The Dragon's Fire: Reflections on a Wonderful Failure

 

Welcome back! Today I go over some of my thoughts on the latest Crescendo epic.

Games have design goals. They're meant to provide an experience, which keeps people coming back because they're having fun! The goal of Crescendo is to replicate the feeling of reading Wolfe, to take his principles and put them in a TTRPG space. Adaptation does not mean trying to replicate the original exactly, but to adapt its principles into a different medium.

So, on the one hand, Crescendo is a ton of fun. People are coming back and having a really meaningful time. Heroes are a wonderfully designed character type, and literally nothing in the TTRPG space exists that does what Heroes in Crescendo does. That's a fact. Heroes are successful. They successfully draw an arc found in Wolfe extremely well.

However, that doesn't mean Crescendo is successful in achieving the goal "replicating Wolfe's principles". And that is... not what Crescendo does. Not yet.

Let me try to explain. Let me try to show you what's wrong.

At the beginning of The Dragon's Fire, I introduced a girl-vampire (as in, a vampire who was turned when she was a girl), called The Bride. Now, I had a backstory for The Bride. She was a child who was brainwashed into thinking she loved Eous, The Big Bad. So when he turned her, as an 11 year old child, she went willingly. I didn't come up with more than that, just enough to know this NPC was evil, and liked it... and was seemingly naive about it in a way that should have been chilling.

The Bride showed up four times in thirty plus sessions of gameplay.

Four.

Now, to be clear, this wasn't exactly a problem, per se. The game does a good job of shaking up the spotlight around the players pretty thoroughly. So there was always something interesting going on, it just wasn't... well.. any of the villains, the monsters, of the setting. There were hints of what could have been depth, but nobody cared when Raphael took the Bride down, and when the original dragon vanished, nobody looked. This was because, in order to capture Wolfe's startling breadth of vision in a game, I had to put a completely different kind of workload on the Weaver, who is not a GM. As I have repeatedly stated. 

This is a problem for a few reasons:

1. Wolfe's stories manage to squeeze a lot of depth into each and every character that ever hits the page. They're not "NPCs", but protagonists in a stories that you simply can't linger on. The current set up does not support that feeling.

2. Without that depth, it is hard for players to fully invest in the setting itself. There needs to be some parts of the world that push back harder than others, in a way that preserves player autonomy.

3. Because of the chaos, the Weaver cannot focus on NPCs to develop.

4. The game is about challenging Beliefs and then holding the players responsible to the Myth. That's already a lot.

In short, I think this was the best campaign of Crescendo I have ever run, one of my best in general, and it was somewhat in spite of the game I made.

That.. doesn't make me feel good. My players were awesome, I was absolutely on fire, and Crescendo carried us pretty far... and could have carried us a lot farther.

Fortunately, there's a pretty simple fix.

Whatever you want to give depth to, you give to a player. 

GMs, who aren't having to work with half as many left-field "WTF" moments as a Crescendo Weaver, benefit incredibly from this principle (see the book on the right)... and that's going to go  triple for Weavers.

Fortunately, that's going to be really easy to mine out of Wolfe, because he gets into the psychology of monsters, a lot: they're simply creatures who don't want any change to affect them. They cannot adapt in a way that others can work with, because their very nature makes them unable to adapt in a way that's friendly to others.

Wolfe's stories do not skimp on monsters who have very deep, very complicated, inner lives... that are utterly unable to do anything other than look to their own interests. Unlike Heroes, whose development can go anywhere, Monsters can only be interested in themselves... and have an infinity of ways of thinking about their own needs.

Someone's going to go "Just stop developing already! Move on!"

No.

Let's get this clear, for anyone who's reading this and who cares. This is my hobby. This is for fun. Anyone who thinks I am trying to develop a commercial product needs to rethink their assumptions.

I am not.

Yeah, sure, there's a PDF up on DriveThruRPG. You can go buy it for five bucks. It would be nice if you did. But I also just drop the PDF on people for free, because this is what I do for fun. If it makes money, cool. If it doesn't... okay? I want this damn game to do Wolfe. And it's gonna do it. 

Because the stuff this game does right deserves to be supported. I think about King Melny the Dragonslayer, Alistair the Serpentbane, and Raphael the Hordefighter... and my goodness that legitimately makes my heart hurt, in the best way possible. These huge legends and the things they did that literally nobody will know about. The apology of King Melny, where he admitted that his evil ways were born of fear and how he wanted to be better... and how that cost him Junior. Like, that hit me really hard. Alistair trying to understand how Natasha was still with him, actually with him, even after death, and failing to do so, and having to accept that he would never fully get it. Raphael holding his friend after a good and long life and being the last thing he ever saw. 

That shit means something to me. It lives in me, in the best way possible. Those memories are the reason I run games like this. Like, sure, I want to have fun too, but... there's something so human in it, and I need that. I think people in  general need that: unplanned humanity.

My priority is that experience, at my table. And Monsters will make that stronger. There could have been the moment where The Bride doubled down on her evil, in a way that shows she literally can't think of another way to do things, eliciting pity and horror. There could have been the moment where the original dragon tried to escape her tormentors and failed. That wouldn't have taken away from the Dragonslayer, Serpentbane, and Hordefighter. Quite the opposite. It would have made those moments even better, because the pity and horror of The Bride would have made the good moment sharper.

