May the Power Protect You: Rocky DeSantos (Zeo Blue)

No, not like this.

Please.

I'm begging myself: Nathan, don't come back like this.

But the truth is the truth, regardless of my ability to stomach it. Freaking Flannery O'Connor.

Let's get something out of the way: I hate the character of Rocky. I just do. If you like him that's cool.... but I just can't stand any frame the character is in. He's just so freaking nondescript to me. Yeah yeah yeah, that's probably not fair, but my return to May the Power Protect You is because of Rocky and I get to be grumpy about it.

So. Freaking. There.

My sister Anna had come over for Thanksgiving. She's been going through a bit of a gaming renaissance herself, having her own portable gaming collection, with plans to expand. She and I have enjoyed more than a few games of Marvel Champions together, as well. It's been nice to connect over that with her. So I decided to show her Heroes of the Grid and basically guilt-tripped her into it. It'd been a few months since I'd been able to really play, and at this point I was truly desperate to even get one game in. Anna agreed, probably out of pity.

I presented Anna with the various "types" of characters, and Anna said she wanted MMPR Zack and.... Zeo Blue?? I tried to change her mind. Rocky was not going to be a simple character to learn, given he was outside of core and she herself said she wanted someone simpler. But Anna saw the mechanics and theme and went "No no! I like this 'Let's Party' card! I like this whole jumping around having a bash! I'm doing this!"

I keep forgetting that I am the dour one of my family. And, if you couldn't tell, I am not the type to get into a "Let's parTAY" mood. I like my long slogs of matching wills against another person or the game engine. I am the thing that just keeps moving forward. 

That. Is. Not. My sister. Either of them, come to think of it. Sunshine and rainbows illuminating copious amounts of blood, with giggles of eldritch horror, that's their style.  Cthulhu Pony. It's party time with your guts is the order of the day! Their giggles in non-Euclidean geometry will accompany you well past the gates of Hell.

So, Called Shot, Rocky's ability. I don't like it in the slightest. It means I have to pick and choose targets well ahead of time. I'm supposed to be building an engine of destruction, which will reap in the energy and allow either myself or others to pull off the big shots. Thanks, I hate it. I want to be taking hits to the face and laughing as punching me killed you. Called Shot doesn't do that, to a degree I find obnoxious. Anna though? This is what ultimately sold her. Figures. Freaking sisters.

Triple Threat is the basic attack card of Rocky. And I never freaking draw it. Ever. No, really, in the multiple times I've played Rocky it never comes out. Anna though? Figures. She drew it all the time! This is one of the two cards that lets you get your energy out. Hit multiple targets, let a soft character take the hits necessary to get your engine up and running, and be all happy and shit. Let's Party does away with the attack and lets you attach more targets- I mean energy - to the monsters. If you're doing your job correctly you can get a third to three-quarters of the board tagged in a single turn, perhaps more if you've got someone who has passing cards in their arsenal. That's definitely something to check out with your group: party composition matters pretty strongly with Rocky. You want to make sure you got someone who can turn monster attacks into momentum and another person who can pass the ball back.

I mean, it's a partAY, right?? Gotta have someone to goof off with and the freaking designated driver to make sure he can carry your drunk ass home!!!

Erhem. Excuse me.

The reason, of course, to get Triple Threat and Let's Party! out is for Power Spin and Power Axes. Again, I'm absolutely lousy at this timing. Anna, of course, pulled it off without a hitch. We would watch as a ripple of damage would just flatten everything in its path; two or three enemy cards would die, we'd get massive amounts of energy, and all of a sudden we could finish the fight. And yeah, that was a good feeling! I'll admit it! I've been talking mad crap about Rocky this whole time but c'mon, felling multiple cards at one with good play just feels amazing! 

I just wish I wasn't such a dunce about it. 

Reckless Assault is kinda the weird card of the lot. It does low damage, costs and energy, and might get you another card play... if you kill the target? With two dice? Have you ever met me?? 

Oh c'mon, it was working for Anna too!

OH COME ON

Rocky's zord has one use: get Let's Party! back into your hand. That's it. That's its point. It's that simple. Go forth. Prosper. Do your thing.

God I hate this character. It's everything I don't want in a character. Ever. Period. But my sister got a core set 'cause she had such a fun time with Rocky, specifically, and wants to play the game with me as often as she can now, so...

Damnit.

Just damnit.

Impact!: Session One

So, in order to understand what happened this session I need to go over the incredibly nasty history of Krakeru and The Lone Keep.

