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2/28/2020

Gauntlet Video Roundup - February 28, 2020

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[Gauntlet Hangouts logo]
Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Hangouts video roundup! Enjoy these new recordings of online games organized through Gauntlet Hangouts and the Gauntlet RPG community. These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the wide selection of games available every week, and anyone is welcome to join in the fun! If you'd like to play in new games (or catch up on the back catalog of recordings), check the links at the end of the post.

Star Wars Saturday

Extinction (Session 1 of 2)
Rich Rogers runs for Greg G., Scot Ryder, and Steven Watkins
Delta Fire Team of the 511th Stormtrooper legion are sent to Vanguard Station to find out what happened to the scientists. What happened? Bad things, man. Bad things.

Gauntlet Sunday

Changeling the Lost PbtA (Session 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Jamila R. Nedjadi, Patrick Knowles, Robert Angus, and Sherri
Our motley takes their bows following the triumph of their party, but doom begins to creep in at the edges as the return of an old Changeling foe points to a conspiracy of Fetches and child actors.

Gauntlet Comics

Masks (Session 8)
Rich Rogers runs for David Jay, Joe Zantek, Sawyer Rankin, and Sherri
It's senior trip! Break-ups galore.

Gauntlet Hangouts

Bite Marks | Dark Americana: Lone Star Falling (Session 2 of 3)
Sawyer Rankin runs for David Morrison, Maria M., and Puckett
The Jessup Pack is on the hunt! A mysterious wolf emerges from the outskirts of town. Colt, the Cub, looks for something he can't find, but makes plans with Freddy. Garrett reveals werewolf lore and learns more about what the humans want from the wolves. Lincoln tries to protect the pack and his heart, but makes an unpleasant discovery.

Girl By Moonlight: In Darkest Night (Session 3 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Asher S., Rob Ruthven, and Steven
The mission seemed simple enough: protect Anemone from whatever plan the agents of darkness have in store for her. But physical protection is one thing. How does one shield their psyche from the horrors the world could visit upon them? Eli tries her best to extract her friends from danger, Mal tries her best to ward off the darkness she had once supported and Anemone tries to reach out to a friend.

Band of Blades (Session 11)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Bryan, Chris Newton, Dan Pucul, and David Morrison
Even with the Legion's progress, there are mutterings that some of its rookies have not been given the chance to shine. Now, accompanying the elite Banner Guard on a dangerous mission to Fort Calisco's catacombs, these rookies might just get the chance to shine.

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins (Session 8 of 8)
Lowell Francis runs for David Morrison, Leandro Pondoc, and Rye
In this finale the true dangers of two long-running threats finally reveal themselves as factions begin to compete for Great Projects which will change and shape the homeland.

Night Witches Feb 2020: Bucholz (Session 4 of 4)
Jim Likes Games runs for Alexi S., Bethany H., Eli S., Maria M., and Puckett
V-E Day and the end of the war, but not before one, final mission.

Mothership: The Calling (Session 4 of 4)
Jason Zanes runs for Bradley, Josh H, Robbie Boerth, and Robert Angus
Alpha Squad infiltrate into Lysenko Station seeking a way to escape the alien planet.

Fellowship (Session 3 of 4)
Rye runs for Parham Doustdar, Pawel S., Sabine V., and Sawyer Rankin
The characters engage with the Apostle's forces at the Wizardarium.

Fellowship (Session 4 of 4)
Rye runs for Parham Doustdar, Pawel S., and Sabine V.
The characters defeat the Apostle forces and track the Apostle to an ancient ruin only to discover that a much greater evil is behind her plans.

Microscope
Rye facilitates for Anders and Steven
The players create a world of magical artisans who have made a deal with ancient magical beings in order to power their craft.

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts!

If you'd like to catch these sessions in an audio-only podcast, check out the community-run Hangouts Podcast at http://gauntlet.hellomouth.net/.

If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced.

To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon. Everyone is welcome to sign up for Gauntlet Hangouts games, but Patreon supporters get extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Hangouts games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events and pickup games are announced.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

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2/26/2020

Age of Ravens: Party Down

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I firmly believe we don’t have enough parties in role-playing games. Not nearly enough festivals, celebrations, grand balls, weddings, holiday feasts, etc. They’re expected in something like 7th Sea and I’ve heard about comedic convention Pathfinder adventures where characters have to be wedding planners, but I’m talking about using these events as key collaborative moments in play. Not that players go to parties, but that they put them on.
  • In Urban Shadows, a block party which provides cover for a vital ritual.
  • In Monsterhearts, a prom where the PCs get roped into the set up and preparation.
  • In Legacy, a ritual festival which serves as a step in ceasing hostilities between factions. (or just the opposite, see The Red Wedding).
I love parties because they’re a chance for the players to brainstorm, use their talents in unusual ways, and connect them with a community.
 
PRE-PARTY
You have lots of interesting tasks and activities for the PCs before the party even happens. It’s a good time to look for obscure contacts, skills, and abilities and put those to use. When I GM, I usually set things up so the PCs have to divide and conquer these tasks. The “face” character can’t do everything, so each PC has to stand up.

24 Hour Party-Planning People
Below I’ve listed some parts of party prep with suggestions for questions and complications. If you’re particularly ambitious, you might write up custom moves for these segments. For example,
When you go to find a location for the party, roll. On a 10+ you can secure a site in time and within budget. Work with the GM to say what it is. Choose three of the following features: excellent acoustics, dance floor, hidden side entrances, dance floor, private rooms, stunning décor, easily secured, secret, vast kitchens, excellent vantage points, grandly spacious, warded, raised stage, (other). On a 7-9 you may pick two of the features, but you must also select a complication: in disrepair, costly, too open, cursed, squatters, poor plumbing, bad reputation, (other). On a miss, you secure the location. Pick one feature and the GM picks two complications. Additionally select one problem which will pop up during the party: something breaks, uninvited guest, or unwelcome attention.
 
THEME: Is there a distinct, obvious theme or something more subtle? What message do you want to convey? Who do you want to impress? Is there a hidden story you want to tell? What will you need to present that theme (costumes, decorations, entertainment, etc). If the theme’s been assigned to you, how can you make it yours? Complications: theme offends someone important, it’s been done recently, or it invokes something supernatural.

GUEST LIST: Who will be central to the party’s success? Who do you want to impress? If you’re matchmaking, how do you clear the way for the two parties to meet? Who do you have no choice about being there? If you’re trying to fan the flames, what opposed guests could be reasonably invited without making your purpose obvious? Who will make the party fun? Complications: Patron demands problematic attendees, there’s another event going on in competition, a new rivalry breaks out just before the event.
 
INVITATIONS: What’s cool about your physical invitations (paper, art, perfume, script, enchantment, etc) How do you craft an invitation that compels them to attend? How do you deliver the invitations? How do you ensure they get into the right hands? Do you keep some invitations back to use as a currency? Complications: someone works behind the scenes to intercept your invitations, your enchantments go wrong and one invitee is cursed, some invitations go to the wrong people?

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LOCATION: What kind of venue do you want? How do you know in your circle of contacts who can help? What’s your budget? What features do you absolutely have to have? How much time will you have to get everything into place? What’s the surrounding area like? What’s the prep space like? What kind of restroom areas does it have? Do you need to keep things secret? Complications: burst pipes, hidden contamination or mold, previous tenants still there.
 
BEVERAGES AND FOOD: What kinds of dishes and drinks reinforce the theme? Do you prepare things off or on site? Where do you store the food? Who will be doing the serving? Can you tune particularly courses to impress certain people? Who is letting people in and keeping people out? Complications: food spoilage, temperamental chef or bartender, local authorities require licenses (or bribes).
 
DECORATIONS: What kinds of decorations sell the theme? Can you do this with boughten items, handcrafted materials, or a mix of the two? How long will it take to get these put up? Will the space actually support the décor you want? How do you ensure it isn’t clichéd? What kinds of magics do you imbue these with? Complications: delivered materials aren’t what was ordered, site require major cleaning or remodeling to make this work, decorations create an unexpected synergistic effect.
 
MUSIC/ENTERTAINMENT: Do you have music? Is it live, recorded, a DJ? Is it going on the whole time or after a certain point? If there’s dancing, are your musicians up on the latest things? Do you need some kind of mundane or magical sound system? If there’s a performance, when does it happen? Where will it take place? What message do you hope to convey? Complications: drunken fiddle players, act not as advertised, seditious performers.
​

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DURING THE PARTY
ARRIVAL: How do you greet your guests? Who comes first? Who comes last? Who arrives at the same time together that shouldn’t? How do you get your guests oriented and seated? When do the festivities actually start? Where do they park/hang their coats? Do guests get gift bags? What about those who show up to crash the party? Complications: someone tries to sneak in, an important guest tries to sneak in, someone brings an unexpected entourage.
 
