The Giggling Dark: Session Twenty-Four

Xellous: The fifteen year old human character, played by Kurlak. Recently his amnesiac wife, Kora, found out that she had been married to him before she'd lost her memories. Given that by this point Xellous had been talking to her for a good three months she wanted to know why. After saving her from a few flamemous lads and finding out that King Varlur was dead, Xellous told her her entire story. She told him that she had no way of knowing how she would handled it either. Xellous has a pair of gauntlets from an Apocalypse Beast's skin, which give him phenomenal hand-to-hand ability, along with a ring that lets him know a good amount about khen-zai tech. He is Ikuinen Lampo's celestial knight, which allows him to see and manipulate auras.

Kora: Xellous' wife. She has a son by the name of Gerard, who was the product of being raped by her father Altous, who she had killed herself. Kora was kidnapped by the khen-zai and somehow had all her memories removed in the process.

Ikuinen Lampo: The world's soil is corrupt; those that die come back as zombies or worse. Stars fell to the earth and died there to sanctify the ground. Ikuinen Lampo is one of those stars. She has possessed the body of Xellous' dead sister, Genevieve, in order to help him in his fight. She's also deeply in love with Xellous, and he seems to have been the only one to not notice, up until last session. She gave him a stone of star metal, which came from her star body.

Flammeous Lads: perverse creatures created by mothers killing their children.

Khen-Zai: A race of evil humanoids that are trying to re-conquer the planet. They cannot bear the presence of the stars that have died upon it without much pain, and so are trying to subvert and remove the stars who have died there. They talk and do everything through aura manipulation.

Komas: the prime minister. He had previously helped Xellous get to see King Varlur, who had knighted him as a reward. Komas had married Kora after she had her memory wiped and helped her deliver her son, Gerard. He now knows that Xellous is her previous husband, and has not really seemed to be at peace with that yet.

Xellous made his way to the main hall, where King Varlur had been killed. Seven flammeous lads, still warm hours later, lay on the floor. Xellous saw that Komas was giving directions to personnel. Xellous found himself pitying Komas; the man had not meant to take Kora from him, nor had he asked to be in charge of a whole kingdom. And here Xellous was, about to not just leave, but take Kora with him as well. And Xellous felt a twinge of guilt about that.

But first: reagents from seven flammeous lad bodies!! Time to get to work!

The aura of the room changed as Xellous work, to an environment that was passively annoying, like a constant high pitch whine. Komas came up to Xellous. He was pissed off: where the hell had Xellous, a sworn knight if the realm, been for the last few hours??

Xellous told Komas had been calming down Kora, Komas's "wife".

Taken aback, Komas told Xellous that wasn't his place. He was the one who had found Kora, not Xellous. Far as Komas was concerned he was Kora's true husband and Xellous had overstepped. Kora had transformed Komas's life and he wanted the world to be a better place for her. At any rate, Komas needed Xellous to go to the eastern reaches of the kingdom (the opposite direction from Xellous's home) because the instant the new of King Varlur's death hit that hotbed of treachery there would be an uprising and Xellous needed to be there to head if off. Xellous agreed, but after that he needed to be on his way. Komas was confused, where did Xellous think he needed to go?? To that silly off-planet mission he'd been talking about with King Varlur? The king was dead! The kingdom was in trouble! He was needed, here, now.

Xellous told Komas he thought that short-sighted. The whole planet was at risk, and Xellous had sworn an oath to that cause, which trumped anything going on in any one kingdom on the planet. Komas told him he was fighting the khen-zai by staying and making sure they didn't get a foothold in this kingdom, which was the most powerful on the continent. Xellous told him that was clearly too big of a view: the farmers and cows were just as important as the kingdom! Confused, Komas told Xellous the cows were a part of the kingdom. Xellous told him that was exactly his point; without making sure the whole wasn't protected by getting Ikuinen Lampo practically unlimited power the problem of the khen-zai invasion, which was causing problems with their kingdom in the first place.

Komas's mouth opened. And then shut.

Xellous told Komas that his duty had to be to the whole planet, that he genuinely wanted everyone to be safe. Xellous wasn't running. He cared about everyone. Komas said he knew that.

And then he pulled out a pistol. A khen-zai pistol. With practiced ease.

Xellous dove under the shot and knocked over Komas in one clean swing. He wasn't out, but he was down.

All of a sudden the aura interference snapped. It became a crushing presence, so strong that every human in the room, Komas included, passed out.  The pain and suddenness of that pain was so intense that nobody could be expected to remain conscious. But Xellous did not fall. His hands were white, holding the piece of star metal that Ikuinen Lampo had given him. he held it up, weathering the onslaught.

It ended.

Xellous still stood. He laughed: "Nice try", he taunted to the room through his aura.

All the flammeous lads in the room reformed, stood up, and charged Xellous.

Xellous laughed and grabbed Komas by the ankles and swung him in a wide arc, hitting three of the flammeous lads so hard that they burst open; Komas's skull cracked and he caught on fire. Fending the other lads off with Komas's flaming corpse, Xellous killed a few more with the remains and the rest ran off. Xellous set Komas's flaming body down.

Ooh, more bits of flammeous lad to recover!

There was a scream of anguish. Kora came running in, followed by Ikuinen Lampo. She somehow recognized Komas and hugged his broken frame to her chest, sobbing. She yelled at Xellous, demanding to know why Komas was dead.

Xellous told her that Komas had been working for the khen-zai. He produced the pistol Komas had used. Xellous copped to killing Komas for his treachery, that even if he had let Komas live the khen-zai would have killed him anyway.

Gently laying down his body, Kora stood up. Looking down, wistfully, at Komas's body Kora told Xellous there had always been a darkness inside of Komas, that he had always struggled with. He had called her his light. What had happened that he had turned? This wasn't the man she was. Xellous told her he wished he knew, because he would have told her if he could.

They stared at his body awhile, deep in thought.

May the Power Protect You: Kat Hillard (MMPR Pink)

The next few posts are going to be on the second generation of MMPR. I will not cover zords in these posts, as they're relatively self-contained and advising on them wouldn't change terribly much between the differing characters. Yes, these are Kickstarter-exclusive characters. They use the same deck with a different character ability, which changes their playstyle quite a bit. Well. Most of the time.

What's worse for the monsters than a character who can tac-nuke? A character who is really hard to hurt and is also a tac-nuke! For most of these Gen 2 Rangers I find that my advice significantly changes based upon the character's ability. This doesn't surprise me all that much, given how much of HotG's DNA is founded upon 4e D&D, where the interaction between class abilities and powers are what makes the character unique. Kat is the only Gen 2 who does not need a set of advice about how to use her deck that is contradictory to her Gen 1, Kimberly. All advice in this post is in addition to Kimberly's post. Well, Kimberly's ability excepted, of course. I think Kat is much more flexible, while losing hardly any of the damage potential Kimberly has.

Kat's ability lets you draw two cards when you defend, picking whichever one you like. I cannot begin to overstate how powerful this ability is. Kat is easily in the top three defenders in the whole game. She can weave and dodge hits that nobody else can, by the simple virtue of having an actual choice of cards when defending. Personally, I greatly prefer this ability to Kim's. The one damage at the beginning of the round is nice, but Kat's ability syncs with her deck so well that I feel foolish for recommending Kim over Kat. That one damage usually makes quite the difference, but I personally prefer being able to soak hits over damage when it comes to MMPR Pink's deck.

Acrobatics comes into its own with Kat. You can choose a card that you know you want and, even if it goes into the discard pile, you can grab it! This makes Kat ridiculously flexible, capable of adapting to almost any situation. Granted, this can make Kat's Recovery actions pretty limited, because what sane man wouldn't pick Acrobatics?? I mean, you'll be discarding attack cards and whatnot, but as soon as you get your go-to cards like Flying Kick out of the discard pile make sure your Acrobatics cards are back in your deck. Actually, I don't even think that may be true. When in doubt pick Acrobatics.

Literally the rest of the advice I would give would come from Kim's post: you are the killer. No monster is safe from you, while you are much safer from them than practically anyone else in your team. Be fearless! They can barely touch you and you can hurt them, badly. Go forth and conquer!

Kat is easily my favorite of the MMPR pinks and my second favorite pink ranger (more on that in the future). Tough and incredibly powerful, she can walk through most situations with ease, whether it be attack or defense. Yeah, that one damage is to be missed, but the utility you pick up in exchange literally can't have a value put on it. Kat is a touch more challenging to play, but the increased utility is so important that I would hesitate to point a newcomer to anyone but Kat. I mean, yes, technically Kim and Kat are balanced, but I know for a fact who I would pick, every time. Sorry Kim. Maybe I'll write you a "Dear John" letter, like you did to Tommy.

Meh, too much work.

Besides, I'm more of a blonde sorta guy.

The Undertow: Session Seven

Mikansia: The main character, a female elf played by Lena. Previously she had somehow helped Tyce, a human that she had slept with, to overcome The Music. He had left. She's still wondering what the hell happened.

