The Forge Archives

The following are prep notes for the ongoing campaign, last session discussed here:  http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=14027

(Note:  I'm adapting material from Fury of Shadow here.  Thanks again to the authors for lots of evocative material.)  

The other player is on a trip to India so I'm expecting to run at least one, if not two more solo sessions for Katrin's player Lucy.  


A Dornish Crown


Shadow forces are gathering for a final onslaught on Erethor, aiming to drive through to Aradiel's court and destroy the greatest remaining stronghold of the free world.  If Caradul falls, the worlds of elves and humans can no longer stand.  

Yet as Lady Katrin, heir of the House of Baden, is about to meet Prince Roland Redguard face to face for the first time, the resistance forces in the North are far from united.  

Among the Dorns, only three Houses remain free, and each operates much in isolation.  Redgard holds court and fights orcs in the icy north of the Veradeen, sandwiched between orcs and elves, far away from other human concerns.  The Norfells have turned their back on their lands wasted by orcs and on all collaborators and have taken to piracy on the Pellurian Sea.  The Badens live and act undercover in Baden's Bluff and other occupied cities;  for them at least on the face of it, survival means collaboration.  

Among elves, the ancient alliance between Snow Elves and Wood Elves is crumbling as the front held by Snow Elves long is crumbling under constant orcish onslaughts.  The Elven stronghold Autilar is reaching out for an uneasy truce with the Ice Fang Mother's tribe, supplying arrows in return for a guarantee that no Black Mirrors will be built on Ice Fang Mother's land.  The Wood Elf court in Caradul is responding in a way long practiced in their dealings with human settlements in Erethor:  by cordoning itself off.  



Major NPCs:  

Roland – Prince of Redgard, Lord of Skyrfell Pike, captain of Roland's Raiders, a brash and charismatic man.  Decades ago he promised to his dying father that he would sweep the orcs and treacherous Sarcosans off the continent and bring Dornland to its former glory.  He's been holding on to this bit of frozen rock, fighting orcs, nurturing his hatred.  But he's isolated, getting old and going nowhere fast.  Veddia, who seemed a good way to strike up an alliance with the Badens, is getting more demanding by the day;  and now the White Elves, who used to be guides and allies, have turned their backs on all that's right.  

Reifels Redgard is a disappointment to his father, a scholarly cripple who makes maps and dabbles in magic.  He loves Snow Elves and values their knowledge, and can't understand why Roland banned them from his court.  Reifels fears and lusts after Veddia in equal measure:  he can't make up his mind whether to court her or loathe her for luring her father into a relationship that may well give him a more warlike son.  Reifels has long searched for clues on the fabled ancient Dornish Crown to please his father.  Now he believes he has something, but is looking for a more beneficial deal than telling Roland for little gain.  

Veddia Allin, Tam's Allin's* sister, is Roland's bodyguard and mistress.  She was born into a clan traditionally loyal to the Princes of Baden.  Seven years ago she left Baden's Bluff when Prince Iodor** would neither acknowledge her as his mistress nor grant her a formal position in his resistance network.  Veddia is fiercely protective of Roland and determined for him to attain his goal of kingship, seeing this as her own best route to a queenship that her birth wouldn't warrant.  A recent sickness she's slow to recover from has convinced her that Reifels is working his "sick Elf magic" to do her harm.  
*Katrin's lover
**Katrin's father

The tracker Nollorn, only son to Uilia, Snow of Autilar, is one of the last Snow Elf children born in this Age.  When twenty years ago orcs overran the Pike to get at the Elven children kept safe there, Nollorn was among those saved by Bernt in a suicidal rescue operation that cost Bernt his leg and his love's life.  In an age when Snow Elves, beset on all sides, are turning away from old allies and reaching out to new ones, Nollorn acknowledges his debt and holds firmly to his belief that humans must be dealt with honourably.  He feels he has failed Bernt utterly in losing Katrin to Roland's Raiders.  

Charankh the Blind was a priestess of the Ice Fang Mothers when a raid against the humans went bad and she was captured by Roland's band, four years ago.  These days food, preferably still squirming and begging, seems her main concern.  How much sanity remains in her after being tortured, mutilated and held in a cage for the entertainment of Roland's court and rare visitors, is anyone's guess.  

Xione, Spirit of Winter.  Or someone.  Not sure what, if anything, I will do with this.  
Howling winds harass and try to whip enemy intruders off the narrow ledge that leads up to the top of Skyrfell Pike, but die down to a gentle whisper around friends.  
The Elves speak of a Snow Elf warrior who fought off a pack Fell on his own in the woods and in the end (mortally wounded) was shielded by Xione's breath so he could move to the top of the Pike and die in peace by a holy pool in a grove.  Xione still watches over elves and their friends to this day.  
Asking among Roland's people, you'd hear of Skyrfell, a Dornish hero of an earlier, more glorious age, who led his clan to victory against orcs holding the hill and first built a stronghold there.  According to them the howling winds are the furious ghosts of Skyrfell and his warriors, who dyed the path in their lifeblood to secure a place for the rest of their clan, and continue to watch out for Redgards and those friendly to them.  




tbc.

Quote from: StalkingBlue(Note:  I'm adapting material from Fury of Shadow here.  Thanks again to the authors for lots of evocative material.)

Is this a supplement for Midnight? I think that it's fascinating how authors for D20 settings come up with some really, as you say, evocative NPCs and such, loaded with potential to bring out themes in PCs. All which can't get into play with any ease, because it's not about killin things and taking their stuff.

QuoteShadow forces are gathering for a final onslaught on Erethor, aiming to drive through to Aradiel's court and destroy the greatest remaining stronghold of the free world.  If Caradul falls, the worlds of elves and humans can no longer stand.

Cool, the stakes set at nothing less than the fate of the whole world. I think this is what Midnight is, again, theoretically for, and which I'll bet never gets seen in D20 play.

QuoteYet as Lady Katrin, heir of the House of Baden, is about to meet Prince Roland Redguard face to face for the first time, the resistance forces in the North are far from united.

The conflict is already palpable. Can they put aside their entrenched differences in order to serve the greater good of saving all of creation?

QuoteAmong the Dorns, only three Houses remain free, and each operates much in isolation.

Three factions to deal with here, one antithetical, one neutral, and one helpful. Lots to work with there.

QuoteAmong elves, the ancient alliance between Snow Elves and Wood Elves is crumbling as the front held by Snow Elves long is crumbling under constant orcish onslaughts.

And the victims that need help are in two factions, one already dealing with the enemy, and the other that wants nothing to do with those come to help. Excellent.

OK, what's a "Black Mirror." Better yet, what are the stats for a Black Mirror? Sounds too cool.

Let's do a Grabbiness check. Grabiness being the quality of an NPC that makes them grab PCs in a way that the player will be interested in.

RolandWell, the obvious thing was stated at the start, Roland needs to join forces with folks so there's a chance of saving the elves from their impending doom. So he wants our PC to come along. Again, I sense an implicit conflict here - why aren't their houses united already? What stands between them? What is it that Roland might have to swallow, in order to get her to join?

Reifels Redgard loves and hates his father, apparently. Cool. Wants more than just recognition from his father for his work in getting the crown...OK, why does he need to come to our PC in order to get this? Doesn't feel he can approach his father directly? Or does he think that he can get our PC to join up making it a package deal for the crown and her? Or, perhaps he wants our PC to do something about Veddia? What does he have to offer, however, that would make Katarin do something to her lover's sister? Is he good looking...?

Veddia AllinSeems pretty straightforward that she wants what Roland wants, for the PC to join up. She might also want the PC to check out Reifels to see if he's doing magic. Also, Veddia might hold a grudge about Iodor, and/or not like her brother messing with Iodor's heir. So she might directly attack Katrin, or, better, try to involve her in some intrigue only to later betray her, and make Katrin look bad - character assassination. This conflict in the character makes her interesting. She might also simply make Roland bargain harder in not giving in to Katarin's demands.

NollornOK, this guy's background seems to indicate that Katarin has already joined up with Roland. In any case, he seems to want to get Katarin on his side to help with his people's problems. So that's cool as a tug in another direction entirely. What does he have to offer to her?

Charankh the BlindMad is tough. But maybe she only plays mad. Maybe she still plans her escape. Can she get Katarin to help out? Does she have some information to exchange for this, something she's seen in a vision? Or maybe she just wants revenge, and just wants to give Katarin information that will set everyone at everyone else's throats? What sort of info would best go to Katarin?

Xione, Spirit of Winter.These spirits want to protect the Redgard folks. So they want to keep Katarin with Roland, no doubt, if they're aware of the situation. If not, then perhaps they have news about some threat on a more spiritual level, and Katarin is the only one they find to tell (spirits are convenient that way). Or maybe the spirits think that she's some prophecized hero come from the outside to save the Redgard as predicted. Sounds like an opportunity to potentially join an Animist Practice. This involves potentially alienating the people where she's from or something, perhaps?

Note that the initial "Grab" by an NPC is often a Bang, though not always. It might just set up a bang in a following scene.

Mike

Oh wow.  Brilliant.  Oh help...  :-)


I'm replying to the grabbiness questions first, a list of Bangs based on them follows.  (And afterwards a reply to the general stuff in your post.)

Quote from: Mike HolmesRolandWell, the obvious thing was stated at the start, Roland needs to join forces with folks so there's a chance of saving the elves from their impending doom. So he wants our PC to come along. Again, I sense an implicit conflict here - why aren't their houses united already? What stands between them?

Well-entrenched differences in their approaches to fighting the Shadow.  In Roland's eyes, Iodor is nothing but a degenerate collaborator who won't dirty his hands in enemy blood, while Iodor sees Roland as an elf-hugging, head-in-clouds idealist.  That Roland's main source of inside intel on the Badens for the last few years has been Veddia (through family contacts), doesn't help.  Veddia hasn't told Roland the truth about why she turned her back on Iodor, and while she may believe her reports to be truthful, they are certainly tainted by that old grudge.    

QuoteWhat is it that Roland might have to swallow, in order to get her to join?

Hm. Until just now Roland's been seeing himself as the only Dornish Prince who's in a position to claim the Crown and reunite the Dornish Houses under a High King.  The line of Norfell is ending (no male successor, yes that House is patrilinear - do you notice something? ;) ).  And as to the Badens, Roland doesn't see Iodor in a position to challenge him and the last anyone heard of Iodor's heir, his only daughter Katrin, was that she was going down the drain drinking;  that was four or five years ago.

And now she turns up on his doorstep.  What's more, allegedly accompanied by a Snow Elf, although that one has seems to have made his escape for now.  

She's claiming her title - and quite obviously she isn't like her father. She's carrying a big sword and a veteran's scars (I'm assuming, have to ask Lucy that).  So she's a rival, potentially, or perhaps finally an ally he'll be able to talk do, and do things with?  And she's female, which only adds to the options, especially seeing that Roland evidently isn't feeling he has an adequate heir.  

So at this point, anything looks possible from trying to enlist her, to offering her a strategic alliance (whether purely political or by marriage), to deciding she's too dangerous and had best be disappeared.  

QuoteReifels Redgard loves and hates his father, apparently. Cool. Wants more than just recognition from his father for his work in getting the crown...OK, why does he need to come to our PC in order to get this? Doesn't feel he can approach his father directly? Or does he think that he can get our PC to join up making it a package deal for the crown and her?

I think he expects that if he approaches his father about the crown, he'll be either mocked and sent away or the will be wrenched from his hands and his father will send "more competent men" to do the deeds and earn the glory.  Since his father broke with the elves, he may even begin to feel that maybe he is a better heir than his father thinks (the Snow Elves may have indicated this to him already - hm, or Nollorn might do this in play...)

He's sure to hear immediately that Katrin was seen in the company of a Snow Elf, reason enough to approach her and feel her out. He may even pitch himself to her as a more reasonable and reliable ally than Roland, especially if he realises that there may be conflict between Katrin and Veddia.

Depending on how they get along, he may even hatch a mad dream scheme in his head about him as High King of Dorns and Katrin as his Queen ... which would be even cooler if Roland is pursuing a simiilar idea at the same time.  

He might try to get Katrin to get the Crown for him and be content to be his queen (a big mistake if he assumes that's going to work...), but might actually settle for her as High Queen with his oath of fealty as King of Redgard.

QuoteOr, perhaps he wants our PC to do something about Veddia? What does he have to offer, however, that would make Katarin do something to her lover's sister? Is he good looking...?

I really like this a lot. He's watching Veddia's influence on Roland with concern.  In his eyes, she's responsible for Roland's decision to break with the snow elves (not true, it's his overwhelming hatred of orcs);  what worries him even more is that she's apparently talking against him behind his back.  If she beards Roland a child who may turn out a more desirable heir to Roland, that would put him (Reifels) in a dangerous place.  

Not entirely sure what he could want done to Veddia, possibly get her discredited.  Katrin may well have a handle on her there if she realises what the circumstances of Veddia's leaving Baden's Bluff were (she was still growing up at the time).  Maybe we get a chance to find out in a flashback.
If Veddia has dealings with Charankh (see below), exposing that to Roland may well discredit her completely.  

