learn one secret. And do all practices in a tradition have secrets, or just some of them?

buserian wrote: I would think they'd be like other practice spirits, just rare, and possibly more powerful. You might only be able to get them on set heroquests, like the old Waha's Quest that appeared in Different Worlds and Book of Drastic Resolutions. Or they might be actual individual, named spirits, with special abilities. I would personally expect that individual named spirits would have to be taken as spirit allies, so relaxing the restriction on number of allied spirits for a sacred leader might be important. (But might also fly directly in the face of canon.)

But in the real world, there were some people who joined numerous religious & mystical orders (like one Sufi--whose name I'm forgetting at the moment--who joined every Sufi order he came across). If Mike wants Bevek to be one of those types (& it looks like he doesn't), I'm willing to give him some leeway.

buserian wrote:

But in the real world, there were some people who joined numerous religious & mystical orders (like one Sufi--whose name I'm forgetting at the moment--who joined every Sufi order he came across). If Mike wants Bevek to be one of those types (& it looks like he doesn't), I'm willing to give him some leeway.

Well, in a rules sense I would view such a person as being a spiritist member of those practices, rather than an actual practitioner of them.

We had our second session last night, & again it went really well. One player (who is, on one hand, biased because she's my girlfriend, but on the other hand tends to be brutally honest) said she thinks this run is going much better than the previous (aborted) run. She said it feels more focused, & as such is much easier to riff off of.

Which confirms what I thought: I am a much better GM when the play is fairly focused & the narrative runs for a limited number of sessions. Three to six sessions is, I think, a good number for me. Which is not to say that after this run, we're done. Far from it. I love HeroQuest, I love the Lunar Empire, & I love these heroes. I want us to keep playing until...we all decide we don't want to anymore.

Hi Joshua,

Tell us a little bit more about the session. And, please, tell me that the draconic currents of the Servants will change, forcing Warryt to change faction. ;-)

Cheers,

/Peter N

I'll post a write-up of the session, with commentary & notes about what I was trying to do & what worked & what didn't, as soon as I can (which will probably be in a couple of days).

As for the Servants (that's yours, isn't it?), I see it like this: there will always be someone in the Lunar Empire who says, "We are all us? Well, that means this, too!" Even if most people are saying, "Dragons? Yikes!" or "Dragons? You bloody fools!", there will still be a Lunar faction that says, "Hey, dragons are cool...& useful." And any such faction would likewise see people who study draconic lore as...useful.

Again, my favorite moment was another tradition that I made up. This time the tradition was giving a SwampFlower to the head of the temple as a sign of respect. I envisioned handing over this ridiculously big blossom. Bevek managed to impress both the Tribune and the head of the temple, so he's in a good position to persue his own goals (by further ingratiating these folks by figuring out what's going on).

Mike

Could someone explain to me what the Imperial Synod is?

Jesse D.

Hi Joshua,

joshua neff wrote: As for the Servants (that's yours, isn't it?), I see it like this: there will always be someone in the Lunar Empire who says, "We are all us? Well, that means this, too!" Even if most people are saying, "Dragons? Yikes!" or "Dragons? You bloody fools!", there will still be a Lunar faction that says, "Hey, dragons are cool...& useful." And any such faction would likewise see people who study draconic lore as...useful.

I like that I set up my character without a band. Because one of the points of play for me right now is to get into one. It'll be fun trying to find one to be involved with, and which side of the issues he comes down on. Right now I've got my character precisely on the fence between all three factions - the temple, the military, and the people practicing the unlike ways. In fact, I asked some pointed questions to determine just whether or not the Darjiini are against unlike ways. What we came up with is that the Darjiini, though under Lunar control, are not really all that Lunar. As such, their "way" is almost an "unlike way" itself. So I don't think my character is automatically predisposed to being against unlike ways. Making it an equal option in the end.

So I have three very interesting ways that the character can go in general, and many more in specific. I'm very much looking forward to playing it out.

Mike

We played our third session this Saturday. Rather than posting long recounts of what happened in the past two sessions, I'll just post some highlights:

* Krentius' aide, Centurion Darscion, is accused of possessing scrolls of draconic lore, implicating him in the Unlike Ways conspiracy (since Darscion's sister, Gwin, was the dead student's best friend, & Darscion himself was probably going to marry the dead student). Alaerin finds herself torn. She's extremely loyal to Krentius, but she argues with him in defense of Darscion.

