[The Mountain Witch] Weight in gold
Jaakko Koivula:
Yey!
Cheers for the reminder about Kanamaru and the merchant. That was a cool scene and really felt like it was an important part of the fate. Sorry that I missed it.
Im not sure either how much "effort" should have been put into MW -characters in general before hand. I sort of have this feeling that coming in with pretty much a blank slate is ok. I guess it would need a couple more runs of the game to really know how planning the history of a character affects the game.
From what I've gathered, pretty much all ways to handle the destinies are ok. Different ways just lead to different kinds of game. Still, Im looking forward to some heavy revealings tonight ;)
newsalor:
If the characters are always cooperating, you should use your bangs to drive wedges between them. IMHO.
Jaakko Koivula:
Indeed. Thank you, Captain!
Anyways. Third session! Still five players. This time Takayama's player couldn't make it, but instead we got Imai back. This session was just LADEN with great stuff. Im bound to miss something cool and the report will still be 39 pages long, so players add up on the stuff again.
The moment Imai saw the white wolf, he realized that it would be horribly stupid to try to kill it. He didn't see any way that he could convince the other two ronin about it though, so he just split. Now he's completely lost in the woods, trying to find his way out. Firstly Imai runs into a corpse hanging from a tree and a long-haired descitated undead-woman mourning him (think Grudge. Also, familiar from Kanamaru's nightly fright). The Hanged Man is obviously the boss here and informs Imai, that the forest is in a state of security lockdown. The lord of the forest is furious and will let no human pass from this forest alive, because his son has been killed by their kind. The Hanged Man offers to advice Imai through the forest, for a small price: His left hand. Imai tries to haggle the price down (Maybe just a couple of fingers?), but the Hanged Man wins the roll: "No haggling, the price is now your whole arm. Also, decide quickly, my companion is getting hungry."
Woman thing: "Grrr."
As the undead had promised not to try to stop him, Imai decides to brave the forest without their help. Next he runs into a crazy monk from the temple. He's quite obviously drunk and also itching for a fight. The monk first stake is to humiliate Imai and he manages to cut off his top-knot, pretty much ruining any chance of Imai passing off as a respectable samurai. Monk is using a totally random drunken style that confuses the hell out of Imai, who can't defend himself nearly at all. Monk proceeds to smash in half of Imai's ribs, leaving him with a lasting Wound. At this point he decides that Imai is no fun anymore and just stops the fight.
"Oh well, guess you weren't such a challenge after all *swig* Now, how the hell do I get out of this forest?"
Imai gurgles something and the monk ta-ta's off into the forest. Imai collects himself for a while and next runs into the Lord of the Forest, a huge white deer. Imai manages to explain that it wasn't him who killed the wolf, but the Deer isn't satisfied by just that. "You also didn't do anything to stop the other human, therefore you are responsible. I will let you leave this forest alive, if you bring me... the left eyes of both of your companions."
Imai: "Right, ok. But we're going to kill the Witch first, we'll be back later to the forest, that ok?"
Deer: "I'll send someone to keep an eye on you, make it snappy, mortal."
The Deer vanishes and leaves Imai at the last challenge in the forest: a huge, slippery ascent, in the dark. Imai, with his broken ribs can't make the climb and has to take a detour around the forest. Even though he isn't completely sure where the Temple of the Crazy Monks is, he'll try to get there next.
Now we changed back to the temple. Ueshiba-sensei, a bald, one-eyed monk, with a hip-flask, has just called out to Matsushita and Kanamaru from the top of the temple wall. He knows them both from somewhere and invites the ronin inside. Shinta stays back again, for some reason he isn't going to enter the Temple grounds at all. The rest of the ronin are taken to a hall for some dinner and expositions happen:
At some point the ronin learn, that the black gaijin Bwaddene Chipo has been in the temple and has been talking with the sensei.
Kanamaru explains why he has been in the Temple before. He was trying to kill the Witch with his friend Riu, years ago. Kanamaru tells that Riu died on the mountain and he didn't fare much better. He was found dying, floating downwards in the river by Ueshiba-sensei and nursed back to health.
Ueshiba had invited the ronin to come speak with him once they had eaten and rested. Kanamaru goes in first and secures a place and materials for a sacred ritual for the morning. Ueshiba promises to provide.
Umiroya asks about a woman and learns that there actually had been a young woman visiting their temple earlier. Unfortunately, White wolf, the son of the lord of the forest, had appeared and captured the woman, dragging her into the forest. Dyn dyn dyn. (This has to do with earlier thing, that I forgot from the reports. Once they had killed the white wolf, Umiroya had found a necklade lodged in the teeth of the wolf. Ueshiba remembers the necklace and affirms that it was the same one that the woman had).