So what does Reifels have to offer?  His support?  His help in saving Nollorn? If it's important enough, the crown?

As to his looks, I don't see him as striking, in fact his lack of charisma (combined with a crippled arm and leg) would play a big part in his father's distaste for him. What might appeal to Katrin is his mindset - openness towards elves, no foul words about collaborators, a genuine love for learning and a deep conviction that beauty and peace and freedom can return to this world.  

QuoteVeddia AllinSeems pretty straightforward that she wants what Roland wants, for the PC to join up.

Not so straightforward, see her grudge (which might include Katrin, hell we'll have to play that flashback - I'm thinking the domestic storm as her mother forces her father to throw Veddia out, or the last encounter between a jaded Veddia and a tired, unengaged Iodor).

For her Katrin is a potential ally (because she can help Roland get what he wants) but also a big danger (because she could undermine Veddia's position).  

(Playing with the gender roles again here - hey, it's new to me! And fun.  Hope Lucy likes this stuff.)

Depending on how the Katrin-Roland situation plays out Veddia might try to get Katrin on her side, work to weaken her position, or backstab her.  In any case I think she has the instinct to know that she needs to gain a handle on Katrin quickly.

QuoteShe might also want the PC to check out Reifels to see if he's doing magic. Also, Veddia might hold a grudge about Iodor, and/or not like her brother messing with Iodor's heir. So she might directly attack Katrin, or, better, try to involve her in some intrigue only to later betray her, and make Katrin look bad - character assassination. This conflict in the character makes her interesting. She might also simply make Roland bargain harder in not giving in to Katarin's demands.

I like the character assassination, thanks, you're giving me some wonderful ideas for Bangs.  

QuoteNollornOK, this guy's background seems to indicate that Katarin has already joined up with Roland. In any case, he seems to want to get Katarin on his side to help with his people's problems. So that's cool as a tug in another direction entirely. What does he have to offer to her?

That tug is already in place. Katrin was on her way to meet Nollorn's boss and hear more about the Snow Elves' true situation (at her former commander and now friend Bernt's request) when Roland's men intercepted her. Poor Nollorn is so going to be dragged back into this...

QuoteCharankh the BlindMad is tough. But maybe she only plays mad. Maybe she still plans her escape. Can she get Katarin to help out? Does she have some information to exchange for this, something she's seen in a vision?

Oh a vision.  That's it of course, she has visions!  Thank you.  
She's the one who hears the spirits talking in the winds (elven Xione, the Dorns or maybe the defeated orcs, or all or any of them).   Enough to drive one mad if one isn't mad already... and definitely enough to give her a handle on the situation.  

I'm thinking someone needs to be consulting her (preferably in secret because this wouldn't be a "done thing" at an orc-hating, orc-fighting, orc-mutilating court).  I'm going to have to decide whether I want Reifels to be the one, or Veddia, or Roland.  Whoever it is is going to become a whole lot more vulnerable when others know about it and would be able to expose it.
(If it's Roland that would explain why he's made sure she's been kept alive for this long.)

QuoteOr maybe she just wants revenge, and just wants to give Katarin information that will set everyone at everyone else's throats?
What sort of info would best go to Katarin?

Have to think about that one.

QuoteXione, Spirit of Winter.

Have to think about this, too, if I link it to Charankh there's got to be a common dramatic solution to both.  Of course what Charankh says may or may not be what the spirits tell her, their interests might not be exactly identical to slightly understate it...

Besides, there may be ways to contact the spirits directly, but they might be difficult, dangerous, unreliable or any of the three.  Erm in other words, involve a HeroQuest perhaps...  

QuoteNote that the initial "Grab" by an NPC is often a Bang, though not always. It might just set up a bang in a following scene.

Mike

Ah right. Noted.

Possible Bangs (and Grabs)

Grouped by NPC, for easier reference to the above.  I'll rearrange them in a more logical order to use in the session.  

Roland:  

- challenges Katrin to prove she is who she claims to be.

- if/when he learns that she's been working with Wood Elves, he offers to accredit her as the Princess of Baden and representative of the Houses of Redgard "and Norfell" (the latter not quite a valid claim), to speak for the Dorns at an upcoming Elven Council.  This of course will mean her taking an oath of loyalty to him, a minor matter....

- proposes a strategic alliance through the time-honoured institute of marriage, if things appear to be going smoothly.

- has his guards stop Katrin from leaving, telling her she will leave as his wife and representative, or not at all.  

- if Katrin declares herself openly for Nollorn, Roland has her arrested as a traitor and spy.  

Reifels

- finds an opportunity to speak to Katrin alone after listening to her talking to his father and Veddia (at dinner in public).  Tries to strike up sympathy, possibly by mentioning elves or letting an elf-made item he carries show.  

- tells Katrin some of his worries about Veddia. If she indicates understanding or agreement, he asks her to find an opportunity to "speak to his father" about Veddia and "warn him" against her.  

- offers help in freeing Nollorn if she helps him with Veddia.  

- warns her not to accept his father's offers because her father means to exploit her, as he has always exploited him, and suggests he'll support her (in secret) with advice on the law and politics of the situation.  (Hey! He's a lawyer!  'nother ability in Reifels's char notes...)  

- offers information on the Dornish Crown and his continued support for her as Princess of Baden in return for her supporting him.  

- proposes a strategic alliance through the time-honoured institute of marriage, if a rapport develops between them.


Veddia

- stands at Roland's shoulder as Katrin first meets him.  

- approaches Katrin to feel her out and sow doubts about Reifels and others in her mind, representing herself as "the only honest Baden soul" on Skyrfell Pike and insinuating that House Baden should be the First House of Dorns (talking sugar-sweet lies about Katrin's father if necessary).

- tells Katrin about her fears of being magically poisoned by Reifels and asks her to find out what he's up to.  

- Hm, why can't Veddia have heard of the Crown... she might tell Katrin that Reifels knows it or even has it secreted away somewhere to spite his father, but she needs proof to convince Roland to take more drastic measures against his son.  

- suggests that Katrin accept Roland's offers on the face of it, including any oath of loyalty or betrothal, but write a letter to her father stressing that when the time comes she will declare for the House of Baden and take the Crown for herself.  The letter, of course, will be intercepted, and end up in Roland's hands.

- sends Katrin an anonymous note, "If you are a true Erunsil friend, come to the top of the Broken Tower at moonrise." Interesting only after it becomes very clear to Katrin that being a friend of snow elves isn't considered a good thing at Redgard's court.

- or better:  hands Katrin a dagger in front of Roland and demands she kill Nollorn to prove who's side she is on.  

- if very desperate (and if Katrin has openly declared herself for Nollorn), sneaks out and shoots a guard in the back with elven arrows taken from Nollorn, to make it appear he's a killer and an enemy of men.  

Nollorn

- is dragged in, a prisoner, maltreated and interrogated before Katrin's eyes (preferably with both Roland and Veddia present).  Charankh may get a minor appearance in this one...
Nollorn won't so much as acknowledge Katrin unless she speaks to him first and admits she knows him.    

- if given a chance to talk to Katrin alone, Nollorn implores her to "go leave this insane place" and meet the snow elves as she had planned.  He gives her instructions where to go.  He says to go to Uilia, Snow of Autilar, and tell her that "I had to do this".  

Charankh/Xione

Not sure yet.  Some scene involving one of Roland's court talking to her (possibly Reifels on Katrin's behalf, or Roland, or Veddia) and others including Katrin happening on the scene. Might not even have room for this at this point, although if I have a good idea room will open up I'm sure.



Looking any good?

Quote from: Mike Holmes

Quote from: StalkingBlue(Note:  I'm adapting material from Fury of Shadow here.  Thanks again to the authors for lots of evocative material.)

Is this a supplement for Midnight?

It's a boxed set and in my opinion the best and most evocative supplement for Midnight so far.  By a long road.  Written by Judd Karlman (Paka), Owain Abramczyk, Iain J Brogan and Eric Olson.

QuoteI think that it's fascinating how authors for D20 settings come up with some really, as you say, evocative NPCs and such, loaded with potential to bring out themes in PCs. All which can't get into play with any ease, because it's not about killin things and taking their stuff.

I can't disagree. Midnight especially suffers from this I think - it's such a thundering great theme and so much cool and inspirational detail, yet the system doesn't support it at all well.  What doesn't help is that the original game designers took a highly Sim view when they wrote the rules modifications for the game, or at least that's what I think they did: they were transposing their cool ideas into "realistic" and "grim-sort-of" rules.  What that ruleset doesn't do is Gamist, nor does it open up cool gaps for Narr play.  I've tried using Midnight rules for a Gamist/budding-Narr game (Gamist in combat, inexpert Narr growing in the cracks between) and it was an ongoing disaster:  those rules are written with no eye to balance.  So you get a setting ripe with Narr potential, written for a system that starts out by being Gamist (and brilliant for its purpose I think) but is mutilated by an entire set of (I think) Sim rules tacked on.  

Quote

QuoteShadow forces are gathering for a final onslaught on Erethor, aiming to drive through to Aradiel's court and destroy the greatest remaining stronghold of the free world.  If Caradul falls, the worlds of elves and humans can no longer stand.

Cool, the stakes set at nothing less than the fate of the whole world. I think this is what Midnight is, again, theoretically for, and which I'll bet never gets seen in D20 play.

I so agree. The fate of the world was what we were looking at when we first discussed the game.  Then we started playing.  The more we played, the further the fate of the world drifted away from our grasp.  We were about one third through level progression (assuming standard 1-20) when we converted over recently and nowhere close to playing world-shaking events or even meeting world-shaking people.  Meeting the people would have come in DnD, later on.  Shaking the world.... I doubt it.

Quote

QuoteYet as Lady Katrin, heir of the House of Baden, is about to meet Prince Roland Redguard face to face for the first time, the resistance forces in the North are far from united.

The conflict is already palpable. Can they put aside their entrenched differences in order to serve the greater good of saving all of creation?

Absolutely. And who of these two will win? Katrin? Roland? Both or neither? Whatever happens will have big-time consequences on the entire political/strategic scene in the North. I can't wait to see.  

Quote

QuoteAmong elves, the ancient alliance between Snow Elves and Wood Elves is crumbling as the front held by Snow Elves long is crumbling under constant orcish onslaughts.

And the victims that need help are in two factions, one already dealing with the enemy, and the other that wants nothing to do with those come to help. Excellent.

There's an ancient and deeply entrenched inter-species conflict here:  from the viewpoint of the elves, humans have been enemies far longer than they have been allies. Before humans first came to the continent and burnt everything down, Erethor was everywhere.  The "human lands" now overrun and occupied by orcs and Izrador's legates used to be part of the Great Elven Forest.

These days most humans are enemies (almost all legates are human) or collaborators living in occupied lands and growing corn to feed orcs, and the rest are hovering on the fringes of Erethor, destroying the fragile balance of forest life with their too-fast growing populations. (That they are also the first line of defence against raiding, burning and invading orcs is something that elves often like to forget.)  

QuoteOK, what's a "Black Mirror." Better yet, what are the stats for a Black Mirror? Sounds too cool.

Ok, a mix of book material and our group's stuff here.  I haven't written proper HQ stats for Mirrors yet - I'm a last-minute statter, a habit that was vital for my sanity in my DnD days but is terrible for HQ; I'm aware I'll have to break out of that quickly. (And I'll appreciate any help with Mirror stats if any happen to pop up in your head of course....)


Black Mirrors are the core of Izrador's temples.  Each temple has one, a a black bowl filled with black liquid (that starts out by being water, but not for long) in a dark place.  They have to be fed regularly by human (dwarf/elf/goblin/other sentient) sacrifices or they'll blast, see below.  

Mirrors leech life and magic from the land and increase Izrador's power (to one day ascend again).  Legates are also said to commune with their god through them.  They give legates automatic augments to their magic (depending on age of mirror, within 1, 10 or 100 miles) and penalties to all other magic.  I'm thinking I may use the modifiers for Lunar magic from the book.  

A blast is an uncontrolled release of Shadow magic energy that kills and maims life within miles (reach and strength depend on age of temple).  If the blast is caused by the Mirror being destroyed, the blast is followed by an equally powerful backblast of Aryth's magic flowing back into place.  The backblast destroys undead and causes hallucinations to the living (lovely ones unless you happen to work for Izrador) - the hallucinations can get you killed if enemies survive in the area and shake themselves out of it before you do.  


Now all of that isn't the interesting bit here.  The interesting bit at this point is that Black Mirrors get established anywhere in Izrador-controlled territory.  So how come a tribe of orcs up north thinks it can promise it won't have any Mirrors installed on their lands? Even weirder, the leaders of all orcish tribes, the kusaretch udareen, are supposed to be priestesses, "mother-wives", of Izrador.  

So what's going on? Is something strange going on in the North?  Or are the orcs of the Ice Fang Mother Tribe lying, as usual? Which is about as far as I should go here I think.  :-)  Lucy has said she likes surprises but would like to come in here and read after we've played this out;  and I'd very much like her to read all this and to have her feedback.  

QuoteLet's do a Grabbiness check. Grabiness being the quality of an NPC that makes them grab PCs in a way that the player will be interested in.