Who is Krakeru, you may ask?

Krakeru, a dark elf cultist, was the beginning villain of The Undertow. He was the end result of generations of inbreeding and murder, in an effort to create the dark elf messiah called the Yetekaida. He raped his own daughter, the main character Mikansia (who was played by Lena), and tried to break her will to make her join him in overthrowing the cult that had so defined his life, The Lone Keep. Mikansia refused his offer, killed him, and then found The Lone Keep (which was orbiting above their planet) and knocked it out of the sky. 

Well, inside The Lone Keep were dozens, possibly dozens of Eldritch Eggs. Eldritch Eggs are gigantic structures that are formed when a person fully gives into despair, causing a link between Rayona, the Dark Ocean (what most people think of as The Far Realm), to appear. Eldritch Eggs can allow the dead to come back to life.

When The Lone Keep hit the ground all of the Eldritch Eggs within were pulverized, filling the atmosphere with a substance known for linking the living back with the dead. 

The last time we saw Krakeru he had been grabbed by his long'time foe Akseli to aid Mikansia in saving the elven kingdoms. 

This session is a week after The Lone Keep hit the ground, killing four armies on the continent of Armo. Krakeru, who is a ghost, hasn't been grabbed by Akseli yet. That's a little while away. There was a massive four-way war going on between minotaurs, orcs, wolves, and roden. In the climactic battle the Lone Keep smashed down, killing almost all of those present at the battle.

Before the session we got Lena's character cleared up: his name was Tekoshai, an orc who was renowned for his luck. He was named because he was the only one to survive The Lone Keep falling into the battleground.

Tekoshai

B1. I will check out the structure the sky devils crashed to look for information and a suitable trophy for my collection”

B2. Minotaurs are only useful at the end of a harness or spit. 

B3. Those who aren’t causing pain are enduring it; always make sure you’re the first. 

I1. If someone challenges the hierarchy, put him in his place immediately. 

I2. Always use others when expedient

I3. Always protect yourself at all costs

Traits: Life is Death, Born to Rule Them All, Enemy of the Sun, Silent Hatred, Intense Hatred, Savage Consequences, Unrelenting Savagery, Where There’s a Whip, Sixth Sense, Sadistic

Last time I'd talked about burning up Idiota, the minotaur. He's an outcast minotaur who has just been  informed that somehow he's the one now in charge of the united wolven packs. He's not surprised, unlike the rest of the world.

Idiota

B1) The tower of mass destruction must have weapons of mass destruction hidden inside.

B2) These strangers are out to get me

B3) I will not be persuaded from believing I'm the rightful heir to the throne.

I1) when startled attack

I2) before entering a room, scan for danger

I3) once in a room scan for all possible exits

Traits

Elves are bastards, rightful heir to the throne, Bando brand, crust dwellers ( Minotaur tunnelers) brand, wandering soul brand

The remaing nations sent out Idiota, Tekoshai with his gang of orcs, and five roden, to investigate The Lone Keep. Which was somehow standing, none the worse for wear from falling from the atmosphere. Idiota muttered this was clearly the orcs' fault. Tekoshai's whip came out.

You know what I can't find in the Burning Wheel book, even now?

The freaking whip skill.

Spent five minutes trying to find it after being told by Lena that whip wasn't in a single orc lifepath. I just sorta assumed there was one. If there is and we missed it let me know! I decided to make it an Agility versus Agility test. Which Tekoshai won, overwhelmingly. Idiota stepped in, trying to grab the whip, but got cracked acrost the back. "The name's Tekoshai. Best to get used to saying it, cause I'm in charge", snapped Tekoshai. Idiota didn't argue.

As they got closer the dread of the Keep affected all but Tekoshai; those Steel tests were rough. But one good Command roll saw Tekoshai bringing the whip to everyone, forcing everyone back towards the Keep. It is here I must apologize to Will: he's genuinely one of the funniest people I've had the pleasure of knowing, and had Lena and I rolling in the aisles the whole session. This all sounds very dark and drab, but apparently the spirit of early Spider-Man has taken full possession of Will, because getting him to shut up in the middle of my dark and serious prose is impossible. And absolutely hilarious.

Anyways, so Idiota and the other orc were going to check out the Lone Keep, while the others waited. Idiota told the orc that he would turn on him given the first opportunity. The orc felt likewise. Idiota noticed that the Lone Keep stones were constantly shifting. There was a large opening where a portcullis used to be. The orc went in through the opening, trembling.