MIXING: How do you keep the conversations going? Who do you maneuver into contact with each other? How do you keep your crowd lubricated but still sober? Who presents themselves as the host? How do you keep trouble from breaking out? Complications: a guest becomes toshed way too early, someone slanders another guest, someone’s murdered.
 
DANCES: If there’s dancing, what kind is it? How long does it go on? Is there a big showpiece dance? How do you arrange dance partners? Where do those who don’t want to dance stand or sit? How do you arrange dalliances? Complications: bump leads to dueling challenge, terrible dancer, dance-floor shyness.
 
DINNER: How have you seated everyone? What message does that send? Who serves the food and who gets theirs first? Are their toasts? How many courses are there? Is there a dessert? How do you manage conversations during dinner? Complications: food allergies, terrible table manners, shortages.
 
HIGHLIGHT MOMENT: If you’ve got a big event you’re leading to-- a speech, a ceremony, gift-giving, public accusation, magic ritual, proposal, etc—when do you have it go off? How do each of the PCs work to have this go off without a hitch? Complications: someone’s decided this is perfect time to murder everyone, a guest pulls off a mark to reveal another identity, suddenly the lights go out!
 
AFTERPARTY
If you’ve hit the high-points at the party itself, you may want to skip over this. But if you want to bring things back to earth, think about these points:
  • Dealing with the Uninvited: As above, but this time there’s no way to bring them into the event. Managing recriminations, accusations, and rivalries.
  • Clean Up: Who actually cleans the site? What about permanent damage to the location? What if there’s a time crunch, the need to hide what happened, or the people they hired just don’t show up?
  • Capitalizing: Striking while the iron is hot on social bonds and relationships. Does this event push others to do similar ones?
If things went particularly good or bad, you could also slide this into a Hangover-esque post party amnesia scenario.
​

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EXAMPLE: CHANGELING THE LOST
In our most recent Changeling the Lost PbtA session, one of the Princes tasked the PCs with putting together a party for thirteen people. They had no other guidelines, but knew it would be a ritual event. They settled on a theme of “superstitions” and invited guests appropriately (for example Abyssinian Max, the black cat beast fey). To decorate they used mismatched tarot cards drawn from an endless magical deck. We devoted a session to planning and a session to playing out the party.
 
To show how they’re invocation of the tarot had accidentally created a magical resonance, I created four custom moves. Each is linked to a Major Arcana. At the high point of the party, I had each character choose a card and roll the move, selecting if it targeted them or someone else. Then, based on those results I had a custom move to resolve the event as a whole. This wasn’t too much work—it took about 45 minutes to put together and paid off huge.
 
When you invoke the Star, roll with Humanity if you invoke upon yourself and Power if you invoke upon another. On a 10+ you gain inspiration. Complete your XP track immediately. Additionally you gain a skill you’ve always desired (the ability to speak French, mastery of driving, expertise in cooking). On a 7-9, you gain the skill as above, but you must sacrifice another skill for it. Name something you can’t do. If you try to do that, you must roll Inner Turmoil first. Mark clarity. On a miss, you feel fate reweave itself against you. Mark two moods (choice) and clarity. Choose one of the two moods you marked, it will require a sacrifice to clear that.
 
When you invoke the Lovers, roll with Humanity if you invoke upon yourself and Power if you invoke upon another. On a 10+ the subject of your attentions will be aware of your feelings in the most positive way. This will not change their emotion, but may assist. Take +1 Ongoing for social interactions with them. On a 7-9, they can make this revelation, but they must sacrifice their memory of someone in the Freehold. If they cannot or will not, they mark clarity. On a miss, they create animosity, misunderstanding and hostility with someone they care about. They take -1 Ongoing to interact with them and must roll Inner Turmoil when encountering them. Mark Clarity.
 
When you invoke Justice, roll with Humanity if you invoke upon yourself and Power if you invoke upon a guest. On a 10+, you will find yourself promoted to an office within your Court. Fates will conspire to gain you this recognition. On a 7-9, you will gain the promotion but it comes with an unpleasant or questionable task you must undertake. Mark clarity. If you decide not to complete the task, you do not gain the position and will fill your clarity track. On a miss, you find yourself the target of ire from one of the Courts. Evidence appears apparently proving your involvement. Until you settle this matter, roll inner turmoil when trying to deal with non-PC members of that court. Mark clarity.
 
When you invoke the Hanging Woman, roll with Humanity if you invoke upon yourself and Power if you invoke upon another. On a 10+ your subject reveals one secret they have been hiding from others present. Additionally, they will gain something about themselves they have been striving for: a change in appearance, wealth, physical feature, etc. On a 7-9, they’re only partially freed from their obligations and worries. They must choose one PC to reveal a hidden truth to and mark clarity. On a miss, they’re trapped in their direction and journey. Fill their clarity track and mark both humanity and power.
 
When you enact the ritual party for the Freehold, roll with -1 for every invocation made on a guest and +1 for every invocation made on a PC (max +3). On a 10+ you enact the ritual with panache and style. No one is made the scapegoat of the ritual. The portents are excellent for the coming season. The next time you petition for aid from a threat, that Court will believe you of the seriousness. The Spring Court owes all of you a debt. Mark 2 XP. On a 7-9, your success is within reach. You must choose: A) offer up a one of the guests to the twisted fate. Bad things will happen to them. Mark clarity. You must roll Inner Turmoil before dealing with them because of your guilt. B) sacrifice no one to the fates. Instead the twisted fate will strike the Freehold and a new threat will arise. The Spring Court will know your role in this. Mark clarity.

On a miss, one of the guests is sacrificed to the ritual without your choice or intervention. The will suffer a dire fate now or in the immediate future. Spring’s turning will come, but it will be neither auspicious nor inauspicious. Fill your Clarity track and mark two states. The scapegoat may return in another form to extract payment from you.
 
For the video of the party prep session, see here
For video of the actual party, see here

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2/21/2020

Gauntlet Video Roundup - February 21, 2020

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Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Hangouts video roundup! Enjoy these new recordings of online games organized through Gauntlet Hangouts and the Gauntlet RPG community. These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the wide selection of games available every week, and anyone is welcome to join in the fun! If you'd like to play in new games (or catch up on the back catalog of recordings), check the links at the end of the post.

Also, if you're reading this in time, don't miss the final days of the Trophy RPG Kickstarter, now with all stretch goals unlocked up to and including the Roots of Old Kalduhr megadungeon! Back the campaign before it ends February 23rd!

Trophy from Gauntlet Publishing is a game of dark forests, doomed treasure-hunters, and a world woven on a loom of rumor, history, and myth. Check out the Kickstarter page to pick up a FREE quick start PDF collection so you can start playing right away. 
Gauntlet Sunday

Changeling the Lost PbtA (Session 3)
Lowell Francis runs for Jamila R. Nedjadi, Patrick Knowles, Robert Angus, and Sherri
All of our motley's preparation comes into play as they finally throw their ritual party, but can they handle the doom hanging over the guests and the invocation to the tarot they've created?

Gauntlet Comics

Masks: Polychromatic Alliance (Issues 4 to 7)
Sawyer Rankin runs for David Morrison, Sabine V., Sydney, and Will H
Read for the trade! A bevy of issues from New Gauntlet City: Polychromatic Alliance!

Masks (Session 6)
Rich Rogers runs for David Jay, Joe Zantek, Sawyer Rankin, and Sherri
The Hopefuls go to the Prom.

Masks (Session 7)
Rich Rogers runs for David Jay, Joe Zantek, Sawyer Rankin, and Sherri
The Prom afterparty happens, so you know Mole Men have to try and cause trouble.

Gauntlet Hangouts

Girl By Moonlight: In Darkest Night (Session 2 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Asher, Rob Ruthven, Sabine V., and Steven
In the tangled, dark city known as Metropolis-7, the onus of its protection rests on vulnerable teenagers entwined into the city's dark fate. A normal day at boarding school may very well turn out to be the beginning of the end for everyone. Elidi tries to temper her friends' tendencies, Mal is given an opportunity to go back on her choices, Anemone tries to bolster everyone around her and, as darkness gathers, Ysidro finds himself tangled within the timestream.

Bite Marks | Dark Americana: Lone Star Falling (Session 1 of 3)
Sawyer Rankin runs for David Morrison, Jamila R. Nedjadi, Maria M., and Puckett
In this episode, we meet the Jessup Pack as they face a new threat on their turf. Feelings and blood are spilled, and relationships within the pack are both strengthened and tested.