The Music: A discordant noise that Mikansia can hear when she's near certain humans, who can also hear it. It's driving them crazy, wiping them of all they ever were.

Akseli: Mikansia's commanding officer. He had followed Mikansia to the surface when she chased after her evil father, Krakeru. Since then he's been stuck in the human fort Elfwatch, which is currently under siege. Akseli knew Makirta, Mikansia's mother.

Yngvar: Mikansia's First Sword. He really doesn't seem to like Mikansia at all, and has made many an off-color remark about her character


Lore Note: While elves do not have the same issue with being wiped clean by The Nameless like humans, they still cannot bear direct contact with them for long. The site that's touched becomes a nasty scar and never fully heals. Intense memory loss is usually associated with the wound, although motor functions remain intact. This process is called hulling by the elves.
 
One week passed. Multiple people began to hear The Music at the same time and grouped together; they started tailing Mikansia. She began keeping her bed under her door, sleeping on the floor in the far corner of her room. Firstsword Yngvar had been getting nastier and nastier to Mikansia, and finally consigned her to painting all the myriad rocks in the fort, out where all those groups were roaming. Mikansia became even more tense. Captain Akseli started to become distant and a bit weird.

Eventually the General called a meeting. Supplies were almost out. No one had gotten through from the outside, and so the General was organizing one last push through the lines, to ask for help. He would not force anyone to go on such a mission; he wanted volunteers only. Mikansia's hand could not shoot up fast enough. But Akseli forbade it, openly, in front of the other officers.

Yngvar and Mikansia stared at Akseli, dumbfounded. Yngvar started arguing with Akseli, publicly. He told Akseli hewas letting his emotions cloud his judgment, particularly because of what had happened between him and Makirta. Realizing Mikansia was still there, Yngvar commanded Mikansia to leave the meeting, that this did not concern her. Akseli, against all form, countermanded the order, shooting Mikansia a look that would have spoiled new milk. So she stayed.

 Finally realizing where he was, Yngvar tried to back out, but Akseli commanded him to speak. Yngvar pleaded for reasons of decorum, but Akseli told him to finish his tirade, in a voice cold with fury. Yngvar told them he didn't think Akseli's judgment was clear on Mikansia because he had been in love with Makirta, who had been a whore, a spy, a dark elf, just like what her daughter was turning into.

Akseli was on Yngvar in an instant. The human officers pulled them away from each other. Akseli's hair came off in the struggle.

It was a wig.

Akseli was actually bald.

A nasty scar, still looking like it had not fully healed, traced its way acrost the back of his head; it could only have come from fighting The Nameless. They had attempted to hull him. Akseli grabbed his wig, blushing from embarrassment. Mikansia was seized with pity and horror at the sight. Yngvar left immediately. Akseli asked Mikansia if she would come and talk with him, in private. She agreed.

They went back to Akseli's room. Akseli told her that he had been injured by the Nameless after Makirta had left, and could only remember one thing about Makirta: when she had come clean about being a dark elf, working on behalf of The Lone Keep. Akseli had Makirta escorted out by his servants. He would not talk to her, as she came to his villa for the next week, beginning forgiveness, telling him she truly loved him and he was why she had revealed herself, that she wanted to change. Akseli ignored her. At the end of that week he left to fight the Nameless and received his wound and lost almost all of his memories. Makirta had left shortly after he had, fleeing house arrest. It took Akseli twenty years to recover from his wound. By then the trail had long gone cold. He couldn't even remember Makirta's face, her smell, how she sounded. He guessed that Mikansia looked like Makirta, only because he had met Krakeru a few times and she didn't look very much like him. They mourned, together.

There was a knock on the door. Akseli let in a sheepish Yngvar. He apologized to them both for the public outburst... and then proceeded to tell Akseli he didn't think Mikansia should go out, after all. He'd had a moment to actually think about it, and Yngvar didn't think Mikansia really had it in her to be a sword singer, period. She was showing Makirta's lack of character; she'd been drinking herself under the table whenever alcohol was available, had slept with Tyce (Akseli paled at that) and, if rumors were to believed, had screwed anything with two legs, male and female alike. Akseli looked like he was checking out.

Mikansia declared this was beyond ridiculous. She was a sword singer and have proven her place, over and over again! Yes, she'd had a slip of judgment following Krakeru to the surface, but Mikansia felt she had more than a right to go on this mission. She then asked why Yngvar thought she'd slept with Tyce and the whole base. But Yngvar was stubborn; he reiterated that he knew that Mikansia had used Tyce like an animal, why else would she have had the connection to bring him back? Mikansia felt the sting, but ignored it. Yngvar went on, saying she clearly had the same proclivities to vice and evil that her mother had, who had slept with anything that moved in order to get her information for the dark elves, including a pass that she had made at Yngvar at one point. Miksansia said that made no sense: she had done nothing to deserve this level of vitriol and besides, soldiers said a lot of ridiculous things, particularly about the elves, so why was Yngvar listening to them only about her? Voice dropping almost to a whisper, Mikansia told them how she'd already had a chance to turn, after Krakeru had raped her, when he'd channeled that scream. Mikansia had made her decision then, and she was not going back.

Yngvar told her how sorry he was that had happened to her, but that it wasn't a question of that one decision. Mikansia may have millennia ahead of her. There would be many more decision points like the one she had already been through. And yet Yngvar didn't think Mikansia had it in her to keep making that decision, just like her mother Makirta. Mikansia said she knew it wasn't a one-time decision, but she would not go back. Becoming like Krakeru was not an option. She demanded to be taken seriously, on her own terms. Mikansia did not claim perfection, but she was tired of being coddled and reviled because of someone else. She deserved to go on the mission and that was all there was to it.

Yngvar was speechless.

After a minute he said he heard hear, but he couldn't stop worrying anyway. He was coming with her. They looked to Akseli, who nodded in agreement. Yngvar and Mikansia would leave the next day with the humans.

A Lamp and a Ring

So this was a one-shot with Bryna and her husband David. They grabbed some pregens, Beren the dwarf (Yes, Bryna caught the troll in his name, Mr. Olavsrud and Crane! I should have recorded her rant and sent it to you.), played by David, and Karolina, played by Bryna. This session was a bit of a tech demo of sorts. After many failures at running Torchbearer I was seeing if I could run even a single session without a TPK. David had tried RPGs before but apparently had a bad experience. Bryna was probably trying to see how many things she could kill that session. Well all had our goals. Off we went!

A hurricane hit the port town. A galley, rumored to be overladen with gold from a far away and exotic land, was upborne by the winds and lodged betwixt two cliffs near the town. It somehow sat there until morning, suspended many feet above the roiling surf.  The townsfolk knew about the ship, of course, but the town itself was in shambles, so what eelse was there to do for the moment?

Beren and Karolina felt differently.

The pair trudged up to the beach, towards one of the cliffs that the galley was lodged between. Beren had a grappling hook and some rope. With Karolina's help he threw it up the cliffside. It lodged in a crevice and held. The wind was still howling. They pulled themselves up the rope and walked over the abyss where the galley was suspended. It was obvious from their point of view that the galley was rapidly falling apart; they needed to hurry. So Beren hooked to the top of the cliff and practically threw himself, gleefully, along the cliff. Rolling her eyes, Karolina followed behind, a bit more slowly, cautiously, telling Beren to stop screwing around with the wind.

Getting onto the deck of the ship the pair encountered almost hurricane force winds. They managed not t o be blown off the ship, but only just barely, breaking a rib or two as they were batted about by the wind. Steadying herself, and nursing her ribs, Karolina began to examine the deck, pointing out areas that were critically damaged. Turns out that Karolina had been a carpenter in a previous life. Beren then looked around for any healing herbs or medicinal, and managed to find some inside of one of the barrels that had pushed against the railing of the galley.

The deck of the ship had cracked in half. Beren made his way to the rift and looked down into it. The hull had partially broken on a jutted section of the cliff; a leather strap wrapped around the outcropping. There were corpses in the hold. The stairs were behind Beren, but the clearly glorious thing to do was rappel down and grab the bag that was probably on that strap.  Using some of Karolina's pointers about the deck, Beren attached his grappling hook to said deck and launched himself down, confident he had place the grappling hook correctly.

The hook slipped. And then held. it took Beren a minute to recover from the shock.

While all that was going on Karolina took the stairs as cautiously as she could, taking a swig of wine from the skin at her belt. It was just as well that she didn't go down the stairs quickly: the corpses were beginning to move! Brandishing her spear, Karolina threw herself into the fray. One of the zombies bit Karolina she felled it. Karolina felt sick, violently so.  On the ground near her foot was a ring. She pocketed it.

Beren had come back up with the bag, which held a lamp. The both of them found there were still bags of gold aboard; three bags apiece. Karolina downed the rest of the wine she had on her and loaded herself down with the gold. The ship shifted; it was time to go. Leaning into the winds, they came back up top. Beren got his grappling hook to the top of the cliff again, despite his ribs. Once he'd climbed up he Karolina, feeling feverish, wrapped the rope around herself and winced as she was pulled up by Beren.

They went back to town, laden down with the Ring of Power from acrost the sea and a magical lamp.