Oh and in case it wasn't obvious:  thanks a million for your questions and suggestions, that was simply incredible.

Cool stuff.

Quote from: StalkingBluePossible Bangs (and Grabs)

Just to be pedantic, the "possible" is sorta redundant. That is, all pre-game prepared bangs are only "possible." That is, none of them should be considered absolute. Even the ones that you're thinking are essential to kicking things off. Sometimes a player just has some early input that changes things around. For example, if she says that Katarin is sneaking into their camp, and looking for Veddia first, then certain bangs that you had thought to do that dealt with getting her onto the r-map arriving in camp in the open might not happen at all.

Or they might happen modified. The point is that they're all just ideas about what might happen in play. Sometimes you use them verbatim. Sometimes you alter them and use them. Sometimes you don't use them at all.

And, as always, remember that a bang that you "discover" in play is as good as it sounds to you. Use the best bang you know of next, whether it comes from your prepared list, or it just occured to you.


It's good to think about Bangs in terms of what question they ask the player to answer about the character. Here's what I'm seeing.

Roland:  
- challenges Katrin to prove she is who she claims to be.
- Who does Katrin think she is? How does she see herself. You might want to delay this one until you've played a bit. Because it's so powerful. I mean, in some ways, there's no more revealing bang than to ask the player to have the character relate to somebody else how they see themselves. This one should come out in every game at some point.

- if/when he learns that she's been working with Wood Elves, he offers to accredit her as the Princess of Baden and representative of the Houses of Redgard "and Norfell" (the latter not quite a valid claim), to speak for the Dorns at an upcoming Elven Council.  This of course will mean her taking an oath of loyalty to him, a minor matter....
- Which is, actually not a minor matter (or it's not a bang). Does she value her independence from Roland, or her status more?
(BTW, no if/when - if you think that this is a good bang, then it's just "when". That is, just have him find out by dramatic fiat. Some NPC who has seen her with the elves has shown up and reported the fact. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the GM's strongest allies, always waiting just off stage to bring in some bit of information, or to get offed when need-be.)

- proposes a strategic alliance through the time-honoured institute of marriage, if things appear to be going smoothly.
- As we've been talking about: Does she value more her procreative prerogatives, or the diplomatic realities at hand?

- has his guards stop Katrin from leaving, telling her she will leave as his wife and representative, or not at all.  
- Oops, not a bang. No question asked here. It assumes that she's already said no, and it doesn't really give her an option. I mean, it begs only resistance. Now, if instead you say that she's restrained, but has an opportunity to escape by killing somebody potentially important - that could be a bang. Guards do not count, they exist from a dramatic standpoint in the fantasy genre to be slain in the escape. Unless she gets to know her jailors. In this sort of case, the question is: Does she value human life more, or freedom more? Another way to go here is to alter the original question to something like: what's more valueable, freedom or some other goal which will require her to stay in Roland's camp. Typically in these cases, escape is usually an option - most players will expect it from the genre. I'm betting that she won't be interested in exploring Katrin living a life imprisoned.

- if Katrin declares herself openly for Nollorn, Roland has her arrested as a traitor and spy.  
- Same problem, where's the conflict? What two things that Katrin values does she have to choose between here? Again, this assumes a particular response. Better is to backtrack a bit. Have the Bang be that Roland calls her out on the issue. Then the question is: Does she stand by her friend to the loss of political power, or does she play Judas for the sake of political expedience? It may be that Roland knows what's up, but will take her anyhow, if she only states openly that she has no ties to the elves.


Reifels

- finds an opportunity to speak to Katrin alone after listening to her talking to his father and Veddia (at dinner in public).  Tries to strike up sympathy, possibly by mentioning elves or letting an elf-made item he carries show.  
- Subtle, but good. To really be a bang, however, it has to really be dangerous for her to reveal herself. That is, if it's obvious that he's an ally in the elvish area, then why not reveal herself? She has to risk something to make this a real question. Like "Is it more important to keep her elven ties a secret, or to make an ally with Reifels?"

- tells Katrin some of his worries about Veddia. If she indicates understanding or agreement, he asks her to find an opportunity to "speak to his father" about Veddia and "warn him" against her.  
- Cool. Is it more important to make an ally of Reifels, or to support her lover's sister? These are both tenuous, I think, so before you do this bang, try to have a scene in which Tam asks her to watch out for Veddia (is he a follower, or NPC?), and another in which Reifels reveals something that will make him a potentially worthwhile ally.

- offers help in freeing Nollorn if she helps him with Veddia.  
- This is a "spike" for the last kicker. That is, something that gives it more meaning. Save it for if/when she balks at helping Reifels. That is, if her impetus seems to already be to join Reifels, don't make this offer. Only make it if she seems predisposed against him. The point being that it's a good "balancer" should she seem to be leaning away from him. You have to be careful with this sort of thing - often it's better to guess, and put the spike in before hand. Otherwise the player may get the feeling that you're railroading, and the offer is just one in a series of escallating offers that are intended to make the player do X eventually (often these end in, "If you don't do it, you're dead!") Make sure that the player knows, if you escalate like this, that it's still OK to say no, if that's how she feels. What you want is to get to the hemming and hawing stage, not to push the decision one way or another.


- warns her not to accept his father's offers because her father means to exploit her, as he has always exploited him, and suggests he'll support her (in secret) with advice on the law and politics of the situation.  (Hey! He's a lawyer!  'nother ability in Reifels's char notes...)  
- Can he offer credible evidence to her? I mean, besides his word, how does she know that it's not he that's manipulating her, and not his father? Also, this is merely informational, and does not present a question. She can sit on such information for a long time, theoretically, without acting on it. To make it a Bang, he'd have to ask her to swear an oath to him or something. Basically to take some action that has a cost in some way. This isn't to say that you don't need to get this information out there, you do. It just means that it's only expository at this point, and that if you want a bang out of it, that you'll need to come up with some decision to make. If, for example, you follow this up quickly with one of those offers from his father, which would otherwise seem benign, then the question is: who does she trust more, Reifels, or Roland?

BTW, this doesn't have to be a bang, either. That is, it's also good to just have events that are expository written down, too, just so that you're sure they happen. This is just a different part of prep than bangs.

- offers information on the Dornish Crown and his continued support for her as Princess of Baden in return for her supporting him.  
- So, does she join with him in secret, or decide that this could mess up her other diplomatic relations?

- proposes a strategic alliance through the time-honoured institute of marriage, if a rapport develops between them.
- Again, good per the above. Especially if Roland is asking, too. Since Roland is the superior, I'd have Reifels ask first if at all possible, and in secret, so that the father's offer makes things really problematic. This is really good if she asks for "time to think about it." Even if, not, however, agreeing to marry Reifels, or even disagreeing makes Rolands offer all the more interesting. If she rejects him, and takes Roland's offer, then she'll have made an enemy. Oh, also, don't worry about "rapport" so much. Have Reifels fall in love with her no matter what. Especially if she doesn't want to be with him. Just gives him all sorts of new motives to either sabotage her other relationships, or to try to take revenge, etc.

Veddia

- stands at Roland's shoulder as Katrin first meets him.  
- No question presented that I can see (note, if I'm just missing some of the questions, just tell me so - I'm just telling you what I'm seeing). If, for example, she has some secret to deliver or something, then the question might become something like: Does she potentially alienate Veddia by asking her to leave Roland's side, or allow Veddia to hear the secret? Otherwise, again, it's just informational, and doesn't have to be acted on in any telling way.

- approaches Katrin to feel her out and sow doubts about Reifels and others in her mind, representing herself as "the only honest Baden soul" on Skyrfell Pike and insinuating that House Baden should be the First House of Dorns (talking sugar-sweet lies about Katrin's father if necessary).
- Again, mostly informational. What if she asks Katrin to do something about the information? Like spy on somebody. That's a bang: Does she trust Veddia and do her will, or does she decline, and possibly make an enemy?

- tells Katrin about her fears of being magically poisoned by Reifels and asks her to find out what he's up to.  
- Better. Again, calls for action. Does she respect Reifels privacy more, or want to please Veddia more? Or does she distrust Veddia, and tell Reifels? Lots of possibilities here. This is a good one for later, if she hasn't yet decided on who she's allied with.

- Hm, why can't Veddia have heard of the Crown... she might tell Katrin that Reifels knows it or even has it secreted away somewhere to spite his father, but she needs proof to convince Roland to take more drastic measures against his son.  
- Better as a rumor that she can't substantiate. Because, otherwise she would have gone to Roland already with the information, no? And Roland could just do a search. In fact, make the information from somebody really disreputable like the orc. So she needs somebody else to confirm the information independently, before it can be revealed. The question here is simply, support Veddia or Roland? Only good if she's decided to like the both of them before this point.

- suggests that Katrin accept Roland's offers on the face of it, including any oath of loyalty or betrothal, but write a letter to her father stressing that when the time comes she will declare for the House of Baden and take the Crown for herself.  The letter, of course, will be intercepted, and end up in Roland's hands.
- Ah, that character assassination we mentioned? This is two bangs. The first is: Does she accept the suggestion to write the letter, and become a conspirator with Veddia (right move or wrong move, the important thing is that it says something about her loyalties and values), or does she refuse and risk an enemy? The second bang asks: once betrayed, what will she sacrifice in order to salvage the situation, if anything?

- sends Katrin an anonymous note, "If you are a true Erunsil friend, come to the top of the Broken Tower at moonrise." Interesting only after it becomes very clear to Katrin that being a friend of snow elves isn't considered a good thing at Redgard's court.
- Again, another way to make her look bad? Or is this just Veddia trying to get some information about where Katrin's loyalties lie? The neat thing about this one is, that anyone who wants to determine her loyalties can do it. The question is: does she risk revealing her elvish loyalties, or decide that it's too risky?

- or better:  hands Katrin a dagger in front of Roland and demands she kill Nollorn to prove who's side she is on.  
- That's later, when things come to a head. The question is obvious: What's more important, the alliance, or the life of a friend? Make sure that before this happens, that dire news of the advance of the orcs comes to them all. So there's a real choice there.

- if very desperate (and if Katrin has openly declared herself for Nollorn), sneaks out and shoots a guard in the back with elven arrows taken from Nollorn, to make it appear he's a killer and an enemy of men.  
- Continues to ask the same question. At some point, this might get a little old (like Trinity telling us for the third time that she'll still go to the grave for Neo). Once she's made a clear in a dramatic sense that she's for Nollorn (or if she's killed him, or declared clearly against him), then this isn't going to work. Instead, in this situation, have Roland do something like threaten to kill Tam if she doesn't out the location of the Elf, or something. That changes things to: Tam or Nollorn? Be careful with this, however, because it's a no win situation for the character. The player may well try to find a way to weasel out of it. And you should let them, as long as it involves some cost in some way to the character. For example, if she decides that this is enough, she might make off with both Tam and Nollorn, and mess up the whole deal at that point. The question then, really, is: Is it worth it to deal with Dornish politics, or is it time to strike back out on her own? Is it OK to save all the people one loves in the short run if this means that the world may fall in the long run?

Nollorn

- is dragged in, a prisoner, maltreated and interrogated before Katrin's eyes (preferably with both Roland and Veddia present).  Charankh may get a minor appearance in this one...
Nollorn won't so much as acknowledge Katrin unless she speaks to him first and admits she knows him.    
- Very good bang, but, again, you have several now that deal with her potentially revealing her loyalty to Nollorn, or betraying him. It's likely that only a couple of these can work overall. It does mean, however, that you can allow her to "squeak out of" one or two without answering, defering the answer til later. In any case, try to make sure that there's something else additional on the line in each case to make the question slightly different each time.

- if given a chance to talk to Katrin alone, Nollorn implores her to "go leave this insane place" and meet the snow elves as she had planned.  He gives her instructions where to go.  He says to go to Uilia, Snow of Autilar, and tell her that "I had to do this".  
- This, like some of the other Bangs, asks the question: Stay and deal, or leave? The problem, of course, is that you have to be ready to deal with the "leave" option. Personally, I think that with only one player, that you're eminently set to allow the leave option. The neat thing is that it probably means just running into another r-map elsewhere, while the old r-map tries to catch up with her. Which sounds cool to me. You can even do this with multiple players, especially if you lengthen out the "down time" between scenes. So that characters traveling is plausible. That or giving them some magical means of travel or something. Such that "leaving" only means slight detachment.

Charankh/Xione

Not sure yet.  Some scene involving one of Roland's court talking to her (possibly Reifels on Katrin's behalf, or Roland, or Veddia) and others including Katrin happening on the scene. Might not even have room for this at this point, although if I have a good idea room will open up I'm sure.
- Asks how she feels about the character in question in terms of their beliefs? I'm a tad confused here about what this implies. What are the local mores concerning dealing with spirits? Is it considered some sort of bad magic?
- I'm liking the idea of needing to do the heroquest. Which would be, of course, climbing the mountain path as per the legend. That is a later bang following th above could be to have the spirit offer her information on how to do the heroquest for something special. The question then becomes about her beliefs, and what she thinks about relating to such a being.