Girl By Moonlight: In A Maze of Dreams (Session 1 of 3)
Jamila R. Nedjadi runs for David Morrison, Jesse A., and Maria M.
Many thanks to the players for leaning into the despair unique to the magical girl genre. My love for Paprika and Serial Experiments Lain definitely comes through! It's all very creepy and weird.

Band of Blades (Session 10)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Bryan, Chris Newton, Dan Pucul, and David Morrison
With the Panyar forest burning and the Talgon shrouded in haze, the Legion make their way to Fort Calisco only to find the redoubtable fortress under siege. Surrounded by the massed hordes of Blighter's horde, the Legion have no choice but to make a desperate strike to break the siege and relieve the fort. With the Horned One's Chosen entering battle once more, the Legion must face old ghosts and fresh threats if they want to see the next day.

Hearts of Wulin vs the World (Session Zero)
Jim Likes Games runs for David Walker, Puckett, SalamanderJames, and Sawyer Rankin
CW: Sex, drugs, rock and roll. This is our heavily-edited character creation and world-building session for Hearts of Wulin vs the World, where we'll use Lowell Francis's excellent game of romantic wuxia melodrama to tell a modern martial arts rock-and-roll fairy tale in the spirit of Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins (Session 7 of 8)
Lowell Francis runs for David Morrison, Leandro Pondoc, and Rye
The Wave moves out of the shadows and begins to set their plans in motion as the capitol is rebuilt, but an expedition to a lost crystal labyrinth will provide the last piece needed for The Great Network.

Mothership: The Calling (Session 3 of 4)
Jason Zanes runs for Bradley, Josh H, Robbie Boerth, and Robert Angus
Alpha Squad confront a powerful enemy and reach Lysenko Station but their bodies and their unity start to unravel.

BALIKBAYAN: Returning Home (Session 1 of 2)
Lowell Francis runs for Jamila R. Nedjadi, Puckett, Robert Angus, and Tyler Lominack
We build a city and call our elementals into its corporate dominated streets with storms lashing at the edges. We open with fire and there's more to come...

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts!

If you'd like to catch these sessions in an audio-only podcast, check out the community-run Hangouts Podcast at http://gauntlet.hellomouth.net/.

If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced.

To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon. Everyone is welcome to sign up for Gauntlet Hangouts games, but Patreon supporters get extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Hangouts games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events and pickup games are announced.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

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2/20/2020

Trophy: A World of Incursions

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by the Trophy team
The Trophy RPG Kickstarter campaign is entering its final hours. As of this writing, we are trying to unlock one big, final stretch goal before we run out of time. In this blog post, we're going to give an overview of the final stretch goal plus outline the 34 (!!!) other incursions we have managed to unlock during this campaign. 

To check out the Trophy campaign, please click the image below.
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Roots of Old Kalduhr: The Trophy Gold Megadungeon

That's right: in the tradition of Undermountain, The Emerald Spire, Anomalous Subsurface Environment, The Temple of Elemental Evil, and others, we are aiming to create a megadungeon for Trophy Gold. But we can only do it if we hit the final stretch goal. Here's the pitch:

In the deepest part of the fell woods outside Fort Duhrin lie the ruins of Old Kalduhr, remnants of the mighty, debauched people that used to dominate the land. Many treasure-hunters have set out for these ruins in the hopes of recovering their secrets and antiquities, but most never make it; the forest, watered with the malignant blood of Old Kalduhr, shatters them. But what about those few who manage to survive the woods, who manage to find Old Kalduhr? What’s waiting for them when they get there?

Roots of Old Kalduhr is a megadungeon for Trophy Gold. In it, you’ll explore the ruins of an ancient civilization and learn the truth about what caused its fall. The exploration begins on the surface, in the heart of a terrible forest, but quickly gives way to a dazzling, subterranean city deep below the ruins. Impossible magicks, wondrous treasures, and chthonic horrors await those brave enough to enter.

What truth can be found in the roots of the world? What secrets do Old Kalduhr have yet to whisper?


From the very beginning, the core lore of Trophy's world has revolved around two things: the forest and the lost civilization of Old Kalduhr. This megadungeon will allow your play group to explore the rumors, history, and myths surrounding these aspects of the Trophy world, and we're dying to bring it to you. 

We have assembled an amazing team of writers to bring Roots of Old Kalduhr to life:
Natalie Ash, Litza Bronwyn, Mad Jay Brown, Aaron Burkett, Emily Care Boss, Linda Codega, Jason Cordova, Madeleine Ember, Cat Evans, Lowell Francis, Amanda Lee Franck, Fiona Geist, Cecil Howe, Oli Jeffery, Judd Karlman, Mike Martens, Kyle Maxwell, David Morrison, Epidiah Ravechol, Gerrit Reininghaus. Gabriel Robinson, Jesse Ross, Ramanan S, Fraser Simons, Skerples, Chris Stone-Bush, Jason Tocci, Sabine V, Michael Van Vleet, and Phil Vecchione. 

Please help us spread the word about this campaign in the final days so we can unlock Roots of Old Kalduhr!​
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A World of Incursions

One of the most exciting aspects of the Trophy project is you're not just getting the rules for Trophy Dark and Trophy Gold, but also dozens of scenarios to use with them. We call these scenarios incursions, and they are being written by a wide, diverse group of talented TTRPG writers. What follows are introductions and flavor text for each one:

The Tomb of 10,000 Dreams by Jesse Ross 
The forest is old and full of nightmares. But you know the path. Through the maze of brush and crushing darkness, you know where temples erected to long-forgotten god-kings still lie untouched. All that rests within them is yours for the taking. Will you tread carefully, and leave with riches and renown beyond your wildest dreams? Or will you learn—far, far too late—that the forest has awoken from its fitful slumber?​ (Trophy Dark)

Witchwood by Jesse Ross
When children escape to the woods seeking adventure or fleeing cruel parents, the part of Kalduhr they frequently find themselves in is known as Witchwood.​ (Trophy Dark)

To Make My Bread by Jesse Ross
Just inside the edge of the forest, a half day’s journey from the safety of Fort Duhrin and nestled into the banks of the Naveh River, is the ruins of a massive old mill known as Kormoran’s Wheel. Given the strategic location of the mill ruins, a tent city has sprung up around it, an unlicensed gathering point for treasure-hunters and those seeking to profit from their journey. The Fort’s Governor has sent in the kingsguard four times to toss out the squatters and tear the tents down, and four times the city has been rebuilt bigger than before. The residents of Kormoran’s Wheel have little fear of the kingsguard or any other so-called authority figure with fancy proclamations and fancier horses. What they do fear—and are right to fear—is the fine, white mist that is sometimes seen drifting from the mill ruins, and whatever is drawing the young men away from home, never to be seen again. (Trophy Dark)

Mother by Jesse Ross
If you ask any treasure-hunter who has been at this for a while what the most terrifying thing they’ve seen in the forest is, there is one location that comes up more often than not. It goes by many names: The Fall, The Pit, The Well, The Quarry. Despite its many names, it’s always described the same way. 

The ground ahead of me had a slight decline, the descent eventually opening up to a massive hole as wide across as ten-score men lying foot to head. I got closer to see what might be down there. Every step forward filled me with vertigo, that I might fall in at any minute. I couldn’t see to the bottom. But I heard it. A thousand hammers tapping against a thousand chisels—plink, plink, plink.

Here the stories diverge. Some say there are miners down there, looking for gold, silver or precious gems. Others say sculptors, crafting idols and rare artifacts for their chthonic gods. Whatever is down there hasn’t seen the light of day for hundreds or thousands of years, and anything brought back would surely be a unique trophy capable of fetching a sizable sum.

Oddly, the precise location of this vast opening never seems to be identified in the same place. Some say it is only a few miles off the south bank of the Naveh River, while others place it well to the north, nestled in the depths of the forest. These conflicting reports can almost certainly be attributed to the disorientation nearly all treasure-hunters suffer after time spent in the forest. (Trophy Dark)


Shifting Sands by Luiz Paulo Ferraz
They say a powerful civilization of untold riches once ruled over what is now an immense desert. Many believe an entrance to that people’s lost seat of power lies somewhere in the sand, open to whoever can find it. You have a map from an old, mad hermit who cried as you took it, talking of angry spirits that shape the wind and haunt the mind. Time to find out what lies buried in the desertand what will remain there after your journey is done.​ (Trophy Dark)

The Flocculent Cathedral by Jim Crocker
Saint who spilled their blood for me
Lain in flocculent reverie
I seek your light upon my brow
I would be your Trophy now.