Final caveat: The scenario idea came from the Torchbearer's Discord server. When I get home I'll look up who did it. The folks on there are awesome, thank you!

How To GM: How I Come Up With Villains

Last week I wrote about antagonists, and how I make them. I defined antagonists as those who oppose the players, that did not mean that antagonists were in some cosmic war between good and evil with the players. In fact I think the opposite should be true; antagonists proper need to be morally grey, or at least sympathetic and vulnerable, in the player's eyes. There should be questions, on some level, about the justness of the player's goals when they meet an antagonist.

None of that should apply to villains.

Villains are a type of antagonist. So all the thoughts I have on villains start with my antagonist article, so go read that again. Make an antagonist using those guidelines in your head, and come back here.

You're back? Cool.

You've made a character who has was hurt by a part of the setting that your players don't like, has a primal need that is sympathetic, and who cannot be ignored by the players cause he keeps getting in their faces? Got him in your head? Good. Here's the next step.

You're going to make the dude weaponize his pain.

Let me explain what I mean by that.

So in the previous article I talked about that little twinge of sympathy, of pain, that I think someone should feel for an antagonist. The dude is hurt and is trying to solve the pain he is in. He is trying to rise above it, to do something positive, with his pain, even if his methods are messed up in the players' eyes. The fact that he happens to be opposed to the players is tragic and a sign of the breakdown of the setting and the people within it, as opposed to a problem with the antagonist himself. The person may not be on your side in whatever conflict you're in, but they are clearly trying to rise above something. They are using their pain as a tool to better themselves and the world they are in. They just so happen to have a methodology or ideology that your players can't allow. Villains take that center spot of pain, that little twinge that you feel when you think about where they came from, sharpen it, and use it to hurt others. They have given up on being better than their past and do not think the world can be made better. Or if they do think the world can made better it's so inimical to what's actually good that no one in the story can allow him to go on as he is doing. You could almost certainly convince an antagonist, given enough time, of the rightness of your path. It may not be likely, but it is possible. Villains have made a choice that cuts them out of society fundamentally. You can't "convince" them. Convert back to the common way of doing things? Maybe. Possibly. But they are lacking something that is so fundamental that you cannot just hope to reason with them. Nor should you.

All of this is to say that you oppose an antagonist's views and mission; the opposition is not necessarily personal, although even if it is it probably has more to do with petty reasons on the parts of the players than anything genuinely wrong with the antagonist. You are opposing the villain for being him. You might be able to respect an antagonist for having the guts to stand up for what he believes in, and even if you don't that may on the player, but a villain properly speaking doesn't believe in anything. He's in the  black pit of his own mind, rejoicing in a pain that no one in their right mind should. And if he cannot be turned, he must be destroyed.

Villains are so much more personal. They get under your skin and make you like hating them. That's because villains have taken their life experiences and made them into a weapon that they can use against others. You can't reason with them, you can't commiserate and even really sympathize. They must either return to being like the rest of us or be destroyed, lest we be destroyed first. And yeah, there's a tragedy in that, but most people aren't going to mourn what they're killing as they're doing it. And kill them we must.

Sabina's Castle: Session Twenty-Two

Anneli: the main character, a female elf played by Andy. Last session she had gotten back the toy sword that would allow her to go onto the Island of Eternal to make a wish and become part of the group Those That Sailed, along with a Dagger of Betrayal, from her dark elf sister Nomi. Confronted by the complexity of her sister, Anneli left her with her friend Marian.

Commander Aloysius: the commander of the human army outside of the ruins of Argentum Prime. He had entrusted command of a group of special forces to Anneli so she could get the whereabouts of her sister, Nomi. He and Anneli had made a promise to kill her together.

Herminus: formerly a friend/minion of the dwarf Spar, Herminus was killed in the advent of the Dragon of Sabina's Castle. He came back as a revenant, swearing revenge against Salt, Spar's daughter; Salt had disowned her father, and Herminus blamed her for starting the events that led to Spar's death.

Fingar and Thungal: two of Anneli's companions on the ship The Sidereal Companion. Thungal had been kidnapped by orcs thanks to Nomi, and Fingar had left to find her shortly afterwards. Anneli hasn't been heard from in over two years.

The wreckage of a great battle lay before the fort, most of the corpses were orcs. Commander Aloysius was on the field of battle, covered in orc blood.  He was happy to see Anneli. The orcs had attacked without Nomi, and Aloysius's forces had won. They were going to find Nomi and kill her for a victory lap. Anneli told him to knock himself out, she wasn't going to do it.

Commander Aloysius was flabbergasted. After everything they'd been through, after what they'd promised each other, after all Commander Aloysiu had done for Anneli, she was abandoning him?? Unacceptable. Anneli told him her debt to him had been rendered null by virtue of the destruction of the orc forces. She wanted him to arrange passage to the coast, so she could continue her quest for the Island of Eternal Youth. Commander Aloysius refused, so long as Nomi was alive. If Anneli helped him kill Nomi he'd provide passage for the coast. Convinced that Commander Aloysius would never be able to take on Marian and Telos, Anneli grumpily accepted. She stomped back to the fort, sore and tired, looking for a place to rest.

Herminus came walking out of a nearby building.

Anneli's sword leapt to to her hand. She demanded to know what Herminus was doing here. Herminus was confused; he worked for Commander Aloysius. He needed something to do until he kill Salt, after all! Anneli shook her head and turned to leave. Herminus complimented her on her dueling skills as sincerely as a revenant could possibly be expected to. That did not improve Anneli's mood.

Later on in the day Anneli was summoned to see Commander Aloysius. With him was Herminus.. and Fingar (who was missing a finger or two). And Thungal (with a bandage wrapped around her head that suggested fashion, as opposed to necessity). Anneli wavered for a moment. Fingar and Thungal were excited to see her again! Anneli asked how this was possible. Thungal explained that the humans had saved her a day after being kidnapped, killing the troll with an efficiency that boggled her mind. Fingar himself had been saved from an orc ambush literally the day after that.  They had been scouts for Commander Aloysius ever since. Anneli said it was surprising how little Commander Aloysius had told her. He protested; he didn't know all three had known each other until Fingar and Thungal had returned from a scouting mission, just recently. When he'd known Commander Aloysius had called her in! That part was on the up and up, as far as he was concerned.  But that wasn't why she had been summoned. It had been brought to Commander Aloysius's attention that Anneli had an object that would help Herminus control the dragon living in Sabina's Castle. Commander Aloysius commanded that she hand it over to Herminus, immediately.

Anneli was incensed. She pulled out the Dagger of Betrayal and threw it at Aloysius's feet. Finger and Thungal jumped back, disgusted. Herminus looked at the Dagger with a gleam in his dead eyes, but Commander Aloysius did not command, and so therefore Herminus did not move. Anneli asked Commander Aloysius if this was really the route he wanted to go down. Commander Aloysius told her that the Argentum Empire was falling apart, which meant that they were vulnerable from Golau to the east, from across the sea, and from Telvra, to the north. Someone needed to unite the Empire, and quickly, before the people suffered from two invasions. Anneli told him this was a deal with the devil himself. Commander Aloysius said that he would pay out that deal, gladly, if the people were protected.

Anneli got the Dagger back up.

Herminus snarled, but Anneli was unfazed.

Fingar and Thungal formed up around Anneli.

Commander Aloysius whistled. A dozen men with spears burst in upon the room.

The Undertow: Session Six

Mikansia: The main character, a female elf played by Lena. Last session she encountered someone who could hear The Music, Renough, the aide to the General of the human fort. He had killed himself. Before he did that Mikansia could hear The Music whenever she was near him. She also slept with "One Night", a human who was in a rather bad (and drunken) place at the time. He professed his love to her. Mikansia let him down as gently as she could. She's still traumatized from being raped by her father, the vile Krakeru, who said it was the beginning of her education in "The Music".

Captain Akseli: Mikansia's commander in the Sword Singers. He had followed her down with Firstword Yngvar when she had deserted, in an attempt to find her father Krakeru.

Firstsword Yngvar: Mikansia's first-in-command NCO. He'd come down with Captain Akseli to get Mikansia back, and was stranded too. He doesn't seem to like Mikansia too much.

The Music: A concept talked about by the vile Krakeru, who had sold his soul to The Nameless, eldritch horrors who terrorize the universe.

Elfwatch: The human fort that Mikansia, Captain Akseli, and Firstsword Yngvar are stranded in after Krakeru brought their ship down. The dark elves are currently sieging. The alcohol's now gone. Hooray.

One month passed. During that time Mikansia managed to keep her composure in public. She trained with the soldiers in swordplay, and did strength training in her room when she couldn't sleep, which was often. When she was alone in her room Mikansia kept a chair under her doorknob. No one had tried to break in, but it helped her feel safer than she had felt recently.

One night the door rattled. The chair didn't budge. The Music could be heard.