Someone also learned about the Witch's abilities from the sensei. Sensei doesn't know anything certain, but one thing that is solid, is that the Witch can grant abilities (Someone used dark fate to narrate this, good stuff!) ... for a price. There was speculation that this might actually concern quite many of our characters...
Meanwhile, outside. A lone traveller climbs the stairs and waves at Shinta. The traveller is a middle-aged samurai, just on a pilgrimage to the Temple of the Crazy Monks. When he gets closer, the traveller realizes that he knows Shinta. Shinta and the traveller had apparently duelled over some random misunderstanding earlier, years before...
The traveller seems actually pleased about running into old acquiantances and Shinta walks down happily to greet him.. and then decapitates him in one lightning-fast movement. Shinta proceeds to dump the body and the head into a nearly stream. While doing this, he also notices a nearby grave: Matsushi...
Imai hears a splash from the nearby stream and soon a decapitated body floats past him. Upstream he sees a man intently examining a gravestone. Once he climbs nearer, he notices that it's Shinta. Shinta pretends that he doesn't know anything about any floating bodies, even though the grass before him is completely stained in blood. Imai doesn't press the issue, but leaves for the temple, just stopping to remark that: "I can use this against you, you know." Shinta just shrugs.
Inside people are naturally rather surprised that Imai suddenly appears.
Umiroya: "You got lost!? What have you been doing for all this time?"
Imai: "It's my business and doesn't have anything to do with our mission."
Matsushita: "Good enough for me, you're still in."
At some point Kanamaru goes and has a talk with Shinta. Shinta still doesn't want to come inside or participate in the ritual next morning. Kanamaru and Shinta chat for a while, can't remember all the details.
Propably more stuff happened here, don't have notes on this bit. The ronin tuck in for the night, except Umiroya who's practicing outside. Suddenly the ronin wake up to a sound of a horrible, wet hailstorm, or something. Thousands of large somethings are banging against the roof and the windows of the monastery. Umiroya sees outside, how a huge flock of black birds rose up from the forest below and then fly straight into the monastery, kamikaze-style. *splut*sprak*thunk*splat*
The ronin run outside and the hail of birds stop. The whole courtyard is flooded in blood. In the blood, the black feathers and corpses have formed a kanji reading "CONTRACT" on the ground, 10m*10m, pretty much under Imai's windows. This rather spooks everyone and accusations and questions start flying around. There's also a notable lack of any monks in the whole temple, no-one else comes to wonder about all the racket.
Shinta suddenly appears into the courtyard: "This ground is no longer sacred!"
Kanamaru: *Gasp!*
Kanamaru bolts into the temple, to reach the sanctuary. He stumbles into a scene from an abattoir. Nearly all the monks are lying all around, more or less in bits and pieces. Also, none of them happen to have any wine-flasks that some of the monks (and Matsushita) always seem to carry around on their belts. Ueshiba-sensei also has a flask. He's standing in the middle of the carnage, dressed like a ninja.
Outside, Umiroya realizes that Kanamaru ran inside. Him and Shinta try to follow him inside, but a three ninja drop from the night to stop them. Shinta manages to take all three of them on and keep them locked into combat with him, while Umiroya manages to slip inside.
Imai is just getting back to his quarters to get back to sleep. Suddenly a limp figure slaps on the floor in front of him. The figure is another ninja, but obviously dead drunk. After he clambers up, Imai notices that it's the same crazy monk from the forest! This time there's a completely different look on his face though. Dead serious is the word: "This time it's business."
Kanamaru and Ueshiba-sensei start the fight, Kanamaru's stakes are that he makes Ueshiba stop the fight and explain himself. Kanamaru beats Ueshiba's roll, but gets a wound while doing it. Ueshiba manages to wound Kanamaru, who stumbles backwards only like an old man can. Ueshiba remembers that he's dealing with an old friend and halts the attack: "Im sorry, but the Witch will pay us in gold and ability, if we kill you."
Matsushita is wandering around the temple, trying to find the monks, when a horrible racket breaks out from all over. He decides to run outside where the sounds of battle are the most hectic.
Imai tries to break off from the crazy monk, but gets whopped again. Monk goes straight for the broken ribs and lands a new blow on them, ruining his escape attempt.
Outside the ninjas are trying to get to Shinta, but Kanamaru surprises them from the back. He grabs the kusari-gama and manages to both tangle up the chains of all the ninjas together and lodge them into some supporting beam, pulls down the whole wall on them. The ninjas are buried under the rubble, and the ronin get a clear path to Imai and the crazy monk.