But that requires adding things to the game, and that's fine. The design shall continue until morale improves!

So yeah. This was a gorgeous failure. Let's make the next one work better. ONWARDS.

It is here that I leave you. If I do not see you next time, I do not blame you. It is no easy road.

The Dragon's Fire: Epilogue

 

The Dragon's Fire: Chapter Eleven

Rappa 21-25

The Queen, King Melny's wife, and their child have escaped to Sota City. Sota Fortress is fallen. Her honor guard surrounds her and the child jealously. They demand an accounting of where the king and his companions have been. The Argentum overlords are putting up with this "visiting" queen, but only because of the strength of her honor guard... and the viisuulas insisting that King Melny's family is to be protected. The Argentum general is compliant with the wisdom whales' wishes, for now...

Chapter Eleven (Rappa 26)

The Dragon’s Fire: Chapter 10

At this point, I am convinced of three things:

1. 1:1 time is essential for adapting Wolfe. Anyone who doubts this really needs to reread Wolfe a dozen times.

2. That Heroes simply don't care about what happens between... even if it's important to the world's response to the Heroes. There's times it really matters... and then there's the rest of it.

3. I don't want to model that out alone, and refuse to do so.

So we're going to make two more games. Coz I want to model Wolfe, and Wolfe is about 1:1 time, and Heroes don't care about it enough to make it worth throwing stuff at them.

More on that in next week's blog post.

Rappa 4-19

 For the past two weeks:

For Alistair and  King Melny, the entirety of  the Undermaze lights up with this powerful blue light. You start seeing visions of ones you love, striving and suffering and pushing, all for you. And then, on this last Sunday, a powerful blue flash happens, right at midnight... and you both bump into each other a few minutes later

And then, somehow, there's blue footsteps, leading you further.

Tell me about some of what you saw

Tasha saw that I hadn't made a prompt for her. I responded that she had walked into Faerie, and that time didn't work there like it does in the material plane... so nothing yet.

Alistair

As we follow the footprints it's like a dream where places are melded together, like when it's your bedroom but also a pool. I see Natasha's home but it's also the forest where I died, and the cave where I found the sword all at once. It's all places connected to both Natasha and Telos. It doesn't feel like a message but a reference. Like the index of choices and inevitabilities that brought me here.

King Melny

I see visions of all my past friends and rivals. From my first day in the company to the current day. I see the faces of the soldiers, the captain, the lieutenants. All of them meld together before melting away to reveal Alistair and Raphael. Signifying they are my true friends that have remained constant. Before I awake, I see a vision of my old self. He simply bows and tells me good luck before I awake.

Chapter 10 (Rappa 20)

After this Chapter, Cal and I talked and agreed that he was now a Legend. His acceptance of the reality of Natasha still being with him, regardless of what was actually going, was the trigger.

So now we're left with Raphael.

We're almost there, and the bittersweetness is so good.

RIP Junior. You're my favorite gentled demon son.

The Dragon's Fire: Chapters 8 and 9

 

Kaksusa 22-28

The Weaver's Prompt(s)

On Kaksusa 23, a giant squid attacks the sub, which is badly damaged, requiring the sub to surface. The sub's engines are badly damaged, and can't submerge. The week is spent with the now openly-android crew fixing the sub. They ask for some help, specifically in calibrating the sub temperature, as their own systems were damaged in the attack.

When asked, they claim they're taking the three of you to see the dragon. The real one. It took them awhile to find a passage to her, and they want your help, to finally end the infinite undead army. To end Legion, who is going to win if nobody does anything. "It is not time to raise the Apocalypse Ship, for Uriel has not returned yet."

King Melny

On the feast of the Lunar Announcement, Elise tries to corner you. She's hot for you. If you redirect her, she suddenly screams and falls to the ground, dead. Something... other... something blackened, comes out the corpse. And it charges. Its body leaves burn marks as it burns a hole in the hull and escapes.

Alistar

Natasha takes you out into the Outer Abyss in a series of dreams, to the Mountains Beyond the Mountains, the places that border Seitsemann. Untold beauty is shown you by her. Waking up from these dreams is saddest thing you've ever done, but she comes to you, night after night, showing you the beauty of the Spaces Between the Daughters, The Outsider's Country.

Raphael

Ifan shows up, briefly, and tells you your sword's name is Sydanelma. "Do not bring it into the light of day, for it does not exist yet, and light is not kind to things that are necessary, but cannot yet exist. Come. Find me. Cut a hole in the world and step through. Get me out of Faerie."

If y’all could write your responses by Saturday

Raphael

Raphael freezes at the voice, eyes narrowing.

“Ifan?” He doesn’t move right away. The name Sydanelma sits wrong in his mouth, like something placed there on purpose.

“Faerie lies,” he mutters, pacing once, thinking. “It wears faces. Says the right things. Gets you to open the door yourself.”

He looks at the blade—half there, half not.

“…But you knew the sword’s name.”

A long pause.

“If you’re not him… then I’m about to make a very bad decision.”

A faint smirk.

“…and if you are, you already knew I would.”

He grips the blade, testing the pull of it against the world itself.

“One way to find out.”