I think that once the above action has worked itself through mostly, that it's time to imediately escalate to the orc attack being iminent. No wating forever for it to get here, the actual attack can be part of play. Another advantage of HQ is that you can play characters through warfare very well. The point being, don't be afraid to get to the action too soon. Allow those worldshaking events to come, and allow the characters to have an impact on them.

Anyhow, our own Judd was one of the writers? No wonder it's so thematically charged. :-)

QuoteI haven't written proper HQ stats for Mirrors yet - I'm a last-minute statter a habit that was vital for my sanity in my DnD days but is terrible for HQ;

No, no, quite the opposite. I said before that it's good to have the "big bads" statted out for scale's sake, and that's still true. But I didn't mean to imply that you had to do a lot of statting up front. In fact, I was just saying on the HQ-Rules list about how I stat everything last second. In fact, I think it's very valid to even wait for the player to add up all of their augments, and calculate their TN before deciding on a TN for the opposition. You then simply go back and qualify the rating for plausibility's sake after the fact. That is, sometimes you won't have to say anything more about it at all. But just be prepared to say thing like, "Yeah, he was a lot tougher than he looked at first" and "Seemed like a tough guy, but he was all hot air."

The point is that it's still important to make things plausible when need be, but you have quite a lot of lattitude in setting TNs, because vagaries of perception mean that quite a range of ability is possible in anything you come across.

I was only asking about the mirrors out of curiosity to see how you'd stat them. Powerful artifacts can be interesting studies in statting.

As for statting out the big bads, you only really need one number to represent their overall power level, like a mini-benchmark for the being. Again, the idea here being to have an idea of the potential scale of power that's available to beings, so that you have an idea of what's powerful and what's not. So that you can, in the end, make those statements of plausibility when neccessary. Like "They say he's strong enough to take on some of the lesser Night Kings." This allows the world to have a pecking order to it, which can be important.

The "black mirrors" are immobile sources of power. That's cool, because such things can alter the pecking order above, locally. For example, in Middle Earth, Galadriel is powerful, but not as powerful as Sauron. But he can't get into Lothlorien during the story because he's just not quite able to extend his reach that far, and Galadriel has an enchantment around Lothlorien (something similar to the Girdle of Melian, which proteccted Doriath), and so inside she's actually pretty secure. Unless Sauron gets the ring, of course. Which is a power source for him.

See how all of these power-ups affect the pecking order back and forth? This is why the powerful seek out artifacts and have big enchantments like they do. It's sort of an arms race. From what it sounds like, there's some enchantment around the elven enclave that's being threatened. What power is it that the orcs have - who leads them and what does he wield - that would allow them to invade?

Anyhow, obviously these Black Mirrors are precisely this sort of thing. They simultaneously reduce the influence that the old owners of the land have there, while empowering Izrador and his forces. Before you even mentioned the Lunar Magic, I was thinking that Izrador's temples sounded a lot like the "Temples of the Reaching Moon" in Glorantha that are so locally demarked one can actually see the red line where the power reaches to.

BTW, I'd personally stay away from the multipliers for lunar magic, and just have it be an effect like a big guardian (essence). Whose main ability is a big "Enhance Izradroian Magic" rating. You could even use the range rules to come up with a penalty based on how far they are from the temple if it's supposed to be something that fades with range. The neat thing about guardians, is that they also get a perception ability, and a defensive ability that they lend in addition to the "offensive" ability above - does this match the abilities of the mirrors? Sounds cool to me if they help Legates discover people using life magic or the like.

Just some thoughts. BTW, this set up is great - I think the game is going to rock. You'd have done just fine without my notes (I just like to kibbitz). :-)

Mike

It rocked.

And boy-o, talk about talking who Katrin is... Check out the play report:  http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?p=150143#150143

More later.  Your comments were wonderful.  Not to mention the encouraging pats on the back:  I had good use for those. :-)

In the other thread, you asked about ideas for future play here. The thing is that just from the session description, it can be hard to know what's up.

For example, why did Roland get so angry about the Orc? I can't tell from the description. Was it because of the lack of decorum? Or is he secretly getting visions or something from the orc behind the scenes?

Or are you playing really complexly, and haven't decided why yet? That can be valid. :-)

Why did his son react the way he did to the news? Does he know something about the orc? Or was it, again, just the shock of there having been a slaying at dinner?

What is Reifels hoping will happen with Katrin talking to Roland about Veddia?

Which Bangs do you feel you've used up?

I'm also waiting for some clarifications in the other thread about the mechanics.

Truth be told, I think you still have a couple of sessions more material in Bangs in the prep already here. But it can't hurt to ruminate about it.

One thing that struck me right off was that first scene - I got a very strong visual on what that looked like from your description. It's funny, because for some reason I'd imagined Roland having a big elaborate dark castle. I was surprised at your description of a near ruin. What I thought as she stepped through the door was that it was going to be a ruin and that she was going to meet the spirit there. If you'd done that, it would have been very "Hamlet" as in the first scene where he meets his father's ghost. Have the spirit say some cryptical things, and then come back later, after some action had gone by.

Just thinking that it might do to spook things up a bit. For atmosphere, catch her when she's outside and spring the thing on her with concurrent descriptions of how Katrin's can see her breath in the cold and such. The point is to add a whole additional angle to things. Right now it's shaping up a tad too straighforwardly, IMO. Unless you're looking to end this in the next session or sometime close to that. Even then, more information from new would serve to make the situation less clearcut.

Oh, one thing you definitely have to have happen here is for Tam to show up. I don't know how long the trip was, but if it was long, then he followed her right after she left, and just couldn't catch up. So he's cold and exhausted. Why did he come? Well, he'll probably have some face-saving reason - he found her magic broach or something that he gave her for good luck. But the reality is that he knows that she's walking into danger, and doesn't want her to be there alone.

Not sure this fits what's gone on before. But here's why. Lucy has decided that her character is devoted to Tam. Fine. The problem is that this is shutting down several lines of progress to certain bangs that you worked out. Now, that's not itself a bad thing, but you can potentially open them back up if Tam is present. As long as he's far away, and she's resolute, nothing will change there.

But if he arrives, then things can start to go all to hell. If Katrin puts up a fuss about him following her ("Why did you go and do that?"), then he gets all sullen about it or indignant ("Well that's a nice greeting. I thought you might be pleased to see me. Guess not."). Whatever is in character for him. Then later, Veddia can pressure him to get Katrin to do some things she wants. The point is to put some wedges in their relationship. Then, as soon as the cracks show, have Roland propose (I'm assuming he doesn't know about Tam yet). Or even if he or Reifels does know, have them propose anyhow if/when they see Katrin and Tam having problems. Make the proposal when Katrin's dedication to Tam is weakest, and then it's a bang again. Because if you ask when she's still strong, it's just a perfunctory turn-down. If she turns them down when she and Tam are fighting, it means that she's decided he's OK no matter what. Which is a new statement.

Then, of course, if/when she turns one of them down, you have that individual get all enraged, and take Tam hostage (probably secretly, "don't tell anyone or he's dead.") Then they ask again, "Marry me, or Tam dies." Follow this by the perfunctory evil laugh, "Bwahahahahahahaha!"

If Tam is on top of her value list, then it's best practices to get it so that this relationship is risked, or in question somehow.

Note that I don't know what Tam is like, but you want to do all of this while making him even cooler to the player (though not neccessarily to the character). That is, let's say he's a warrior. If he's kidnapped, there's evidence that he put up a tremendous fight before being captured. Or, if he has foibles play to that - if he drinks too much, they slip him a mickey. The point is that the player wants her character to be in love with somebody worthwhile, not some schmuck. So make sure he stays just as interesting a character through all of this. If it would be uncharacteristic for him to pout, then don't have him do it. Have him show dissapointment in some other way that keeps him interesting.

Mike

Answering the last post first because some of the earlier issues have been eliminated or modified through play.  

Before I go into more detail, I agree that this R-map is far from having played itself out.  The session provided me with at least two more aspects to give the R-map a sharper definition:  

- Possible conflict between Roland and Reifels;  if Reifels has some support at court he might end up trying to take over. Especially if Roland ends up being highly emotional/irrational.  
(Note to self:  I need more NPCs. This may be growing into a mini-Well of Souls setup.)

- Veddia as Wormtongue.  This is what Lucy was speculating after the session:  to her Veddia came across as very Wormtongue because of what Reifels has said about her.  I like this option a lot - if Veddia is Wormtongue and Roland Theoden (and Reifels Eowen), then does that make Katrin Aragorn? This reinforces the "Katrin as Heir and Hero" motif, gives a subtle push towards a romantic involvement Reifels-Katrin, and will double the mess once Tam (now Wormtongue's brother!) arrives on the scene.  

Quote from: Mike HolmesIn the other thread, you asked about ideas for future play here. The thing is that just from the session description, it can be hard to know what's up.

I know that from reading other people's Actual Play threads, and am sorry not to have followed up with mechanics right away.  I've posted something now, but next time I'll hold back until I can post both together (and I'll keep notes of important contest details...).  

QuoteFor example, why did Roland get so angry about the Orc? I can't tell from the description. Was it because of the lack of decorum? Or is he secretly getting visions or something from the orc behind the scenes?

He took quite a blow to his huge unfulfilled ego, being shown up in his own hall like that.  He may also be secretly ashamed at himself (although Katrin's victory wasn't good enough to sway him really).  

Whether he's the one who was using the orc for visions and guidance, I haven't decided.  I still think it could be either of the three and I want to keep the option open.  

QuoteOr are you playing really complexly, and haven't decided why yet? That can be valid. :-)

I do that sometimes, yeah.  It's going to be easier to keep track of now that I am learning GMing tools that support that kind of thing.  

QuoteWhy did his son react the way he did to the news? Does he know something about the orc? Or was it, again, just the shock of there having been a slaying at dinner?

Again, possibly both. Keeping my options open at that point.  (I'm now seeing Reifels as someone who draws - at some point Katrin might run into a sketch of her portrait and some older drawings including careful studies of the orc, with various expressions on her face. )

QuoteWhat is Reifels hoping will happen with Katrin talking to Roland about Veddia?

He's hoping to cement an emotional bond with Katrin, and to drive a wedge in between Veddia and his father.  Being the man he is, he's imagining that Katrin will be tactful enough not to mention to Roland that she's talking to him at Reifels's request... Now I strongly doubt Lucy will play Katrin that way.  Which will end up driving a wedge in between father and son, I'm betting (although ready to be surprised).  

Note that I was running the Reifels scene intentionally low-key.  We needed a quieter scene after the eclat over dinner, to come off the adrenaline as much as to give Lucy a chance to reestablish Katrin's soft-hearted and friendly side.  I could have pushed much harder in that one but it didn't feel appropriate in the circumstances, so I'm quite happy to have set up something to play off of in the future:  rapport established between the two heirs, Katrin on a mission to say unwelcome things to Roland.  

QuoteWhich Bangs do you feel you've used up?

The one with the orc. :-)  

Now Charankh's actress might complain about having been lured into the role under false pretenses (seeing my prep), but I feel I've got fantastic use out of her.  That was one of my typical "the story runs away with me" stunts, very happy to realise that my shiny new GM tools are helping me to put it to good effect instead of pulling scenarios off on tangents...

As to Charankh, she might (possibly, unless it feels cheesy) still get an appearance as a spirit/ghost later if I decide to go ahead with the spirity stuff.  Which well I might.  You have a very good point saying things should get a lot more complicated.  


The only other bang I've even introduced is Reifels asking Katrin to warn Roland against Veddia.

QuoteOne thing that struck me right off was that first scene - I got a very strong visual on what that looked like from your description. It's funny, because for some reason I'd imagined Roland having a big elaborate dark castle. I was surprised at your description of a near ruin.

This is my Midnight equivalent of a big elaborate dark castle.   :-)

In the book it's a tent village btw.  Apart from tent villages not being my first choice of locale in the local climate, I needed something brooding and ancient with corridors to get lost in.  And ruined.  No one's been living in this place for a long time, possibly not until Roland took over.  Who doesn't have the resources to get the stone structures properly repaired or rebuilt.  But it's still pretty grand, for a resistance fighter's den in Midnight.  

QuoteWhat I thought as she stepped through the door was that it was going to be a ruin and that she was going to meet the spirit there. If you'd done that, it would have been very "Hamlet" as in the first scene where he meets his father's ghost. Have the spirit say some cryptical things, and then come back later, after some action had gone by.

Now if Charankh decides to become a ghost, it'll be MacBeth instead.  Kind of.  Katrin of course doesn't imagine that Charankh might not have wanted to be killed... (nor does Lucy).  

QuoteJust thinking that it might do to spook things up a bit. For atmosphere, catch her when she's outside and spring the thing on her with concurrent descriptions of how Katrin's can see her breath in the cold and such. The point is to add a whole additional angle to things.

I'll try to think of a good angle.  I've done things for atmosphere's sake in the past (and sometims good ideas developed out of it in play), but it would be good to be prepared.  Even though I might not use what I'm prepping, but what's new in that...

QuoteOh, one thing you definitely have to have happen here is for Tam to show up.