Idiota didn't.

Idiota came back to Tekoshai. "You said I needed to find a way in. Didn't say I needed to go in it myself." Cursing, Tekoshai sent Idiota and another orc back.  When they got there Idiota saw an elf standing in the opening, who invited him in. Minotaurs had been given the genophage treatment by elves millennia ago, so Idiota told the elf to fuck off, as he was no friend of any elf, ever. The elf protested his involvement with such an enterprise. But he was willing to help restore the minotaurs to glory, if Idiota would only listen to him. Idiota waved to Tekoshai and the rest to come join him, and told the elf to go on.

The introduced himself as Krakeru.

He invited Idiota into The Lone Keep. What followed was five minutes of Will cracking joke after joke about how stupid Idiota was for going in. And then Idiota went in, as Lena and I were starting to get stitches. But only after making sure there were four exits in the next room, which was extremely large. Tekoshai came up to the entrance but didn't go himself, choosing to listen by the opening. 

Krakeru offered Idiota a weapon that would allow the minotaurs to claim the glory they deserved. Idiota said he wanted to see the weapon. Krakeru vanished, and then reappeared with a vial. Opening it, he offered it to Idiota, who drank it. A minotaur who reminded Idiota of himself appeared. The strange minotaur congratulated Idiota, for it was time to restore the minotaur race.

Krakeru appeared next to Tekoshai, who tried to stab him with his spear out of surprise.  The spear went straight through Krakeru, who informed Tekoshai he was dead. Tekoshai, suspicious of the sky devil (And Lena trying to laugh off the dark humor of becoming besties with... well... Krakeru...) asked what that meant. Why was Krakeru here, if he was dead? Krakeru said that all he wished was to provide his weapons to the living... provided they were of one mind. Undivided.

What followed was five minutes of Lena and Will asking what the hell that meant, while I kept dropping ever greater hints that Krakeru would only deal with one faction; the one that still lived. After about a minute I kept dropping hints simply because I found it funny.

But eventually the roden charged the orcs. While Tekoshai dealt with all five roden at once, one of the orcs ran after Idiota, who ran into the Keep itself. Tekoshai killed the five roden, impaling the last one to watch him suffer. Grinning hideously, Tekoshai took an axe and sawed off the roden's foot, relishing every twitch of anguish from the roden, who couldn't scream due to a spear in the gut.  Hanging the foot off his belt, Tekoshai told Krakeru they were all of one mind. Krakeru aproved, and Tekoshai found he didn't hate this sky devil so much.

Idiota found himself in a large room, where ghostly eldritch eggs were materializing (they normally take months to years) into depressive cups in the ground. Idiota asked what this was. The minotaur he was with said this was the beginning.

Suikhulahde: Session Seven

So this is a bit of a strange situation. There are some times when you're playing Burning Wheel and you find yourself wincing, because you know exactly what the character would do but you, the player, do not want to do the thing. I think we can say pretty safely this is Lena's current experience with Nomi. Nomi is off on a journey to break the space/time continuum... something Lena didn't think was a good idea. I mean, I don't either. But you play what's before you! I basically said we should play it out and see what happens, keeping in mind the boundaries we had set up.

Yes, that's foreshadowing to that getting a little weird. Boy this act is getting surreal.

Nomi

B1. I don’t care how weird Dream is, I’m going through it until I’m able to get to Constantine in time.

B2. I will direct Olivia’s focus to Anneli and get out as fast as possible. 

B3. My personal life is no one’s business but my own, pry at your own risk. 

I1. Always bend the truth for personal advantage

I2. When in trouble always try to talk my way out first

I3. Always disregard others’ personal feelings

Traits

Educated, Call of the Sea, Spite, Deceptive, Compulsive Liar, Callous, Charismatic, Memory’s Influence, Bitter, Guarded

Anneli

B1. Giving aid to the corrupt Aloysius was my greatest shame, but I can atone by saving Constantine.

B2. When I failed to see through Nomi's treachery, I failed Fingar and Thungl.

B3. I don't have time for my past when the world is ending.

I1. Never reveal my intentions.

I2. Always take command.

I3. Always give Nomi a space to speak.