* Thanks to his meddling & scheming, Warryt Dosh gets one of the senior professor/priest, Tarinum, temporarily removed from the High Priestess' council, due to the discovery that Tarinum is (or was) involved with the radical Fellowship of the New Wane. At the same time, Warryt is brought into the council meetings as Andikot's acolyte.

* Gwin stumbles out of the Temple, dying of poison, right in front of Alaerin. Dying in Alaerin's arms, she names Warryt Dosh with her last breath. Darscion, furious & distraught, orders Alaerin to prepare the troops to take the Temple. Alaerin goes to Krentius & tells him, hoping Krentius will order Darscion to stand down. Instead, the Tribune agrees with Darscion's plan, even though the Temple Guardian will bring the Temple down around everyone if they invade. Krentius orders the entire regiment to attack.

* In order to prevent the attack, Mike improvises a traditional Darjiini dance that Bevek performs, "the Dance of Woe," to show Darscion that everyone understands & shares his sorrow. Mike piles up the augments in a massive 2-mastery score & then rolls a 1. It was a massively kickass moment where the heroism of HQ characters came shining through. Bevek convinced Darscion not to attack, getting the Temple heads & many of the soldiers dancing & chanting along. It gave him later bonuses to convince Krentius to not invade & to allow him to investigate the goings-on in the Temple.

* After the session, Julie & I sat around, watching Saturday Night Live & decompressing. Suddenly, Julie asked, "So, what do you think's gonna happen next session?" I said I had no idea, it depended on what the players did. Then I said, "You're really liking this aren't you?" She said, "Yeah, I'm liking this a lot more than the last run."

* Ryan & Julie are both very interested now in coming up with heroquests that can fit into either this run or a sequel, which is cool, especially since both of them are newer to Glorantha & HeroQuest than Mike & I.

So, I'm very, very pleased with how this is going. Really good stuff.

joshua neff wrote: * In order to prevent the attack, Mike improvises a traditional Darjiini dance that Bevek performs, "the Dance of Woe," to show Darscion that everyone understands & shares his sorrow.

* Ryan & Julie are both very interested now in coming up with heroquests that can fit into either this run or a sequel, which is cool, especially since both of them are newer to Glorantha & HeroQuest than Mike & I.

Awesome! Why do you suppose the players like this better than your last attempt? What do you do different this time?

Cheers,

/Peter N

I think the idea is that it's more focused. The last game seemed, to the other players to wander a tad pointlessly.

Note that I liked the last game as much as this one, personally, but then I have a great tolerance for "wandering around." That is, as a long time GM, I tend to make up stuff for my character to do, whereas the other players like this game more in that they have a lot more situation to react to, NPCs to play off of, etc, etc.

Do I have that about right, Josh?

Mike

Yeah, that's right, Mike. Both Julie & Ryan have said that they liked the game more because it was more focused. Which is why I like it more, too. I've realized that unlike Mike, I have a very low tolerance for "soap opera gaming." I have always had a short attention span. Even as a kid doing my own superhero comics, I'd drop one after a few issues & start a new one. (While my best friend did 800 5-page issues of "LIzard-Man," one long continuing storyline. I envied him that, but just couldn't do it myself.) Going into the game knowing that the plan is to run 3-6 sessions (with an option for sequels) keeps me focused, which keeps me interested, which keeps me enthused. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to stop this--I want there to be sequels. I love HeroQuest & I love the Lunar Empire. And I love these characters. But I suck at running "wander around" games.

And the reason the High Priestess intervened & made sure Bevek kept his gig as impartial investigator was because of his success at the Song (not Dance) of Woe. Well, that helped, anyway.

We had our last session (which was session number six) this past Saturday. Rather than do an extensive write-up of the past few sessions, I'm just going to highlight what I thought went really well. (I'd also write about what went badly, but I can't think of anything.)

* Mike continued to improvise Darjiini customs, which is always hilarious & cool.

* Mike & Ryan entered into an extended contest against each other, as BevekSoo tried to discover the source of the forbidden lore while Warryt Dosh tried to evade discovery. There were some really cool moves in this contest that spanned 3 sessions. In an unrelated action, Warryt summoned the ghost of Vella, the first student who died. He asked her to tell Bevek that it was Tarinum, the scholar Warryt was trying to frame, who had given her the forbidden scrolls. He barely won the contest, so she agreed to do it, but only if he would go to her father the Tribune & tell him she committed suicide so as not to bring shame upon her family. Meanwhile, in another unrelated action, BevekSoo & his village shaman (who had coincidentally shown up in Jillaro) went into the Spirit World so that Bevek could make a fetish of a firefly Truth spirit. He got the spirit & bound it into a fetish, & then left the Spirit World--only to be confronted by the ghost of Vella. Thanks to Vella's misdirection, Mike was down quite a bit, so he made a desperation bid, which manifested as the cliche "detective brings all the suspects together in a room & eliminates each one until the true culprit is revealed" scenes. He released his firefly spirit to get the full bonus & Ryan actually botched the roll--complete & total defeat for Warryt. He was caught & could really do nothing about it. It was a very cool moment in a very cool extended contest.