Raphael cuts the tear anyway—slow, deliberate—and steps through, ready to either pull Ifan out… or kill whatever’s pretending to be him.

Alistair

Natasha is sending me messages in my dreams, but when when I awake she has no memory of our walks through the glens and atop the mountains. It physically pains me to leave the dreams, but the Natasha of the real world comforts me when I awake.

King Melny

I'm just gonna say Melny would follow the group and say "Can we have one normal day? It is this normal now?' as he leads them to relevant safety.

Chapter Eight (Kaksusa 28)

1. 
   
2. 
   

   
   

   Chapter Nine (Rappa 2)

So, after the disaster that was scheduling for Chapter Eight, we got Cal on for Chapter Nine. We knew Jesse would be unavailable, but Tasha accidentally slept through the session (given they happen at 10 pm CST, that's understandable).

1. 
   
2. 
   

I think the 1:1 time is not quite working, at least not as I have it implemented. Part of it is that we started implementing it in the last book of this epic, and that probably wasn't a good idea. Missed session mechanics are definitely a good idea, and I have those already. The deeper issue, however, is that Heroes do not inherently care about time in the way that 1:1 time works. The source material skips large sections of time, and then implies the changes that happen between those two points, because of changes in the setting.

The central conceit, however, is that the background elements matter, which means time is important. 

The only way out is through.

The Dragon's Fire: Book 3, Chapter 7

 

The Legend

Last chapter, with Jesse and King Melny... I knew the end was coming. You run enough Belief-based games, and it starts to become... apparent. And I knew it was time. The mechanics just... popped into my head. Melny was no longer a Hero, he was a Legend.

The Investiture

The Weaver announces that the Hero in question has been stripped of the status of Hero. The Player may change one Trait, as well as all Beliefs for their Hero. The Legend’s Traits and Beliefs may never be changed, ever again. The Scruples part of the Legend’s Hero Sheet is crossed out, with pen. No Scruples now apply to them, even from Magical Items; the Legend is free.

All Defy rolls a Legend makes are always made with the top two results. They never have to justify it. Ever.

Legend’s Fate Point Rewards

Legends don’t earn Fate Points like Heroes. Their existence is inherently a challenge to all around them.

Go through each Belief the Legend has:

Did you use this Belief to challenge and confront a Hero’s Belief? If so, write what you did, and why it was necessary. Take two Fate Points.

You get no Fate Points for breaking Beliefs. Nor do you get Fate Points for PVP.

The Prompts for This Week

Consulting my byzantine little series of charts, the following prompts were generated for me to write with:

War Bad

Generosity good

Grief complicated

Love bad

Eous ascendant

communication/air

Why, yes, I can more or less put together an entire Orthodox Matins/Orthos with only a few minor discrepancies, why do you ask?

The Undermaze

The undead swarm you. Below ground, they're an insubstantial purple flame. They can phase through walls. The magic swords are capable of cutting through them, but normal swords cannot. They never stop. They always seem to know where to go. They're joined by sickly-green shaggy men, led by a vampire who calls herself The Lover. Level 3 Exhaustion or Level 1 Injury (you decide what's hurt)

After three days of being hounded continuously, the three of you are taken in  by The Undermaze King- a gold encrusted gigantic figure. He feeds you and provides more provisions, but cannot defend you for long, as his scheming wife, who is still grieving the disappearance of their child, dislikes outsiders.

Raphael

Raphael’s Response (Injury choice):

Raphael takes the Level 1 Injury instead of exhaustion.

During the swarm, one of the sickly-green shaggy men lunges from the side while Raphael is cutting through the purple flame undead. Raphael shoves one of his companions out of the way and the creature’s claws rake across his shoulder, tearing through armor and leaving a deep gash.

He grits his teeth, wraps the wound tight with cloth, and keeps moving. The injury burns, but Raphael refuses to slow down while the swarm is still hunting them. 

When the Undermaze King takes them in, Raphael finally lets the wound be cleaned and bandaged while he eats and regains strength.

“Next time something with claws wants a piece of me, it can take a number and get in line.” 

Alistair

I take the exhaustion.

Three days I stood my ground, three days I fought. For three days I killed and slashed and maimed, until all I could see was blood and viscera, and then I killed more. I clogged the arteries of this world with the corpses of undead, and we are still alive.

King Melny

Despite three days of grueling fighting, I make sure to lead my friends in the best manner possible. I take exhaustion as I led my friends for three straight days.

Book 3, Chapter 7, Kaskusa 14 

 

There were obvious problems with the Legend's Fate Point design, namely that the scale of their actions needs to be rewarded, as Legends should have a "holy shit that was awesome!" category. Beyond that, this chapter was an amazing time. The Defies started early, and there's sometimes where someone decides it's time to fuck around and find out. And then the next guy realizes that the whole situation is cooked, and if they don't keep Defying they can't get anything done. It's not all the time, but every six or seven chapters there's this explosion of activity, where everything breaks and there's severe, long-term consequences. Or, as Ross says with a growing dread "I don't think Defying solves any problems".

We know, Ross.

Oh, we know.

The Dragon's Fire: Book 3, Chapter 6

 

Shadowdark Taught Me Much

Running Shadowdark last night was a blast! Thanks to everyone who played with me. I definitely had a good time, and realized I had been running Crescendo as a "conventional" RPG for too long, and that I hated doing it that way. We'll get back to what that means in a bit, but for the moment, just put a pin in that.