Chained within this dank domain
Your relics all that I retain
All your teachings I avow
I would be your Trophy now.

This foul entombment of your will!
I would not see you slumber still!
No quarter to what men allow!
Take me as your trophy now!


(Trophy Dark)

Throne of the Forest Queen by David Morrison
The constant drizzle that has accompanied you through the tangled woods abates as you come into a clearing, golden sunlight streaming down. The stink of mud and leaf mold is cut through with a cleaner scent of pine and crisp mornings. A stag at the edge of the clearing casts a lazy glance at you before trotting further into the wood, its flashing tail an invitation to follow. You have reached the Queensweald, rumored home to salvation, inspiration, cures to fantastical diseases, and the stuff that dreams are made of. Only the stout of heart enter the realm of the Forest Queen; fewer still return.

Why then, if her favor is so hard to claim, do so many mortals seek it? Quite simply, it has value beyond gold. The Queen’s power is nearly limitless. She controls the fae court of the forest, and can make the dreams of mortals into reality if she so chooses. For so long as people desire the impossible, they will venture in search of her.​ (Trophy Dark)


The Forest of Blades by Leandro Pondoc
It’s an old story but an enticing one. A day of shattered skies and broken steel, when warriors mighty in power and prestige proved their worth and a thousand blades clashed. Scholars and priests differ on who led what side or what the battle was even about. Hence, its many names: the Sunset War, the Battle of Kalhmadur, the Skies Asunder, and more. The one thing they agree on: the battle was on a scale beyond what any today could imagine.

A forest now grows upon that ancient battlefield. The old stories say that within that forest lay powerful artifacts, weapons created to smite the ground and tear the sky apart—not to mention heirlooms of the past, the booty of soldiers still unclaimed. Any soul brave enough and clever enough to negotiate the forest would surely come out with a sizeable bounty. But the stories warn that the forest has been watered by the blood of the dead. And the dead prefer to be undisturbed.​ (Trophy Dark)


Rosenwald by Blaine Moore
In black forest, find white a rose
Seek ye the object of your greed
At risk of assuming death’s repose
To claim a Trophy of the lost

Forlorn wand’rer, you’d best take heed
Your base desires come with cost
Unless you keep the forest’s creed
Become a trophy of the lost

Be peaceful here in all you do,
or else by sin your fate is signed
only the virtuous through and through
their desired trophy can safely find

But should your stars be twice aligned
and be your fortune with gold emboss’d
pay your debts to all mankind
And claim a trophy of the lost

Deep within the forest, beyond where the way turns weird, all that is lost may be found amidst the roses of the Rosenwald. Priceless art, forgotten relics, and even the souls of those separated from the mortal coil. But the roses cling tightly to their prizes, and one must brave the thorns to pry them free...
(Trophy Dark)


That Silent Howl by Mike Martens
The boarding of the Nicodemus opened with a strong gale—smashing your raiding ship, the Ribald Fowl, into its prey—and ended with the singed clouds of battle suspended around the battered vessels, a crimson fog of sulphur in the falling sun. As if a harsh penance for targeting the most renowned of the East Passage Company’s merchant fleet, the wind died as the battle labored on. After the final howls of the gnarled crew of the Nicodemus, neither torn sails or the Salt Sea itself shows an inkling of life.

With the sun ceding its daily claim on the heavens, a horde of envious stars creeped forth—a milky slurry fermented with constellatory pacts. Beneath, like black glass, the untampered sea reflects its entirety with unfathomable precision, suspending in a seemingly infinite void the
Nicodemus and the Ribald Fowl—hobbled and lashed together, their fates now intertwined.

The treasure-hunters have two aims on their minds: survey their loot and repair one or both ships.​
(Trophy Dark)


Regicide by Ludovico Alves
Let the damned of this land
Into the gilded pigsty
Let the hungry condemned
Into the final feast.

Upon our bones you set your tables.
Your walls divide the world.
Horns of the forest raised us up.
From twisted branches we conquer bread.

Turn the tables, turn the world!
We that were nothing, we will be all there is!
For tomorrow has come to this land.
And tomorrow has no use for trophies.

The gates of the Royal Palace have been breached. You are among the first to break ranks and seize the bounty the most Exalted Majesty seized for themselves. The realities of power are not what you expected.

(Trophy Dark)

The Giant's Carcass by Sabine V
Come to me with sword and axe and lance,
And as my trophy, I shall take your hands.

Come to me with spells that you deem wise,
And as my trophy, I shall take your eyes.

Come to me and tell me who is right or wrong,
And as my trophy, I shall take your tongue.

Come to me with song and poem and art,
And as my trophy, I shall take your heart.

Once, there lived the most powerful wizard in all the land. Their magic was strong, unusual and unthought-of, but they wanted nothing more than to discover and learn. Legend has it that they even ventured into the Kalduhr to wrest magical secrets from this place, and to insure their own immortality. And they were successful: they came back even greater than before, and with time, they grew to an immense stature, first overshadowing trees, then cities, then mountains.

That was when the gods decided to intervene against this giant: the godsmith Vestor forged a mighty lance; the demon-enchantress Terca provided a deadly poison; and the hero Chant pierced the giant’s side. Crying out, the wizard fell with a mighty sound, levelling hills and forests under their enormous body.

And there they lie, still, a giant’s carcass, not alive, but not truly dead. The legends claim that the giant still wears the sigil the forest gave them on their heart, and that this is what keeps them alive. Even more outrageous legends claim that brave treasure-hunters might enter the Giant’s Carcass and there retrieve the sigil, thus becoming immortal.

(Trophy Dark)


The Pit by Aaron Burkett
...where light don’t shine and hate calls home.
(Trophy Dark)


Gift of the Sea by Gabriel Robinson
Who knows what secrets dwell beneath the ocean vast and wide
Or what became of those who tried to fight the turning tide
The night is dark, the storm is fierce, but nothing should we fear
Come ‘round and light the candles bright, for Spring is almost here
 
We bind the saplings, wreathed in green, as folk did long before
We crown a maiden as our Queen, and cast her from the shore
For as the land gives gifts to those who sow and reap the grain
The sea in turn must have its due, when Greentide comes again
 
Oh Mother of the Endless Tides, Oh Queen of Depths Unseen,
Accept these humble gifts we bring, upon your mantle green
Fill up our nets with gleaming fish, and spare our sailors brave
For all the rest, take what you must, beneath the rolling waves


Beyond the forest lies a jagged rocky coast, where a small seaside village has observed the rites of Greentide for generations. Each spring as the first green shoots emerge, the village elders weave an effigy from sapling branches and seaweed, crafting the likeness of a young woman. The sculpture filled with gifts before it is cast into the waves as an offering to the Queen of Tides, along with prayers for a bountiful catch for their nets and protection from storms. This ancient tradition harks back to an age when the ancestors would crown a young woman as the Tide Queen and offer her to the sea in sacrifice. Chieftains and princes would travel far to attend the ceremony, pledging gold, jewels and the finest crafts of their settlements. To this day, local fisherman never leave shore without paying her their respects - for the tide, they say, must have its due.

Strange as the customs of an isolated village may be, it has not escaped the notice of keen treasure hunters that centuries of offerings and shipwrecks have left a great hoard of untouched riches beneath the waves. You know of the island offshore, where the offerings are tipped overboard. You have heard rumors of a deep cove there, just visible at low tide. Superstitious villagers avoid it, but you know better than to believe their tales.
Will you emerge with treasures long kept hidden by sea? Or will you become another offering and join the court of the Queen Below the Waves?

(Trophy Dark)

The Spiral by Jesse Ross
On the doors of the homes in Fort Duhrin, a strange mark has begun appearing. A spiral, roughly carved and splashed with ink, first made its appearance on a blacksmith’s shop. Four nights later, the same mark was noticed on the door of a washerwoman. Four nights after that, the Governor’s inquisitors started dragging folks from their beds, demanding answers for “the mark found on the Governor’s wardrobe this eve.”