* Alaerin had an extended contest duel with Septon Murzelm & changed her goal by the end to "get him to spill the beans about what's up with him & Centurion Laxaerius." She blew him away & I got to do a big ol' information dump of a Bang. Murzelm revealed that he was the one who had poisoned Gwin & tried to frame Centurion Darscion, on orders of Laxaerius. Laxaerius, it turns out, hates Krentius & seeks revenge against him, because he believes Krentius destroyed his father's career. Laxaerius escaped with most of his soldiers (of course), & Alaerin came out looking very capable & cool. She was able to convince Krentius to reconsider his surrounding of the temple. And then two more regiments arrived, ordered by Gwin & Darscion's noble father Bendrek, to take the Temple. The regiments were under the command of a Warlord, Kavenna. Alaerin defied the Warlord's authority & argued against attacking the Temple--Julie pulled out every augment she could think of, invoking the mythology of Yanafal Tarnils, employing Sedenyic Logic, & using her magic to make herself look more heroic. She failed, but it was this cool Iliad-esque moment as one soldier argued against a general with all kinds of myth & magic invoked.

* Failing to dissuade the Warlord, Alaerin broke rank & had her squad of soldiers stand in defense of the Temple. Seven soldiers and herself, against some 300 soldiers. It looked as if an epic battle scene was going to happen, & the players were all clamoring for it. But suddenly, Mike had Bevek throw Warryt onto the ground between the Temple & the soldiers, saying, "This is the guy you want. Leave the Temple alone." Bendrek showed up to oversee the invasion of the Temple, & was convinced to order the soldiers to stand down. Ryan decided to have Warryt try to bring the Temple down by provoking a soldier, but to no avail. Warryt then tried to use one of Bevek's sidekicks as a hostage to escape, but Alaerin stopped him. Finally, Ryan said, "Oh, I'm tired of this character & I want to see him get what he deserves." So, he had Warryt try to make a break for it & get pincushioned by many javelins hurled by soldiers. At the end, Alaerin walked up & beheaded Warryt.

It was a slam-bang group of sessions. Ryan told me he has fallen in love with extended contests. Everyone got to do some cool moves. We're now going to be prepping for a sequel (with a new character for Ryan).

Hi,

Thanks for posting this! It is very inspiring. I especially like the different ways you use contests to emphasize and create a cool story.

All the best,

/Peter N

Oh, extended and simple contests rock. The more I play the game, the more I like them. I think years of playing RPGs stunts the way we think about running contests in HeroQuest, but actually playing it opens your mind up to ways of approaching conflicts. (At least, that's how I feel about myself. It's easy to think in theory, "Oh, extended contests can be used in all sorts of different ways." But when it comes to actually playing the game, I've had to play it a bit to get in the habit of considering whether or not a conflict should be simple or extended. I generally ask the players, too, depending on how they view the conflict. I'm getting better at it, but I still haven't shed a lot of preconceptions of when to roll dice in a game.)

Josh is being modest, his sense of the dramatic really meant that every roll was for something pivotal.

I think its cool to note how Alaerin's most dramatic moment, IMO, was set up by her failure. That is, in choosing to take the side of the temple and fight against the impossible odds, Julie really made that a cool moment.


There are several ramifications for future play (Josh floated the notion that we continue, and I think we're behind that wholheartedly). Bevek benefitted from the whole affair, long term, in that hopefully now he has the blessings of the noble Bendek, who he's hoping can get him in to see the Satrap (there's this issue back home with some Sylilan noble claining that Bevek's entire hometown is legally his). Alaerin now has a potential goal of chasing down the offending soldiers, and will probably benefit long term by getting noticed in the military (possibly leading to a promotion to Centurion?)

Josh gave us a huge pile of HP to spend (in part to mark the end of the adventure, and in part to represent some time passing coming up), and Bevek's currently at 21. I'm trying to goad Josh into letting us spend some of that as increases to our keywords ratings instead. Sort of a test of some of the theory on the subject that's been floating around lately. I don't think an exchange rate is sensible, but mandating one keyword increase instead of 10 of the rewarded HP or something would make a lot of sense to me.

Mike