Torchbearer's Narrative Possibilities: A Story of Discovery

Part of the issue that I've always had with designing dungeons is I've never actually understood them. Don't get me wrong, I like playing in them. I'm a huge Zelda fan, and I will someday complete the first Dark Souls, and let's be honest, the dungeons in Skyrim are addictive. But whenever I sit down to actually work out a dungeon I get stuck. And that means my dungeons have always sucked. No, I don't mean the players liking them (mostly) and me just nitpicking. They're outright disasters! And my narrative leanings were so dissatisfied with them that I usually wouldn't try again for a long time.

At first I just thought my problem was technique. So I looked up everything I could on the technicals of dungeon design, castlevania design in particular. And I learned a thing or two that I know will work down the line. But when I showed some of my designs to Andy he responded back that they felt hollow, more like a bad video game level than a dungeon. I knew it wasn't the principles that I had grabbed from what I had read was the problem, because I had noticed those principles (guiding by making soft keys, layout, using mechanics to lay out a theme for the dungeon) were also in good TTRPG dungeons. There was something ephemeral that I was missing, and I knew it. So I shelved the designs (especially Kobold Hall, a place that I will return to) and sat on it for awhile. I had Burning Wheel games going on and knew that I needed to keep my focus there. I figured the answer would present itself in time.

It didn't. I grew impatient.

At one point Thor and Luke ran an AMA on Reddit, so I thought I would ask for the Torchbearer equivalent of The Adventure Burner, hoping that I could get the insight from it that I had originally gotten for Burning Wheel. Thor, understandably, told me that wasn't much of an option and that he thought Mordite Press had it covered.

I devoured their articles. I was still stumped.

Now, at this point I'm sitting there going "Jeez, it's not these people, it's me!" There was some unspoken experience of a dungeon that they had that I was simply not hearing. Like with Burning Wheel before it, there was something crucial missing in my own experiences that meant I could not hear what they were telling me. I could feel a part of me not hearing them. And it frustrated me. I stopped reading. I went back to Burning Wheel, focusing on the narrative that I knew how to do.  I figured the answer would present itself in time.

Oof, I would have to wait awhile. Fortunately Andy, Ryan, and Bryna are awesome gamers and I got lost in our campaigns. And who can blame me? They're friggin' awesome games and I'm ridiculously proud of them. I personally think a good GM takes their inner darkness, channels it, and makes it something constructive, something that others can interact with in a meaningful and positive way. And I feel like I'm finally starting to do that: make problems that are personal, important, and human. I've a long way to go as a GM but I'd be lying if I wasn't actively improving because of those three games. But my failure at making good dungeons just kept poking at the back of my mind. I ignored it, focusing on what I knew how to do.

And then just earlier today, at the time of this writing, it just dropped into my lap.

Someone on Reddit linked to a dungeon generator, which he claimed to be pretty good. I started looking through it. Maybe I could get inspired! And I was, but not in the way the dungeon generator intended. There were two major features of this generator: the mission statement and the layout. The mission statement grabbed me: it always stated what the place was, and then stated who was just then occupying it and why. And it clicked. I don't know why it did, but it clicked!

Dungeons are the intersection of the past and present.

Someone built the structure. Their story, and its downfall, are part of that structure. Maybe someone ran in and killed everyone and you see bodies everywhere, or skeletons, or what have you. But there is a story, a narrative, about that place. It's why I find Dark Souls so interesting, because as you walk through its dungeons you can feel the history, the story, about that place. Most of the important items are placed on corpses, or in chests that were clearly meant to be guarded by the creatures in front of them. But the original people are lost to memory. All you have about them know are the buildings that they left behind.  What they valued, who they were, are a part of the structure. They were made in response to certain problems they were facing at the time. All of those things at that time are gone, or usually are, and just the structure remains, now archaic and mysterious. Why did they design a staircase that turned in the Lakebed Temple in Twilight Princess? Or the Duke's Archives? What function did it serve? Whatever it was, it's not what it's used for in those games.