You're so right.  He's an NPC not a follower, so I can use him.  Whew, Lucy almost decided to make him a sidekick until she realised that that relationship was going to come into play a lot more (in more interesting ways) if she didn't.  :-)

QuoteBut the reality is that he knows that she's walking into danger, and doesn't want her to be there alone.

So very Tam.  

QuoteLucy has decided that her character is devoted to Tam. Fine. The problem is that this is shutting down several lines of progress to certain bangs that you worked out. Now, that's not itself a bad thing, but you can potentially open them back up if Tam is present.

Brilliant.  See, I haven't been used to pulling threads together as quickly as that (in DnD you always hoard conflicts and NPCs for the future because of the way level progression affects the story), but you are so right.  

QuoteBut if he arrives, then things can start to go all to hell. If Katrin puts up a fuss about him following her ("Why did you go and do that?"), then he gets all sullen about it or indignant ("Well that's a nice greeting. I thought you might be pleased to see me. Guess not."). Whatever is in character for him.

Oh wonderful.  Katrin left him in command of her fort in the south.  She won't be happy at him deserting his post.  Especially if he hasn't made sure the fort is in good hands while he's away - which would be very much in character seeing that he "Loves Katrin to Distraction" (it's on her char sheet).  

He has already complained about never seeing her anymore, and has been promised quality time.  This is going to get worse of course as she wrestles for alliances and leadership amongst Dorns.  

QuoteThen later, Veddia can pressure him to get Katrin to do some things she wants.

Even more wonderful.  And very Wormtongue.  

QuoteThen, as soon as the cracks show, have Roland propose (I'm assuming he doesn't know about Tam yet). Or even if he or Reifels does know, have them propose anyhow if/when they see Katrin and Tam having problems.

Katrin has told both Veddia and Reifels. If Veddia tells Roland, Roland knows - that's up to me really.  

QuoteIf she turns them down when she and Tam are fighting, it means that she's decided he's OK no matter what. Which is a new statement.

Especially if I manage to set a high enough price on this commitment from her side.  

QuoteThen, of course, if/when she turns one of them down, you have that individual get all enraged, and take Tam hostage (probably secretly, "don't tell anyone or he's dead.") Then they ask again, "Marry me, or Tam dies." Follow this by the perfunctory evil laugh, "Bwahahahahahahaha!"

[jaw drops... teeth clack...]

Fantastic.    

QuoteIf Tam is on top of her value list, then it's best practices to get it so that this relationship is risked, or in question somehow.

I so have to get used to thinking that way.  

QuoteNote that I don't know what Tam is like, but you want to do all of this while making him even cooler to the player (though not neccessarily to the character). That is, let's say he's a warrior. If he's kidnapped, there's evidence that he put up a tremendous fight before being captured.

Not sure how I'm going to come up with a good enough reason for him to have been fighting Roland's men, but if he does it'll create tons more trouble for Katrin at Roland's court.  Nifty.  

Oh and wait.  The reason had better be a not-very-good one.  Like him stumbling out of that magic stone portal into the snow and hacking away at anything that moves.  Because Katrin had gone that way and not returned when she promised, so he's half mad with worry and rage.  

And the wonderful thing is that I can warp time with those portals (I've done it before in play even), so Tam will have been waiting for weeks longer than Lucy expects.  She thinks Katrin is still good for time currently because if time ran straight she'd still have almost a week before she'd be due to be back with Tam.

QuoteThe point is that the player wants her character to be in love with somebody worthwhile, not some schmuck. So make sure he stays just as interesting a character through all of this. If it would be uncharacteristic for him to pout, then don't have him do it. Have him show dissapointment in some other way that keeps him interesting.

My feeling is he'd show disappointment by being violent.  He might start drinking slightly too much.  This is something he hasn't been known for in the past (in fact he saved Katrin from drowning despair in drink some years ago, according to a backstory scene Lucy has written), so Katrin would be more likely to emphasise than to despise him for it.  

Hm, this is going to be tricky.  The way Katrin/Lucy has acted in the past, she goes miles out of her way to comfort other people and make them happy.  Not sure how I can establish a fight between the two unless I really make Tam rebel against being bemothered by Katrin when he arrives.  I don't see Lucy having Katrin fight with Tam.  Unless.... Hm.... Honour is very big for her.  If someone (Wormtongue-Veddia?) can make it look like Tam's being unfaithful... and/or is backstabbing Katrin in other major ways, perhaps by meddling in her politics, undermining her status at Redgard's court (because he wants her to himself for a bit, because he wants to protect her from being swallowed completely by this political stuff?)  

I'll give that some thought.

Quote from: Mike HolmesJust to be pedantic, the "possible" is sorta redundant. That is, all pre-game prepared bangs are only "possible." That is, none of them should be considered absolute.

I'd got that. Reason I wrote "possible" is that in some cases I wasn't too clear on where the Bang was in an event that I was listing (or whether there was any in it).  If I'd thought of the word event I'd have written "Bangs, Grabs and other events" instead.

QuoteAnd, as always, remember that a bang that you "discover" in play is as good as it sounds to you. Use the best bang you know of next, whether it comes from your prepared list, or it just occured to you.

The one with the orc was great.  I'd been steeering for the issue of the snow elves there, Roland was about to start talking about that when I realised I had captured Lucy with thge description of the orc.

QuoteIt's good to think about Bangs in terms of what question they ask the player to answer about the character.

Very helpful again.  You know, can't you write a book or something about this stuff?  I'd buy it.  In fact I'd buy three copies.  Or something.   :-)

QuoteRoland:  
- challenges Katrin to prove she is who she claims to be.
- Who does Katrin think she is? How does she see herself. You might want to delay this one until you've played a bit. Because it's so powerful.

You were right, this "event" wasn't very well thought out, I can't see how I'd even have used that.  Although what with the tortured orc, we did get a powerful statement about how Katrin sees herself.  

Quote

QuoteThis of course will mean her taking an oath of loyalty to him, a minor matter....

- Which is, actually not a minor matter (or it's not a bang). Does she value her independence from Roland, or her status more?

Sorry for omitting quotes there.  Of course it's not minor, anything but that. It's how I was thinking Roland might pitch it to Katrin.  That's becoming kind of obsolete now since Katrin has made clear that she's not to be underestimated.  

QuoteRosencrantz and Guildenstern are the GM's strongest allies, always waiting just off stage to bring in some bit of information, or to get offed when need-be.)

This made me laugh when I really needed it, about ten minutes before Lucy arrived for the game and I was getting the stage jitters...

Quote- has his guards stop Katrin from leaving, telling her she will leave as his wife and representative, or not at all.  
- Oops, not a bang. No question asked here. It assumes that she's already said no, and it doesn't really give her an option. I mean, it begs only resistance. Now, if instead you say that she's restrained, but has an opportunity to escape by killing somebody potentially important - that could be a bang.

Thanks. This event implicitly included a chance to escape in my mind,  but you're right that having to kill someone dramatically important is an important addition here.  

Quote- if Katrin declares herself openly for Nollorn, Roland has her arrested as a traitor and spy.  
- Same problem, where's the conflict? What two things that Katrin values does she have to choose between here? Again, this assumes a particular response. Better is to backtrack a bit. Have the Bang be that Roland calls her out on the issue.

That's how it works, d'oh.  I had this question in mind...  

QuoteDoes she stand by her friend to the loss of political power, or does she play Judas for the sake of political expedience?

... but was using the wrong event for it.  

QuoteReifels

- tells Katrin some of his worries about Veddia. If she indicates understanding or agreement, he asks her to find an opportunity to "speak to his father" about Veddia and "warn him" against her.  
- Cool. Is it more important to make an ally of Reifels, or to support her lover's sister? These are both tenuous, I think, so before you do this bang, try to have a scene in which Tam asks her to watch out for Veddia (is he a follower, or NPC?), and another in which Reifels reveals something that will make him a potentially worthwhile ally.

Good points both, but I needed something for the Reifels scene immediately and I didn't see him mentioning snow elves to her.  Much better if she has to go to him about Nollorn at some point.  

Quote- offers information on the Dornish Crown and his continued support for her as Princess of Baden in return for her supporting him.  
- So, does she join with him in secret, or decide that this could mess up her other diplomatic relations?

This is going to work much better once the tension in the Reifels-Roland-Katrin triangle increases.  

QuoteSince Roland is the superior, I'd have Reifels ask first if at all possible, and in secret, so that the father's offer makes things really problematic. This is really good if she asks for "time to think about it." Even if, not, however, agreeing to marry Reifels, or even disagreeing makes Rolands offer all the more interesting. If she rejects him, and takes Roland's offer, then she'll have made an enemy.

I'll have to get her to even consider it first.  For which I need Tam on the scene.  

QuoteVeddia

- stands at Roland's shoulder as Katrin first meets him.  
- No question presented that I can see (note, if I'm just missing some of the questions, just tell me so - I'm just telling you what I'm seeing).

Just an event in this case, sorry for confusion.  Sort of a note to myself to remember to do the flashback.  

Quote- tells Katrin about her fears of being magically poisoned by Reifels and asks her to find out what he's up to.  
- Better. Again, calls for action. Does she respect Reifels privacy more, or want to please Veddia more? Or does she distrust Veddia, and tell Reifels? Lots of possibilities here. This is a good one for later, if she hasn't yet decided on who she's allied with.

Maybe later.  If Lucy continues to see Veddia as Wormtongue it's not going to have any great impact.

Quote- or better:  hands Katrin a dagger in front of Roland and demands she kill Nollorn to prove who's side she is on.  
- That's later, when things come to a head. The question is obvious: What's more important, the alliance, or the life of a friend? Make sure that before this happens, that dire news of the advance of the orcs comes to them all. So there's a real choice there.

I'll have to think whether I can have both Nollorn and Tam be beaten up and arrested by Roland's men, without creating involuntary comedy here.  Maybe they had joined forces temporarily or something... not sure how I can make that work or whether I should.  
(Could always have Nollorn be caught sneaking around inside Roland's stronghold ...)

QuoteInstead, in this situation, have Roland do something like threaten to kill Tam if she doesn't out the location of the Elf, or something. That changes things to: Tam or Nollorn?

First time I read that, I didn't see Tam anywhere near there.  You've changed my mind on that.  

QuoteFor example, if she decides that this is enough, she might make off with both Tam and Nollorn, and mess up the whole deal at that point. The question then, really, is: Is it worth it to deal with Dornish politics, or is it time to strike back out on her own? Is it OK to save all the people one loves in the short run if this means that the world may fall in the long run?

That question may be coming up for Katrin very soon, if she continues to try and make everyone happy.  

Quote- is dragged in, a prisoner, maltreated and interrogated before Katrin's eyes (preferably with both Roland and Veddia present).  Charankh may get a minor appearance in this one...
Nollorn won't so much as acknowledge Katrin unless she speaks to him first and admits she knows him.    
- Very good bang, but, again, you have several now that deal with her potentially revealing her loyalty to Nollorn, or betraying him. It's likely that only a couple of these can work overall.

Of course. I wasn't meaning to use all of them.  Although I must have been feeling it was an important enough question to provide so many bangs for it - currently it looks more like a welcome added complication than a core issue to me.  

QuoteIt does mean, however, that you can allow her to "squeak out of" one or two without answering, defering the answer til later. In any case, try to make sure that there's something else additional on the line in each case to make the question slightly different each time.

Oh cool.  (That so applies to Katrin insisting she's marrying Tam...)

Quote- if given a chance to talk to Katrin alone, Nollorn implores her to "go leave this insane place" and meet the snow elves as she had planned.  He gives her instructions where to go.  He says to go to Uilia, Snow of Autilar, and tell her that "I had to do this".  
- This, like some of the other Bangs, asks the question: Stay and deal, or leave? The problem, of course, is that you have to be ready to deal with the "leave" option. Personally, I think that with only one player, that you're eminently set to allow the leave option.

Yes, I'm prepared to let her leave. Not that it's looking very likely right now, but future events may change that pretty quickly.  :-)  

QuoteThe neat thing is that it probably means just running into another r-map elsewhere, while the old r-map tries to catch up with her. Which sounds cool to me. You can even do this with multiple players, especially if you lengthen out the "down time" between scenes. So that characters traveling is plausible. That or giving them some magical means of travel or something. Such that "leaving" only means slight detachment.

We have magic travel in place (although it's limited, can be erratic and is not always available to humans because it's controlled by the elves).  

QuoteCharankh:  Some scene involving one of Roland's court talking to her (possibly Reifels on Katrin's behalf, or Roland, or Veddia) and others including Katrin happening on the scene. Might not even have room for this at this point, although if I have a good idea room will open up I'm sure.
- Asks how she feels about the character in question in terms of their beliefs? I'm a tad confused here about what this implies. What are the local mores concerning dealing with spirits? Is it considered some sort of bad magic?

Oh hell, I realise I forgot to explain one really central thing here.  No, spirits aren't considered bad at Redgard's court.  Orcs are.  

Roland has specific personal reasons to hate orcs bitterly.  His son Reifels's birth defect results from the stress of a particularly bloody orc attack that triggered his birth.  The mother died in childbirth and Roland wasn't there because he was fighting.  

