The Undertow: Session Five

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

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

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


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

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

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

He left.

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

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

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

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

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

Mikansia was alone. Again.

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

Everyone else moved on.

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

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

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

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

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

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

There was shouting back inside the prison.

The cell was covered in blood.

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

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

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

Risk Legacy: War Five

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

South America became known as The Mutant Defense.

Everyone simmered in their faux peace.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Risk Legacy: War Four

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to GM: Safety and Difficult Content

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

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

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

Has it sunk in yet?

Good!

We're done here.

Oh.

Right.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May the Power Protect You: Rocky DeSantos (MMPR Red)

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

No other character in the game has given me half the trouble that Rocky has. Every time I've played with him I continuously find that I have a bad time. After talking with a few other people about him I've come to the conclusion that Rocky is not my playstyle, in the slightest. And, given most of the reactions I've read he's not most people's cup of tea. I think that has to do with the fact that Jason works so well, standard and Dragon Shield, that trying to work Rocky's ability to his deck is a hard proposition. Rocky is the hardest transition of all the Gen 2 characters. He occupies an almost completely different role than Jason, and without that knowledge and a frank appraisal of his deck in light of his ability you're just going to have a bad time. But Rocky's playstyle is every bit as good as Jason's. He's the man with the plan and, even though he needs more support than Jason, his wider access to his deck will prove to be just as helpful, if that's the sort of thing you like.

Rocky's ability is the most deceptive in the game. At any point you take a hit and you can put the card at the bottom of your deck you can instead put the card in your hand. It's a powerful ability, but you have to be careful, because this means that your deck gets smaller at a faster rate than anticipated. This means that Rocky should not take all the hits, and when he does he should definitely not use his ability all the time. Unlike most characters who have at-will abilities Rocky's should not be used at very opportunity. It's your deck you're playing with, after all. Caution is a must.

Block is the most valued card in your whole deck, just full friggin' stop. This card lets you grab the card you need right now. This does not mean that you should take hits every time you get a Block, however. Do not do what I did, but stop, think, and be judicious. Your hand size is going to be larger than other people's, but at the cost of the size of your deck. Use this card to get what you need and then get the hell out of the way. Rocky is not a tank. Do not play him like one. Use Block to grab what you need and then go back to support. 

Never lead a battle. Rocky is not someone who gets out in front of everyone and uses his actions to Attack. Move to the location required, Recover, and support whoever attacks. You can't afford to take the hits that a Lead Ranger often does, nor should you try. You are the Swiss Army Knife of the Power Rangers, not a friggin' battering ram. Don't act like one and you'll be alright. Throw out Team Tactics and Lead the Charge with wild abandon, but for goodness sake let everyone else do the fighting. Be cautious!

Rocky may be the hardest ranger in the game. He requires far more careful planning and strategy than Billy, while living in the shadow of a far easier and flashier option (Jason). You are the man with the plan, you have answers, but do not lose your head. You can't afford to, otherwise you'll be a liability. Plan ahead, be smart, and, love of God, don't get hit unless you need to be.

Risk Legacy: War Three

Yes, this is a play report of a Legacy game. That means there's spoilers.

Ben- Khan Corporation, starting in Indonesia

Nathan- Imperial Balkania in Argentina

Logan- Enclave of the Bear, starting in Central Africa

Matt- Die Mechaniker, starting in Japan

Year One

Khan Corporation took over all of Australia and then stopped in South East Asia. Imperial Balkania took all of South America (as well as Central America) and then walked into North Africa, taking the city and the increased forifications within it. Enclave of the Bear's response to their new neighbors was swift and brutal. They flattened Balkania, despite their improved fortifications. They then swept the rest of South America, leaving Balkania respite in only Central America. Die Mechaniker took over half of Asia.

Year Two

Khan Corporation expanded into Africa and took Enclave's HQ, and then blazed right into South America, taking the HQ in Argentina. They then took Peru, but could not eliminate the Enclave in Venezuela. Khan Corporation then withdrew what he had left of his troops to Indonesia. Imperial Balkania and The Enclave of the Bear made a deal to leave each other alone. Balkania expanded into North America as far as Alberta. The Enclave took back Peru, but could not take Argentina back from Khan Corporation. Die Mechaniker took China and South East Asia from Khan, but had a surprise upset in Indonesia, losing almost all of their forces in the process.

Year Three

Khan Corporation's revenge was brutal. Coming from India they overwhelmed Die's forces in China, and then cut a bloody swath across Asia to Japan, where they took the last HQ on the board.

Wrap Up

Four cities were founded: the major city SingaBorland (yes, that's Ben's last name, yes it's funny, yes, let's move on), Alamo in Central America (which has an Ammo Shortage scar on it), the minor city of Bunker in Venezuela, and then Borderland in Afghanistan.

The world is now a mess. Hooray.