But then there's who's in the structure now. The previous story, the dungeon, has something in common with the new story. The new folks may or may not know what caused the previous story to end so badly, but they're here now, trying to adapt the structure, the old story, to their needs. How and if they are accomplishing that is part of the structure now. And that's before we get into how long it's been since the structure was initially abandoned.  You apply these two narratives (time passing and what the current inhabitants are doing with it) on top of the old one, and presto! You have pressure cooker that blows up when the players wander in, trying to survive. And, in their attempts to just get a quick buck, they have to become heroes. They need to end the conflict that they had no part of.

The players enter a secret world, one which very little to do with the one where they were outcasts, and become something far more. But they still have to eat. And the outside world doesn't know what they're turning into, and they don't care, not one bit. Overtime a NeverWhere effect is achieved; you become the heroes of this Old London of sorts, with its own ecosystem and stories and all things that have fragmented, corroded, rotted away. And, by coming and making peace with those things, you make it into something new, whether it that you are allowing it to pass peacefully, murdered, or to integrate with the world above.

Funny what one can get out of just a few lines of text, ain't it?

Please don't ask why the hell it took me over 15 years to figure that out. Just don't.

The Giggling Dark: Session Twenty-Two

Sir Xellous: The fourteen-year old main character, played by Kurlak. Recently he, Telos, Kora, and Ikuinen Lampo had a meeting with elves, at midnight. The elves were to scout out a planet that had a fusion generator, so that way Ikuinen Lampo, his sworn star, could be in her Epiphany Form, which could allow her to defend their planet directly.

Kora: Sir Xellous' wife. She had been raped by her father, Altous, and carried his child, named Gerard, to term. She had been kidnapped and completely mindwiped by the Khen-Zai, something that Sir Xellous is wanting to reverse. But first the planet has to be secure. No, he hasn't told her yet.

Prime Minister Komas: The man who had gotten Sir Xellous into his first meeting with King Varlur... a bit too easily. He married Kora after she had been dropped off in the city, alone and with amnesia.

Telos: A man from another planet. He has contacts across the whole solar system, apparently.

Ikuinen Lampo: The star of the province Khouria. She had selected Sir Xellous to be her knight.

Threen: Kora's mother. She had been forced by the Khen-Zai to drown her firstborn son, Charles, in a river. She's alone in Khouria.

The next morning Sir Xellous went to his morning audience with King Varlur. Prime Minister Komas stood at the King's right... and beside him stood Kora, pale and trembling. King Varlur was furious. Sir Xellous tried to scan the King's aura, only to find someone was trying to catch him doing it.  Sir Xellous managed to get just enough of a read to know just how angry the King was, but not enough to get beyond the merest hint of a guess. The King was out for his blood, that much was clear.

Sir Xellous asked what the nature of the meeting was. King Varlur, knuckles white from gripping the arms of his throne, informed Sir Xellous that he and Kora had been seen at a midnight rendezvous with strangers to the kingdom and had then walked through several locations, some of which they could not be followed through, where they had stayed for awhile. They were accused of treason, adultery, and the humiliation of the Prime Minister! Sir Xellous asked if he could talk with the King, in private.

King Varlur, pale, stood up, walked down from his dais to Sir Xellous and backhanded him so hard that blood flew out of his mouth, knocking him over. Standing over him, King Varlur excoriated Sir Xellous for presuming upon the royal kindness. This was a formal investigation of Sir Xellous and that harlot-

Sir Xellous was back up, yelling at the top his lungs that if King Varlur called his wife a harlot one more time...

Everyone gasped as Kora fainted, right into Prime Minister Komas' arms!

King Varlur was surprised but he didn't flinch. He asked if this was indeed the wife Sir Xellous had told him about. Sir Xellous nodded.

Prime Minister Komas, still holding the unconscious Kora, came down the dais, screaming at Sir Xellous. He demanded immediate proof of their marriage. Telos elbowed his way through the crowd and confirmed Sir Xellous' story, saying that Ikuinen Lampo and Kora's mother, Threen (who was still back in the province of Khouria) could provide further proof. Soldiers were dispatched. But that wasn't good enough for Prime Minister Komas. Gerard was his, he  had found Kora, had found a new life because of her and Gerard. Sir Xellous retorted that he clearly hadn't put himself in Sir Xellous' shoes. He really had tried to keep his mouth shut, but he couldn't keep his broken heart to himself, not anymore. Telos asked King Varlur to move this meeting into a more private setting. The King agreed. Court was adjourned.