The Method Behind My Madness

So this time, we’re going actually break down what I’m doing when I make the prompts I use for my players to respond to. I have a calendar and astrology I use to generate them, which is in the Heranyt setting. I use themes derived from the astrology of my setting to make prompts for the players.

• The three universes in rough orbit with Arvoita.
• The month's theme
• Whether Eous is waxing or waning
• The brightest planet in the sky, whether it's waxing or waning.

Yes, I will attempt to explain what I'm talking about.

The End of an Age

One of the things unique to Heranyt is that is part of a multiverse set up... all of which move in orbit around each other. These universes will bleed into each other, slightly. All Heranyt campaigns, from here on out, are when the orbits of the three universes closest to Arvoita (where Heranyt is) change. So we always start with three universes in conjunction, and then at some point I decide when the change begins.

Conjunctions at the Beginning

At the beginning of The Dragon's Fire, we had three Daughters (universes) in conjunction:

• Paritay, the Loving Daughter. She's leaving orbit, which means love and sexuality are just flat out bad. Weak.
• Kilpaya, the Daughter Who Competes, usually thought of as war. She's in full orbit, which means competition and warfare are good and actually solve problems.
• Jaoday, the Indulgent Daughter. She's the one who dispenses plenty. She's the one coming into conjunction, which means that providing and  giving fixes things... at a steep cost.

Conjunctions Now

But, at some point, it has to change. And now is the time. So we "move" everything down:

• Kilpaya, the Daughter Who Competes, is now leaving orbit. Warfare and competition is now bad, and its consequences are just a disaster.
• 
  
• Jaoday, the Indulgent Daughter. The problems of the world can now only be fixed by giving and being generous.
• 
  
• Sarray, the Grieving Daughter. She's about discipline, structure, and giving space to sadness. She's now coming into orbit, which means her ways solve problems, but at a steep price.

Nothing is Painless

Changing conjunctions should be painful. And this one's gonna be. Just the change, on its own, should do something. So we're going to lump that atop whatever's going on this time.

A comet streaks through the sky, and the earth quake, cracks open right through Sota City, draining the lake around it into the Undermaze, releasing the undead army into the land above. The Undermaze is flooded.

The Rest of the Astrological Times

• Starting in March (Kakusa), we move to communications as a theme.
• The bright planet in the sky is Ihanaus, which is ascendant, which means its theme is “good” or “strong”. Ihanaus is about love and sensuality and loyalty.
• Eous, the fell  green moon that hangs over the planet Heranyt, is waned, so we get a “good twist” in there somewhere.

Key these Themes to Locations

So I take these themes/beats and apply them to whatever locations the players are at. And, this time, they all are in the same location, as far as the scale is concerned.

Kaksusa 2-6

The Undermaze Proper

A comet streaks through the sky, and the earth quake, cracks open right through Sota City, draining the lake around it into the Undermaze, releasing the undead army into the land above. The Undermaze is flooded. This drowns everything and everyone right below the lake, unless you take actions to save those around you, but that will give you a level 1 Concusssion.

Players all either drown or spend Fate to reduce Exhaustion level 6, that's a Mortal Condition, so it impacts HP.

You're all washed further down into the Undermaze. You're back together. Somehow. You're in a giant underground lake, and it's cold as hell. Level 1 Hypothermia, which is Mortal.

A queensling finds the three of you, pulling you all out of the lake. There's soft phospherescent muhshrooms nearby, granting you light. As she stands above the three of you, she vanishes.

Raphael 

Raphael burns Fate to refuse the Exhaustion, so the level 6 mortal exhaustion never takes hold. When the lake collapses into the Undermaze, he moves with the current instead of fighting it, keeping control and guiding himself and the others through the rushing water.

As he’s thrown toward the rocks, Raphael turns his body and takes the impact on his shoulder and arm, protecting his head and avoiding a concussion.

Once dragged from the lake, he immediately forces himself into motion—wringing water from his clothes, rubbing his arms, and staying on his feet near the faint warmth of the phosphorescent mushrooms. By keeping his body moving and his blood circulating, the cold never settles deep enough to become hypothermia.

So Raphael walks away soaked and battered, but without Exhaustion, concussion, or hypothermia—pure stubborn survival backed by Fate.

King Melny

I spend a fate so the exhaustion never takes hold, after washing up, I make sure to reveal what I know to my friends. I do the same as Raphael. Always staying busy.

Addressing My Issues

Crescendo is a game about theme and analogy, via challenging Beliefs. A game about Wolfe shouldn't be plot-focused.  I enjoy the Archetypes system I came up with, but honestly I want images. They do analogy and theme in a way that no table of text can do, and frankly I got tired of having to use my brain to get to my gut, when I could just look at a conceptually-rich image and just... feel. That's where I'm at my best.

Enter the tarot deck, which I had been given as a Christmas present. I think it was a gag gift? I mean, Kyle and I have shared interests in esoteric stuff, and so that was probably Kyle just giving me something light and fluffy.

The System

This is actually pretty simple. We divvy up some of the Major Arcana, based upon the Beliefs, and put the rest back in the box. We use those to ponder some themes, and use them to inspire Hitting the Books. The Minor Arcana are used to help adjudicate outcomes, based upon how the player's actions match the Myth and their Beliefs.

