[Trollbabe] Dungeonbabe & Dragons (Actual Play)
John S:
Quote from: stingray20166 on December 08, 2009, 11:49:42 AM
First of all, to John: COOL Setting. I want to play in your game.
Thanks, Nick-- that's very encouraging!
Quote from: stingray20166 on December 08, 2009, 11:49:42 AM
[Introducing Vaadish's like that] violates the "clear" part of free-and-clear...
But to get him there would have been pretty easy -- during the free-and-clear stage just mention Vaadish is taking part. Or simply frame the next scene as Vaadish showing up. To me, reading the AP it feels like you kind of had two scenes here that kind of got smudged together instead of being explicitly framed -- is that accurate?
...To me it feels like the players didn't really have a chance to affect his influence on the story.
I think you're evaluation is spot-on, and your examples are useful. We had fun with this scene, but your points make it clear how much more tension could have been involved. Thanks!
Quote from: stingray20166 on December 08, 2009, 11:49:42 AM
1. Oh noes a giant spider let's OMFG Vaadish is here too WTF do we do about that?
You just turn the screws tighter on the Trollbabes -- and they REALLY start to shine. :-)
Here's a question-- can Free & Clear cover things that the Trollbabes don't know but will find out in the conflict? Like that "There is someone in the shadows with an arrow knocked (and by the way it's Vaadish, but we can have introductions later)." Or do those details even matter? I would guess that they do, since players can introduce facts on a failure: "The person with an arrow knocked steps forward-- it's my old rival McGenghis McMandrill the Third! I hate that guy!" Ha, better make sure any facts that may be important are established in the Free & Clear-- although now I'm kind of interested in this McMandrill character (note to self)...
Quote from: stingray20166 on December 08, 2009, 11:49:42 AM
And how cool that you are getting your wife and daughter to play... maybe we could talk about how those relationships affect play (I also play with my wife and my daughter is old enough now to start playing).
[...]
(Hmmmm -- remember that separate family question I had? Are you perhaps unconsciously trying to lead them through the story to make sure they have a good time? I did that the first time I played with my wife -- holding back a bit. The problem is that TBs always want to be at the center of the storm.)
I hadn't thought of that, but you might be on to something about the unconscious urge to make sure the story is good and they have a good time. Not so much for my daughter, with whom I've been role-playing at least since she was four-- she gets it. But for my wife, role-playing is somewhat transgressive of her upbringing. When she asked me if I wanted a game for my birthday, I told her only a game that she'd be willing to play, since we seldom have time for games that require more than two people. I was a little shocked when she brought up D&D, and I was pleasantly surprised when she enjoyed it too. So far the Trollbabe game has been great fun, but I definitely feel a bit of pressure to make it a fun and meaningful experience.
John S:
We haven't gotten a chance to return to this story yet since my last post, but I shall post again next time we play. The book arrived Thursday, which was coincidentally my daughter's ninth birthday. Thank you again! Digesting the new rules has indeed addressed all of my questions pretty thoroughly, including several I hadn't asked. The "Getting Started" section is very helpful! The only thing I can't find is the Example map referred to on page 18.
Quote from: Ron Edwards on December 07, 2009, 11:58:43 AM
Anyway, for this post, I do have one suggestion aimed toward your second post's questions. It is: take some time to share sources which aren't gaming, and probably a little older, which led to Trollbabe. Comics and fantasy novels with a strong mythic/fairy vein, as well as Celtic, Norse, and Baltic myths. A lot of that has strong female voices and characters too.
I'm pretty familiar with Norse mythology, but not Celtic or Baltic. Do you have specific stories, or characters you'd recommend as a starting point? What novels and comics do you recommend mining for the mythic/fairy vein? My daughter and I read a lot of fantasy literature together already, but we always enjoy discovering new stuff. Right now we are reading Watership Down, and our next book in the queue is Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke.
Happy Christmas to all!
John S:
Here's my preparation notes for the next time we play, following the process in the book. I've changed a few of my ideas about the background, and there are bound to be divergences in play. I'd love to hear any feedback or ideas!
Adventure 2: Trowehaven
Geography (Where?)
Trowehaven is an ancient burial ground south of Fallcrest riven by a smoking chasm. There is an uneasy scent in the air that faerie characters will notice, amid the din of hammers, bellows and churning fire deep below. The entrance to Trowehaven is a crypt below a ruined foundation. Trowehaven is surrounded by a rotten marshland of sunken graves silted in by the south-flowing river that marks its border with the wild Moon Hills.
Example map
People (Who?)