Mikansia back away from the door, hoping it would hold. It did. But she could hear "One Night"'s voice beyond, begging weakly for help. Hesitantly, Mikansia opened the door and "One Night" slid through it into her doorway; he had been leaning against the door.  A crowd was gathering. Mikansia tried to move him, but he was just too big, standing at a good six and a half feet tall. A major came up to her and asked if "One Night" was bothering her. She said he wasn't, but he should be brought back to his barracks. As they picked him up "One Night" looked at Mikansia and said "Hi, I'm Tyce. I was looking for you." He didn't want to leave her, but the major got a few enlisted to carry him back to his barracks. The Music faded as he left. Tyce kept saying he couldn't get it to shut up.

The next morning Mikansia began to look for Tyce. Eventually she found  him, curled up in an alleyway, holding his head. She could hear The Music again. He looked up, smiled at her, and said "Hi, I'm Tyce. I was looking for you." Mikansia was puzzled: Tyce had told her that the other night! He stared down at the ground. For a second there was a look of comprehension and horror. And then he looked up. "Hi, I'm Tyce. I was looking for you". Mikansia took a step back. The Music was louder. Another major, Major Renee, saw her and came to help. He'd been looking for Tyce this whole time. Concerned, he told Mikansia that this was new.

They brought him into Major Renee's room. Major Renee explained that Tyce was easily the most impressive soldier he had ever seen. A natural leader, they were about to promote him to sergeant. And then, three weeks ago, he became erratic. He started skipping shifts, shirking work and starting fights. He couldn't be found yesterday, at all. "Hi, I'm Tyce. I was looking for you". Tyce curled up on Major Renee's bed and began to suck his thumb. Mikansia asked Major Renee if he had seen this happen to anyone else recently. Major Renee said he'd seen some odd things, but this was completely new.

Tyce got up and told Mikansia she needed to follow him. He left Major Renee's room. Curious, Mikansia and Major Renee followed. Tyce headed for the tunnel's collapsed entrace. Mikansia froze. She went no further. Captain Akseli came up and asked what as going on. Major Renee brought Captain Akseli up to speed,  as opposed to Mikansia, because Tyce was saying "Hi, I'm Tyce. I was looking for you" to Mikansia again. Captain Akseli immediately brought Mikansia and Tyce to the General of the fort and sent Major Renee to find Firstword Yngvar.

Captain Akseli took Mikansia and Tyce ("Hi, I"m Tyce. I was looking for you.") to the General's quarters and knocked. The General was grumpy when he answered the door, but he quickly let the three in when he saw Captain Akseli was among them. Firstsword Yngvar came rushing in. Mikansia was introduced to the General as Krakeru's daughter; the General looked at her in sympathy. Mikansia winced at the name. Captain Akseli gently touched her wrist and asked if she was ok.

Mikansia flinched and jumped back, but she did not reach for her weapon. Firstsword Yngvar practically died from embarrassment.

Captain Akseli explained that Tyce was being hollowed out by The Nameless. Humans were made by the khen-zai to be malleable, adaptable, and so when a human encountered a Nameless they eventually lost who they were, as the Nameless were able to sync up with their soul and body and wipe it clean, passively. In fact, if Tyce had been having issue with the Nameless since Krakeru's scream (which a channeling of The Music of The Nameless) that meant that Tyce was an extremely resilient human. Mikansia asked if the effect couldn't be reversed. Firstword Yngvar said that a primal connection, like a lover or a mother, might have had success with Tyce the previous night (and with this he shot Mikansia a look), but Krakeru was one of three elves recorded in elven history who had this power, so not much else was known than that.

Tyce said, in a voice very different than his own, that this was very true.

Everyone jumped.

His gaze wandered off. "Hi, I'm Tyce. I was looking for you".

After some more deliberation it was decided that, since Tyce was following Mikansia around, he should continue to do so, with Firstword Yngvar there as bodyguard. In the middle of this deliberation Captain Akseli all of a sudden stared off off into space. Firstsword Yngvar gently brushed the back of his neck and Captain Akseli snapped back to reality, as if nothing had happened. Firstsword Yngvar had been shooting Mikansia more significant looks throughout the briefing, but she said nothing. Tyce had tried to hold Mikansia's hand as they walked, same as a toddler might. Mikansia did not let him; the differing voice had thoroughly creeped her out, nevermind The Music, which continued. They were going to Firstsword Ynvgar's room, but Tyce wanted to go to where she had been sad; the place where Mikansia had told Tyce she didn't want to see him anymore. She had been so sad that it had hurt for Tyce to see her like that.

By the time they got there Tyce had stopped walking like an adult. There was an odd spring his step, reminiscent of a small child. But when they got there he became very sad and quiet. He asked Mikansia why she'd never given him her name. She said she hadn't realized how important it would be to him. And she told him. For just a second she could see a flash of something malevolent, something that took great pleasure in her revelation to Tyce.

"Hi, I'm Tyce. I was looking for you."

So they brought him back to Mikansia's room. Tyce visibly relaxed upon entering her room. He sat down on the floor. "Hi, I'm Tyce. I was looking for you". And then he said in that other voice he'd been looking foward to seeing the inside of her room.

Yngvar's sword was out and streaking towards Tyce. Mikansia barely blocked him. She asked, regretfully, if it really was too late. Firstsword Yngvar asked if she really wanted to find out. Ashamed, Mikansia said she didn't. Tyce gazed at the blade, terrified but longing for the cold steel. Mikansia lowered her blade and knelt beside Tyce. She got him to look at her and told him to listen to the sound of her voice. Everything was going to be alright. Slowly, lovingly, she began to sing the Lament of Mourning, in her low, rich alto. Firstsword Yngvar steeled himself for the deed.  Tyce closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief as he listened to Mikansia, slowly rocking back and forth to the slight beat of the song.

Tyce opened his eyes and stared deeply into Mikansia's. "Not yet," he whispered. Tyce stood up quickly, smoothly. Yngvar backed up in utter surprise. There was a spark that had returned to Tyce's eyes. He had returned in a way that Mikansia did not understand, but recognized. With infinite gentleness Tyce took hold of the hilt of Firstsword Yngvar's blade; surprised, Firstsword Yngvar let him take it. Mikansia, unsure of what was going on, continued to sing. Turning to face her, Tyce hugged her and whispered his thanks in her ear. He turned back to Firstsword Yngvar and promised to return the blade soon.

And then Tyce began to sing along to the Lament.

With a spring in his step Tyce went out the door. He broke into a run, singing at the top of his lungs. Taking the steps to the southern wall two at a time, he looked down and grinned. Firstsword Yngvar and Mikansia were right behind him. Turning to them, Tyce told them that the siege wasn't quite so heavy on this part of the wall.

He jumped

And rolled.

Humans didn't dodge arrows like Tyce did.

Nor did they sing as he did all these things, singing in a high tenor the Lament that he had learned so quickly from Mikansia.

The sun set, and Tyce could be seen no more.

How to GM: How I Come Up With Antagonists

Antagonists are not easy to come up with. Notice I didn't say villains. Villains are evil for evil's sake and all that, complete with a mustache twirl or two. Villains are a subset of antagonist, at least in my mind. So if you're going to do a villain you should be able to create antagonists; I'll be writing on how to make villains next week, which use a similar process to when I make antagonists, but there are a few notable tweaks that we'll cover in that article. Antagonists are simply characters that are opposed to the players and their goals. They do not have to be "evil", nor should they be unless necessary. They might do things that are evil, but ultimately antagonists need only be opposition. If anything, I find that compelling antagonists live in a fleshed out setting, have a simple and sympathetic need which impacts the players, evidence of the problem not having a ready solution, and then ensuring the antagonist's plans affect your player characters in ways that they cannot ignore.

 So the first question that I think needs to be answered is why have more antagonists than just outright villains? This is something I've been thinking about lately, a lot. Antagonists can be more varied, for the simple reason that they are only opposed to the players. You can (and should) have morally good antagonists, with honor and strong internal compasses, who oppose the players, because of their own internal goodness. You should have antagonists of every moral persuasion anyway, but throwing genuinely good people that the players like at them leads to incredibly good drama. And then at that point an actual villain becomes that much more unique and special, because creatures that actively glorify in evil are extremely rare, and need to be used sparingly.

The other reason why I try to prefer antagonists in my games is because the answers become much more difficult to navigate. If someone has a legitimate beef with the system that you live in, a system that creates order and stability, is it really right to destroy the system for their sake? Do you really have what it takes to weather the storms of social change, should it come to that? The players may find themselves hating the fact that they are opposing a particular group, and that's really not a bad thing, particularly in DnD, where murderhobos are the norm.  So I usually prefer antagonists because of the questions that they raise. So, for instance, don't have the goblins go after a town because they're evil, have the goblins go after the town because they're starving to death and the humans won't give them food. Can you convince the goblins to back off long enough to get food for them? They're not hungry, they're starving. They may not be that noble, or even rational (hunger has a way of doing that). Can you convince the townsfolk to give the food necessary to get these goblins to survive (don't forget that the townsfolk may have legitimate concerns about the goblins).

If any of that actually interests you, read on!