Expeditions into the forest of Kalduhr have been halted by the Governor until the perpetrators are apprehended. A sizable reward has been set aside for information that leads to their capture, and with the forest expedition you had planned now stalled, that reward may be your best chance to make good on your debts. (Trophy Dark)


Hester's Mill by Jason Cordova
A long-abandoned village with a terrible secret. Can the treasure-hunters uncover the dark history of this place and retrieve its valuable knowledge, or will they become the newest victims of the reaping? (Trophy Gold)

The Huntsman's Manor by Natalie Ash
The politically unremarkable Marquess Niral was a hunting prodigy, building his lodge on the edges of the Kalduhr to hunt the most challenging prey. After his disappearance over a century ago, the manor was abandoned and left to the forest, but what amazing treasures and trophies still remain within? (Trophy Gold)

A Heart Hums in Darkness by Michael Van Vleet
As refugees flee with their lives on their back, word arrives that the bees of The Humming Woods are extending their reach. Journey into darkness to find a new hive’s heart and reclaim a lost city... while scavenging whatever treasures were left behind. (Trophy Gold)

The Eyes of Time by Jamila Nedjadi
The Marlack Castle stands crumbling on the edge of the cliff, frozen in time. Strange magic lingers there like a disease, twisting time and shattering realities. Within its walls lies strange and terrible treasure, and a dark promise to remake the past for a terrible price. (Trophy Gold)

The Stone Seed's Reawakening by Shel Khan
If you carry this limestone seed into the stone desert, the secrets of crystal and bone, water and wind, latticed consciousness and transformative music will reveal themselves and their treasures—but beware their price. (Trophy Gold)

Foulcoult's Bounty by Oli Jeffery
Merek Foulcoult is a madman, they say, or a messiah, depending on who you talk to and the direction of the wind. All you know is there’s a bounty on his head for blasphemy, and you mean to collect it. They can argue about philosphy once he’s dead and you’re paid. He’s retreated to the port town of Old Kaleczenie, which has been seized by riots and a disease causing the afflicted to dance, unbidden and violent. Nobody remembers which caused the other anymore. Rioters, dancers, and other gangs of bounty hunters stand between you and Foulcoult; or between you and the coin his blood is worth, at least. (Trophy Gold)

The Retribution Tree by Sabine V
Most who enter the Kalduhr seek the gold rumored to be hidden in the ruins at the heart of the ancient woods. But there is another treasure in the Kalduhr fewer speak of, a thing that draws the desperate and defiant into that hateful place: the Retribution Tree, an enormous old oak—some say the First Oak that ever was—that knows the helpless hate in your heart and will grant you retribution if your desire is black enough. Is it? And, if so, can you make the journey? Will the children and grandchildren of this most malignant specimen even allow you to pass? (Trophy Dark)

The Forbidden Archives by Gabriel Robinson
The lost Archives of ancient Kalduhr are the subject of much speculation. The mysterious Keepers of the archive locked away secrets deemed too valuable or dangerous to exist freely in the world outside. It is said that the Archive maintains itself and grows as it collects secrets. Almost any piece of information can be found there, especially if someone else does not want you to find it. Lining the shelves are the last surviving copies of writings deemed too blasphemous or revolutionary by various authorities, unfit to be read by anyone outside the Archive walls. Grimoires of raw elemental power lie chained and sealed through techniques lost to all but the most practiced arcanists. And you, treasure-hunter, have managed to find a way inside… (Trophy Dark)

The Plantation by Nicholas Masyk
(Content warning: body horror, cannibalism) Deep within that blighted land which the vengeful wood has reclaimed lies the abandoned manses and forgotten manors of wealthy landowners and foppish nobles. Built in hubristic defiance of the old forest, tales spread among the border lands of one such manor—a lavish plantation atop sweeping hills, overlooking terraced fields—where, before the spirits of Old Kalduhr reclaimed what was theirs, indolent lords and ladies gorged themselves on progressively rarer and more esoteric delicacies to sate their endless hunger, eventually consuming their servants and even each other in orgiastic cannibal gluttony.The nobles are gone now, having fled the butcher’s knives of their comrades and the vengeful cleavers of their would-be meals. All their stolen wealth lies hidden away under peeling floorboards and in dusty cellars, just waiting for an enterprising treasure-hunter hungry enough to find it… (Trophy Dark)

The Last Galleon by Linda Codega
Along the western edge of Kalduhr lies the watery graveyard of the Tiobhmil. The barrier islands along the coast are treacherous and ill-drawn, and many a bark has wrecked upon these shores. A known haven for pirates, these islands have harbored sailors of ill repute for generations, but none more infamous than Heldar, a notorious captain who was presumed to have died on board their armada’s lead ship, the Bloody Hraban. The gold, it’s said, was never recovered. Heldar themself is rumored to sail still, a ghost ship of hazy red on the horizon. What trophies will you find in the depths of the Tiobhmil? Who will find you? (Trophy Gold)

​Temple of the Sky by Gabriel Robinson
A vast stone spire stretches from a valley in the forest floor to the clouds. No one knows where it came from. Is it a rock formation from a time before the forest grew, a colony built by tiny creatures long perished, or the limb of a dead god? It is undoubtedly ancient, a refuge to flora and fauna from the hunting grounds of beasts and men below. But it is also known to have been the site of a small monastery at one time, steps carved in the stone by diligent monks of a forgotten order. They climbed the span of the spire to be closer to the heavens and escape the distractions of the mundane world. Some say they learned the secrets of long life from periods of extended fasting and visions granted to them by angels. Others say they kept priceless artifacts safe there, manuscripts of collected knowledge which only survived in the vault of the sky. Other would-be treasure hunters have tried and failed to ascend the spire and enter the temple at its zenith. But you and your companions are wiser and better prepared. You have observed the landscape, reading the omens of beasts and weather. You have trained in the use of climbing tools for a careful ascent. Working together as a team, you are certain that the mysteries of the temple above will be known at last. Glory awaits those who are truly brave enough to ascend... (Trophy Dark)

Heirs of Naganeh by Jason Cordova
They are ravishing. They are immortal. And some say they have the blood of royal serpents in their veins. The Heirs of Naganeh have ruled that tiny kingdom for centuries, and they would make the whole Kalduhr their thrall if they weren’t hobbled by their own extreme vanity. The Palace of Naganeh is a monument to their cleverness and cruelty, and they open the doors wide so all may wander its lavish halls and bear witness to the Heirs’ magnificence. Sometimes the Heirs themselves make an appearance and bless the pilgrims by crushing them underfoot or allowing them to touch the hem of their exquisite, gold-scale robes. But you aren’t there to bow and scrape before them; you’re there to rob them blind. You’ve heard the tales of the palace’s elaborate traps and bizarre, serpentine guardians, but you’re tough and smart and loaded for bear with equipment to get the job done. And if you should run into one of the glorious Heirs? Well, their head would look lovely on the mantle of your Rose District patron, wouldn’t it? (Trophy Gold)

Clever Fingers by Madeleine Ember
The Uncommon Bazaar appears outside Ambaret on the longest night of the year. It stretches for a mile in all directions, but come morning, is gone without a trace. Most customers stick to the outermost stalls, but the deeper one goes, the more exotic and rare the items for sale become. Those who delve too far find the world grows strange and twisted about them. None who stay past the break of dawn ever return. You seek the center of the Bazaar, the tent of the legendary being known as the Tailor, who rewards those who seek them with what they most desperately desire... if the seeker can escape before daylight. (Trophy Dark)

The Pentitents' Path by Blaine Moore
(Content warning: ritual sacrifice) A winding path of scattered stones mark out a trail ill-used by any but the most faithful of the Sisters' followers. Yet when the auspices of heaven and earth align and the blood moon is nigh, as summer wanes and the leaves of the forest take a more sanguine shade in their bodies, and in the light cast from on high, then will the path become the site of a pilgrimage most holy and most profane. Come ye with heavy hearts burdened by the ills of the world! Come ye with base desires burning out of all control! Come ye all sinful and seeking salvation, ye with blackest hearts and blacker souls, ye foul few who even the cut-throats fear to look upon! But come not empty-handed, for salvation comes at cost. Bring ye bone for the path, fresh and gleaming in crimson hue. Bring ye flesh for the black-masked priest, a morsel to slake their hunger. Bring ye blood for the altar, blood to open the gates, blood of that life most precious to you in reverent sacrifice, an offering to the saints. Only then may you reach the end of the penitents' path and find your absolution. (Trophy Dark)

Blackberry Jam by Ira Grace
(Content warning: child horror) It is a crisp summer morning in the village of Kevir as the sound of a joyous fiddle pierces the mountain air. It is the first day of blackberry season and Kevir has attracted a bard to mark the occasion. The children took to the brambles, nestled high in the hills, in order to collect the precious berries, but only as many as they can fit in their pockets, since to do otherwise is to invite a foul curse upon one's head. One of the children broke the rules and brought a pail to collect the fruit. That child has just returned to Kevir, a thick, black substance trickling down his forehead and cementing his mouth closed, a look of utter terror in his eyes… (Trophy Dark)