Traits

Call of the Island, Righteous, Mortally Wounded in the Head | Shaky Hands | Slightly Clumsy, Haunted, Commanding Aura, Driven (Pilot)

Anneli and Nomi got to the strange Island from Session Three, just as before. Anneli and Nomi made excuses and headed to the woods, supposedly out to look for deer. Nomi told Anneli how Sydanelma worked (cutting a hole into Dream) and handed it over to Anneli. Anneli didn't realize that elves with Spite were different. Nomi, flustered, told Anneli that could be explained later. Open the portal! So Anneli, holding Sydanelma, focused on the deaths of Fingar and Thungal, and how dai thought dai had failed them. Anneli cut a hole into Dream (I finally gave it a proper name! Havay!)

Olivia the Thunderer, Nomi's and Anneli's legendary mother (not to mention dead), was standing on the side of Dream, glaring at her daughters. I called for Steel tests. And Andy and Lena screwed that up, royally.

An uppercut knocked Anneli on dail rear. Olivia backhanded Nomi so hard dai fell backward. Sydanelma flew out of Nomi's hand, cutting through a nearby tree. I should have handed out Superficial wounds. I really have. Damnit. Olivia told them they were crazy for what they were planning. She told them they couldn't save Constantine. Dark shadows began to appear around her.

I challenged Lena and Andy to a Duel of Wits, in Big Deal mode.

Wait, Burning Wheel Gold Revised doesn't have the Big Deal mode?

No. Nope. That's a good rule. We're keeping that.

Olivia's Statement of Intent: You cannot save Constantine. I got 16 hp (yeah, I know, that's not the term, but I can't remember it right now)

Anneli and Nomi's Statement of Intent: You will be proud of our efforts. They had 15 hp (see above)

And here's what we scripted!

Olivia:  Obfuscate | Incite | Dismiss

A&N: Rebuttal | Obfuscate | Point

Now, I'll freely admit that I'm a bastard when it comes to my plotting here. Oliva is dead; she has a full set of powers the living do not have. Olivia also does not have that many scruples, even now, as she's passed onto Seitseman (yes, Lena, I named Heaven too). So I'm throwing around a good many more dice than you'd think. 

The shadows coalesced into the people Nomi and Anneli had killed, particularly Nomi. They whispered that Constantine wasn't the only collateral damage; why not use Sydanelma to help them, too? Nomi replied to the ghosts that they were trying to honor the deaths they'd perpetrated by saving Constantine, who could help keep the Argentum Empire from falling apart further.  Anneli scoffed at the shades, telling Olivia to face her children directly. Lena rolled against me, and I won with Obfuscate. Huzzah I get an extra success on the next interaction!

Olivia wasn't impressed. Her daughters were phenomenally selfish, thinking their own cause more important than others' needs for their dead loved ones. The shades asked if their value was truly less to Anneli and Nomi. Anneli began asking what value was; Andy truly delivered a brilliant Obfuscation that beggars description. Nomi said that, maybe if Olivia had been a bit more loyal to her own family, then none of this would have happened in the first place! Olivia was a hypocrite for talking about loyalty, of all things. And this is where I got tripped up. I thought of Incite as making Anneli make the Steel test, canceling out the next action, giving me an open shot with Dismiss. Even if I didn't knock them out in one shot I'd be able to avoid the incoming blow. But Andy pointed out (logically) that if Nomi was the next actor it would be Nomi to make the Steel test. And I wasn't about to be that level of unfair.

Of course Nomi passed the test, dai has a freaking B7. Jeez

Crap.

So what was supposed to be getting a free shot became a broadside exchange. And believe me, this is where I went and was unfair. Olivia peeled back the mask of reality and showed them everything. The Dahaka, protector of the timeline ("You are in a test, barely allowed by the Dahaka, Constantine is outside those bounds"). The fact that Dream could connect to all points in time, which meant that they could use Sydanelma to save all the people they were responsible for killing. All. And they were only going to save Constantine? Everyone matters. Nomi, trying to block all that out, said that had nothing to do with saving Constantine.  I did 11 points of damage with my Dismiss. And they got 13. 13! What the heck??

They scripted a Point, of course. Anneli told the stunned Olivia that the smallest things could become the biggest, it was just a matter of perspective; Constantine was everything to Nomi, and to Anneli, and therefore needed to be saved. Yeah, Andy got that. Olivia smiled, and then said if they were going to save Constantine they couldn't force it. No manipulation. That was my major compromise: they couldn't just save Constantine, or try to force his brain from falling apart, like they'd done with Fingar. They had to accept what Constantine's decision was, period. Even if it meant letting him die. Andy and Lena agreed.

