[IaWA] First try!
lumpley:
Well, you know when to roll dice, right? When one character goes to do something, and another character acts to stop her?
If that happened only twice in your game, rolling only twice was the right thing.
-Vincent
Ouroboros:
Vincent,
Good point. I guess players just weren't really getting into conflicts. Which made me feel like I wasn't doing my job. Perhaps the NPC's should've pushed a bit harder to make up for the lack of conflicts the PC's were having with each other.
I've been talking a whole bunch about it with my husband, and something else has come up in discussion. I guess I ask about the conflicts because it seems like in order to "advance" in the game (have your character go on the owe list) you have to go up against people who have higher dice than you and actually get into a great deal of dice rolling conflicts. That's kinda like a built in mechanic to get you to do stuff, drive conflict and be a sword and sorcery hero (my guess). I dig that. But, conflict only happens really when there's a "direct opposition" happening. Does that mean most conflict is supposed to be physical? ie: a chase scene, a theft off someones person, a sword fight, a brawl... because ultimately the fallout you're taking from "losing" the conflict will be described as "exhausted or injured". If you have a conflict where its a "direct opposition" between two characters and isn't physical, do you just go with that "exhausted injured" metaphor even if it doesn't fit, or is that a spot where negotiation of the outcome HAS to occur? In situations like this (or even a fight) why even begin rolling the dice if the only outcome of rolling the dice is the ability to negotiate with the stick of "agree with my desired outcome or take damage" when the possibility of negotiating the consequences of the conflict already exists at the table and people are willing to compromise the outcome of the conflict? The bigger question surrounding this question is: do sword and sorcery heroes (or re-occurring protagonists) have to get into a bunch of fights to define them as such?
Something else: you get that extra d6 just for going up against someone with higher dice than you, and simultaneously gain the possibility for another one by going on the owe list, ya? That was a little confusing.
Mostly, I think I'm going to have to drive conflicts a little more as ST, so we can actually roll some dice. Otherwise, the system just seemed secondary to us just naturally negotiating how the story was being told and having conflicts resolve that way. But, if we just talk the whole game and don't roll any dice, no-one gets put on the owe list, no-ones characters can progress into the next story, and no-one gets the potential for extra dice. Then again, I guess if we're not rolling at all, it could become more diceless and fluid. But... we like rolling dice. :)
Thanks for anyone who could offer insight to these rules, and Vincent for being on top of things. I appreciate it! On a side note, we're starting a Star Trek game this weekend using Dogs in the Vineyard rules (my friend's running it, but I've done Firefly in the Verse in the past with much success), so that should be awesome... two of Vincent's games running bi-weekly, I hope our brains don't explode with awesome!
lumpley:
Quote from: Ouroboros on March 28, 2009, 11:39:14 AM
The bigger question surrounding this question is: do sword and sorcery heroes (or re-occurring protagonists) have to get into a bunch of fights to define them as such?
That's exactly how I figure it, yep.
Not necessarily battles, but they should definitely be doing things that other people will try to physically stop, and trying to physically stop other people from doing what they're doing. Particularly, other more powerful people.
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Perhaps the NPC's should've pushed a bit harder to make up for the lack of conflicts the PC's were having with each other.
Probably so. You should always be prepared to make serious villains of your NPCs.
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Something else: you get that extra d6 just for going up against someone with higher dice than you, and simultaneously gain the possibility for another one by going on the owe list, ya? That was a little confusing.
Nope. You don't get an extra d6 for going up against bigger dice. Here are the rules:
1. When you go up against someone with bigger dice, AND you don't get shut out in round 1, you go onto the owe list.
2. You can scratch one of your characters' names off the owe list for a bonus d6 (a d6 with pips, to add).
3. No matter whether you're rolling against bigger dice or smaller, if you win in round 1, but not by double, you get a bonus d6 (with pips, to add) in round 2. Same if you win in round 2, you get a bonus d6 in round 3.
Thanks for playing my game and writing about it, by the way. I'm glad you're having a good time.
Ouroboros:
Cool. That explanation of the D6 rules makes much more sense to me now. So does the clarification behind your intentions of what makes a sword and sorcery hero, makes me feel less like I'm guessing about how to interpret the game, and more that I have a solid hold on the themes and direction. I think it was also just cathartic for me to write all that out on this forum as I was working it out in my head. I think by asking the questions, I kinda answered a lot on my own.
I'm excited to see what will happen in our next game. The only person still on the owe list is an "evil" wizard, a demon worshiper in any case. This game will have more players too, the last one had 3, this week it'll be more like 4-5.
I've been wanting to play IAWA for awhile, I'm glad I'm finally getting to test out some of the mechanics! I'll keep ya posted.
lumpley:
Cool! I'm always happy to answer more questions if any come up.
-Vincent
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