Kora was moved to a nearby bedroom and laid down. Komas sat next to her, head in his hands. Ikuinen Lampo was summoned. King Varlur asked her how long she had known Sir Xellous. With the flush of Genevieve's cheeks she revealed she had the ability to know everyone person in her territory, so she had known Sir Xellous his whole life, and the same was true of Kora. She confirmed Sir Xellous and Kora's marriage, and gave the exact day the astrologers had married them in her observatory. Prime Minister Komas did the math and asked if Gerard was actually a legitimized bastard. Sir Xellous delicately told him that Gerard was conceived in a horrific tragedy, and left it at that. Prime Minister Komas checked out after that.

King Varlur asked what the meeting at midnight had been about, and Sir Xellous, Telos, and Ikuinen Lampo explained the plan to find a power source to keep Lampo in her Epiphany Form indefinitely. King Varlur asked why Telos couldn't just go with Lampo; the King had received a vow of fealty from Sir Xellous, after all, and  Telos was clearly capable and wise. Telos told the King that Sir Xellous was Ikuinen Lampo's sworn knight, a greater honor than being any King's sworn, and that Sir Xellous was the one who could protect Ikuinen Lampo the best. Sir Xellous agreed; he was sworn to the protection of the whole planet, not just the kingdom, and he needed to do his duty. Ikuinen Lampo only said three words: "I need him", blushed, and said nothing more. King Varlur relented; Sir Xellous would go with them, to the forsaken planet, once the elves returned from their reconnaissance.  But once this was over he wanted Sir Xellous back; the oath to the King was not relinquished. Sir Xellous agreed.

Sabina's Castle: Session Nineteen

Anneli: the female elven main character, played by Andy. She's currently working for the human army of the remnant of the Argentum Empire, about to take out a special forces unit to gather information about her evil sister, Nomi.

Salomo: Anneli's assigned aide. He's serving extra time for killing a prostitute. He and Anneli don't exactly get along.

Lore: The Flame is in all things, but burns brighter in some creatures than others, gifting them with speech. These creatures have the prefix "bright". Yes, it can be used pejoratively at times, and is used as an incredible compliment, depending upon voice tone and such.
 
All of the soldiers were there at formation, on time, the next morning. Gone was all the joking around; they were all business. Anneli gave her morning brief. The men really liked hearing about it being a recon mission, but that if they engaged with orcs Anneli sure wouldn't stop them. They marched out of the base in fine style, full cadence roaring. The instant they left the gates they were silent and moved into an informal formation.

While they marched Anneli contemplated re-entering Argentum Prime. Having never managed a small tactical unit before, she had the soldiers try the route she had left the city originally, sending out scouting teams ahead to make sure all was clear. They returned with a bright dog. He'd been mauled badly, but when he saw Anneli he grovelled and begged before her, as all dogs are wont to do. She fed him some dried meat. Between mouthfuls he told her about the route he'd taken to get out of the city. Anneli asked if he could take them back through that route. The dog agreed.

They picked through the city quietly and quickly, avoiding enemy patrols without incident.... until Salomo tapped her on the shoulder and pointed, wordlessly. There was someone in the shadow of a nearby building. It stepped out and Salomo screamed and ran. It was "her"!

She was a ghost.

Anneli commanded her soldiers to capture Salomo. She tried to calm him down, but was only partially successful.

And then the ghost got closer.

Anneli fell to her knees and found herself apologizing, over and over. A lot of her her soldiers bolted into the city, but some stayed to defend her and Salomo. Anneli stood up and made up a means of repelling the ghost, right on the spot. She drew her sword, which was made of starsteel (all go back to the stars), and traced a four-pointed star in the air three times (the number for earth, heaven, and the world between).

Instead of being repulsed the ghost came toward Anneli, and she could feel the ghost had connected to her, somehow. The ghost then revealed to Anneli what had happened: the ghost was the prostitute that Salomo had killed, and she wanted revenge!

Marvel Champions: Review

So, it's been a while since I've played any card games. Pokemon had been my jam as a kid. While I had gotten into Magic later on, I've found the game to not be something I could really get into. While it was fun, it didn't have the dynamics that I enjoyed so much in Pokemon and, given time away from my friends who were playing it, I stopped playing. I've played about a dozen games of Marvel Champions, lost most of them (horribly) and had a blast doing it!