Setting is the first key to a good antagonist. We'll have to do that in a different post, but you need to make sure that your setting is something that generates a response from the players. The setting needs to have hooks built into that get a reaction from the players, both good and bad. Obviously, make sure that no lines for the players are crossed, but there needs to be something in the setting that upsets the players, no matter how minor it may be.

Got something?

Good.

Take that thing that upsets the players and have it be key into making the antagonist what he is.

If slavery is something in your world and your players have an especial problem with it, make damn well sure the antagonist was an especially cruelly mistreated slave.  Feel that twinge? That's good. That's a sign that you sympathize with the dude. And you should. You're playing him. He's one of your characters. Take that twinge, and stoke it. Whatever it takes to make that twinge into heartbreak, do it. If the antagonist comes from a place of pain there is a greater chance of him lasting longer, mostly because you'll be trying very deliberately to keep him alive.

Do. Not. Be. Stupid. About the above paragraph. Everybody has limits. Respect yours. If you accidentally push yourself too far (and that is easy to do) walk it back. Find something that is a little less painful, or at lot. I can't tell you what those limits are, but if you don't know what they are tread lightly, at least at first. You're here to play a part, not to put yourself in a mental ward. I've been there and contrary to popular belief the cookies were not worth it.

Now that the antagonist has a righteous issue with the setting, you need to have that issue generate a need. This should not be a complex need, and it should probably be more than a little emotional. This doesn't mean the antagonist should be emotional, just that what he wants needs to be grounded in something basic, primal, human. Weave this need into everything the character does. And then work out the practical stuff that the antagonist needs in order to realize his goal. So, to continue with the slavery thing, that person wants to free his parents. Oh, but wait! His parents are slaves to the king. Who just happens to be a jerk. So in order to free his parents the antagonist has to overthrow the government. That means he needs a revolution. That means riots, propaganda wars, and destabilizing whole regions and trying to make the king look bad in the process. Or maybe he's just out for assassinating the king, could be he has a successor in mind. 

Of course the next thing is to make sure that all this affects the players' characters. When in doubt as to how to do this make it personal: kidnap or injure loved ones, burn homes to the ground, corrupt allies, whatever it takes to make this guy be hated by the players. Make sure not to antagonize your players, but you had better antagonize their characters. Whatever it takes, do it. It doesn't even have to be something the antagonist does directly, but it could be something indirectly linked to him. While it's bad that the antagonist hurts someone the PCs love, isn't it just a tad bit more tragic to have that person be injured as side result? Sometimes the most heartbreaking things are when it's really nobody's fault, even if the player characters are not so understanding.

Antagonists are some of the most fun a GM can have. You can make problems that the players need to take a moment to stop and think about, which can be a lot of fun. So make sure to key the antagonists into the setting in a way that the players don't like, make sure his needs are simple and primal and sympathetic, while still opposed to the players, and then make sure the players can't avoid this guy. Make sure to respect all the boundaries involved (yours included) and you should get pretty far with what I've outlined.

May the Power Protect You: Adam Park (MMPR Black)

The next few posts are going to be on the second generation of MMPR. I will not cover zords in these posts, as they're relatively self-contained and advising on them wouldn't change terribly much between the differing characters. Yes, these are Kickstarter-exclusive characters. They use the same deck with a different character ability, which changes their playstyle quite a bit. 

Gosh, Adam Park is so much fun to play. Whenever I'm not wanting to play support with Jason (DS or Regular) I get the hankering for tricks and flashy stuff, and Adam fits the bill. He isn't as good at the sweeping stuff that Zack does, but becomes a bursting monster. He's a bit harder to use than Zack, and he doesn't really hit the same highs, but he's far more self-sufficient and is possibly the most utility-based character in the game. And there are players who will find him to be a lot more fun.

Adaptable is possibly my favorite character ability in the whole game, as of the writing of this post. Swapping the top card of your discard pile for whatever you like in your hand is not nearly as situational as you'd think. Chances are if you played the card you really would like to play it again. I mean, why use one Sweeping Strike if you can play two? You control what goes into your discard pile more often than not, and there's nothing stopping you from sniping cards as they get discarded. The ability is so flexible that you can play it any number of ways, almost overwhelmingly so.

Smooth Moves is one of my favorite combos in the game. Play Smooth Moves, swap it out for a card in your hand, and play it again, on the same trigger! That's two energy and four reduced damage from an attack. Having two copies of Smooth moves in your hand turns the craziness all the way up, because rangers may play multiple cards in response to the same trigger, 3 bonus energy and 6 reduced damage. This is the most powerful set of reactions in the game. It's pretty situational, but when it happens Adam can really save the party's bacon. Look out for it, use it, and get the high fives.

Risky Blow and Mammoth Slam become truly fearsome in Adam's hands. Pull Mammoth Slam out of your discard pile to wreck shop, or set up your discard pile with Risky Blow. These two cards, set up together, allow Adam to get his discard pile more quickly and then manipulate it to his advantage. Adam's average damage is going to be higher than most of the other characters, but his nuke damage is never going to be all that high. Adam's damage is nice and constant.

Adam Park is the most consistent damage dealer in the original MMPR. He doesn't spike, but he doesn't have any real low points either. He's super reliable, at the cost of not having any real damage highs. He's a bit risky to play because of his need for a discard pile but he makes up for it by being one of the most reliable characters in the game. If you want to have someone that can do a lot of cool things without necessarily being a damage-dealing monster Adam is perfect.

A special thanks to Jonathan Ying, who clarified a few rules questions that I had and who happens to have excellent taste in Rangers.

Sabina's Castle: Session Twenty-One

Anneli: The female elven main character, played by Andy. Last session she had led a human expedition into the ruins of Argentum Prime, where she had been possessed by The Ghost of a dead prostitute who had been killed by Salomo, her aide. She fought off a bunch of orcs, got run through by one of them, and was rescued by Marian, who had brought her back to their base to recoup. Her unit had been dispersed by The Ghost.

Marian: A human member of Those Who Sailed, who somehow got to the Island of Eternal Youth to make a wish. Marian has appointed Anneli as her successor to the group by giving her a toy sword  that came from her eldest son, Thomas, who is long dead.

Nomi: Anneli's elder sister. She had become a dark elf, had captured one of their friends, and then taken Anneli's toy sword forcibly. She's also been a horrible terror to the humans and killed many of them. They talk of Nomi in hushed whispers.

The Dagger of Betrayal: Presumably a weapon of Leviathan, the Creature Who May Not Be, the Dagger of Betrayal allows one to control the person who is stabbed by it. Spar had been given one to stab into the back of Tara. He had died in that attempt.


Anneli was back in Dream. She was in an open field, with an enormous tree next to her. On the branch sat a small White Bat. It spoke to her with a surprisingly deep voice. Anneli needed to save a friend who was in deep trouble, and there was no time to waste. The White Bat told her he didn't know exactly who it was, but promised that it would help her defeat Nomi.

Anneli wasn't convinced. This was Dream, after all, and the White Bat was clearly in control. How did Anneli know she could trust him? A hole opened in Dream and Marian poked her head in. She looked relieved to see Anneli, who had just gotten up and left in the middle of the night. Anneli was suspicious, but Marian coaxed her out of Dream; she could see right through herself. Anneli took a good hard look at Marian but it didn't appear to be a trick. Marian explained she had been in Dream before. It was a strange place, but Anneli could trust what happened in there as actually occurring. Marian promised to be there when Anneli returned. So Anneli stepped back through.

Anneli realized that she had her sword strapped to her side. The White Bat told her that her friend was to the south. Anneli followed him as he flew. The White Bat told her she would need to climb a fence. An enormous wall materialized in front of her. Anneli found she could put her hands into the wall, and so she began to climb. The wall grabbed her foot and she couldn't move. The White Bat asked her if she was going to move. Anneli began to yank her foot and found herself singing an elven mariner's song. The wall became a gigantic rigging; Anneli got a nasty cut as she yanked her foot free. She continued to climb.

When she got down Anneli found herself looking up at an enormous castle, with a moat and bridge. And hornets. Enormous, lazy hornets. There were a ton of hornet nests built into the castle. The sound of their wings was physically painful, but Anneli was able to withstand it. At the end of the drawbridge was a small door. Anneli crossed the bridge, drew her sword, and began to hack at it, commanding the door to open. The Ghost took over and hornets began to gather. Seeing the hornets The Ghost screamed and threw herself into the moat. When Anneli got control back she found herself in the water, surrounded by gigantic wasps. Anneli dove, but didn't get a very good breath and came up too soon. She received a number of extremely painful stings. Pulling out her sword she killed three while treading water, and the rest flew off, not wanting to deal with so energetic a target.

Anneli pulled herself up on the bank, and found herself wishing for more cover. Trees and bushes appeared around the castle, providing cover from the hornets. As she walked by a rock a green hand reached out from under it and grabbed her ankle. The Ghost came out again, drew Anneli's sword, and began stabbing the troll that came out from under the rock, right in the face.

The troll had a bow tie on. He was also asking (politely, between yelps) for the stabbing to cease and desist.

