Nozbat

Nice piece Alex.. particularly since you quoted one of my favourite characters in the movies..Inigo Montoya 

Drawing the characters into the scene is the most important aspect in my opinion, the rationale for the game. Making it personal, making moral choices, been seen or acting as the baddy.. all of those make it different and memorable 

Equally, protagonists acting with agency is in my mind important. I just read Design Mechanisms newly released Factions and in the course of reading it I had so many ideas for groups, cults, factions with which to irritate players who have goals and missions that they will carry out that will annoy the players.

I remember being ‘burnt’ trying to run a bought scenario, when the players heard what they were facing, they understandably decided not to do it as there was no real hook or investment to pull them in. They just said..this isn’t our problem. And on the face of it, I had to agree. It was my fault for not providing a hook. Interestingly, their backstory was not enough for that one. 

More food for thought on a Sunday morning, drinking coffee on the terrace in the sun

Shouldn't you sacrificing dogs to Hecate Alex? Not sure she likes chicken... oh and some wild garlic too

A great summary Alex, not only for Mythras, but should give RQG shamans ideas on how to play animists. 

I like some of the ideas about spirits and cities.. and reminds me of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series... and how it could be incorporated in games.

I have used animists in my Saxon Campaign which has a very low magic content. The players are terrified of them, hate them but seek out their help with spirits and their enemies. They are also aware that they cannot kill them as they will end up in Náströnd, a place they have glimpsed in trying to find a lost soul and do not want to be sent after death.

Much food for thought

I have also used the idea that at the Wintering sites, Moot Sites, Trade Fairs, etc there are artefacts such as paintings depicting the events of the last year drawn on the Tribal totems, rock formations or even a permanent building that marks the site. The events are drawn in formalised Icons on the rocks, totems, building as well as recounted in the oral traditions. The ultimate accolade for the PCs is to be represented in the icons.

On 9/4/2021 at 1:13 PM, Alex Greene said:

These would be part of the tents and wagons, and carried along with the shelters themselves. Those nomads who have caravans traditionally decorate their mobile homes: wagonmaking was as much an expression of art as of vehicular engineering.

They are also used as defensive structures. At the Battle of Beroia in 1091 the Pechenegs used the wagon laager as a rallying point, arrow depository and resupply and finally as a last defence. The Byzantines (being Byzantines) tricked the Pechenegs into accepting a favourable Treaty and then attacked suddenly. The Pechenegs fought as horse archers, firing waves of arrows at the Byzantines and even wounded the Emperor, John II Komnenos, before being forced back into their laager. The defences were only breached by the Varangian Guard armed with their 'Danish Axes' that were able to hack their way through the wagons and defeat the Pechenegs.

The morale of the story is, if your a nomad, never trust those southern 'civilised' people... they have no honour

Alex wrote: There is archaeological evidence to suggest that many nomadic tribes were accomplished at working copper, bronze, tin, silver, and gold

It reminds me of the nomadic Greek tribes of metalworkers that tattooed a concentric ring on their foreheads that Robert Graves postulated gave rise to the legends of the Cyclops. The metalworkers being represented in iconography as a single eyed person metalsmith and misunderstood when the meanings of the icons were forgotten and taken as literal representations.

Alex wrote: Bigotry is prevalent in many Civilised cultures, and often as Civilised cultures degenerate they turn to nationalism, populism and racism, painting a romanticised illusion of hearkening back to some "good old days" or "glorious Empires"....This is an ugly theme, one of the ugliest themes you will encounter - and it is included here only as a reminder that the real world is often a harsher place for footloose people than any fantasy world can ever be.

As Alex rightly pointed out this is a common theme. "Civilised" commentators have left written records and rarely tried to understand the motivations and culture of others that they considered inferior and often only had oral records that are often lost in the mists of time. These commentators often characterised the nomads as "aimless wanderers, immoral, promiscuous and disease-ridden" peoples and rarely saw them as a civilising force but as wreckers, destroyers and peoples to be exterminated for the good of civilisation.

The In-group/ Out-group scenario is as old as the human race and I have used it several times in play. I agree with Alex that it has the potential to be ugly, but don't believe it should be avoided. A clash of cultures is a good roleplaying scene and one were the PCs learn that using brute force rather than talking should teach them lessons on how to comport themselves. I like setting up scenes were the initial information is faulty and the PCs need to negotiate with both moral and cultural sensitivity.

Great work Alex as always

Interesting Alex

I think I'd like to add another dimension to your thinking and include GMs.. without whom there would be no games to have a payoff 

As a player I think the payoff for me is designing and creating  a character who has a specific personality recognisably different from those I've played before and with specific goals in mind. I think it's best to have short, medium and long term goals. The goals tend to be mundane in many ways (being able to talk to people without tripping over your tongue, getting married and having children, understanding different cultures, being able to forge end-user certificates for captured javelins, being more interested in the spirit world and neglecting physical things or possessions). I don't think I've set out with a character to gain power, wealth or fame. Some of my characters would die of embarrassment if they were recognised as a hero.

The idea of 'superhero' characters that always wins is a bit redundant for me (well since I stopped playing D&D 30 years ago). I think for me it's actually roleplaying a character true to their personality and goals that brings the satisfaction, even if it is counter to 'winning'. Being able to navigate the scene or scenario brings payoff and solving or at least trying to achieve a solution is positive too. 

As a GM the payoff is designing and running a good session. That it engages the players, makes them consider choices and consequences, poses problems that have moral and 'real-life' consequences and the solutions do not necessarily benefit them. I also like to confuse them by presenting a seemingly simple event that has many layers that they may never understand because that is how things actually work. Leaving them uncertain and unsure gets them thinking and engaged.

So as A GM the payoff for me is definitely engagement at an intellectual level that makes them think about what they are doing, wonder what is going on and create discussion and thought in between sessions where the players are trying to solve whatever situation they find themselves in.

The payoff for me is that it is an immersive experience where there is actual engagement in roleplaying rather than mere process or playing similar characters. If I can engender thought, mystery, confusion, fear, wonder... then I think I have succeeded 

This was a hugely difficult session to write up as there was so much interplay between PCs and NPCs and even between the PCs themselves. I had actually played it in mid January and had completed other write ups before I did this one. 

Part 3 will be published soon and then I can edit and publish the other sessions we have played since hopefully a lot quicker than I have been doing.. including one of my favourite sessions so far ..the Beatification and Canonisation of St Hywel, the martyr of Dunum