[IaWA] First try!
Ouroboros:
Session 2: A Success! Although lots of rules questions were brought up, we all poured over them trying to find solutions, and did to most but a few, which I will ask after this brief and entertaining summary of the session.
Oracle: The God Kings of War
Elements:
A great army's marching orders, passwords, and signals and the unfortunate aide who lost them.A captured warhorse with a taste for human meat.A speaker for the ancestors carrying secrets and warnings.A bitter and unseasonable cold, caused by warring elements.
Characters we developed:
Unfortunate Aide = Eishal the Djinn, a messenger of the Air ElementalA Ruthless Barbarian = Artax of Gudeth, the owner of the flesh eating horseSpeaker for the Ancestors = Ador Palasar, a Satrap speaking for the local KingsOne of the Warring Elementals = Water Elemental = Sealord Marianus Magnus, Dark Prince of the Unfathomable GulfsThe other Warring Elemental (an NPC) = Air Elemental = General Erishti of the Glorious Golden Zephyr
NPCs I Added:
Syrax the sacred horse, a servant of fire, who has a taste for human fleshThe Undead Ancestors
What Happened:
Everyone had a sufficient tangle of Best Interests so off we went! All the players played their characters to the hilt, and had fabulous interactions. It was decided that we were at a peace summit, that was literally on the summit of this cold mountaintop in a war-torn palace of the Earth Elemental. Earth and fire no longer existed in this realm, and Water and Air had been duking it out causing the freezing snowy weather. They were here for peace, but (surprise!) not REALLY! The Glorious Golden Zephyr was planning to attack Sealord Marianus Magnus, and that's the plans that were "lost" by her "faithful" Djinn Eishal. Turns out, when the Djinn stole the Barbarian Artax's flesh eating horse, the Barbarian somehow ended up with the plans. After much to do and hilarious encounters between the Djinn and the Barbarian, the plans were recovered and instead of returning to the Glorious Golden Zephyr, they were revealed to the Sealord because the Djinn wished the fighting between them to stop. After all, they were breaking many ancient accords that existed amongst the Elements by continuing to fight.
So amongst these Elementals fighting for control of this once fruitful land are the two humans in the mix, Artax the Barbarian and Ador Palasar the Speaker for the Ancestors. The Ancestors know the truth behind all this subterfuge and lies, and are constantly telling Ador what is truth. He works both sides, just wanting the war to come to an end so his people can have their normal weather back. The Barbarian gets hired for assassinations, and more hilarity ensues, and he inflicts a frightening blow with his mighty thews upon the Golden Zephyr. He recovers his horse (in captivity by the Golden Zephyr) and the horse wants him to kill the Djinn for ever imprisoning him. And the tangled web of secrecy and vendettas escalates...
...until the Summit is supposed to begin! All gather, and talk of peace seems to be everywhere until The Zephyr's true intentions comes to light and she attempts her attack on the Sealord with no success... her plans were revealed! He attempts to shame her on account of her breaking ancient accords, but to no avail, she unleashes her anger upon him launching into attack! Ador calls upon his ancestors to attack the Sealord as well since he seems to have attempted an assassination on the Zephyr and doesn't truly wish peace! The Djinn and the Barbarian, finding themselves in the same room, attack each other as well! What an action packed peace summit.
But in the end, the Sealord subdued both the Zephyr and Ador with both his reason and the great tides he commands, and the Barbarian crushes the Djinn under the table, where he craftily hides (being made of air, he wasn't -actually- squished) until he has his chance to escape. A kind of peace is achieved... for now, and all leave more unsettled than they were before. Except for the Barbarian, whose horse's saddlebags are now filled with rubies and gems from the underwater palaces of the Sealord. He leaves rich, and his horse complains of hunger, and that they should certainly find some human flesh soon.
Overview and Mechanics Questions:
So, we worked out how the dice worked except one pattern we noticed emerging. Whoever wins the first round in a conflict tends to win the conflict, because having that extra d6 advantage just pretty much beats anything the other person can do. If this is the case:
1. Why continue rolling. You already know who won.
2. How can fights remain dramatic if you know who's won so quickly.
3. Maybe we were doin it wrong? But I followed Vincent's advice from his last post on the d6 advantage die rule, and that's how we did it.
4. Maybe not enough people are on the Owe List yet to cross off their names and call upon d6's of their own?
This was a pretty enjoyable session. I'm feeling more confident in creating fun conflicts for the players to tackle, and in framing scenes and governing over where the flow of the game is going from one scene to the next, even regarding themes that I see emerging, potential action that could occur, and kind of just overall managing the game kinda like you would direct a movie. I'm diggin it. And everyone seemed pretty jazzed, there were lots of points where I would put two people together, or three, and they would just start goin at their Best Interests and I would just sit back and watch and take notes as to where to direct them next. I definitely think this is the biggest strength of the game. Good fun! Next session in a few weeks.
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Noclue:
Quote from: Ouroboros on April 09, 2009, 03:20:25 PM
Session 2: A Success! Although lots of rules questions were brought up, we all poured over them trying to find solutions, and did to most but a few, which I will ask after this brief and entertaining summary of the session.
Cool!
Quote
So, we worked out how the dice worked except one pattern we noticed emerging. Whoever wins the first round in a conflict tends to win the conflict, because having that extra d6 advantage just pretty much beats anything the other person can do.
That doesn't make sense to me. I've seen tons of conflicts where the advantage switches from one person to the other, or the person with the extra d6 loses. Its almost as if that extra d6 suckers you into over-reaching and then getting the big smack down.
Ouroboros:
Quote from: Noclue on April 10, 2009, 05:33:50 PM
Quote from: Ouroboros on April 09, 2009, 03:20:25 PM
Quote
So, we worked out how the dice worked except one pattern we noticed emerging. Whoever wins the first round in a conflict tends to win the conflict, because having that extra d6 advantage just pretty much beats anything the other person can do.
That doesn't make sense to me. I've seen tons of conflicts where the advantage switches from one person to the other, or the person with the extra d6 loses. Its almost as if that extra d6 suckers you into over-reaching and then getting the big smack down.
Yea... I dunno, in every conflict we had, if one person didn't win after the first roll outright (beating them by double) then the person who gained the advantage die in the first round won the entire conflict even after two subsequent rounds of rolling. Its good to hear you're having a different experience, maybe when we have some more conflicts we'll see that change happen as well. So far that's how its been. Are we jumping to conclusions? Maybe. I'd like to think on our part its more of an analysis of what happened to make sure we're "doin it right."
Thanks for the input though! Does it sound like we're doin it right? Do you experience more success when people bring in additional d6's to challenge that one that's gained in the first round of a conflict? Any other strategies you find fun to employ in that dice rolling stage of the game?
Noclue:
I'd say you probably just got some weird rolls that session. An extra d6 is nice, but its far from a sure thing.
lumpley:
My experience matches James': it's good to have that d6 with pips, but it's sure not a guarantee.
If you weren't doing something weird, like accumulating and adding advantage dice or something, then you probably just had a run of luck. Happens!
-Vincent
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