After a complex missed teleport, the Dragon’s Talons strive to reorient themselves and track the kidnappers before they can vanish into the night.
Next game MAY be Friday the 23rd. Let us know if that’d be OK with you.
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So, Burning Wheel. When I first read through, this was the setting I came up with immediately. (It’s seriously sketchy still; hopefully a bit more will be done to make a one-sheet & perhaps a map.)
The setting: a long occupied province. A human empire went to war with the elves next door long ago. They lost & their westernmost province was occupied. That was 200 years ago.
This province is unusual– it’s one of the few places a human will ever encounter an elf in a human-style town. The elves are somewhat inflexible– the same people are still running the province.
Here are some setting sparks that worked for me:
a) Snobby elvish “royalty” (like 3rd son to the throne rules the province; he’s distracted & bored, because it’s not elvish culture).
b) Human resistance fighters! After 200 years it’s more a revolutionary war thing– citing current complaints and less so historical freedom, etc.
c) Some humans do very well; for simplicity of administration, the elves concentrated authority for large chunks of trade, etc., in specific humans (and later their families). So there’s a human oligopolgy; lots of human families with a monopoly on specific trade goods and the like. They might like the current set up (with its generous profit margins and high status) too much to join a revolution.
d) Elves have “completely unreasonable” restrictions on town growth, forest clearing, and the like. [They’re very reasonable, perhaps even permissive, from an elvish point of view.]
e) Revolution’s not a requirement at all; that’ll follow from player BITs. Other interesting settings could be Prince’s guard, negotiators from the (human) empire seeking allies, etc.
f) Geopolitics still up in the air. Perhaps the nation that lost to the elves is gone; one province now elvish occupied, the rest swallowed by a rival empire.
g) Common Enemy– perhaps the Orcs are spreading south, nastily… but their agents promise to spare the humans if they don’t fight for the elves. Can they be trusted.
Anyway, lots of seeds of ideas for discussion.
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World Building “advice”
Ptolus Design— a handy article by Monte Cook, explaining how (and why) he chose to create his Ptolus setting. While the setting doesn’t really appeal, the process he used sounds like a good one.
Steve Jarvis has 101 Days of D&D, a great project about D&D– what he’s learned, what he’s considering, and more. Should be a valuable resource for a certain GM of ours…
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Stakes and Dramatic Fights
Setting Stakes: (From this Forge thread)
– Stakes setting is most successful when it doesn’t become bogged down and when it is a collaborative activity with everyone at the table.
– It needs to be addressed in rule books clearly.
– The stakes need to lead to good game no matter which way the conflict rolls. Success = fun. Failure = fun. (The word, discommode from Trollbabe is ringing in my ears, here.)
– Stakes need to be set before the dice are rolled or cards are played.
– Stakes should be linked to what the player has indicated is important about their PC on their character sheet (issues, Beliefs, etc.).
– When stakes are flat the conflict is flat.
– Stakes setting should also be a back and forth so that the participants buy-in to the conflict and are excited about the outcome.
– Following stakes setting should be a change in the table’s status quo leading to further excitement.
The companion thread ( Before Stakes: What is your intent) is also excellent.
Dramatic fight advice from an RPG Net Thread
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Next Game: Friday December 9th
HEAR YE, HEAR YE: GM Christmas party delays game. Report at Noon Saturday.
Let everyone know if you have any problems with playing Friday night. We’re looking at 6:30 start, barring any problems.
I’m looking forward to resuming here, at the edge of the dark.
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Christmas Lists 2005
So, it’s that time of year again. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone’s looking forward to this year– though, for once, I’ve begun and have ideas for most of you already.
Comment below with your list. (I’ll email Eric a login for his family, so that they can all get in to post.)
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Game Coordination
UPDATE: We’ve delayed until Saturday (noon) so Dogs watching can happen. I’m pretty sure Dad’s already talked with everyone, so this is just a reminder.
We’re off for the next two weeks; this week Jennifer & I’ll be at GenCon SoCal. As mad gaming fools we hope to have a lot of fun experiences to talk about when we return. The following week is Thanksgiving and we’ll still be out of town (as will Dad).
So, the next game looks like it should be on Friday, December 2nd. Let us know if you have any problem with that day… otherwise we’ll return to the adventures of the Dragon’s Talons then.
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Graham/Bingaman Amendment
Katherine and Hilzoy have gone to incredible lengths to illustrate hideous consequences of the Graham Amendment. The Graham amendment neuters the constitution, eliminating Habeus Corpus.
All of the posts are solid and add to a creeping sense of horror. A few examples are here: Family Videos and Medical Malpractice. Graham lied in his speech, denigrating the events alleged at Guantanimo. In less than an hour, the whole Senate voted on the twisted thing.
Fortunately, the Bingaman amendment undoes the broken part of the bill. It will be introduced to the Senate tomorrow morning. However right the accusations are– and they may be baseless for all anyone knows– it is critical that our Senators not eliminate Habeus Corpus. Katherine’s Closing Statement has all of the posts linked together.
Read it and call your Senators.
UPDATE: The amendment was defeated, kindof. It was actually amended– it wound up better than written, worse than before the amendment. Hilzoy updates the story and writes about what we do with people we find innocent. (Hint: The answer is not “set them free”.)
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Recent roleplaying links
Eric Wujuck’s Diceless discussion, on luck, roleplaying, and strategizing.
Your goal as a Dogs GM, reiterated by Vincent. Good clarification.
A couple of good posts about Kickers. Kickers 1 and Kickers 2.
A great town for Dogs, honed through discussion. Olive Grove Branch.
GM Resources: a huge meta-thread filled with links to other good threads about all kinds of GM inspiration and the like.
Blogging your game sessions advice and encouragement from Treasure Tables.
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HSAs and other health care tricks
Hilzoy has a brilliant post up about “Health Savings Accounts”; a poorly planned system whose main advantage is the destruction of employer provided healthcare as we know it.
Walmart charms us with its new tricks for slimming their health care costs.
Speaking of stuff you purchase but can’t comparison shop for… see what nice lemons our voting machines are?
Of course we’ll probably save lots of money treating people for complications from their illegal abortions. The new justice has pretty regressive views about all kinds of things; attempting to strike down maternity leave, force spousal notification, and other charming views. Ann at feministing rounds up some of his most eye popping judgements.