When Anneli regained control she could not apologize enough. The troll was pretty good-natured and forgave easily enough. It helps when wounds regenerate so quickly. He asked what she was doing and she told him she was looking to rescue her friend, at the guidance of The White Bat. The Troll asked why she hadn't said so before?  He and The White Bat were good friends, and for a long time! The White Bat flew down and congratulated Anneli for getting this far and seeing The Troll. They took her right in the hacked down front door, down the stairs that were in the front hall.

They went to one of the dungeons, where Anneli found herself drawing her sword. Nomi was neck deep in a gigantic wasp hive, hands holding an object.

It was a Dagger of Betrayal

Lore note: The profane objects known as Daggers of Betrayal were known to the elves in their elder days as instruments of slavery, used by the Khen-Zai to force an elf to do something he refused to do. The elves despise Daggers of Betrayal on an almost genetic level.

Anneli asked The White Bat what that was doing in Nomi's hand. The White Bat told her to ask Nomi herself. Anneli threatened revenge, no matter how small, if The White Bat was showing her a lie. The White Bat promised this was the truth. He wasn't pulling any strings. Nomi had come to them, not the other way around. Nomi had sealed herself into the hive. The White Bat merely observed.

Hesitantly, Anneli approached Nomi; Nomi's eyes were glazed over and her lips were moving. Anneli couldn't make it out. She asked who had hurt Nomi.

No response.

Anneli screamed at her sister, who finally noticed her. She croaked out the words "I won't. I won't."

Anneli cut off the hand that held the Dagger of Betrayal.

She woke up in Argentum Prime, next to Marian, who was very happy to see that Anneli had made it out. Marian pointed out that Nomi was on a nearby hill of debris. Marian had not been noticed, and Marian had made no effort to make contact. She asked if Anneli wanted to talk with her sister. If so, Marian had her covered, and her hands glowed as she spoke.

As she got closer Anneli was shown a most wretched sight. Nomi's clothes hung bag-like on her frame. Her hair was falling out and her lips were cracked. Her eyes, so bloodshot there were hardly any whites to them, were staring into the ground. In one hand was the toy sword. In the other was a Dagger of Betrayal. Anneli reached for the toy sword. Nomi's grip became a vice. And all of a sudden she shot a deathly look at Anneli.

But then she smiled.

A real smile.

Like she used to. Anneli couldn't even recall the last time she had seen it.

And she let go of the toy sword.

Anneli knocked the Dagger out of Nomi's hand. Nomi pitched backwards, into Anneli's waiting arms. Nomi had always been far heavier than she looked; she was even lighter than her frame suggested. Nomi asked if she had succeeded. Was Anneli free of the Dagger? Had she been stabbed with it? Anneli told her it was on the ground, far away. And Nomi began to shake. A barking noise came from her lips; her throat and eyes were too dry for anything else. Anneli wondered if Nomi would break all her ribs, she sobbed so hard. Nomi stroked Anneli's hair as she shook, weakly tensing and relaxing her grip on it. She whispered that she just wanted Anneli to see the world as she remembered it, before their continent had become the Ring of Tears. For hundreds of years it had been her only goal. But when the dark elf cult she was a part of had given her the Dagger to use on Anneli, so that way they could get her wish at the Island of Eternal Youth? Nomi couldn't do it. So she took the toy sword, hoping to find the Island on her own. But the sword had to be given, and it wasn't, and so she couldn't leave, but she couldn't stay either.

Anneli called Marian over and put her sister into Marian's arms. Nomi's eyes were too weak to see Anneli that far away, and she called out for her baby sister, over and over, bony hands flapping in the still air.

Anneli couldn't answer.

She told Marian she had hoped Nomi had been coerced, forced, that it wasn't her sister's fault. And the truth was so much more complicated that that. Regardless, Anneli needed to return to the fort. As she turned to leave Marian blurted that once, a very long time ago, she had searched for a Dagger, but could not find one. Had she found one at that point she would not have hesitated, unlike Nomi. Daggers of Betrayal had to be used by someone who knew the victim; you stabbed a random person the sheer malice in the dagger would turn back upon the user, transforming them into something monstrous. Marian told Anneli, between tears and gritted teeth, that whatever Anneli thought, the fact was that Nomi still had something in her.

Anneli told Marian she didn't know what to think. Regardless, she had to get back.

The Undertow: Session Five

Mikansia: the main character, a female sword singer elf played by Lena. Last session Mikansia finally met her father, the vile Krakeru. Entranced, she asked him to show her The Music, a term for a mysterious phenomenon that Krakeru raved about. Krakeru's response was to rape his own daughter. And then bring down the ship that Captain Akseli and Firstsword Yngvar were using to defend Elfwatch.

Elfwatch: the human fort that was set up to watch over Elfharrow. Last session the dark elves took advantage of the tunnel system beneath the fort to launch a surprise attack. They were driven back, but not before killing a number of humans, setting fire to several buildings, and causing general mayhem. They've now begun a siege of Elfwatch.

Captain Akseli: Mikansia's superior commander sword singer, from The White Tower. He had flown down with Firstsword Yngvar to find Mikansia after she had deserted the sword singers to find Krakeru. He comforted Mikansia in the wake of the rape and has since become an emotional bedrock to the young elf. He claims to have known Makirta, Mikansia's mother, but has said nothing more about it.


Two weeks passed. The tunnels beneath Elfwatch were collapsed. The dark elves began their siege and everyone hunkered down. Mikansia, Captain Akseli, and Firstword Yngvar were treated as officers, with their own rooms, as representatives of The White Tower. No other elves had survived the crash. Supplies weren't gone yet, but the grain was in a bad spot, and so what wasn't fit to eat was made into everclear for the enlisted soldiers; Mikansia always kept a stash in her room. It helped her sleep at night.

One day, as she was leaving a briefing in the evening with Captain Akseli and FS Yngvar, she heard the Music. She knew it immediately. It was coming from Renough, the General's aide. Mikansia gasped and fell against a nearby wall. She couldn't move. Renough ran to her, asking if she was alright. The Music got louder. Captain Akseli and Firstsword Yngvar came running. Captain Akseli picked up Mikansia, while Firstsword Yngvar menaced the distressed Renough. Captain Akseli hurried back to Mikansia's room. Mikansia thought about resisting how comforting he was, but couldn't bring herself to do so. She shouldn't need comforting. Soldiers move on. She shouldn't need any comforting, from anyone.

Captain Akseli gently fished the key out of Mikansia's pocket, opened the door, and stepped over the threshold and the hot mess that was Mikansia's room and tucked her in. Mikansia tried to get up, but Captain Akseli gently told her to rest. He asked if Renough had attacked her. She shook her head, not sure if she was going to tell him about The Music or not. She decided to hold that back, for now, as she'd already had a moment of craziness in front of him. So much was already in doubt about who she was and her place with the sword singers, why complicate it further by telling the captain about The Music, at least yet? So she said nothing. Captain Akseli stood up and called Mikansia to attention. She stood up, surprised. He told her to take the rest of the night off.

He left.

She went and drank all the alcohol in her stash. She wasn't drunk enough to sleep.  So she went out, to the bar, and sat down. On her way she heard the whispers about her and smiled as someone stood up to defend her honor. A fat hair lady by the name of Emsa ran the bar, and she was happy to see Mikansia. She pulled out a fresh new  batch of everclear for Mikansia and they talked awhile. Mikansia and Emsa complained about what pigs the men of the fort were. Seeing that Mikansia was having an especially bad night, Emsa lightly touched Mikansia's wrist.

Mikansia didn't realize that she had stood up hurriedly and swatted Esma's hand off.

She could hear other patrons shouting at her, and her other wrist was grabbed. It wasn't gentle. She drew one of her daggers and swung, fortunately only hitting air.  Everyone had begun to back out as she held the dagger out in front of her. And then she heard The Music again. There was Renough, peaking around someone. He bolted for the door.

Mikansia caught Renough just outside the bar, grabbed him, and pulled him around the corner, out of general knoweldge. She demanded to know how he made The Music happen, and he realized that she could hear it too, much to his relief. She realized he was scared and aroused, just like her. She was one hair's breath from killing him. Renough told her he would do what the voices in the music demanded: kill the General of the fort. Mikansia heard someone coming, so she let Renough go.

Mikansia went and sobered up before going to see Captain Akseli. She told him about The Music and how Renough was being turned to kill the General. Captain Akseli ran out to alert the General.

Mikansia was alone. Again.

Mikansia tried not to go back out. But she wasn't drunk enough to be able to get rid of the nightmares. So she headed back out. On her way to the bar she ran into a group of human men, all of them dead drunk. One of them looked at her, and there was a sorrow in both of them that made them stop.

Everyone else moved on.

The man told Mikansia about his friend, who had jumped off of the wall earlier that day, in an effort to kill himself. So many dark elf arrows had hit him that he never touched the ground. The man tripped and Mikansia caught him. He stank of everclear. All of a sudden he hugged her. It was tender. He felt safe. So did she. Looking into her eyes he told her she was somehow hurting worse than he was. He pulled a huge bottle out of his jacket. He asked her if she knew of a place that was quiet. He didn't want to be in a crowded and noisy place that night.