​The Smoldering Moor by Natalie Ash
Kairmough Castle is nestled in the mist-shrouded moors of the Black Mountains, built around Queen Banmuir’s cairn. News has reached your ears that a wildfire has caused most residents of castle, as well as the village at the foot of the mountains, to take refuge elsewhere. But you are prepared to slip in as soon as it’s safe (even sooner, really), to plunder the unguarded wealth of Kairmough and ride away before the locals return. You’ve heard the stories of the shrieking heard on the moors, but that can’t have anything to do with Kairmough, can it? It doesn’t matter. What matters is the gold and jewels just ripe for the taking. (Trophy Gold)

Panning the Last River by Eli Kurtz
The original plan was simple: supervise and protect a panhandling crew on a remote branch of the Last River. Rumors spoke of gold-glinting shores and scarce monstrosities near the ruined village of Kreave. The Last River carried your boat through the Kalduhr forest for three days, but when you arrived you discovered no ruin. Instead, a ramshackle inn made of new-hewn planks bustled with other treasure-hunters already pursuing the lead you thought you harbored alone. By the time you arrived, there were already too many competitors, but many of their scouts returned from the forest reporting unknown treasure sites of untold worth. What quarry will you claw from the hands of your rivals... or will you be clawed by what waits in the wood? (Trophy Gold)

The Rime Palace by Alexi Sargeant
The Rime Palace is an elegant marble edifice, hanging like a stalactite above a void pinpricked by icy stars. The only way to access it is an ancient ship made of bone, whose flight is powered by the revealing of uncomfortable truths. The palace itself was once the home of a court of cruel fae, but the rumors say they are scattered and dead and their delicate treasures lie in chilly vaults, waiting to fulfill the burning desires of treasure-hunters like yourself. But will you be able to navigate its twisting passages of fog, lace, and glass before something important shatters—in the palace or in you? (Trophy Gold)

Cry Wolf  by Jesse Ross
The son of the local silversmith has gone missing, livestock are turning up dead, and rumors of a feral beastbitten are spreading. Can the treasure-hunters find the boy before the thing from the forest finds him first?  Cry Wolf is an introductory incursion designed to teach the rules of Trophy Gold over a single session. Perfect for players and GMs new to Trophy. (Trophy Gold)

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2/17/2020

GMing for Theme and Motif

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​by Alexi Sargeant

The most crucial GM skill is listening. Roleplaying games, by and large, are an art form where the creators of each piece and the primary audience are the same. You and your fellow players are both the ones telling the story and the ones the story is meant to entertain. The GM’s particular responsibility, I’d argue, is to listen carefully for all players’ hopes and wishes, the things that make the story exciting or engaging to them, and then guide the group towards that sizzle of player interest.


There’s one specific listening skill I’ve been honing that’s had a noticeable positive impact on games I run. I’ve developed an ear for themes and imagery. There’s something particularly gratifying about seeing players light up when I pick up on and carry forward the motifs they’ve introduced into the game.
​

Want to bring your GMing to the next level? Listen for themes and imagery, and reincorporate them into the game.
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​I will tip my hat here to Epidiah Ravichol, creator of a number of great roleplaying games. His game Swords Without Master (found in Worlds Without Master, Issue 3!) is something of a master class in listening and reincorporating. It builds into the mechanics of the game something that might happen in another game and go unremarked upon, namely, when a player narrates something particularly evocative and the table responds with appreciative murmurs or shudders. Epidiah terms these moments Motifs. Here is the rules text introducing them:

“Motifs are created when the narration of a fellow player inspires you to create one. Once enough Motifs have been recorded, it is the beginning of the end. So keep a keen ear and be swift to record whenever your fellow players’ narration evokes that sense of wonder, danger or adventure that drew you to the sword-and-sorcery genre in the first place.”

In effect, this means in a game of Swords Without Master, your table slowly accrues a pile of index cards with epic, sinister, and gnarly phrases written on them. A few examples from a game I ran: “A smooth-tongued rogue rapidly cycling through religious habits,” “A pale queen fading from life as the dead invade to announce her shame.” These Motifs serve as a clock for the game, as it concludes when enough have been recorded—but the rules also require a certain number of later Motifs to echo and reincorporate Motifs recorded earlier. In effect, Swords Without Master is a machine designed to tune players to say swords-and-sorcery stuff that thrills their tablemates.

Now, Swords Without Master draws no distinction between players and GM (renamed the Overplayer here) when it comes to recording Motifs. There’s another game that makes deliberate use of listening and reincorporating as a GM-specific technique, and that’s the feminine horror blockbuster Bluebeard’s Bride.

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The horror of Bluebeard’s Bride emerges from a simple but devastatingly effective technique: getting the players to say what scares them, then confronting them with it. A bit of fascinating game design that facilitates this is the move “Shiver from fear.” The move reads, in part:

“When you shiver from fear, name the thing you are most afraid will happen; the Groundskeeper will tell you how it’s worse than you feared.”

The book is very clear: this move is triggered, not when the character shivers from fear, but when the player does. The GM is listening for players shuddering, gasping, or saying “That’s messed up!” When they do so, the game focuses in on that fear. Thus there’s not much time wasted with horror that leaves the players unmoved—every monstrous setpiece in Bluebeard’s mansion is something that specifically disturbs at least one of the players at the table.

Swords Without Master and Bluebeard’s Bride each build into the game’s mechanics a script for listening and reincorporating. But as a GM, you can steal these techniques for use in any game! Ask, subtly or directly, what players find exciting, empowering, romantic, or horrifying. Then reincorporate those elements into the world and the situations you describe. You can do this between sessions as part of your prep, or even plan to do it on the fly during a one-shot.

Two of my own games are often enhanced by this technique. Autumn Triduum, a game about nuns confronting the forces of darkness, centers around an emergent mystery. Rather than having an answer ahead of time about the form taken by the darkness afflicting the convent, the GM is encouraged to listen to the players’ answers to the backstory questions and work from them. One should pay particular attention when players respond to “Where are you certain you’ve seen the Devil active in the world?” 

This question usually elicits a mix of answers, some about clearly supernatural devilry, others focused on structural or personal sins that character sees as the work of Satan. For example, in one game different sisters had seen the Devil in young men leading girls astray and in a recurring nightmare of drowning. Some juicy material to reincorporate! So the challenge the sisters faced was one of their wards being lured away by a disreputable boy, with the trail leading to a dangerous (possibly devilish) flooded subway station. 

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Notice that part of how I surprise players, even when I reincorporate themes and imagery they have introduced, is by combining disparate elements or literalizing metaphorical elements. Making dreams suddenly real or drawing unexpected connections between motifs introduced by different players keeps the game alive and unpredictable, even when major plot elements are coming right from the players’ own contributions. 

My game The Great Soul Train Robbery opens up even more opportunities for this GM style. The game is set aboard the train to Hell, and so the whole environment can have a heightened, allegorical cast. The PCs are Desperados aiming to rob the train, and a mechanic incentivizes them to narrate flashbacks showing how their past sins have led them to this point. This makes it easy to reincorporate character backstory elements, often expanding and solidifying a vice or struggle into a very real obstacle aboard the train. Did you harden your heart to work your confidence games on people? On this train, hearts can literally turn to stone and burst from your chest. Were you always motivated by a greedy desire to grasp at more and more? The Conductor here is Avarice himself, and boy does he have a deal to offer.

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On a very practical level, how do you do this sort of listening and reincorporation? One trick is to write down every interesting bit of imagery or recurring bit of language coming from your players, like a Motif scribe for Swords Without Master. Here’s what I jotted down in the margin of my yellow pad when running The Great Soul Train Robbery recently: “Pink > Red,” “Bones,” “Memories > Parasol,” “Crows vs. angel wings,” “misshapen skull,” “land and sky bleeding together.” These short reminders were enough to help me reincorporate the imagery my players brought up and weave the whole game together in a satisfying fashion.

Hope you can make use of this technique the next time you sit down to GM a game. Remember, if you listen you’ll hear players flagging what they find interesting about the world or the story of the game. Pay attention to that, and reincorporate it—remixed and recast as need be.

If you’ve appreciated these thoughts or are intrigued by my games, consider backing The Great Soul Train Robbery on Kickstarter! The campaign runs till 10pm EST on February 18th.

Alexi Sargeant is an award-winning game designer creating indie roleplaying games under the banner of Cloven Pine Games. When he's not running or playing games, he's a writer and editor living in Princeton, New Jersey.