Nomi got Sydanelma. Anneli and Olivia shared a significant glance, and Anneli felt a bit more at peace with dail mother. Olivia transported them to Constantine herself. Constantine was sitting on his bed. It confused Anneli that someone so noble could love the two-faced Nomi. Constantine saw them. And he remembered. He remembered being murdered by Aloysius and the despair of his wife. And he screamed. An Eldritch Egg, which is a manifestation of despair and link to Rayona, the Dark Ocean, began to appear. Much, much, much too quickly. Constantine was having a breakdown from the two timelines converging in his head. 

They don't have much time to save him, before the Eldritch Egg completely scoops him out and can manifest fully into the world. It shouldn't be moving this quickly, but there you have it. Session Eight is looking brutal.

Leaving Torchbearer Behind

Boy, this is not the post that I wanted to write. Nor was it something I expected to. But I will not be playing Torchbearer from here on out. Three things stick out to me: being told what to play, the advancement system, and The Grind. I've wrestled with these points for awhile, but I've found I can't compromise with them. This isn't me trash-talking Torchbearer. It's a fantastically designed game, with designers that I have a great deal of respect for. I'm just processing about a game that I wanted to like, but don't. If you do, please, have fun with it!

I am going to stick this paragraph right here to hopefully soften things. BWHQ games have a lot of extremely passionate supporters. I am one of them. And Torchbearer deserves it! I love how grounded and rooted the game can be. I like the incredibly gritty carrying system. Hell, I love it.  I love how they simplified conflicts while adding some additional stakes from Mouse Guard. I love the jokes that spring up around putting alcohol in your skin, because God knows you'll need to drink a little bit in real life from some of the bullshit that can happen to you.

But rules support conversations. And the conversations that come out of Torchbearer are not the ones I want to have.

I don't like very specific frameworks, by and large; I don't like being told what to care about. Torchbearer is about just exploring dungeons. Don't get me wrong, Torchbearer has a lot of variance and depth on characters! The new town variations are really cool, as are a number of the variant rules. That stuff looks interesting and I'm tempted to steal a lot of those structures for other games. 2e's instructions on building a dungeon are very well thought out; again, very stealable. But it is unabashedly a game about exploring dungeons. All the rest of those juicy mechanics is for dungeon exploration. And yes, that seems to trip off the "Don't tell me what to do!" instinct I have buried deep in my soul. Call it ornery, call it unreasonable, it is whatever it is.

I adore Burning Wheel's advancement system. There is a level of freedom to that system that, properly utilized, creates some really interesting puzzles. Since success and failure don't matter to the system, by and large, you're free to try all sorts of crazy things; you will get that stat or skill up. Torchbearer and Mouse Guard have another system, which I like a whole lot less. You instead have to get a number of successes and failures to improve your stats and skills.  I just... I don't like it as much. It's really that simple. There are things in Mouse Guard that make me put up with the system, but Torchbearer doesn't have the Player and GM turns going for it, which are simple and powerful ways of shifting narrative control. By proxy that means I don't like the Traits system all that much either; it's proven to be unintuitive to most of my players. Burning Wheel compensates its players by having a lot more rewards, meaning that the late game ramps up in power significantly as mastery of the system creates some truly impressive surges of power, a la temporary (and later permanent) shade-shifting. One could argue that tapping your Nature is similar, but I think it actually happens too frequently to be considered a rush of adrenaline you'll remember later. And I think those rushes of adrenaline are necessary to complex and difficult games like BWHQ's fair.

But the nail in the coffin is The Grind. I just can't do it. I like it when people roll. I like mechanics, I want them to generate mechanical inputs! I don't feel that with Torchbearer. Each and every roll gets you closer to earning punishing conditions, meaning that it's a downward spiral. Now, my players were learning to manage that situation and gauge when something was too risky and whatnot. And that was... interesting? But then they weren't advancing. Which then meant that they continued to get the crap kicked out of them.

Now, there's bound to be a number of people who adore Torchbearer who are going "YOU GOT IT ALL WRONG". You've already got a half dozen ways to tell me how to learn to adapt to the system. BWHQ games are meant to be taken on their own terms and all that.

That's fair.

I hear you.

I do this with Burning Wheel. And not very charitably at that.

But here's the thing. 

This is a game. And it's meant to be played over 20 or so sessions, which is a long time. If I'm going to invest that much time in even one campaign I have to be completely on board with the game. And that means little, irrational, things matter. I have to want to adapt. And I don't. Torchbearer is a great game and it deserves all the success it's gotten, and then some! I love that this game exists.

But it's not my game.

And that's okay.

All the best.