As they groped about in the dark Mikansia found him awkward. And bumbling. And smelly. He asked for her name; she froze. He said that where he came from, way down south in the Fer Kingdoms, that it was good manners to know what the girl's name was. She said he didn't need to know. And then she showed him.

The morning came. Mikansia woke up, vulnerable and alone. Her head ached. There came FS Yngvar's knock. Stumbling, Mikansia covered herself with a robe, after cleaning up.

It didn't matter. Firstsword Yngvar knew with but a look. He was disgusted. He told her that Renough, who had been captured last night, had begged to see her. Captain Akseli, busy with other matters, had requested that Mikansia go see Renough; the Firstsword told her it wasn't actually a suggestion, so far as he was concerned.  As he turned to leave he told Mikansia to clean up some more. She needed to be presentable, after all.

As Mikansia left her room "One Night" stumbled into her. He apologized profusely: he hadn't meant to leave her that morning, but he had woken up late for his guard shift and had to hurry. This was his first break and he had come to explain himself. Mikansia told him there was nothing to explain; it didn't matter if he had been there or not. She hurried away.

When Mikansia got to the prison she could hear The Music again. Renough was relieved to see her. Captain Akseli had walked in, not even a minute previous. He asked her if she could still hear The Music coming off of Renough, and Mikansia confirmed she could. Renough tried to get her sympathy, begging for help, but Mikansia had a panic attack when he mentioned the night the elven ship had crashed and Krakeru had screamed; that was when Renough had started hearing The Music, and he wanted to know why. Mikansia found she was being walked past the guards by Captain Akseli. Furious at herself for once again being a mess in front of Akseli, she tried to pull herself together. As she worked to calm herself again "One Night" came running. He asked Captain Akseli what was wrong with Mikansia, and was told not so politely by both of them where he could stick his concern.

There was shouting back inside the prison.

The cell was covered in blood.

Renough had been brought food. He'd grabbed the fork they'd given him and stabbed it into his throat repeatedly. The Music was gone. Mikansia's body relaxed. She turned on the guards and asked how they could be so incompetent. One of them retorted she should go have another panic attack, maybe go screw another one of his buddies too? He was one of the "One Night"'s companions from the previous evening. Captain Akseli flew off the handle, accusing the guard of disrespect and slander. His commander would hear about this! Walking out behind him Miksansia told the guard with an cold glare that it would be tragic if he spread that story any farther.

And for one second her eyes, if she could have seen them in a mirror, would have reminded her of Krakeru's. She caught up with Captain Akseli outside. Firstsword Yngvar came walking up and Captain Akseli fumed at him for a few minutes about the disrespect humans seemed to have. Firstsword Yngvar shot Mikansia a look, but said nothing. She left them to their counsels.

She bumped into "One Night" again. He said he didn't want to bother her, but he thought the last night was special. They had connected, he had felt it, and he just wanted to make sure he wasn't crazy. It was his first time, after all, and he was glad it was with her. Mikansia, gently as she could, told him the night was nice, but that was all it was. She walked away. She did not look back.

Risk Legacy: War Five

So we now have the drafting rules, which means that instead of going first based off of a role, everyone has to choose between the following: turn order, placement order, how many coin cards, and faction choice.

Matt: 2nd turn, 8 toops, 4th in placement, 0 coin cards, Khan Industries, started in Western United States
Logan: Mutants, 2nd placement, 8 troops, 1 coin card, 4th turn, started in Central Africa
Ben: 1st placement, 10 troops, 3rd turn, Enclave of the Bear, 2 coin cards, started in Southeast Asia
Nathan: Imperial Balkania, 1st turn, 6 troops, 3rd placement, 0 coin cards, started in Ural

Year One
Imperial Balkania changed the culture of Russia, permanently, making them a full military culture. They expanded into Yakutsk (which had the city called The Phillipines) and Afghanistan (named city here). They reaped the resources from the cities that they could. Khan Industries took over all of North America. Enclave of the Bear took all of Australia and Afghanistan from Imperial Balkania. Khan Industries permanently radiation poisoned East Australia. The Mutants took all of Africa, glorying in the fallout wasteland that was North Africa.

Year Two
 Imperial Balkania took Siberia and Kamchatka and then tried to break into Alaska, but failed. They then took Scandinavia. Khan Industries took Kamchatka, Yakutsk, and Siberia from Imperial Balkania, but couldn't take Ural and the HQ that was there. Enclave of the Bear took China and Mongolia, and then took Kamchatka and Alaska from Khan Industries. The Mutants, whose brains somehow evolved in the face of all the radiation of North Africa, took all of South America.

Year Three
Imperial Balkania took Afghanistan back from Enclave of the Bear. The two factions then forged an agreement to leave each other alone and pursue their own agendas. Ural was reinforced. Khan Industries tried to take back Alaska from Enclave of the Bear, but failed. Central America was then reinforced, in anticipation of the incoming Mutant invasion. Enclave of the Bear, who had been quietly gathering resources, revealed a surprising number of armies and began a campaign against The Mutants. Down went Egypt, the freshly bunkered East Africa (which required two missile salvos to take down), Madagascar, South Africa, and then Central Africa (along with the HQ in it). The Mutants took back Central Africa and their HQ, but reinforced Venezuela. An upsurge in popularity gave Enclave of the Bear even more volunteers, which they used to reinforce their forces.

Year Four
 Imperial Balkania expanded into all of Europe. Khan Industries took back Alaska, at great cost, and then went back into Kamchatka. They then attacked and took Icleand. They then put their forces into Greenland. Imperial Balkania attempted diplomacy, calling them out for the uncalled-for attack. but their entreaties were ignored. Enclave of the Bear attacked but were driven back in a hail of missile fire. They retook Central America from The Mutants, regaining that HQ. The Mutants broke into Central America and tried to take the Western United States, which was Khan Industries' HQ, but lost. They then withdrew back to Venezuela.

Year Five
Imperial Balkania retook Iceland. Khan Industries retook Central America and Iceland, with heavy losses. Enclave of the Bear took Siberia, Yakutsk, and Kamchatka from Khan Industries. The Mutants retook Central America, put a huge force in North Africa, and then reinforced Venezuela.

Year Six
Imperial Balkania summoned a small, but effective, surprise fighting force. They retook Greenland, with heavy losses, but then took Greenland, Ontario, and then the Western United States (which is where Khan Industries' HQ was). Khan Industries took Western United States and Ontario back, but the damage was done. Enclave of the Bear, pulling out more volunteers from seemingly nowhere,  took advantage of Khan Industries' weakness and took Alaska, Alberta, and then the Western United States. Wearied, everyone ended the war.

South America became known as The Mutant Defense.

Everyone simmered in their faux peace.

It's Still on the Shelf: Star Wars RPG (Fantasy Flight)

So I was talking with a buddy of mine who was considering playing in a one-shot I'm planning. I had originally pitched White Hack at him, but it wasn't heavy enough for his tastes. So he asked me what games I had. And if I could list them. And describe them. I looked over at my bookshelves and groaned inwardly.  This is something of an answer.

What is it: The Star Wars RPG line from Fantasy Flight Games is actually a "trio" of books, each of which handle the three implied settings of Star Wars: criminals, war, and the Force. It's expensive. It's over the top. It probably couldn't have been handled in one book? I don't know? Point is, they're divvied up. You pick the setting you want and move on. Or, if you're like me, you sigh from the depths of your soul and 180 bucks later???

The Star Wars games rely upon using unique dice, which help add some granularity to the action going on. It's not quite as simple as you succeed or fail, but you are instead consulting the dice kinda like a seer who consults the bones from some pagan culture or whatnot. It usually takes a minute, which is fine by me. I don't mind heavier dice mechanics, but your mileage may vary. As you decipher the symbols and realize what just happened, the players and the GM begin to talk it over. The players get to decide what any advantage gained from the roll does, while the GM gets to decide the disadvantage. Both sides have veto power. There's also a Destiny Point economy, where you can fudge in differing things into the game, as well as influence dice rolls. It's intended to be very subtle, one point at a time, but I always took that limit off and players seemed to have a much better time with ti. There's not a lot of guidelines to any of this, per se, but there are plenty of examples that one can measure against in the books.

It's this lack of advice that ultimately make the game a pain to run. You're supposed to award people XP, but it took a long time of me searching the book and going onto a forum to find out exactly how much and for what the players were supposed to get XP for... which as it turned out was whatever the heck I wanted to award them for. Which is fine, but it took far too long for me to get to the intent of the system for such an important thing.  So, if you're going to use the book, make sure to take this paragraph in mind and have a pretty clear list of things players can get XP for!

Why I haven't played it lately: Honestly? I don't find it scratches the Star Wars itch. For me Star Wars is about the interactions of tradition and the collective with the individual in their particular place in history. It's about the characters' search to fit within that framework. Yeah, there's lots of fun action and fiddly bits and whatnot, but those things serve the narrative, they are not the narrative itself.