The core of the game is pretty simple. On your turn you play as many cards and do as much as you can until your options run out. All cards have a number in the top left and a series of icons on the bottom left, called resources, usually one a card. The top number tells you how many resources it takes to play that card. So, in order to play cards, you have to discard cards from you hand. It's fantastic. It's nail-biting. And it creates a game where what some of what you want is almost always available, but not necessarily everything.

And sometimes you really need everything in your hand to get played!

The thing is that you're playing against a villain, who you beat one way: knock him out by removing all his health. The villain can win one of two ways: either by knocking out all the players or by increasing the threat on their scheme, which escalates every turn. You need to, have to, keep that down. But the prevalent way to knock threat down makes you vulnerable to the villain, allowing him to attack you. And defending against attacks can make it harder for you to do things next turn. And it's possible to get one-shotted by the villain, so you have to be careful. What's more, additional villains, called minions, can be summoned, and that makes the threat and damage go up, exponentially at times. And so you have to manage the cards in your hand to utter perfection. So unforgiving!

One of the problems that I kept running into with games like Magic and Pokemon was trying to get people not as technically inclined. They didn't want to build a deck, but playing with them was fun and they were extremely good players! My sister Anna, who was a cunning Pokemon player (she destroyed my Charizards with a Weedle, with a sadistic giggle), wanted nothing to do with deck creation. At all. Every single deck she ever played, I built, and she beat me with them, and handily! With a sadistic giggle. But no deck creation. Nothing. She found that couldn't get into deckbuilding. Genius player! Wanted to nothing to do with deck creation.

I'm pretty sure I could get her to make a deck for this particular game.

It's pretty simple: grab your hero cards (which you have to have in the deck), decide what Aspect you want to play with (Leadership, Protection,  Justice, or Aggression, which is pretty much a thing of taste), and a few neutral cards, which would be pretty easy to have someone else pick for you, and then slam it together into a 40 card deck. There will be more options as time goes on, but I'm still finding some things to fine-tune, even with just the core set.

I'm really happy with this game so far. It's a tense affair, filled with unexpected spikes and valleys, complete with a deck building system that I think I could get anyone to do themselves. It's a really awesome set of mechanics, grafted on top of a great theme that most people know. If you want to do a Living Card Game (which is not made of random packs!) I'd say it's a good jumping on point. I say that as someone who is jumping in myself.

But for criminy's sake, threat is so mean!

Moréna: Session Six

Boros rolled onto the cool flagstones. He was bleeding. He was cold. All was dark. He was ready.

He heard someone else, out there, breathing. "If you're here to kill me, you're a little late." He tried to call out, choking on his own blood, into the dark. A familiar female voice chuckled.

"You're not done yet. You haven't accomplished what you set out to do. Why did you decide to do it in the first place?"

"Ungoliant. She took my family."

"No, no she didn't. You're fooling yourself. Remember what happened. Think. And then act."

Something cold was placed into his hand. It wasn't as large as Moréna, but it wasn't a dagger, either. It was sharp. Boros noticed that his bleeding began to slow, and soon he felt well enough to stand up.

It had been a long time since they had left the walls of their village. But today was the day. They were going out, even for a minute, on a picnic. 

She looked sad. 

Boros nudged her. "Is everything alright?"

She nodded hastily. "I'm just worried. There's been so many raids these days. Are you sure we're safe?" 

He laughed. "After all the ones I've killed with my sword? Yes, I'd say we're safe, at least for the moment. The children need to get out. Besides, you've got me!"

A strained smile was the only reply he received.

 They stopped in a clearing, not too far away from the walls. They heard hissing from two of them, as they vaulted out of the trees. He got her and one of the children behind him, but the other one ran away, in a panic. 

He was knocked over and bit. 

Boros charged, dragging wife and child with him. The other child was also bitten, and soon Boros was bitten as well. As he lay there, he began to black out. His wife was standing over him, crying.

That memory wasn't right. Boros could feel it. He concentrated harder.

The kids were crying. She wasn't. And, while he couldn't see anything, Boros realized that he had deliberately not heard her when she asked the spiders. "So, you'll leave the village alone then? This is all you want?"