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2/14/2020

Gauntlet Video Roundup - February 14, 2020

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​Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Hangouts video roundup! Enjoy these new recordings of online games organized through Gauntlet Hangouts and the Gauntlet RPG community. These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the wide selection of games available every week, and anyone is welcome to join in the fun! If you'd like to play in new games (or catch up on the back catalog of recordings), check the links at the end of the post.

Also, don't miss the Trophy RPG Kickstarter, running through February 23rd. Trophy from Gauntlet Publishing is a game of dark forests, doomed treasure-hunters, and a world woven on a loom of rumor, history, and myth. Check out the Kickstarter page to pick up a FREE quick start PDF collection so you can start playing right away!
​Star Wars Saturday

Hell on Legs (Session 2)
Rich Rogers runs for Bethany H., Greg G., and Michael G. Barford
The crew of the AT-ST called the Drunk Tauntaun are sent on their last mission.

Bounty of the Week: It's a Living (Session 2 of 3)
David Miessler-Kubanek runs for Bryan, Rich Rogers, Sabine V., and Sam Z.

Bounty of the Week: It's a Living (Session 3 of 3)
David Miessler-Kubanek runs for Bryan, Joe Zantek, Rich Rogers, and Sabine V.
In the Alderani asteroid field known as the Graveyard, the bounty hunters get mixed up in a father vs. daughter struggle and find...a lost clone army?

Gauntlet Hangouts

Girl By Moonlight: In Darkest Night (Session 1 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Rob Ruthven, Sabine V., and Steven
Worldbuilding and character creation as we define this tangled metropolis haunted by an ancient curse, darkness spread by interred secrets laid bare and the young folks whose tragic fate is to be in the frontlines against the dark. But for a traveller who caught a glimpse of an apocalyptic future, an outsider recently come over from the shadows and an unlikely hero yet to transcend, there may be a chance to fight against such a fate.

Changeling the Lost PbtA (Session 2)
Lowell Francis runs for Jamila R. Nedjadi, Patrick Knowles, Robert Angus, and Sherri
The motley begins to plan their party by going to markets (Goblin and mundane), dealing with a Wizened Realtor, bottling regrets (which smells like oil of baby), and inscribing unavoidable invitations. Despite their best intentions, a little Doom slips in.

Band of Blades (Session 9)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Bryan, Chris Newton, Dan Pucul, and David Morrison
Where Westlake fought to keep the fear at bay, Eastlake is almost paralyzed by the prospect. Amidst the whispering and the frantic preparations, tales of a foe thought dead emerge from the north. Renewed in supplies and manpower, the Legion sends their best to be rid of this carrion creature once and for all.

Mothership: The Calling (Session 2 of 4)
Jason Zanes runs for Bradley, Josh H, Robbie Boerth, and Robert Angus
Alpha Squad plod on towards the crashed supply ship. They start to hear and see their loved ones calling to them, beckoning them to enter the water.

Pipedream (Session 2 of 2)
Lowell Francis runs for Jesse A., Steven Watkins, and Tyler Lominack
While they don't exactly believe him, the offer of a largish cheese wheel is enough to motivate our investigators to look into a case of bovine bodysnatchers aka doppelcows.

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins (Session 6 of 8)
Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., David Morrison, and Rye
After the turning of the age, years of conflict with The Warren finally come to a head as they burn the capital to the ground, forcing a daredevil mission that costs one of our heroes their life.

Night Witches February 2020: CHWASZCZYNO (Session 1 of 4)
Jim Likes Games runs for Alexi S., Bethany H., Eli S., Maria M., and Puckett
The war rages to a bloody climax as the Natural Born Soviet Airwomen of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment struggle with internal strife keeping them awake during the day. Soon they'll be over Berlin.

Night Witches February 2020: Bucholz (Session 2 of 4)
Jim Likes Games runs for Alexi S., Bethany H., Eli S., Maria M., and Puckett
Death on the ground, sudden and unexpected, and death in the air, inevitably, for the Natural Born Soviet Airwomen of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment.

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts!

If you'd like to catch these sessions in an audio-only podcast, check out the community-run Hangouts Podcast at http://gauntlet.hellomouth.net/.

If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced.

To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon. Everyone is welcome to sign up for Gauntlet Hangouts games, but Patreon supporters get extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Hangouts games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events and pickup games are announced.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

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2/13/2020

Age of Ravens: Ten Years On

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I began the Age of Ravens blog back in 2009. Over the years I've traced my shifting approaches to and tastes in games. As we roll into the new decade, it's worth looking at where I was ten years ago. At the end of 2010 I wrote a post summing up the four campaigns I'd run. I present those with a few new editorial comments afterwards. You'll notice at this point I was in a transitional space with a little trad and mostly our homebrew, Action Cards, which was just starting to be influenced more by Fate. 

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Libri Vidicos
(Action Cards; High Fantasy Harry Potter-esque Steampunk)

Sessions: I'm going to estimate that we got in 24 sessions in 2010. I only recall two bumps and most of the time we managed to get the schedule in gear.

Narrative: We started out this real time year with the characters returning to school for their Year Three classes. That was a nice coincidence. The group had just come off of a side-story that ended up taking about three times as many sessions as I'd intended. They also suffered their first real defeat of a kind which made them a little gunshy. Year Three set up several major plot points: the changes to the school's administration following the death of the headmaster; visitors from two sister schools; the student council; and battling against the evil school Codici Malefactus. Interestingly my vision for the course of the plots over the five years has begun to unravel a little based on the PCs actions. What I'd pictured as the central element for this year has become secondary (if that) and other things have moved to the forefront.

In those 24 sessions we just managed to get through the first semester of Year Three and only that by some heavy pushing on my end. We had some excellent bits, including the session where the players visited Codici Malefactus-- but there were some things there that I'd like to talk about in a future post. Some of the characters seemed to me to come more into focus this year, and a couple seem to have dropped themselves back into the backdrop-- one fairly significantly. I'm still working to tie together threads. I'd like to get through this second semester in a much shorter time-- cut a little faster to the key issues and reduce the side story content. Or at the very least keep any side-story bits down to two session or less. There's an irony in my saying that as we begin this year in the middle of a side-story bit: an Arabian Nights interlude that's already run a session longer than I'd hoped. I want to be into Year Four by the end of this year, especially since my original plans for the arcs has shifted-- and those ideas we written incredibly loosely but I have to adjust.

Though I don't mention it there we lost a player during the year, one who'd played since the start couple years earlier. That meant plot lines and NPCs connected to them dropped painfully to the wayside. In retrospect it ended up better for the group dynamic. Having five players instead of six gave everyone a little more time. It also led us to really think about which stories everyone found more interesting. Finally it removed some negativity from the table, an atmosphere we didn't really notice until it vanished.  

White Mountain, Black River
(Storyteller Homebrew; Wushu Fantasy)

Sessions: This is the game which gets bumped the most-- at a guess, I'd say we probably got a dozen sessions in of this.

Narrative: We began this year with the group just returning from defeating the Many Venoms Sect's plot to assassinate Judge Eng. The group returned and began to really bear down and investigate in city of Yanshan, uncovering plots, dressing as the three Fox Ninjas, taking on a wushu brothel and finally battling against the Hell Clan for the secrets of Weapons of the Gods. I finally pulled back the curtain on one of the big plots revolving around the return of Nine Weapons related to a dark God-like power and its three avatar spirits (including the Shark-Fingered Princess, my favorite name in the game so far). The group eventually ventured outside of the city to conduct two different investigations, ride dragons, catching falling star-swords, lure and slaughter ninjas, and finally return home to organize a jailbreak.

Comment: It's still the game which throws me off the most since it does have some heavy mechanics and we do have significant gaps between sessions. I keep thinking that I need to wrap it up and finish the campaign, I've even thought of just ending it, but then we actually sit down to play and we have the best time. It is a funny, delightful group to play with-- I love everyone's interactions. And the genre lends itself to great, over-the-top situations both in and out of combat. I suspect we will wrap this game up this year, but not until we get to a really solid end point with resolution. The game is always fun, demonstrating how great these players are.

A little ways into 2011 we had to put this game on hold due to changing schedules. We didn't return to it for a couple of years. When we did, the clunkiness of the mechanics felt almost overwhelming. Then one of the original three players had their schedule change and we put it on hold again, which killed it. I regret not asking that player to make time for one more session so we could do a conclusions. It's one of my biggest regrets. In any case the fun we had playing out the social side of this would be the impetus for Hearts of Wulin. 

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Wayward 
(Action Cards homebrew; nWoD Changeling)

Sessions: I'd guess we had 22-24 session of this over the year-- we had a couple of bonus sessions but also a number of missed sessions.