That and Burning Wheel exists. You have to be able to compete with that level of janky, complex, unique gaming before  I really take notice anymore. FFG Star Wars just doesn't. It runs fine, once you figure out that you're just supposed to make everything up as you go along. Heck, I'd probably use the Career hooks to incentivize the players if I ever ran it again. But it's just not enough. Not for now.

Why's it still on my shelf?? I still like looking through the books, and I still have Star Wars games in mind, and some day I'll probably want to go back to it. We'll see. For the moment I'm at where I am with Burning Wheel. That is enough for the moment.

Risk Legacy: War Four

Matt- Khan Industries, starting in Indonesia
Ben- Die Mechaniker, starting in Brazil
Nathan- Imperial Balkania, starting in Madagascar
Logan- Enclave of the Bear, starting in Alaska

Year One
Khan Industries expanded into all of Australia, and then took Southeast Asia. Die Mechaniker took all of South America, as well as North Africa. Imperial Balkania took all of Africa and conquered North Africa. Enclave of the Bear came down from Alaska and took Venezuela from Die Mechaniker.

Year Two
Khan Industries blitzkrieged across Asia, took Egypt, East Africa, South Africa, and then Madagascar, cutting the head off of Imperial Balkania. Die Mechaniker reinforced itself and stayed put. Imperial Balkania retook East Africa, but could not regain Madagascar. Khan Industries managed to drum up more troops than expected in South Africa. Enclave of the Bear took Peru from Die Mechaniker, and then took almost all of North America. This surge of expansion allowed them to gain even more troops, which were used to fortify their armies.

Year Three
Khan Industries, bolstered by their successes, completely kicked Imperial Balkania out of Africa, and they gained even more armies for their trouble! Die Mechaniker reinforced itself, refusing to move. Imperial Balkania reformed in Ural and then took Afghanistan, specifically for the city of Borderlands. Having pulled itself out of nothing, Balkania leveraged the resources of the city it had taken to prop itself up further. Enclave of the Bear took all of North America and then reinforced Greenland.

Year Four
Khan Industries, having taken all of the resources from Imperial Balkania, leveraged them into more resources. They then attacked Die Mechaniker in Brazil, at their HQ, and took it over. But Die Mechaniker wasn't finished yet. In their secret bunkers they had made a nuclear device. As they went down, Die Mechaniker pushed the big red button.

North Africa was reduced to an irradiated hellscape. The people who survived the hellfire that rained down on them, mutated beyond belief, swore revenge against Die Mechaniker. The world watched in horror as they spread through the world.

The world rallied, as they usually do after a horrific war. NEW Brazil was founded in Brazil, Zombieland in East Africa, and Barbie in East Australia. Politics became more prevalent than it ever had before, because nuclear war was simply not an option. Not again. Never again.

How to GM: Safety and Difficult Content

Safety is a bit of buzzword in the RPG world at the moment. Lots and lots of games being released these days have at least one discussion on safety and everyone being welcome and all that. Bleak Spirit, one of my favorite games, has a seemingly constant barrage of "Make sure everyone is welcome and feeling safe!", and Pathfinder 2e has a pretty constant stream of it as well, at least in comparison to what's in been past RPG products. I'm sure there's more, but I'm not buying a constant stream of RPGs, so I will not pretend to an encyclopedic knowledge of the current industry.

I'm not entirely sympathetic to the barrage that I'm perceiving.

Notice that I didn't say that making sure that people feel safe in your games is bad. I just get a little tired of reading a constant "Are you guys treating each other well??" That's not the job of a book. Or the writer of the game. Or really anyone not you. That's your job. You should be treating each other well, whether you're playing a game or walking or eating or whatever. That's not a game discussion, that's an ethics discussion. You should have a moral core, regardless of what you're doing. Games are not an excuse to be a dick. Having an escape with your friends is not an excuse to mistreat them.

Has it sunk in yet?

Good!

We're done here.

Oh.

Right.

The tag on this blog post reads advice. My bad.

I'm going to have to do a session zero post someday. I keep talking about it, but I'm lazy. The point is that you should do a session zero with your players and hash everything out, by and large. Everyone should have already told you what they were interested in playing, even if it meant just them saying they wanted to play a paladin and they don't want to come up with a backstory, so the character has amnesia.

Now, most of the time people are going to come up with rather innocuous ideas of what they want to do narratively, to the point to where I don't think the discussion on safety even needs to come up. If you're playing in a group of friends this should not need to be discussed.

Oh, how I wish I could leave it at that.

We all have one of those folks: y'know, the one who's a bit of jerk and we really don't like them but for some odd reason you keep them around. I do not recommend playing with those people, flat. Not only that, but I recommend you tell them that, to their face. Politely. But do tell them. "I don't want to play with you. You make me uncomfortable". Or some variation thereof. Don't be a jerk. Don't call them a jerk. But it is important that sorta thing get hashed out. RPGs are a form of entertainment. They are not supposed to be a minefield. And if they make you uncomfortable it's not on you to ignore that. If someone is showing narcissistic tendencies or is an alcoholic (functioning or not!) or the like you are not obligated to play with them.

And there's those players. They're interested in exploring kinda weird stuff, and their tastes are darker than the average players'. The good variety of these folks are perfectly fine. They've got more than a few dark impulses, but they're generally respectful enough. And sometimes they'll want to explore darker stuff. So long as they're upfront about it and everyone is in on it there is absolutely no issue with it. For those players I highly recommend the veils and lines ideas that the safety folks have come up with. Veils are events that everyone says "Yup, that happened, let's not speak more about it!" and then fade to black. Lines are things that you just do not let happen in the game, ever. It does not matter where people think the narrative should go, a line is a bloody friggin' line. Make sure that everyone knows what needs to fade to black and what will not be discussed, ever, ever. As in, have everyone verbally acknowledge it at the table, with everyone else present. If you want to make a list do so, but most of the time people don't seem to need the reminder if someone says "No killing puppies please". Take the time to establish this stuff. If it's the right kind of player you will get no arguments from them. In fact they're generally quite happy to do so!

But then there's the bad variety of those players. They're not interested in having fun, even if it means darker themes and materials. They want an excuse to hurt and torture. They derive pleasure from hurting people in the game and/or at the table. Those players do exist.  I've met them. They made my skin crawl. And I never played with them again. At the time I was just starting to play, and had anxieties about not meeting another group of people. I'm so glad I did not let that stop me. If you're in that position, do not let it stop you. It's far better to not be playing and to be safe than having a game where you genuinely wonder for your sanity. And, if you misjudged and someone like that winds up in your game, kick them out immediately. Don't just pull the trigger on a whim, but if someone is out to do harm you owe it  to yourself and your players to get rid of the troublemaker.

Now, how do you actually approach content that's been flagged as problematic with your group? Because sometimes the narrative does indeed go that way. Not too long ago Mikansia, Lena's character, was raped. Lena and I had talked about exploring darker themes before, so this didn't just come out of the blue. The session was not intended to go that way, but it did. We established that the rape happened, got the relevant details from that encounter out of the way as quickly as possible, and then we checked in on each other. Questions like "Are you OK? That was a lot" were thrown around. And we were honest about whether or not we really were OK! That's important. And we got a really incredible moment that proceeded from it, with Akseli and Mikansia forging a father-daughter bond. So check in with your players, and let them check in on you! You're a player, just like them, and you should not be toughing out this sorta thing alone. You are not alone.

One last thing. Safety doesn't necessarily mean just the stuff that y'all have in your heads or on paper or whatever. Sometimes stuff just happens at the table. Session Eighteen of The Giggling Dark, where a young child was twisted and corrupted into a revenant, was originally going to end quite differently. The revenant was going to win, Sir Xellous' wife was going to die, and Sir Xellous was going to be left for dead. Ryan did not like this, not one bit. He told me I was being bloodthirsty, that my twists were just too punishing, and that I was constantly invalidating his choices. I hadn't realized I was doing that. I apologized, explained (but did not excuse) myself, and then we went back and redid one of the key rolls, which Ryan had failed. I had forgotten about an advantage he should have gotten. So we redid the roll, with the advantage in there. Ryan made the roll, and everything changed after that point. These interpersonal mistakes are going to happen. When they do, it's your job to acknowledge that you hurt your friend (regardless of whether you know them well or not) and to act with that in mind. Ryan didn't mind the dark ending. He minded that I had taken his agency in the game away, however unintentionally. I hadn't intended that. So we made sure he got it.

 Safety is something that I really wish that I didn't have to talk about. It really should be a no-brainer. But role-playing games are interpersonal, and people suck at this sort of stuff, even when they mean well! So make sure that everyone is on the right page, that you don't let (or keep) bad apples in your game, make sure that troubling in-game incidents are handled with care, and make sure that all of your players are treated as the best of friends. There's a lot more on this can be said, but I think this is a pretty good introduction to the topic. Be patient with yourself, especially with stuff like this.

EDIT: So, aslum on Reddit had kindly informed me about the Veils and Lines doc, which was something I was unaware of. This isn't the original doc, but it's still pretty awesome. Thanks for the correction!