Back in January I had the third gathering of my old high school gaming group, with the new rules that I tossed out recently. If time permits tomorrow I’ll cram in a write up of the session, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about the mechanics.
The move to business cards holding the character data and business card sleeves to hold the 10 data points worked really well – sped up character creation a lot, solved the problem of everyone having to copy everything over. That’s a keeper.
The poker chips for claiming narrative control to overcome obstacles also worked well. I’d over-complicated it with chip color determining if narrative dominance was based on fighter, rogue or spellcaster ability. The players instead just spent chips regardless of color. By the start of the last scene there was one unused chip in play and the PCs were drained of more mechanical resources, so the balance was right.
When spending the chips players either a) had their character start talking to NPCs or other PCs with a clear direction b) describing what they did and the effect it has on the game or c) telling me what they want to have happen and asking me to describe it. Obviously I am least happy when it’s the third, but players told me they were grateful the option if they knew they wanted but not how to embellish it.
Map design worked well enough. The second Sticks game had a really evocative map effect where I let them run wild and they build the whole world and PCs backstories into the map in a way that made me very happy. This time the games focused nature as an exploration quest meant there were more restrictions – rather than just evocative landmarks for us to ruff off of I needed tangible conflict points. Those ended up being just written down on the map while people sketched cities, forests, mountains and plains around them. If I had more time I might have the map sketching come first and then the conflict points written on the side and making use of the more evocative map images.
Originally one player tried to game the map/conflict point idea by describing the area they have to pass through as eminently calm, peaceful, comfortable, and best suited for long naps on the beds of pine needles under the shady towering trees – trying to avoid conflict. When I wrote this down on the map as The Copse of Eternal Slumber everyone groaned and realized that if their characters were going to face conflicts they’d be better served if they had a hand in it. I was happy with the diversity of the conflicts: there was a good mix of social interactions, environmental danger and sites of people/monsters who the players knew where there but didn’t know if they were going to be immediate attackers, things to sneak around, things to talk past or potential allies (and all of those options ended up coming up in play).
The players did plan a little bit – Chris really wanted to have a scene with their PCs sneaking past an entrenched army after the same relic just to be able to say “they’re digging in the wrong place” so he included needing to steal a map in the urban part and the army in the final part. Marilyn really likes Yeti so she put them in as a mountain conflict, and then spent chips to have her barbarian warrior deal with the threat by becoming their war chief, leading a yeti army against a later conflict point. Being able to shift to narrative control whenever we reached a point where the mechanical conflict was either seriously turning against them or when they felt things would run too long did wonders for letting us get in a whole story arc in a 4 hour session. Otherwise each map segment could easily have been a whole night’s play.
There was a lot in this that I’m going to cogitate on for other styles of play, but it captured the classic AD&D 7th-9th level PC adventure quest feel. I expect the narrative control chips will be making more appearances later.
Here’s some detail on the characters they built and challenges they faced
(Chris) Bren Monkey: Court Upbringing [Primary, +8], Ancestral Spellcaster [Secondary +6], Military Rogue [Tertiary, +4), Military Fighter [Rare, +2], Wealth and Connections. Born in the year of the Monkey his public self is torn between Forbidden Desires and Responsibility, while his secret self is a Snake, making him intelligent, charismatic, passionate and scary. Bren is also a member of the Monkey family in the imperial court, but a second son with no hope of inheritance. His great grandfather was leader at a major military loss 80 years ago that cost the empire a large hunk of territory, and his bones and regalia are buried in what is now enemy territory. Bren is being driven by the ghosts of his family to return his great grandfather’s bones to the family crypts, but he also secretly hopes that retrieving the lost crown will improve his status in the family and let him overthrow his brother. In his public actions he has recruited the assistance of Shui and Rowan.
(Jen) Shui: Invocation Spellcaster [Primary +8 and Secondary +6, +14 total], Divinatory Spellcaster [Tertiary +4], Temple Upbringing [Rare +2], Devine Mandate [usable for magic, plus lets her consecrate areas and command undead]. Born in the year of the Dragon her public self is torn between Tradition or Ambition, and her secret self is also a Dragon, making her strong, intelligent and quick tempered. Shui is an aged member of the imperial temple staff who has been assisting Bren in his interactions with his Great Grandfather. She appreciate both his ambitions and his desire to see the bones properly returned to their traditional resting site and is willing to travel with him to see it done.