Narrative: We began the year with the group in the middle of the Christmas holidays, with a great deal of responsibility placed on them as the two Princes had to leave on spirit quests for the season. I'd hoped to put the players into positions of more authority and give them a chance to seize the heroic reins. We end the year only a few weeks in-game time later, something like the end of January. This campaign has always moved slowly-- with a lot of NPC interaction and complex plots that require a complex interaction. The pace has picked up significantly for the better-- we're doing interesting things, it doesn't feel like a clocks ticking and everyone has things they could be doing and are doing. The group's right now working on figuring out how to deal with an adversarial Winter Court which has returned after 20-some years lost in the Hedge. They're now a Court at war with the Changelings currently in power. Other major plot threads have moved nicely forward and some of the real bad guys have been identified.

Comment: I really love this game-- and quite frankly I expect it will keep running through 2011. We had a shift in player line up in 2009 for the better and we had another shift in 2010. It became clear that it wasn't a good idea for a particular player and I to play together and we decided to sever the game playing side of our relationship. I think that was for the best; I certainly hadn't recognized how much those problems were bringing me down and bringing the game down. We added two new players to the game and I'm loving it even more than before. They've enjoyed interacting with the NPCs and the environment, have taken risks, and have been slowly developing and advancing their character's stories and personalities. They've really risen to the challenge-- both in the game and also the challenge of coming into an existing campaign as new players. That's a tough thing to do. But I've learned that it really does work better if you have more than one new player coming in, and with characters who have to be shown the ropes.

The player change up I mentioned at the top also happened here, along with the player I mention in the comments. We would wrap this campaign up in 2011 in a really satisfying way. It cemented my love for the Changeling the Lost premise. It also began to show me that hacks and reskins shouldn't be too literal. The system bogged down where I'd tried to bring over everything from the original. It just didn't work. When I did my Changeling the Lost PbtA hack I had that in mind (though it's probably still a little overstuffed).  


Third Continent
​(Action Cards; High Fantasy with some elements from Glorantha)

Sessions: I'd guess closer to 20-22 sessions. We had some bumps on this one since it falls on Sunday evenings which can be tough.

Narrative: We began with the group back in Pavis, getting ready to head ito the Big Rubble to enter the Puzzle Canal. They did so, over the course of many sessions with some significant detours that revealed some of the major plot points of the campaign. The group returned with some new members and then did some more local political interactions, including working with the Meldeks of the Rubble and destroying a Vampire Cult. They traveled to Sun County to settle some domestic issues, interacting with White Imperial Agents, and then came back again. They tracked down a Godchainer plot which led them out into the Rider Clan Lands, discovered a walking EWF castle which they explored, then over the course of several sessions bargained with the Rider Peoples and stopped the Chainer plots, killing of one of their major enemies. Again back to Pavis to regroup and then off to the edge of the Mythic Mountains and the Great Fallen Tree where they discovered another version of the Clanking City walking around preparing an invasion of this world.

Comment: We lost two players from this campaign; in one case we decided to simply write the PC out so that he'd never actually existed. That ended up the easiest way to handle things. We added one tremendous player who brought a huge amount of humor and pathos to the campaign. I don't think we actually missed a session in the transition. Scott's character, Deeds Unworthy, has the greatest conceit for a character coming into a game late: he's actually always been there but the party keeps ignoring and forgetting him. He's the last follower of a god of being overlooked. He has to suffer through many of his most heroic actions being seen as coincidences or someone else's work.

This game has held together pretty well-- I'm still pleased by how well Action Cards has worked with a high fantasy, high magic setting. The profession Tracks have held up, especially the new ones-- but I have some more work I need to do on those. The magic system is better-- much better-- but still needs some tuning. I like the way damage works with the dice. I do think that we will wrap this campaign up this year. I have a couple of other things I want to run and we are getting to the third dramatic act of the story here. I enjoy the game and the player group we have quite a bit-- even if they do bring too many snacks.

This game ran for another couple of years. It allowed me to iterate again on the Action Cards homebrew. I focused some vague elements and tried yet another approach to magic. It would get even stronger once I'd realized how some of Fate's mechanics could be used to streamline clunky parts. It helped that the group had played in Glorantha a couple of times and really had a love for the setting. I keep meaning to return back there, but none of the recent systems for it (13th Age Glorantha, Heroquest, Runequest) have really appealed. If I go back, I suspect I'll have to do another version of Action Cards for it. 
​

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2/7/2020

Gauntlet Video Roundup - February 7, 2020

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[Gauntlet Hangouts logo]
Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Hangouts video roundup! Enjoy these new recordings of online games organized through Gauntlet Hangouts and the Gauntlet RPG community. These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the wide selection of games available every week, and anyone is welcome to join in the fun! If you'd like to play in new games (or catch up on the back catalog of recordings), check the links at the end of the post.

Also, don't miss the Trophy RPG Kickstarter, running through February 23rd. Trophy from Gauntlet Publishing is a game of dark forests, doomed treasure-hunters, and a world woven on a loom of rumor, history, and myth. Check out the Kickstarter page to pick up a FREE quick start PDF collection so you can start playing right away!
Star Wars Saturday

Hell on Legs (Session 1)
Rich Rogers runs for Bethany H., Greg G., and Michael G. Barford
The crew of the Drunk Tauntan mount up to take over a mine operation and run into the normal obstacles you'd expect: a minefield, ground forces with heavy ordinance...and rock dragons.

Gauntlet Comics

Masks (Session 5)
Rich Rogers runs for Joe Zantek, Sawyer Rankin, and Sherri
The Hopefuls stop the poorly planned crimes of Cold Kill and let him go only to follow him back to the lair of the Fearsome Legion to battle a greater foe!

Gauntlet Hangouts

Apocalypse World: Wreckage (Sessions 3-4 of 4)
Kyle H. runs for Dan Brown, David Jay, Jim C., and Richard Moser

Changeling the Lost PbtA (Session 1 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Jamila R. Nedjadi, Patrick Knowles, Robert Angus, and Sherri
In our character creation session, we meet out new motley as they step out onto the stage of Los Angeles, a city of lost children, deals gone bad, and ritual party planning.

Beam Saber: The Millenium War (Session 3 of 3)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Alex, Puckett, Sabine V., and Sawyer Rankin
An altercation with the Counsellors gives way to sudden conflict as war breaks out over the skies of Magnum City. Amidst ferocious fighting between the Mandate and Terra Fortunata, the Kingdom of Ymir senses an opportunity to take for themselves the magnificent Trebuchet Engine powering the city. And at the frontlines of this endeavour? The Queen's Venom, of course.

Band of Blades (Session 8)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Bryan, Chris Newton, Dan Pucul, and David Morrison
Westlake finally opens its doors to the Legion but beneath the safe streets and warm lamps, a terrible, ancient disease is brewing. Only the Legion, bolstered after a rousing tale well told from its Lorekeeper, recognize the threat for what it is. And so they venture into the alleys of Aldermark's most prosperous city, a battlefield well-removed from their usual fare.

Wield (Session 1 of 3)
Donogh runs for Chris Thompson and Gerwyn Walters
The Font of the Empyrial guides Samir the alchemist to seek out the Key to the Fane of Thunder. Læraðr's Touch, the lowly knight Zinny LaRen's new pair of gauntlets, pushes to bring discord and revolution to a decadent empire...

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins (Session 5 of 8)
Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., David Morrison, Leandro Pondoc, and Rye
Dew and Quartz lead an expedition of Riverfolk into the Dead Mire and lose many to the toxic environs before putting a stop to the ravaging undead. Then we see the families begin to push and pull on one another as treaty and trade become weaponized to stave off shortages as we move into another turning of the age. (Watch for an especially obscure Fitzcarraldo reference.)

Mothership: The Calling (Session 1 of 4)
Jason Zanes runs for Bradley, Josh H, Robbie Boerth, and Robert Angus
Alpha Squad crashlands on the mysterious jungle planet of Vasyugan. They gather their gear and trudge through the jungle towards the only Union of Progressive Peoples station on the planet. So far the journey has been quiet. Too quiet?

Pipedream (Session 1 of 2)
Lowell Francis runs for Jesse A., Scot Ryder, Steven Watkins, and Tyler Lominack
In the Wisefellow Lodge, unqualified halfling investigators hopped up on magic pipeweed search for a missing scofflaw and find a stolen elven princess.

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts!

If you'd like to catch these sessions in an audio-only podcast, check out the community-run Hangouts Podcast at http://gauntlet.hellomouth.net/.

If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced.

To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon. Everyone is welcome to sign up for Gauntlet Hangouts games, but Patreon supporters get extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Hangouts games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events and pickup games are announced.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

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