Now here's my new aspect to this:  Charankh was captured in that attack and Roland vowed to keep her alive and suffering for as long as he lived in revenge.  (He may still have come to depend on her visions later.)  

Quote- I'm liking the idea of needing to do the heroquest. Which would be, of course, climbing the mountain path as per the legend. That is a later bang following th above could be to have the spirit offer her information on how to do the heroquest for something special. The question then becomes about her beliefs, and what she thinks about relating to such a being.

I want to tie this in with Charankh now.  And with Reifels and Roland fighting over the Redgard throne.  And with the Dornish Alliance.  And with the orcs of Charankh's tribe (who of course are rebelling against Izradorm, that's why they are treating with the snow elves now).  

QuoteI think that once the above action has worked itself through mostly, that it's time to imediately escalate to the orc attack being iminent. No wating forever for it to get here, the actual attack can be part of play. Another advantage of HQ is that you can play characters through warfare very well. The point being, don't be afraid to get to the action too soon. Allow those worldshaking events to come, and allow the characters to have an impact on them.

Yes, and how cool is that.  How much cooler this game could have been if I'd known HQ when I first started it...  

QuoteI said before that it's good to have the "big bads" statted out for scale's sake, and that's still true. But I didn't mean to imply that you had to do a lot of statting up front. In fact, I was just saying on the HQ-Rules list about how I stat everything last second. In fact, I think it's very valid to even wait for the player to add up all of their augments, and calculate their TN before deciding on a TN for the opposition. You then simply go back and qualify the rating for plausibility's sake after the fact. That is, sometimes you won't have to say anything more about it at all. But just be prepared to say thing like, "Yeah, he was a lot tougher than he looked at first" and "Seemed like a tough guy, but he was all hot air."

I did that with Roland, but felt terribly guilty about it.  When she was calculating her TN and I checked my notes (mostly for nervousness), Lucy asked whether Roland was fully statted ... I told her no, not fully.  In reality I had his highest rating and his brief description in this thread (and what was in my mind about him) and that was it.  

QuoteFrom what it sounds like, there's some enchantment around the elven enclave that's being threatened. What power is it that the orcs have - who leads them and what does he wield - that would allow them to invade?

Precisely that.  Caradul is concealed from the Enemy by a powerful elven glamour. What will allow them to invade?  Devious means of piercing or working around that glamour.  We've had pots of black and oily "Vile Essence" being carried into the forest by spies of the Shadow in an early scenario in the game.  Half a dozen pots screwed up Erethor's defences enough to cause the Elves restrict humans from going deeper into Erethor than 50 miles or so.  (Strangely enough one at least one of those spies wasn't human at all, she was a snow elf.)

QuoteBefore you even mentioned the Lunar Magic, I was thinking that Izrador's temples sounded a lot like the "Temples of the Reaching Moon" in Glorantha that are so locally demarked one can actually see the red line where the power reaches to.

Conversely when I first read about the Lunar temples I thought, "Rather like in Midnight, but flashier".  

QuoteBTW, I'd personally stay away from the multipliers for lunar magic, and just have it be an effect like a big guardian (essence). Whose main ability is a big "Enhance Izradroian Magic" rating.

Can you carry guardians around in their essence, do you think? Or bits of guardians? :-)

QuoteThe neat thing about guardians, is that they also get a perception ability, and a defensive ability that they lend in addition to the "offensive" ability above - does this match the abilities of the mirrors? Sounds cool to me if they help Legates discover people using life magic or the like.

Très cool.  It doesn't quite match what is in the books but I could simply introduce it because the players have staid away from temples in the past (except on one occasion).  

The entities discovering magic for Legates are Astiraxes, which are incorporeal demons that can fly around invisibly, or possess animals.  Could those be linked to a guardian in a temple do you think? Like white blood cells floating around the world keeping Izrador's system "healthy"?



Edit:  I'll be thinking up and posting an updated list of bangs and events over the next few days.  Thanks for all the help!  This is super.

Those are about the Bangs I figured you'd used up. Didn't think there were any more.

Consider that for a moment. One Bang from your list (and one destroyed), and the rest was "filling in" play with little bangs or dialog or whatever. That's not atypical. Let's say that you start burning through them at a rate of three per session - that's a lot, I'd argue for this style of play. How many sessions of stuff do you have ready to go then with what's left? Quite a few, eh? See how once you've got the prep like this out of the way, that continuing prep is sooo easy? If you just invent three more Bangs per session, you'll never run out.

Here's something to consider, however...do you want this game to go on forever? One of the advantages of this mode of play is that you can bring a character's story to a conclusion. Doesn't mean you can't do sequels, but it allows you to move on to new concepts if you like.


- Veddia as Wormtongue - I'm fer it, and agin it. The problem again, is that basically Lucy has made her decision already about Veddia. Which isn't terrible, you can play it out that way. It just limits options there. But there's another way to go, which is to try to bring her back to being potentially someone that Katrin can sympathize with. She's smart, no? Can't she find some way to ingratiate herself to Katrin? Or, if not, at least you can get her to be a non-enemy potentially through negotiation. Again, what does Veddia have that Katrin might want?

But I'm waffling on this one. If you want to make Veddia a villain, there's nothing wrong with that, either. In any case, as you point out, having Tam arrive will make Katrin have to deal with Veddia in some ways.

QuoteKatrin of course doesn't imagine that Charankh might not have wanted to be killed... (nor does Lucy).

Really? I mean, most creatures have a sense of self-preservation, why would she assume otherwise in this case? She thought it was a mercy-killing? I note you use that term somewhere, but it seemed to me to be very vengeant when I read about it. Or was it some of each? Showing her compassionate and violent sides simultaneously? Hmmm.

You have to be careful when using the term "spirit" when playing HQ. In HQ it pretty much means "being from the spirit world." So a ghost could be a spirit, but it could be other things as well. It's complicated. Basically check the rules on otherworlds.

As far as Tam arriving, I don't think you really have to go to big lengths to pull off the "separation" of the charcters. Just do it. Tam arrives, waits for her to say the first thing about having left the fortress undefended (if she doesn't remember, have Tam prompt her with, "I left the fortress in a hurry..."), and as soon as she does throws a fit with, "I thought you'd appreciate me coming! You're always like this!" and simply sulks off. Basically have him insult her the way hurt people do at times.

BTW, does she have any flaws, Katrin? Snide comments that prey on those are good.

Again, don't make Tam an ass, just make him very in love with her, and very hurt that she thinks that the fortress is more important than them being together. Or somesuch. Then just throw in more scenes before she has a chance to go try and reconcile with him. Have a bang ready where he's done something really irresponsible in his state that threatens the whole alliance. Like you say, he get's drunk and maims one of Roland's men or something. Just to make reconciliation that much harder.

Doesn't mean that they won't, they may still. Just keeping it in question. Like I say, when they're at odds is when you throw a proposal at her.

Quote from: StalkingBlueThe one with the orc was great.  I'd been steeering for the issue of the snow elves there, Roland was about to start talking about that when I realised I had captured Lucy with thge description of the orc.

Heh, gotta love that. When something you think is innocuous suddenly grabs the player and they say, "Wait, what was that? Oh, I have to do something about that!" Fortunately this happens quite frequently. Bangs or even events that you think aren't going to have any thematic impact suddenly explode because the player is inspired by them.

So throw in the small stuff with what you think is the big stuff, because you never know what a player's going to find interesting.

QuoteVery helpful again.  You know, can't you write a book or something about this stuff?  I'd buy it.  In fact I'd buy three copies.  Or something.   :-)

Sorcerer - Ron Edwards. Along with the Sorcerer supplements (especially Sorcerer & Sword for fantasy games).

Quote

QuoteRoland:  
- challenges Katrin to prove she is who she claims to be.
- Who does Katrin think she is? How does she see herself. You might want to delay this one until you've played a bit. Because it's so powerful.

You were right, this "event" wasn't very well thought out, I can't see how I'd even have used that.  Although what with the tortured orc, we did get a powerful statement about how Katrin sees herself.  

Oh I can still see it coming into play. Perhaps Roland thinks that she's a doppleganger, or a spy in a glamour, in some fit of paranoia. So he asks her to take part in a little ritual that they have to detect the Terminators. During which she's asked to speak about who she thinks she is.

Neat thing about fantasy is that you can always come up with some magical need to do something. :-)

QuoteOf course it's not minor, anything but that. It's how I was thinking Roland might pitch it to Katrin.  That's becoming kind of obsolete now since Katrin has made clear that she's not to be underestimated.  

Well, but I think that a request for an oath is still at some point a very telling about how their relationship is going. And it's a short term build up that's less of a leap than a marriage proposal. So I'd definitely still do this one at some point. What happens is that, if she makes it, then you just throw all sorts of opportunities for her to break the oath to get what she wants. I she doesn't take the oath, then that pressurizes the talks ("Do we have anything else to say to each other?") Pretty good either way.

Quote

QuoteNow, if instead you say that she's restrained, but has an opportunity to escape by killing somebody potentially important - that could be a bang.

Thanks. This event implicitly included a chance to escape in my mind,  but you're right that having to kill someone dramatically important is an important addition here.  

Right, she comes out of the tower onto the battlements only to find, there, Reifels saying, "I can't let you leave." Or whomever she's most attached to at the time. Then she has to choose to give up, slay him, or go over the wall into the snowbank. :-)

I always like it when there's a third desperation out option. For when characters can't decide between the other two options. Choosing the out shows just how hard the decision is. Then, later, you make them choose anyhow. :-)

QuoteGood points both, but I needed something for the Reifels scene immediately and I didn't see him mentioning snow elves to her.  Much better if she has to go to him about Nollorn at some point.

Yeah, I wouldn't take too long with it. Given that otherwise she might not recognize him as an ally in that area early enough.

If it seems "too early" for Reifels to tell her, then she discovers his elven affiliation by dramatic accident. He accidentally hands her the wrong stack of drawings, the one with his drawings of elfs.

Quote

Quote- offers information on the Dornish Crown and his continued support for her as Princess of Baden in return for her supporting him.  
- So, does she join with him in secret, or decide that this could mess up her other diplomatic relations?

This is going to work much better once the tension in the Reifels-Roland-Katrin triangle increases.

Well I see it as a lead up to that tension. That is, it's the outcome of information dropping and Bangs that lead to tension. It's not going to build itself. So you have to put these things in place right away. Or you'll never get your love triangle (quadrangle with Tam).

QuoteJust an event in this case, sorry for confusion.  Sort of a note to myself to remember to do the flashback.

Cool flashback, too. Good information dropped. I'd just make such notes separate from your Bangs. The informational stuff is pretty much mandatory, as opposed to bangs. So you don't want to mix them up.

Quote

Quote- tells Katrin about her fears of being magically poisoned by Reifels and asks her to find out what he's up to.  
- Better. Again, calls for action. Does she respect Reifels privacy more, or want to please Veddia more? Or does she distrust Veddia, and tell Reifels? Lots of possibilities here. This is a good one for later, if she hasn't yet decided on who she's allied with.

Maybe later.  If Lucy continues to see Veddia as Wormtongue it's not going to have any great impact.

Correct. Again, you might want to work to alter the Wormtongue perception. Made easier if Tam is there, "Aw, Kat, she's not so bad, just misunderstood."

QuoteI'll have to think whether I can have both Nollorn and Tam be beaten up and arrested by Roland's men, without creating involuntary comedy here.  Maybe they had joined forces temporarily or something... not sure how I can make that work or whether I should.  
(Could always have Nollorn be caught sneaking around inside Roland's stronghold ...)

Not sure I understand what you're about here. Why do you need them both captured together? Why not individually? Are you worried that too many abductions will start to seem contrived? I think you can get away with two.

QuoteOf course. I wasn't meaning to use all of them.  Although I must have been feeling it was an important enough question to provide so many bangs for it - currently it looks more like a welcome added complication than a core issue to me.

Yeah, I guess. Try to find a way to make it all come together in the end, however. I mean eventually the idea is to march out and defend the elves if possible, right? Which right now Roland seems very against, right? Has to be some way to get that in as part of the overal "what do we do to stop evil?" issue.

Quote

QuoteIt does mean, however, that you can allow her to "squeak out of" one or two without answering, defering the answer til later. In any case, try to make sure that there's something else additional on the line in each case to make the question slightly different each time.

Oh cool.  (That so applies to Katrin insisting she's marrying Tam...)

Right. But just force the issue at some point. At some point it's "You're with us and against the elfs, or you're with the elfs, and against us!" Again execution is good for this, "Kill him, or be a traitor!"

Quote

QuoteThe neat thing is that it probably means just running into another r-map elsewhere, while the old r-map tries to catch up with her. Which sounds cool to me. You can even do this with multiple players, especially if you lengthen out the "down time" between scenes. So that characters traveling is plausible. That or giving them some magical means of travel or something. Such that "leaving" only means slight detachment.

We have magic travel in place (although it's limited, can be erratic and is not always available to humans because it's controlled by the elves).  

I'd start developing that new map right now, then. Maybe more than one. One if she goes to the elves, one if she retreats to her fortress, etc. Just preliminary stuff, but enough to get you through some scenes, if she ends up leaving suddenly.