Inside the temple Umiroya gets into the room, just in time to hear the last passages of a short conversation. Ueshiba manages to collect himself somewhat and draws a wakizashi to fend off the second attacker. Dual-wielding, he goes after Umiroya, mostly just blocking Kanamaru's strikes, still hesitant to attack him outright. Umiroya manages to fend off Ueshiba's attacks and creates an opening for Kanamaru. Kanamaru doesn't hesitate for a second, but impales the sensei good and proper.
At the other end, the crazy monk also pulls out a wakizashi when the rest of the ronin appear. He seems rather happy to get a proper challenge finally. Still, he really doesn't have the chance to fight, as Matsushita takes a swig from his bottle and stomps the ground hard enough to drop a brick from the ceiling on the monk's head. The monk falls down, unconscious.
Next, Matsushita, Imai and Shinta run to the sanctury, just in time to see sensei dying. Matsushita is shocked that Ueshiba had broken his promise never to train or take an assignment anymore. He reveals that he himself has also been trained by the sensei and that the flasks are a mark of this (At this point Matsushita already has collected five or six of them from the corpses).
At this point Matsushita is also confronted about the grave with his name on it. He retorts that if a man isn't wearing his own face, then what made anyone think he would be using his own name. (or it might've been earlier, can't remember)
Everything is pretty much quiet again at the monastery. A lone raven comes and steals the glass eye of the sensei in a characteristic, yet ominous way. Also, the screaming she-beasts that had been crawling up the walls of the monastery bugger off somewhere, as everyone had completely forgotten them in all the other excitement (whoops). When the ronin return to the downed crazy monk, they find the corridor empty. The window is open and there's just pieces of brick on the floor where the monk was lying earlier.
Camera zooms out to get a view of the monastery, with broken and fallen walls, corpses, and the huge black and red kanji.
*End of session and chapter*
Bleeding great session, all in all. So much stuff in it. The dark fates are really coming out and it's becoming achingly clear that all the characters have huge skeletons in their closets. Good stuff for me to spring on them later on too, bwahaha! I've propably forgotten a bunch of stuff too, so players if you're here, add-up again.
Also, I really must say that I really am loving this whole narrative game -skit. For example, I was pretty much completely at loss where to go next when I narrated that the temple was void of monks and then Shinta comes in and declares the ground "no longer sacred". And it was just beautiful. Also the crazy monk escaping was narrated by Matsushita's player. Now we have an extra fleshed out NPC loose in the world and a nemesis for Shinta and I didn't have to think up the idea myself. In a traditional RPG the GM just has to come up with all the cool stuff. With this game, everyone has the power AND the incentive to do their part for the story and the coolness. Everyone can use what the others throw up and build on that. And it's just so much easier for the GM and propably atleast as much more rewarding for the players.
Good - stuff!
newsalor:
Your enthusiasm and the feel that I get from your game feels really great. I also like how players have been rationing their relevations about their past.
I'm curious about some things. What act will the next one be? Do the players know what is supposed to happen in each act?
You also said that the players have been tactical. Have the special strenghts of the characters seen much play?
Have the players established pairings so that some players have had a stable amount of (or lack of) trust in each other?
Jaakko Koivula:
I'll make two posts. One to answer Olli and one for the game report.
I try to outline the acts for the players very roughly beforehand. Like: "During the next act we will get to the Witch's castle and it ends when you're there." It's to help them ration their trust and also to give me some guidelines on where to go with the act.
Mostly the acts haven't been that clear in actual play. They end when it's most appropriate. I don't do that much pre-planning, so if the game goes somewhere else where I thought it would, then I just adopt, adapt, improve.
I try to think up up some cool scenes and bangs for each session, but otherwise Im just winging it and trying to riff off of anything the players bring up. I have these cool things in my backpocket that I want to use during the session, but I don't have that much idea on how I get to them.
Actually this could be a point where GM could try to help the players. If I really explicitly announce that this act will have a bridge, a ball and a duel, then the players would know where to go if they want the act to end at some point. Now I've been running it maybe more old school -style. But I guess this is just a practice and finding your own style -issue. Gotta give it a proper try at some point though.
The strenghts of the characters haven't affected combat that much. They flavour the narrations and make different kind of conflicts possible, but it's not like everyone is using all their specials every turn in combat like they would be using D&D Feats.
The trust ratings have been pretty constant. Some go up, some down. So now some characters have no trust at all and some have tons. Polarized is the word, I think. The progress has been gradual and steady though. Up or down, one point at a time, in the same direction.
Hopefully there were answers enough, Im itching to start the play report already! ;)
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