I pulled out some Major Arcana that represented the gods most active in the player, generally around 9-12. At the end of each Chapter, I'll draw a Major Arcana and just... sit on it. Pull it out, over the week, and look at it, ponder the image, just in and of itself. Since the Arcana was derived from the Belief, that will actually put in ideas about challenging the Beliefs themselves.

The goal is to provide an environment that makes acting upon Beliefs dramatic. For all you old-school types, I am literally taking your principles and trying to apply them in a spiritual/anagogic context. The Weaver is trying to produce an anagogic environment for the players to thrive in. This is because, if you focus on the Beliefs themselves, you'll burn out. Trust me, did that with Burning Wheel, and I have no interest in going back to nitpicking someone's verbiage to death.

True conversation happens by way of analogy. So let's just do that.

Chapter 6, Kaksusa 7

So last night nobody showed up for the first 45 minutes! Jesse messaged me about 35 or so minutes into the stream and went "Can we do tomorrow?" and I told him, "No, we can't, because I have four kids and they'll be adapting to Daylight Saving's Time tomorrow." I was coming up with a "Just the Weaver" Chapter ideas...

And then Jesse showed up.

Like a freaking boss.

I pulled out the Tarot deck.

And we got started.

Reflections

Having conceptually dense images to look at and flip up during the session really helped me stay on track. This was, by far and away, the closest deliberate execution for weaving Crescendo I have ever done. And it ended extremely well. I love how Jesse engages things, and it was great just playing off of him.

Making something genuinely new and unique is hard, folks. But man, that was gameplay that actually stood alongside the more literally-minded Shadowdark. I still feel like I've barely touched the surface of what the narration/interpretation gameplay of Crescendo can do. And I can't wait to try and sharpen that next time!

Addendum

There are times when you can feel that an epic is coming to a close. And that has begun. Melny has declared his identity, and the only question now is whether or not Jesse can keep that up. Tasha's getting ready for it. I think Cal will be ready, but he's gotta get working internet to get Alistair there.

The end of Crescendo is when players start declaring who they are, not what they believe. It's a fine difference, but it's important. When that starts happening, the end is upon you.

The Dragon's Fire: Book 3, Chapter 5

By this point I was getting used to the rhythm. 

Sononn 17-28

Sota City

Legion manages to take over a number of the prostitutes, who throw themselves into the gigantic pit into the Below City, said to lead to the Apocalypse Ship. They fall without a sound. The soldiers managed to stop many of them, but were forced to kill some when they suddenly grew claws and lunged. A few of the soldiers proposed to their favorite whores... and somehow it worked?  At least for the ones who say "Yes!" They're married by the priests, quickly and then those soldiers were released from duty for the rest of the week. 

Raphael

Raphael watches it all with his jaw tight and his patience thinner by the second.

He leans on his spear, eyes flicking from the pit to the soldiers to the weddings, brows knitting. "I leave the city alone for five minutes," he mutters, voice dry as dust, "And Legion starts throwing brides and demons into the same problem."

When one of the possessed lunges and gets put down, Raphael exhales through his nose- annoyed, not surprised. But then he noticed the copules actually working, preists scramling, rings slapped on fingers, he tilts curiously. "... that shouldn't work," he says, flatly. A beat. "I mean, good for them but still. That's not how possession usually responds to romance.

He straightens, rolling his shoulders, eyes narrowing at the pit. "Alright, Legion," he calls out under this breath, sassy edge creeping in. "But if you think I'm letting this turn into a city-wide speed-marriage apocalypse, you're about to be very disappointed."

The Undermaze, Sota Cluster

The remaining bulls go out to fight the queenslings, who now have an army again. They have to bring the Solidified Flame in to break holds over the bulls who haven't died.  That kills many of them, just outright. The queenslings are driven away, but the losses are bad.

Alistair

The best offence is a good defense. I work wit hthe minotaur leadership to set up a heated "funnel". Because of the size and inreasing frequency of attacks, we strategized   a plan to collapse tunnels and set up murder holes  to redirect and slow attacks as best we can. We will clog the labyrinth with their corpses- if we must.

The Undermaze Proper

King Melny is... adopted.. by a large insectoid thing, who won't let him leave, but won't let anyone else harm him. For those two weeks the thing feeds Melny, regurgitating stuff full of squirming... somethings... into Melny's mouth. Is Melny hallucinating that? Who knows? But he has to eat something.

The insectoid thing loses its head to a mate. And she chases King Melny further into the depths.

King Melny

Mel would continue to find his way out. After escaping the last creature, he would carefully trace his way through the caverns. I would at times try and see if Junior (a creature King Melny had summoned and has a mystical connection with)  could be contacted through our bond to see if I could trace my way up.

He never comes.

Chapter 5, Kaksusa 1

Cal's internet was still out, and Jesse was MIA (turns out he accidentally fell asleep), so we ran with Tasha again! And it was awesome!

Reflections

There's cracks showing up for me, but I can't put my finger on them. This is fine, but there's a spark missing, and I don't know what it is yet. Time to wait and see it play out some more!