 Someone was in the room with him. In the ever-present darkness he heard a strangely repulsive feminine voice crying and sniffling "The whips the whips the whips their whips..." The feeling, the atmosphere, of the room became something that he could barely stand. It wasn't that woman who kept showing up, whoever she was. This was someone different.

"Ungoliant?"

"The whips the whips the whips the whips... Boros... together again."

"Why? Why do this to me?"

There was a laughter, stifled by a cry of pain. "Why? The whips! What a stupid question! Ack! Why did you marry her? Why did you have children? Why do anything at all?????"

Boros gripped the hilt of the blade. He couldn't see, but he had to try.

All of a sudden he could feel that someone else was in the room. "Hold up, Boros" said a strong, masculine voice. "We have finally come."

This was followed up by the flummoxed scramblings of someone much smaller, but louder. "Oy! What's going on?? Where's Frodo??"

Boros shouted "I'm with him! What the hell's going on."

"Yes, where's Frodo? We were on the stair, and I was looking at the star. Why am I... wherever this is??"

"There's not much time to explain. The light that's keeping Boros alive is going to fade soon", said the other man, who fished the crystal out of Boros' pocket. "She's afraid of this. And we can kill her with it. Up, Samwise, with your phial, and me, with this uncut crystal's refined sister! We have to get her ready for Boros to finish her off! Quickly now!"

"Whoa, wait a minute! Why wouldn't I use this sword? It's not like dying is going to get me closer to my family, they're alive!"

"Do you really think she told you the truth? I promise, Mandos and they both await you, all in his halls."

There was a pause.

 Boros dropped the sword, grabbed the crystal, and held it aloft. She began to scream, a wretched sound not unlike a dog growling and a cat screeching. The next few minutes seemed like an eternity. But all of a sudden he could feel that the two next to him, one tall and the other no larger than a child, were gone.

"Give meeee.... Give meee that crystal..."

"No"

His hand had gone down a little bit, and all of a sudden he could feel her, physically present, in the room, with him. Her bulk and stench were overwhelming. He held the crystal back up and she screeched! And then... there was the sound of crunching stone, following by a screaming that made the previous sound like soft music in comparison. She kept begging him, between mouthfuls, to stop. But Boros kept his hand up, and began to advance, slowly, achingly. A whoosh over his head and a crash presaged the boulder that fell atop him. Still, Boros, held onto the crystal, the sounds of screaming and grinding stone fading.

He saw a pair of gates ahead of him; he heard laughter, soft and pure, a fountain in auditory form. Boros headed toward it.

May the Power Protect You: Billy Cranston (MMPR Blue)

Billy has been a very hard character for me to understand. I'd watched him a few times, but  I couldn't quite get the gist of who the character was. I should have just played him myself, but somehow I just kept putting it off.

Not much of an excuse, I know, but it is a fact.

Eventually I gave up trying to understand him from the armchair and contacted one of my friends, Blake, who had played him. What Blake told me got me to try Billy and, while he's not my favorite character, I know I will play him again.

It's really easy to understand why I didn't get Billy, at least at first. Much as I like helping people I'm still a bit of a glory hound. I still like to get into the fray, into the thick of it all. Blame the Muay Thai training from when I was younger, but if I'm going to play I'm going to play for keeps. Billy's strengths are nothing like that. He doesn't really jump in and his cards are not designed to do that. Billy is pure support. He does not make openings, at least not like how the others do. If anything, Billy makes sure that openings are dealt with well. You have to keep your head. Think.

Billy's ability to have anybody draw and then put a card back on the top of your deck is looking less and less unique, but don't be fooled. He can make anyone do this, and that makes his ability much more flexible than it appears at first glance. Is it frequently useful to him to do this? Yes. But he doesn't always. And there are now more people who have the defensive star ability, which means that Billy can help them set up in ways that they didn't anticipate.

Knowledge is Power is probably my favorite card for Billy. It's situational, sure, but it's not that hard to get ahead when facing minions, or monsters even. At that point the Billy player really needs to speak up and go "Hey! We can use this" cause getting any card you want out of your deck can't be undersold. The problem is that it doesn't feel good to play, at least immediately. This game can really get the adrenaline pumping and you want to keep doing what feels good now. Don't fall for that feeling, it's your enemy. Stop. Breathe. Play Knowledge is Power.