QuoteOh hell, I realise I forgot to explain one really central thing here.  No, spirits aren't considered bad at Redgard's court.  

OK, then I think that you really need to bring the spirit into the picture somehow. It's just too cool a fantasy element.

QuoteOrcs are.  

As are, presumably then, Orc ghosts. :-)

QuoteRoland has specific personal reasons to hate orcs bitterly.  His son Reifels's birth defect results from the stress of a particularly bloody orc attack that triggered his birth.  The mother died in childbirth and Roland wasn't there because he was fighting.  

Now here's my new aspect to this:  Charankh was captured in that attack and Roland vowed to keep her alive and suffering for as long as he lived in revenge.  (He may still have come to depend on her visions later.)  

Good info. Key rule: NPCs exist to deliver information. Have this get out to Katrin at some point, or the thematic value of it doesn't exist.

I mean, this explains why he was so pissed off - he wanted that orc to suffer in perpetuity. She ended it's suffering, and without asking.

Quote

Quote- I'm liking the idea of needing to do the heroquest. Which would be, of course, climbing the mountain path as per the legend. That is a later bang following th above could be to have the spirit offer her information on how to do the heroquest for something special. The question then becomes about her beliefs, and what she thinks about relating to such a being.

I want to tie this in with Charankh now.  And with Reifels and Roland fighting over the Redgard throne.  And with the Dornish Alliance.  And with the orcs of Charankh's tribe (who of course are rebelling against Izradorm, that's why they are treating with the snow elves now).

Hmm. Might be tough to get all of that in. What you want to do is create a legend for the heroquest that involves all of these dramatic elements somehow. So, I dunno, it's about a king who's son goes to the mountain negotiating with orcs on the way, then he garners allies at the base of the mountain, and then climbs it.

The obvious reward for the quest is, of course, the Crown. So, perhaps Reifels knows that the wind spirit knows how to get the Crown, but hasn't been able to get it to tell for some reason. And, further, he'll need help, of course, if he goes on the heroquest. Katrin, of course, would play the part of one of the Dornish allies garnered at the base of the mountain. They take on the mountain and some yettis or something, and find the Crown in an ice-cave at the top of the mountain.

Classic stuff.

QuoteI did that with Roland, but felt terribly guilty about it.  When she was calculating her TN and I checked my notes (mostly for nervousness), Lucy asked whether Roland was fully statted ... I told her no, not fully.  In reality I had his highest rating and his brief description in this thread (and what was in my mind about him) and that was it.  

Next time she asks if somebody is statted out, say, "Why do you ask?"

All I can say is that the guilt you're feeling comes from that old mode of play. It's "cheating" in that mode, because there you can use it to "beat" the player, or they get the immersion-breaking sense that you're "Making it all up." Well, you always are making it all up. Just depends on when you make it up. Does it really matter whether or not you do it a day before the game, or right before rolling?

Doesn't to me.

Quote

QuoteBTW, I'd personally stay away from the multipliers for lunar magic, and just have it be an effect like a big guardian (essence). Whose main ability is a big "Enhance Izradroian Magic" rating.

Can you carry guardians around in their essence, do you think? Or bits of guardians? :-)

Guardians come in three sorts, and I think the temples would be Manifestations, actually.

What is it they carry around? Bowls of the liquid or something? If so, do they have powers separate from those of the temple? Or are they just good for setting up new locations?

I'm thinking that it's just something that can be divided up and spread around. That is, the manifestation is located in a lot of places. Some mobile, some non-mobile. The benefits one recieves from the guardian are based, then, on how far one is from some portion of the substance.

So, for example, a new temple starts with it's bowl at 13 ratings. Then it grows over time, until it's got very high ratings, let's say our temple gets to a 20W3. At that point we decide to relocate some to a new temple. So we siphon off 13 points into a bowl leaving 7W3, and take that bowl to a new location during which we'll have 13 ratings all the way there. Once "planted" it can start to grow there again.

Does that match? Again, use with the range rules. So, at 1 mile the power is -20. At 5 miles -40, at 25 miles -60, at 125 miles -80. Meaning that at 20W3, you'd still have a 20 at 25 miles out from the temple, but at 125 you'd be down to zero. Does that match? Sounds cool to me, anyhow. :-)

Quote

QuoteThe neat thing about guardians, is that they also get a perception ability, and a defensive ability that they lend in addition to the "offensive" ability above - does this match the abilities of the mirrors? Sounds cool to me if they help Legates discover people using life magic or the like.

Très cool.  It doesn't quite match what is in the books but I could simply introduce it because the players have staid away from temples in the past (except on one occasion).

Well and if they had, then they would just not have noted the effect or something. You can always use dramatic liscence to explain things.

QuoteThe entities discovering magic for Legates are Astiraxes, which are incorporeal demons that can fly around invisibly, or possess animals.  Could those be linked to a guardian in a temple do you think? Like white blood cells floating around the world keeping Izrador's system "healthy"?

Possibly. If, in fact, the power of the essence of a guardian is divisible, then it might easily "sprout" smaller essences. That said, some temples may also have specially assigned Astiraxes to guard them in addition to the guardian itself.

I'm sure there's a way to play it out.

Mike

Quote from: StalkingBlue

It's a boxed set and in my opinion the best and most evocative supplement for Midnight so far.  By a long road.  Written by Judd Karlman (Paka), Owain Abramczyk, Iain J Brogan and Eric Olson.

WOW.

I'm so glad you liked it.

Thanks.  

More on this thread in a bit, just wanted to say thanks.

Woo-hoo.

Quote from: Mike HolmesSee how once you've got the prep like this out of the way, that continuing prep is sooo easy? If you just invent three more Bangs per session, you'll never run out.

Wow, yes. What really staggers me here is that in some ways it isn't all that different from the way I used to create NPCs before. I'm only now learning how to do this effectively rather than stumble along blindly, but to an extent I've always thought about NPCs goals and motivations, what they think/feel about other NPCs and PCs etc.  The huge, huge difference for me is how much fun and game I'm getting out of just this tiny R-map that started out by being no more than four NPCs with sketchy motivations - and we're only scratching at the surface yet!  Previously I'd have expected this to work fine as a backdrop for a one-session scenario.  :-)

QuoteHere's something to consider, however...do you want this game to go on forever? One of the advantages of this mode of play is that you can bring a character's story to a conclusion. Doesn't mean you can't do sequels, but it allows you to move on to new concepts if you like.

I'm aiming to conclude this game by the end of this year (another 15 to 20 sessions to go).  Can't tell currently how long I want the Dornish power struggle to go on for, that'll depend on what Lucy and Apari's player want.

Quote- Veddia as Wormtongue - I'm fer it, and agin it. The problem again, is that basically Lucy has made her decision already about Veddia. Which isn't terrible, you can play it out that way. It just limits options there. But there's another way to go, which is to try to bring her back to being potentially someone that Katrin can sympathize with. She's smart, no? Can't she find some way to ingratiate herself to Katrin? Or, if not, at least you can get her to be a non-enemy potentially through negotiation.

Oh, nothing is certain yet.  My feeling is that Lucy's evaluation of Veddia (and of Roland and Reifels, too) is still very preliminary and might change at the drop of a Dornish hat.  In fact I was wondering after the session whether I'd been leaving things too open-ended.  But if you are worrying that things are shaping up too straightforwardly, I'm probably ok. :-)

In my past experience players often didn't respond to contradictory ways I presented NPCs - they'd just accept someone as a Wormtongue in one scene and a trusted messenger in another and move on.  I suspect this may change in our current mode of play, what with much more proactive NPCs.    

Quote

QuoteKatrin of course doesn't imagine that Charankh might not have wanted to be killed... (nor does Lucy).

Really? I mean, most creatures have a sense of self-preservation, why would she assume otherwise in this case? She thought it was a mercy-killing? I note you use that term somewhere, but it seemed to me to be very vengeant when I read about it. Or was it some of each? Showing her compassionate and violent sides simultaneously? Hmmm.

Hmmm indeed. I hadn't thought about it clearly enough until I read that. Orcs are heavily objectified in my Midnight game.  This is only partly due to the DnD kill-things mindset;  I've used and reinforced this to support the hate and war theme, by having NPCs speak of orcs as "it" or "the male/female orc", never as "he" or "she".  

QuoteYou have to be careful when using the term "spirit" when playing HQ. In HQ it pretty much means "being from the spirit world." So a ghost could be a spirit, but it could be other things as well. It's complicated.

Yeah I know that, but I'm not sure I can force a shift to any sort of consistent terminology in the group.  

The Midnight material uses "spirits" in a different sense from Glorantha - supernatural beings, yes, but ones either native to the physical world or incorporeally trapped on the plane when contact to the other DnD planes of existence was cut off 9,000 years ago.  I have used "bits of otherworld" in my game for quite a while and some of the scenarios we've had in them may have had a bit of a heroquest feel to them, but all that started before I ever heard of the HQ system, so I'm not finding it easy to drop Gloranthan metaphysics into the game.  I'm looking forward to trying out bits of it in two possible heroquests for the PCs (see my next post, probably), but I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with it.  

To confuse matters further, at some point someone in our group started confusing "spirits" with "souls" (essence of people) and "ghosts" (undead), and this has spread to the other players to a point where every time one of them uses one of these words I have to ask what they are talking about... because it varies.  

QuoteBTW, does she have any flaws, Katrin? Snide comments that prey on those are good.

Flaws? Hm. Only soft-hearted I think.  (And fear of a specific type of spider demons they fought once.)
But snide remarks won't be difficult to find.  Katrin does have some nice conflicts right there on her character sheet.  She's soft-hearted and honourable and loves Tam.  On the other hand she's into politics (wonderful reason to throw not-so-honourable and not-so-soft options at her), admires her father (who put duty over love when he let Veddia go...), and feels inspired by her former lover Arrenu - who was undead but had eyes only for her last time they met. Tam didn't like that one bit.  :-)  Plus Katrin has been getting letters from Arrenu since that last meeting, which I don't think Tam can read...

QuoteAgain, don't make Tam an ass, just make him very in love with her, and very hurt that she thinks that the fortress is more important than them being together. Or somesuch. Then just throw in more scenes before she has a chance to go try and reconcile with him. Have a bang ready where he's done something really irresponsible in his state that threatens the whole alliance. Like you say, he get's drunk and maims one of Roland's men or something. Just to make reconciliation that much harder.

Great plan...  

Which reminds me.  I'll have to invent a way to draw my prep together in a way that's easy to keep in memory. I just couldn't access my nifty material properly during the session even though I had it all on one page (as I usually do).  Also once things started going I realised that when things get more dramatic and complicated, I'll have to work hard to keep track of all the plot threads we've started.  

Quote

QuoteVery helpful again.  You know, can't you write a book or something about this stuff?  I'd buy it.  In fact I'd buy three copies.  Or something.   :-)

Sorcerer - Ron Edwards. Along with the Sorcerer supplements (especially Sorcerer & Sword for fantasy games).

I got those. And by now I'm beginning to get good value out of them... I think I mentioned somewhere that the learning curve was rather steep for me on that one.  

But still, what you write here helps me lots.  It helped me begin to crack that hard Sorcerer nut, but that doesn't mean I don't want your book anymore.

QuotePerhaps Roland thinks that she's a doppleganger, or a spy in a glamour, in some fit of paranoia. So he asks her to take part in a little ritual that they have to detect the Terminators. During which she's asked to speak about who she thinks she is.

QuoteI always like it when there's a third desperation out option. For when characters can't decide between the other two options. Choosing the out shows just how hard the decision is. Then, later, you make them choose anyhow. :-)

Man, I so want to play in your game. That you have to play that in the small hours of the morning...

QuoteCool flashback, too. Good information dropped. I'd just make such notes separate from your Bangs. The informational stuff is pretty much mandatory, as opposed to bangs. So you don't want to mix them up.

Erm yes, thanks.  Part of me learning to organise my notes better so I can have working knowledge of them during a session.  

Quote

QuoteWhen she was calculating her TN and I checked my notes (mostly for nervousness), Lucy asked whether Roland was fully statted ... I told her no, not fully.    

Next time she asks if somebody is statted out, say, "Why do you ask?"

Oh, I think I knew that all right. She was simply curious how I was making the game work - it wasn't about winning for her, it was about learning.  I'm half thinking it might be good to have her in here.  I'd value her input and it would be great for her to be able to read your posts.  Unfortunately it would also destroy much of her fun by inviting her to play through bangs in her mind before the actual game.

QuoteGuardians come in three sorts, and I think the temples would be Manifestations, actually.

What is it they carry around? Bowls of the liquid or something? If so, do they have powers separate from those of the temple? Or are they just good for setting up new locations?

They carry around the bowls for the new Mirror. Black stone, could have been imbued with a fragment of the old guardian that will "infect" the water poured into it at the new location once blood from the human sacrifices startes flowing in.  

I was also thinking that Legates carry a tiny vial with the black stuff, which might be the focus for their magic (or at least augment it).  Hasn't entered play, but might be nifty to have if the PCs were ever to capture a Legate (rather than just kill them when they can).