The Dragon's Fire: Book 3, Chapter 4

Sononn 9-15

Sota City

The Ascension Rite Argenti absolutely purge all Ferren Descension Rite traces. Descension Rite clergy who will not switch their allegiance to the ecclesiarchs of the Argentum Empire are driven off, and the worship spaces are reconsecrated. Some of the Ferrens respond by fornicating with whores in the reconsecrated places, defiling them. All Ferrens have their cut in half, with the penalty for Ferren desertion increased to public drawing and quartering.

Raphael

Raphael didn't rage. He smiled.

While the Argenti priests were busy chanting and repairing sigils, he strolled through the freshly reconsecrated  grounds, like he was inspecting a new throne room. He game a slow, amused clap.

"Creative", he murmured. "Desperate, but creative."

Then he had the whole place scrubbed clean again. Not in anger. In style. Silver braziers relit. Banners hung higher. Incense thicker than before. If they wanted spectacle, he'd give them something worth kneeling to.

When the pay cuts were announced, Raphael didn't stiff beside the officers. He leaned. Arms crossed. Watched the Ferrens swalow their pride like fine wine. He caught the glaring. The ones pretending not to. The ones thinking about running.

"Desertion? Drawing and quartering? Publicly? Oh," Raphael said to no one in particular, "now this is getting interesting." That night he doubled the guard- not dramatically. Just a few quiet shifts of power. Loyal Argenti in key corridors. Supply lines sealed tight. Sanctums locked down like a vault. Not because he feared rebellion. Because he wanted to see who was bold enough to try.

And if someone did?

Well.

Raphael always enjoyed a little bit of curiosity.

Undermaze- Sota Cluster

A creature calling itself Legion possessed a bunch of minotaurs and attacked the reamining unpossessed minotaurs. They were pushed back and killed. The remaining minotaurs were seriously injured, and were unable to travel. The nearest cluster was many miles away. There was nothing to eat, and King Melny was just... gone.

Alistair

I use my healing sword to get anyone injured healed enough to start an evacuation effort.

Undermaze Proper

King Menly outraced stray queenslings, some of who were possed by Legion. Lultiple monsters came at King Melny over the next few days.

King Melny

Meny killed and ate what he had to, raw. If possible he would kill kill everything possible to find a way out. Unfortunately, this gives Melny Hallucinations 01.

Chapter Four- Sononn 16 to 17

Cal still didn't have internet, and Jesse was unreachable (probably passed out, given that he stays up pretty late to play with us). So we went... and. Well. Tasha did something just completely and unreasonably epic.

Reflections

We got a shorter wait time between sessions, and it didn't disappoint here either. We got to do something really epic (which is Tasha's bread and butter), without having to worry about how we got there during the session... because we had already gotten there.

1:1 time is awesome. It just is. I'm hooked.

The Dragon's Fire: Book 3, Chapter 3

Passouan 11-17

The players had split from Chapter 2: King Melny, Alistair, and Wolf going into the Undermaze, and Raphael staying in Sota City, since Tasha had missed the session. So I started writing two prompts: one for Sota City, and the other for the Undermaze.

Sota City

The human element has lost half its contingent, with Lord Sylvain running away with his "camp follower", Vivienne, to parts unknown. The remaining contingent is paid to stay there by Lord Auguste, who is loyal to King Melny, but he's gonna run out of cash in a month.

Raphael

I stayed on the walls as Sylvain fled, watching half the humans vanish with him. I marked the roads to Sota Fortress and counted Auguste's coin, knowing it wouldn't st the month. With the month of Sonno closing in, I began preparing for the day the humans fail, so their would collapse would not take us (the elves who had recruited Raphael) with them.

Undermaze- Sota City Cluster

The minotaurs captured King Melny, Alistair, and Wolf very quickly, along with the half-dozen children they had rescued. The minotaurs were infuriated that Alistair and King Melny had broken their vow to never reveal the secrets of the Undermaze, even for children's safety. They considered abandoning King Melny and Alistair deep under Sota City, by the Apocalypse Ship. If The Outsider wanted them to survive... they would.

The rival minotaur, Artur, broke into the prison with his bulls, and rescued all of them on Passouan 17.

Passouan 18-30

Unfortunately I couldn't host the next week. We had a family trip to do. So I wrote up a new set of prompts for them to answer. With kids getting sick the next week, I decided to extend the timeframe the prompt happened under.

Sota City

The Knight (the death knight leader of the infinite zombie horde that's always streaming out beneath Sota City), comes under a flag of truce and declares those mortals who work under him won't be eaten. He offers clear and obvious terms: lieutenants in his army and full protection. 

Lord Auguste promises any who accept this offer will be shot immediately. Some still manage to desert to the Knight.

Parties are held on the walls to taunt the undead who can't get up there without help from the dragon.

Raphael

I don't debate. I act.

I kick a chair off the wall, wine falling below, and draw steel just long enough to make a point. I glance from the Knight's tidy little flap of truce to Auguste's execution promises and sigh:

"Immortality with benefits or loyalty with a firing squad," I say dryly. "Hard choice," I wave my blade at the gate. "If you're going to leave, do it quickly. The dragon hates late exits."

I grab a fresh drink, lean back against the battlement, and toast the dead below. "Sorry boys, private party."