The Trowe are a wealthy clan of Dwarven barrow wights, living amid tombs filled with magnificent treasure. They have a small army of the damned toiling in the mines, whom they have begun to outfit for war. A warlock-king Vordaan has given their chief Rugor a nose-ring that grants him the ability to touch and wield iron weapons whenever he slakes its thirst for human blood.
The Trowe have an ancient feud with the Night Elves of the Moon Hills, but both peoples are bound by a treaty of armistice. The Elf council suspects that the Trowe may move to violate the treaty, and have sent their envoy Mooram-Ah to meet with the Trowe, to remind them of the treaty, and to reconnoitre. The council is neither ready to strike nor authorized to make military commitments for the amphictyony of aloof Elven houses that it serves.
Stakes (What?)
The stakes are represented by Claudiu, a young half-wight human from Fallcrest brought to Trowehaven by his mother, the Princess Adelina. The Trowe have a ritual that can cause Claudiu to pupate, petrifying him as he transforms into his faerie body under a hide of stone; or he could enter this stage by his own will just by inhaling the atmosphere of Trowehaven, and smearing his body with mineral-rich sediment from its marshes.
The fate of Claudiu is infused with larger consequences related to the fate of Fallcrest, Trowehaven, and the scattered Night Elves.
Driven people (Who specifically?)
Adelina wants to restore Claudiu to his Trowe heritage and inheritance-- she sees his upbringing by the humans of Fallcrest as savage.Rugor is wary that Claudiu may bring dishonor upon the clan through his human frailty, and will let nothing stand in the way of his plans to raze Fallcrest.Vaadish (provisionally, since he is a Relationship of Skah) wants to bring his family honor, and win favor from his father and mother.Natasa and Henric raised Claudiu as their own son and want him returned home safely.Amoniel, a Night Elf spy, may be looking in on Mooram-Ah (who is a Relationship of Silwen) on behalf of the council; if so, she might develop her own interest in Claudiu.Claudiu has lived his life as a dutiful son to Henric and Natasa. He is a group thinker and hero worshipper, particularly enchanted by the town's nominal protector Lord Dorinell, whom he doesn't know is his father. Seeing the potentials of either the Trowe or Dorinell in himself could catalyze a radical change in his self-image. Pupating would give him a body immune to disease and the ravages of time.
Trowe names (female)
PuukahGaurgahTog-asha
Trowe names (male)
KurtRourkPadush
Fallcrest names (female)
EsteraLoreaMarica
Fallcrest names (male)
HadrianAnghelBogdan
Night Elf names (female)
MordollwenIthilwenErdolliel
Night Elf names (male)
GudrunSigridVidar
Ron Edwards:
Hello!
I have discovered that three kids under 2.5 years old makes for a very, very busy holiday season. I'll run down some of the specific answers and some of my more immediate responses here, and again, apologize for not giving your detailed posts the full attention they deserve.
1. There are a few first-printing errors in the book. I plan to post a PDF with all of them listed and corrected as soon as I can. The missing example map is probably the most obvious. It's intended to show that something quite sketchy is probably the best and most functional.
2. For Batlic mythology/legendry, I recommend the Finnish Kalevala and the Estonian Kalevide (Kalevipoeg). For Irish stuff, I'm not sure where to begin - the Wikipedia Irish myths page, I guess. For literature, you can't beat the Icelandic sagas, which for colorful wackiness, I guess Egil's Saga would be good, but for raw drama and knockout characters, Njal's Saga cannot be beaten. Do yourself a favor and do not read any kind of summary or commentary about the latter, just read it cold.
3. That is a very, very detailed preparation, perhaps to the edge of what is useful. My first advice is not to add a scintilla more, and to be ready to jettison at least some of it during play if necessary. My other advice is to revisit the Stakes statement. I do not see a binary set of conditions stated there. Stakes are more specific than "what happens to Claudiu." Does he live or die? Does he transmogrify via pupation or not? Does he get laid or not? Anything like that.
Best, Ron
John S:
I no longer have kids under 2.5 years old, but our holiday season was pretty busy too. Anyway, your feedback was pretty helpful-- thanks!
Thanks to your comment on the Stakes, I tightened up my notes a little: "Does Claudiu A) stay with the Trowe, or B) not?" A whole lot of other things may happen, but that's the issue that most of the NPCs seem to be bothered about.
I'm also thankful for your source recommendations. Last week I picked up another book of short stories from Norse mythology, and a book of Irish folklore and fairy stories compiled by W.B. Yeats. We've been reading stories about Odin the Wanderer and other adventures in the car during our travels; my daughter has enjoyed them a lot, and it's given us some inspiration for the setting of the story.
We just got back home last night, and I'm hoping we have a chance to play again today or tomorrow. I'll write back when I have something more.
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