(Jeff) Rowan: Military Rogue [Primary +8], Urban Fighter [Secondary +8], Scholarly Fighter [Tertiary +4], Urban Upbringing [Rare +2], Marked [Rowan has one tattoo for every man he has killed, and is covered with hundreds of terrifying markings]. Born in the year of the Rooster his public self is torn between Ambition and Loyalty, and his secret self is also a Rooster, making him dexterous, tough, conscientious and bold. He was in the reconnaissance unit that Bren commanded during that latter’s time of mandatory military service, and once he exited the army become Bren’s bodyguard. Unknown to Bren Rowan accepted that role in the pay of Howell, Bren’s older brother, to watch, direct and ultimately deal with the troublesomely ambitious younger brother. Rowan’s one emotional weakness is his love for Revelin, the enslaved circus acrobat.
(Rachel) Revelin: Entertainer Upbringing [Primary +8], Natural Spellcaster [Secondary +6], Invocation Spellcaster [Tertiary +4], Divinatory Spellcaster [Rare +2], Casts an Animal Shadow [Revelin is a snow leopard that has learned to take human form that she might experience human love and culture]. Born in the year of the Monkey her public self is torn between Forbidden Desires and Responsibility, while her private self is an Ox, making her strong, wise, gentle and dangerous when angered. Many years ago she was captured and bound with a magical collar that holds her to the circus of Tennen, where she is the star act. Rowan has been searching for a way to free her that will not compromise his position and has convinced Bren that Revelin’s help is essential on the mission ahead and he must free her.
(Jesse) Fred: Scholarly Upbringing [Primary +8], Exploring Rogue [Secondary +6 and Rare +2, +8 total], Natural Spellcaster [Tertiary +4], Brother to Jackals, Companion to Owls [Fred’s life is endless and cursed – nothing will kill him but danger and ill-fortune follow his companions]. Born in the year of the Pig his public self is torn between freedom and responsibility, which his private self is a Rat, making him dexterous, intelligent, resourceful and crafty. Fred has been alive so long he has forgotten much of what has happened to him, and has had so many people die suddenly around him that he now takes it as the natural order of the world and thinks little of it. He is a font of obscure facts, ancient connections and lost knowledge. Bren and Sui have approached him as they learned that he was one of the few survivors of the lost battle and need his knowledge to find his great-grandfather’s precise resting place. Fred is often accompanied by ….
(Marilyn) Wyck: Wild Rogue [Primary +8, Secondary +6, 14 total], Nature Spellcaster [Tertiary +4], Barbarian Upbringing [Rare +2], Balanced Chi [has transcended the need for tools – can heal with a touch, climb without ropes, etc.] Born in the year of the Pig her public self is torn between freedom and responsibility, which his private self is a Rabbit, making her dexterous, charismatic, sexy and talented. Wyck is an outsider, living on the edge of Imperial society, who makes her way but constantly exploring and expanding her knowledge, selling maps of her discoveries to the imperial library. When she can she visits with Fred, drawing upon his knowledge to send her in new directions for new discoveries. She just happens to be with him when this particular adventures comes calling.
The players then tackled the map now that they knew their final destination, their skills and their shared backstories. The map is divided into 4 parts – urban start, wilds one, wilds two and the final destination. Claiming narrative control is relatively easy in the opening two quadrants, harder in the 3rd and hardest in the final quadrant. After some discussion the players came up with the following conflicts:
1st Quadrant Challenges: Urban environment. Revelin’s Circus, Securing map fragment and grandfather’s skull from temple crypt, Bren leaving without detection.
2nd Quadrant Challenges: Deep forests. Revelin’s stalker fan, Copse of Eternal Slumber, Feathered Serpent Men.
3rd Quadrant Challenges: Mountains. Terrain issues, Yeti, Weather Wizards guarding the enemy border.
Final Quadrant Challenges: to my original dismay Chris’ backstory set the final scenes on… a large, flat former battlefield. Fortunately players put in some interesting stuff – the enemy army’s military units also looking for the regalia, the haunted obelisk at the final battlefield and the cursed lands around where the regalia was buried.
This character, world and plot creation sequence took about an hour while people were finishing dinner.
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