Mighty Maces is one of the most satisfying cards I've ever had the pleasure of playing with. You flip that buddy off of the top of the deck? Man! High shield count with an extra energy? That shifts the tide of battle in a way that people just... sorta forget about, actually. The fact that Billy has one of the most satisfying cards in the game does not mean that he is an adrenaline machine. He's not. Mighty Maces is not a flashy card. But it is a good one. And it frequently tips the scales of any battle that its in.

Can't use the recovery action because it'll mess up your action flow? Welcome to the Triceratops Zord.  Grab your stuff with the most shields and get it back on top of the deck. Combine this with any of the myriad drawing mechanics and you can get those cards right back into your hand. It's a flexible zord, able to deliver something that you need (almost) immediately.  This is one of those cards that literally saves games.

Billy is the easiest character in the game to overlook. That's a shame, because Billy is extremely solid, delivering every last ounce of tactical oomph as other characters. He requires a person who enjoys mastering his adrenaline, thinking clearly, and making sure that everyone else does so as well, which I do not claim to have done very well, for the record. He's an interesting character who really doesn't get enough credit for the awesome stuff that he does. I'm not sure if that was intended to be true to life, but anyone with an ounce of knowledge about what happened behind the scenes during the filming of the original show can appreciate the irony of David Yost's beloved character being the least appreciated of the original characters in this game, while delivering enormous amounts of support.

Try Billy. Think. Breathe. And don't let the adrenaline that this game pumps get the better of you. To play Billy you must be the master of your emotions. I know I'm not. But maybe you are.

Only one way to find out, right?

A special thanks to Jonathan Ying and Blake Royall, both of whom helped me understand the character and actually give him a try. Billy was a pleasant surprise.

I Freaking LOVE the Duel of Wits

I do not care what others say. You can tell me that Burning Wheel is a byzantine mess of rules, which have weird and random applications. You can tell me that there are far too many skills that are totally unnecessary to run the game. You can say all those things, and it's legitimate to feel that way. But you're wrong, because the Duel of Wits exists and no other game has come even close to replicating the stories it's produced at my table. And, while the other BWHQ systems approach this level of emotional wringing, I think the Duel of Wits is the best at it, and may be BWHQ's star achievement.

First off there's the interaction table itself, which is one of the most intimidating things I've ever seen, seemingly second only to the Fight! table. On playthrough, however, Duel of Wits is the least complicated of the three extended conflicts. You pick out your actions, play it out against the other guy's stuff, and resolve it. It's rather straightforward. But the interplay with roleplay is what makes it stand apart from Fight! and Range and Cover. Emotion enters this unpredictable table, and because the emotion is so direct it means you're taking on this emotional roller coaster as well. When you enter a Duel of Wits you go to a place that is, to my experience, unique to the BWHQ games. Your arguments, your very soul, are subject to this whirlwind of a system. 

Once you're done with the rollercoaster the Duel of Wits then throws the possibly of Compromises at you. This means that, if you won (and are thus on an emotional high) you'll have to come down a bit. That's directly contrasted with the satisfaction of the loser, because they get something for their trouble! The emotional states of the players flip and you have to deal with this sudden reversal. However you came out in the wash you then have to do something to appease the other player, which helps with some particularly nasty Duel of Wits conflicts I've seen. Everyone can walk away at least mollified by the harrowing experience of arguing over the fate of the world, win or lose.

And, as if that's not good enough, there's the option to attempt to murder the dude who just beat you fairly! It's a dastardly move, and when it's used there's always this smirk that the player who invokes the rule has on his face: "I know you beat me, but I'm going to cheat. So there!" The release valve is now in a moment of pitched violence, as the two players struggle to see who will actually walk away from the argument. It's cheap, dastardly, and so very much fun. 

I dunno. I think there's so many good things about this game it's hard to list them, and I always find myself at a loss for how to describe my experiences playing this game. The Duel of Wits is a huge part of that experience for me. Next to the Trait Vote (which I think every game should have a variant of, just like Duel of Wits) I think it's one of my favorite mechanics in all of gaming, to the point that I don't really want to play in a game without it!

ADDENDUM: Of course Andy had to show me this:
I apologize for not making anything half so awesome.