And the sabotage liquid from the earlier scenario might have been Mirror essence.  

QuoteSo, for example, a new temple starts with it's bowl at 13 ratings. Then it grows over time, until it's got very high ratings, let's say our temple gets to a 20W3. At that point we decide to relocate some to a new temple. So we siphon off 13 points into a bowl leaving 7W3, and take that bowl to a new location during which we'll have 13 ratings all the way there. Once "planted" it can start to grow there again.

Does that match?

Perfectly.

QuoteAgain, use with the range rules. So, at 1 mile the power is -20. At 5 miles -40, at 25 miles -60, at 125 miles -80. Meaning that at 20W3, you'd still have a 20 at 25 miles out from the temple, but at 125 you'd be down to zero. Does that match? Sounds cool to me, anyhow. :-)

Matches very well and yep, sounds très cool.

Here's an updated NPC list for Katrin's part of the game.  Bangs (and prep notes for the other PC) to follow.

Katrin

Info to be dropped
(to be completed)
-   Roland hated Charankh because she was part of the raid that got his wife killed and resulted in Reifels being born a cripple
-   As a child Reifels was locked up next to Charankh for punishment
-   Olec of Eirinn is treating with Roland behind the Ladies of Norfell's back
-   The Shadow Offensive is imminent
-  If anything could draw Dorns together under a single banner for a Final Battle, it is the long-lost Dornish Crown.  

---

Roland & Co.:

ROLAND REDGUARD, LORD OF SKYRFELL PIKE
Wants:         
   To become King of Dorns
Needs Katrin to:   
   Support him politically in negotiations with the wood elves
   Acknowledge Redguard's precedence over Baden (oaths, marriage)
Can offer to Katrin:
   Political alliance to fight the Shadow
   Backing from the "King of Dornland" in her dealings with the wood elves

VEDDIA, ROLAND'S MISTRESS AND ADVISOR ON BADEN POLITICS
Wants:         
   Roland to be become King of Dorns with Veddia as his Queen
Needs Katrin to:
   Support Roland in whatever way he wishes – except:
   Not threaten Veddia's position with Roland
Can offer to Katrin:
   Inside information on Roland
   Influence on Tam
   Communications line to Baden's Bluff

OLEC OF EIRINN, HEAD OF CLAN EIRINN
Wants:         
   To replace Norfell as a Dornish House in Roland's Dornland
Needs Katrin to:
   Recognise Eirinn as a House
   Acknowledge Olec's seniority over Katrin as Roland's retainer
   Not betray him to the Norfell ladies before time
   Support Roland as King of Dorns
Can offer to Katrin:
   Information on what happened to Tam

---

Reifels & Co.:

REIFELS REDGUARD
Wants:         
   To become King of Dorns
   His father's love and recognition
Needs Katrin to:
   Support him against his father and Veddia
   Be his friend
   Help him to retrieve the Dornish Crown
Can offer to Katrin:
Historical and political information
Friendship
A way to free herself of Charankh's haunting (by doing the heroquest)
   A way to the Dornish Crown


OLD HON, THE PIKE'S KENNEL MASTER
Wants:         
   Honour of House Redguard restored
   Reifels to be recognised as heir
Needs Katrin to:
   Uphold old Dornish honour
   Influence Roland
   Support Reifels
Can offer to Katrin:
   Inside information on things on and around the Pike (including a way out if need be)

CHARANKH'S GHOST
Wants:         
   The orc ghosts on the Pike to rest in peace
To revenge herself on the Redguards
Needs Katrin to:
   Help with Reifels's heroquest to retrieve the Crown
Can offer to Katrin:
   A way into the Veil (otherworld) for the heroquest
   The Dornish Crown for Katrin herself

---

Others:

TAM ALLIN, KATRIN'S LOVE AND VEDDIA'S LITTLE BROTHER
Wants:         
   Katrin.  Only Katrin.  
Needs Katrin to:
   Marry him
Can offer to Katrin:
   Utter love and personal loyalty
   Marriage – or giving her up to provide room for a politically beneficial marriage


"JAN" JARANDUR WYM, GNOME TRADER
Wants:         
   Bearer of contraband goods, news and letters from the east.  
   "As long as there remains a song and smile in these lands, Father River will flow and the Sun will rise."  
(He's not designed to be too proactive, I'll explain his reason for being here when I list events and Bangs.)
Needs Katrin to:
   Keep hope and continue the fight.  
   Grant "trade privileges for the gnomes in New Dornland."  (said with a "Next year in Jerusalem" kind of smile)
Can offer to Katrin:
   Recent news from Baden's Bluff and Norfell.  
Possibly some sort of revelation about / communication with Jez's sword.  


IODOR PRINCE OF BADEN, KATRIN'S FATHER
Wants:         
   To die fighting the Shadow
   To have word from his daughter before he does so
   To know his daughter did all she could to keep fighting the Shadow
Needs Katrin to:
   To forge a Dornish alliance, no matter what the price
Can offer to Katrin:
   Emotional support and recognition


NOLLORN
Wants:         
   Support for the snow elves
Needs Katrin to:
   Contact his mother, bring news of Nollorn and learn the truth about the treaty between snow elves and orcs
   Speak and act in favour of snow elves
Can offer to Katrin:
   Introduction to snow elves
   Potential allies in the Final Battle
   Inside information on Ice Fang Mother orcs (Charankh's tribe)

INFO, EVENTS AND BANGS FOR KATRIN

This is what I have so far. It's growing ever longer and more complex.  I'm updating, adding stuff and stealing shamelessly from your kibitzing advice.  Not a clue how I'll ever do all this stuff justice in play.  

Info to be dropped
(updated from above)

-   Roland hated Charankh because she was part of the raid that got his wife killed and resulted in Reifels being born a cripple.

-   As a child Reifels was locked up next to Charankh for punishment.  
   Charankh was Reifels's "most patient sitter" for his drawings.  
-   Reifels was the first one to see Charankh's ghost, the instant she died.  (He knew she was dead before Katrin told him, but not how she'd died.)

-   Reifels knows more than anyone in the region about Dornish history, laws and customs.  

-   Not everyone on the Pike is happy with the way Roland runs things.  In exposing Roland's treatment of Charankh, Katrin struck a note with some of Roland's followers.  

-   Olec of Eirinn, formally a retainer of House Norfell, deals with Roland behind the back of the Ladies of Norfell.

-   The Shadow Offensive is imminent.
-    If anything can draw Dorns together under a single banner for a Final Battle, it is the long-lost Dornish Crown.  
-   If there is to be a chance for a Final Battle, the Dorns have to unite and hit the Shadow.  Now.  Or it will be too late.  



Events

-   Katrin's dream:  Katrin and her father going through endless stacks of books and ancient papers to find proof of her marriage that will put things right.  Winter storms shriek and howl.  Arrenu's Jester blown about like a patchwork leaf in the storm, shouting inaudible words at her over and over.  A shadow figure hulking in a corner of Katrin's dark bedroom.  Death screams of children.  The sour smell of blood.  

-   Olec of Eirinn swears loyalty to Roland and is made Roland's general.  

-   Increasing signs of Katrin being haunted.  (Details to follow.)  

-   Possibly increasing signs of Roland becoming disturbed and withdrawn.  (This could reinforce the suspicion of Veddia being a Wormtongue.  It would be due to haunting by Charankh, who is half mad with an urge to have her revenge and with pressure from the wind ghosts/spirits to act before the Shadow forces arrive.)  

-   The weather worsens progressively.  (This is due partly to Charankh being pushed and hassled by the competing Spirit of Winter entities, and partly to the Shadow forces advancing under a screen of icy, sunless weather.)  

-   Tam arrives with the survivors of a Redguard patrol.  They have run into a bloody ambush set by orc snipers with elven longbows and arrows just as he stumbled into them in the snowstorm;  and they have Nollorn prisoner.  

-   Tam speaks to Katrin briefly and sulks off.  

-   Snide remarks for Tam to shoot at Katrin:  (not expecting to use all of these of course)
   -  You're remembering you're too good for me.  
   -  You're like your father after all:  all politics and no honour.  
   -  When your dead boyfriend wanted your attention, you were all there for him.  
   -  There is no winning this war.  There is no Dornland, no future, no King of Dorns.  All that is left is to die well, and don't you want to die with me at your side?  

-   Tam, egged on by Olec (and/or Veddia), drinks too much and gets into a fight with whoever will cause most trouble for Katrin.  Might wound one of Roland's men or the Old Hon, or harass or beat up Reifels.  

-   Tam tells Katrin she is "like her father" and will ditch Tam for political reasons just like Iodor ditched "you know whom."  (Veddia)

-   Tam disappears.  (Have to decide what happened here.  Either Roland or someone loyal to Reifels kidnapped him, most likely.  Alternatively, they could all claim they have him when in reality he has run off in anger during the night, and is currently out with a patrol.)  

-   Katrin receives a letter from her father, telling her of the family's preparations for the impending final assault, sending her mother's love and bidding her farewell, and hoping that above all she "will remember that she is a Baden in these final days."  
   (Spiking any sort of conflict about where to put her loyalties in this Dornish mess.  Some things I can have him stress:
   -  the tradition of filial duty, to show that an alliance with Reifels against his father will breach some rules;
   -  the Baden's precedence amongst Dornish Houses, as a reminder that Katrin shouldn't be anyone's general, let alone Olec's inferior;  
   -  a Baden's commitment to always do your duty regardless of the personal price you pay for it, to throw a shadow over Katrin's commitment to Tam when she could forge a Dornish alliance by marrying either of the Redguards instead.)  

-   Communication of some sort happens between Katrin, the gnome trader Jan and Jez's sword.  Possibly tied in to Katrin being haunted by Charankh.  Not sure about the details yet.  
   (I'm including Jan mostly as a multi-purpose Rosencrantz here.  Note that Jan figured prominently in an earlier scenario and while Katrin never met Jan, Lucy's previous PC Jez did.  We had a scene charged with emotion in which Jan prodded the PCs into holding an impromptu wake for the wood elf Loren, another PC who'd recently been killed (played by Apari's player).  Apari was present at the wake, and a little later Apari, Jez and others saved Jan's life.)  



Bangs

-   Roland asks Katrin to swear loyalty to him in return for being made his general and official representatives with the wood elves.  The oath is to "Roland Redguard Lord of Skyrfell Pike, King of Dorns."  

-   After Roland makes Olec his general, Olec snubs Katrin in front of Roland.  

-   When Katrin turns up to talk to Roland against Veddia (or say anything she wouldn't want Veddia to hear), Veddia will be present.  

-    Soon after Katrin takes the oath, Veddia (who has realised Roland means to marry Katrin) asks Katrin to write a letter to her father to inform him of the oath and to reassure him that despite it the precedence of house Baden will be preserved.  
   (If Veddia doesn't have ground to stand on with Katrin, she gets Tam to ask Katrin instead.)  

-   Roland confronts Katrin about her letter to her father.  

-   Reifels tells Katrin about the Dornish Crown and the myth, and asks for her help in retrieving it behind Roland's back.  

-   Veddia believes that Reifels has the Dornish Crown (because Charankh told her so before she died) and asks to spy on Reifels to find confirmation before they can expose him to his father.  

-   Reifels asks Katrin to promise to marry him "because that is how it was in the myth."  

-   Roland asks for Katrin's hand in marriage to seal the alliance of the "Last Two Houses", which will negate Olec's claim to Eirinn becoming the third House.  

-   Roland tells Katrin that she'll see Tam again only if she marries him (Roland).  

-   Someone asks some huge (preferably dangerous and/or odious) favour in return for telling Katrin where Tam is.  

-   Reifels offers Katrin help in freeing Nollorn if she does what he wants (marry her, go on the heroquest with him.)

-   Olec has found Tam someone in the Eirinn retinue who can perform the wedding rites.  Tam tells Katrin to marry him right away to show her commitment in front of everyone and prove she is "not like her father".  

-   Once Katrin's alliance with Roland is at risk (e.g. because Roland has Katrin's letter to her father if she wrote it), Veddia demands that Katrin kill Nollorn in front of Roland to prove her loyalty.  

-   Roland challenges Katrin to prove who she is, possibly involving a magic ritual.  (Can I get Charankh to mess with Katrin in that?  Hmm.  Maybe by putting images of being an orc and defending her clan in Katrin's head?)  

-   Veddia or Olec (or both? hm, maybe developments could push those two together into the same boat) sends Katrin an anonymous note "If you are a true friend of the Erunsil, come to the Broken Tower at moonrise") in an attempt to expose Katrin to Roland as a traitress.  

-   Nollorn implores Katrin in secret to flee from the Pike, see his mother Uilia in Autilar, tell her where he is and that he asks her forgiveness for disobeying her orders.  He asks her to give Uilia a chance to prove that the snow elves aren't betraying the free world.  He can't speak more openly "because the orcs are watching me".  (Charankh's ghost and other orc ghosts lingering in the place where she used to be locked up.)  

-   If Katrin gets herself imprisoned on the Pike, someone she likes (Reifels?) will stand in her way as she escapes.