The Undermaze

Artur is poisoned by an ex-lover, and collapses. An insurrection is led, but ARtur's supporters bring out Solidified Flame and use it to break the will of the insurrectionists. The victory is celebrated, tense as it is.

Alistair

I attempt to use the sword (which heals what it cuts) to save Artur (Weaver note: success!).

During the week, I spend time with the insurrectionists, mostly just to listen to their grievances so they can be brought forward so the responses and reasoning can rectified.

King Melny

King Melny spent time with Alistair, but to see how he could manipulate the minotaurs.

Sonnon 1-7

... and then we lost another week. This one was more due to total scheduling SNAFUs, along with kids going to bed way too late. So we're coming up on a month with no actual play sessions! I was pretty discouraged. It also didn't help that I had been getting news of multiple family members coming down with cancer amidst everything... and just wanted a break. And couldn't get one. But, I figured "What the hell, why not," and sent out another pair of prompts.

Sota City

The Argentum Empire has arrived, with a full army... and are taking over the human part of the operations from the Ferrens. Forcibly. Any commoner who disagrees is exiled. Several knights would wouldn't accept a commission in the Argenti army are publicly executed.

There's a real supply chain now.

The Argenti are much more... sensual.. than the dour Ferrens. They bring plenty of women, openly, and the ensuing debauchery for the Festival of the Solar Trial, when Telos begged for the children Arvoita before the betrayed Outsider) shocks the Ferrens, who at least keep their whores hidden in their tents.

Raphael

I stood on the edge of the celebrations, armor on, eyes everywhere, while the Argenti drank, laughed, and claimed the camp. I made sure the supply lines held and the executives stayed a finished business. Festivals make people careless - so I stayed sharp, counting blades, watching loyalties shift, and preparing for whatever happens after music stops.

The Undermaze- Sota Cluster

The queenslings, a race of beautiful women made out of stuff darker than shadows, seeking anything warm to drain, happened upon the minotaur cluster. They drained several of the bulls of their warmth, creating undead thralls of them. They struck during the feast of the Solar Trial, and if not for the festival it would have gotten worse. They were driven away... and then the funnels began.

King Melny

"I can fix her".

I would most likely stay out of sight and observe. seeing what can be seen and what could possibly be learned from the encounter. As well as see what would be used to my advantage.

Alistair

Alistair was a part of the team driving away the queenslings. Light will touch all.

Chapter 3, Sonnon 8

Finally, we had an opportunity to play!

And it all seemed to fall apart.

Tasha had an emergency she had to take care of, right then and there. Cal's internet was out as part of an ongoing issue, and he still couldn't play. So, I asked Jesse if he "just" wanted to a 1v1. Normally Jesse doesn't do those. He likes the interplay between the people. But it had been so long.

And what happened was pure gold.

Reflections

Honestly, folks, since Christmas has been rough on me and mine. There's been a ton of illness, terminal announcements, and games just haven't run. I know what would normally be happening right at my tables if something like this hit: the steam would be slowly coming out of the campaign. It just would.

That isn't what happened. Quite the opposite. We just kept running the off-session prompts, let time pass organically, and when even one freaking person could get on and play, we had a blast. The momentum of the campaign didn't stall, it didn't even stutter. I have never seen anything like this, period. If anything, momentum continued to build, even with more missed sessions and real-world tragedies!

The Dragon's Fire: Book 3, Chapter 2

The Dragon's Fire: Book 3, Chapter 1

Heranyt Playtest and The Dragon's Fire - Passouan 4 , 5 and 6

I like reading setting books. I like having a coherent set of vibes that I can just lean into on evenings where I don't feel like reading something more "substantial". Just soak in the vibes.

I hate using setting books while running games. I hate it because there's either too much lore or not enough, and it's impossible to just use the lore immediately. I don't know anyone who personally used a setting book as it was "intended", and the only people I know of who sorta did were using 4e DnD books, which have a lot of crunch in them: using the setting book changed the game itself, so they used the book.

So I decided I wanted to actually make a setting book that could be used, as-is, in a game of Crescendo... which meant that Crescendo needed to be done. And it is. We're getting the text firmed up, which is why it's in Ashcan, but the game's mechanics are done.

So I decided I wanted to make a setting book. Which meant actually making something I would use at the table. This time I decided to try and document what I'm doing in a somewhat public fashion. For funsies.

What I Look for in Designing a Game

The simplest measurement I have for when I design a game or game supplement is that it gives back much more than you put into it. My time is valuable. If the process for playing a game doesn't yield something that's obviously going to be worth my time, I don't want to design it. Or play it.

Now Hold Up

That doesn't mean that the game doesn't take skill or time to master. Or even that the game is easy. I make hard games. Crescendo is a very difficult game to master. The initial entry is quiet low, but once you realize what the game is doing... it takes a long time to produce truly epic results. But the process is extremely rewarding while you do it. It's a process that's fun and challenging.

The Heranyt Setting

So, why my homegrown setting? Simply put, I know it. I have played in it for a long time, and feel comfortable with how much lore should be put in, and what I use. Also, this may come as a surprise to some, but I make my games and stuff so I can use them. For my own amusement. So if I am going to make a setting, it's a setting I am going to use. For me. And that means Heranyt, if I'm going science-fantasy.

Playtesting

Now, the big thing that I insist upon is that setting books fundamentally change how the game is played. It's not merely a skin, it's a different way to play that system. I have absolutely no want or need to make a setting that doens't fundamentally change things.. but I couldn't think of anything. I knew things were missing from the Crescendo experience, but then suddenly-

1:1 Time (It's John McGowan's Fault)

 

- I freaking read "The Living Campaign", by John McGowan, a nice guy who decided to write about how 1:1 time could be useful. For those of you who don't know, 1:1 is an older concept in Dungeons and Dragons, which says that game time is tied to real-world time. Sessions of play are more or less when you check back in with your characters and do something dramatic. 

Something about this setup clicked with me. Wolfe stories weren't quite this formula, but the idea behind all Wolfe stories are that there's something huge going on the background, and it is "the plot". The story is about what happens to the characters when the plot hits them... and then leaves. 

So 1:1 time wouldn't look like in Crescendo what it would in DnD, and that's fine.

The Procedure

Heranyt has some light gameplay astrology to it: the seven planets hang in the sky, and they affect things. 

How Does the Situation Progress?

I would roll a d20 for the scale of the event that day:

1: The situation is totally screwed. Downfall.

2-8: The situation gets worse.

9-14: The situation doesn't get worse.

15-19: The situation slightly improves.

20: The situation improves dramatically.

The Initial Situation

I made a calendar that told me when the principle planet was ascendant (doing good stuff) or descendent (doing bad stuff). For weather, I know that the general location we're at is actually decently similar to my own, so I just check the weather for the day at my house.

How Does the Situation Progress?

I would then check to see if Eous the Evil Moon was ascendant (screwing up the initial bad situation) or descendent (making the situation better). 

The Resolution

I would reference a random line from my journal, to see how it all ended up.

How This Looks So Far

So, here's what we got so far. I s tarted on January 4th, which on my calendar is the 4th of Passouan. It's technically winter, but the locale's in the more southerly climes, relatively close to a gulf. So it's actually decently warm. Here's how the plot's progressed at Sota City, where an uneasy alliance of men and elves keep back the eternal tides of undead attack.

4th of Passouan

Two days from now is The Drowning of Telos, when he was said to have met Elpida, the Flame Eternal. 

Unfortunately,  on this warm and temperate day  General Juhani, a popular elven leader, dies protecting his elven guard from a surprise attack led by the dragon and The Bride. Morale is very low amongst the elves. There wasn't even a body left.

Kuri

So, Kuri responded with two accounts: a historical account and one from the standpoint of her character, Raphael. I didn't anticipate this. I was overjoyed. Both were okayed, given that Raphael's survived run-ins with actual gods before.

Account of the Witness 

On that same day, the one who would later be named in the Wars to Come stood among the elven host, sworn neither to command nor retreat. They felt the turning of fate before the dragon was seen, and raised warning even as shadow fell upon the terraces.

When the attack came, they fought to hold the line beside Juhani’s guard, drawing steel and spell alike. They survived the firestorm only by chance—or by design unknown—cast to the stone as the General made his final stand.

When silence returned, it was they who first rose, and it was their voice that called the living together amid the ruin.

For this reason, the chronicles name them not as a savior, but as the Last Witness of Juhani, from whom the true account of the Fourth of Passouan is known. This what I have written or in historical addendum brain today I can change it up if need be.

Raphael

I stood among the guard when the air turned wrong, warm as a forge without flame. Two days remained before the Drowning of Telos.

The dragon came with the Bride. General Juhani placed himself before us and was unmade. No body remained—only scorched stone.

I fell in the fire.

I did not burn.

When the dragon withdrew, I alone rose where I had fallen. The host was broken, and mourning was decreed.

Fifth of Passouan

Kuri- Raphael

The day before the Drowning, on this day, a hundred of the elves sailed to the stars, hearts shattered by the death of Geneal Juhani. Defenses against the horde are worse than ever before. An envoy has been sent to the wolves of Serpent Forest, and prospects look good. 

I keep watch.

While others mourn or flee to the stars, I walk the walls and count what still stands. I test blades dulled by neglect, trace runes that no longer answer as they should. Juhani is gone, and with him the certainty of command—but not my purpose. I listen for the drums of the horde in the distance and for the answer that may come from Serpent Forest. If the Wolves answer the envoy, I will be ready to meet them. If they do not, I will be ready to hold the line. Either way, I do not leave. My survival—and this stand—were never accidents.

I remain not by chance, but by design—set aside to remember what others were meant to forget.

Sixth of Passouan

It’s a warm winter’s day, the Drowning of Telos is today. Heavy rains cancel the festivities for off-duty soldiers. Drunken debauchery amongst the humans follows, elves are disgusted.

Kuri-Raphael

Rain drums the eaves where I stand still.

Below, humans drown in ale and noise,

laughter rotting into shouts.

I do not drink. I watch—

count guards, note shadows, feel the night shift.

An elf turns away in quiet disgust.

I stay, sober with memory,

waiting for the rain to end.

Conclusions So Far

Only one of the four players has provided responses so far. I don't know how that's going to go, come game time and only one of the four players has been tracking things.

But I think this is the best way forward. I may have to figure out what that means, practically, but it's definitely... it feels right. This is amazing. I love it. I just need to figure out how to channel it to others. 

We'll see how this works!