The threads that jump out at me are #3, #4, and #5.
#3: I love the idea of Vahid putting his practical skills to use, perhaps feeling a bit ashamed at his academic whiff in the ruin. He sees this project as a way to build his reputation and respect, while taking another angle at finding out more about the history of the area.
#4: You've been writing training scenes and stories for a long time so I bet this will be good :)
#5: This would be a good way to get some resolution or evolution of the sniping and back and forth that's been ongoing since the very start; while it's been entertaining, a lot more bickering will be a bit tiresome, so an opportunity to move that forward to a new dynamic would be great.
Agreed re #5 about more bickering potentially becoming a bit tiresome if it stays at the same volume, but I think 'ol pod has succeeded at enough rolls to quiet it down for a session or two while we focus on other threats. Esp if the companions get a hero's welcome for bringing back the green-eyed villager (blowden? Boldwin?), and something to occupy their time like training Anwen, or competing with that bully for control of the new and improved militia.
Firstly, lemme just say what a pleasure this has been, reading this work, imagining its future, getting to know the characters, and ruminating on their world. In terms of threads, I'll grapple with this two ways - as I would if I were "in the game" - and then try to bring them together:
The first way, is what do the mechanics want me to care about? I'm a firm believer in the social economics of game design. Jeremy Strandberg has told us, through his rules, what he wants us to care about as players, by making them xp triggers. I'll just focus on which ones could tap the Party XP triggers, since there'd always be opportunity for failing roles and the other personal triggers.
So, let's judge these potential routes on that (great) leveler, then I'll muse about what I think would simply be cool and interesting to see more of from an audience/player perspective. I'll put them in order of what I'd like to see next session. #MetaRolePlaying🙂
1. Did we learn more about the world and its history?
2. Did we defeat a threat to Stonetop or the region?
3. Did we improve our standing with our neighbors?
4. Did we make a meaningful improvement to Stonetop, or make progress towards doing so?
Everyone would likely be able to score some high marks across these, save for "Did we defeat a threat to Stonetop or the region?" or "Did we improve our standing with our neighbors?". Having Anwen as a 'member in good standing' in stonetop might count as meaningful progress towards a more fair and well defended town. 2/4
I think it would be pretty cool to see Anwen fight her bully, 1 on 1. If she wins, their relationship changes big time - and gives her his wounded pride to deal with as a new front. If she loses, it would be an enormous blow to her ego, and he'd likely twist the knife at every opportunity - pushing her to take dramatic measures. The Anewn/Padrig relationship also feels the most un and interesting right now, among the PCs.
This is a 1/4 - I think the only likely xp trigger here would be meaningfully improving Stonetop.
BUT, this is the one I'd push for - I'd like there to BE a stonetop, and spending some time at home making sure things are set up for success feels like something Anwen and Padrig would really want to do, and that Vahid could really help with (I know it's not in the move, but structural defenses are important too! Maybe he could figure out what the crinwin *are actually* afraid of, and provide that intel). It feels very 'homefront' and involves the whole community.
This one has 4/4 potential. I can imagine ways in which it could hit each of these notes more than once, even.
I'm wondering how he would do this in a 'homefront' session, without venturing back to the woode, and needing more protection than just our budding hero. It's interesting, though - I'm into the Fey and the magic and the low-fantasy "dirty past" aesthetic (contrast with gladiator, where the past is sad, but clean), where every scene starts with a butcher cutting something's limb off at a market, and not everyone uses a sword, so you know it's authentic 😅. This feels like it could be the start of "The Main Plot", as well, so it makes a worthy early-game session.
#4 Padrig Makes Good to Ozbeg (ft. Anwen and/or Vahid)
This has potentialll for a 4/4 (which is a big plus), but a lot would have to go right (wrong? 🤔) More likely, this is a 1/4, and we'd miss defeating a threat, improving our standing (but we're traveling, so who knows!), and making a meaninful improvement to Stonetop.
I feel like it's fun to kick this can one storyline. I want to see this fester a liiitle bit more, and for Padrig to insinuate himself and his men a tad more to the village before they have to potentially face the music, so it's not such an easy call what would happen to them. Exciting idea, though, for sure.
3/4 - unlikely to defeat a threat to Stonetop, but not bad at all.
This one isn't too interesting to me, outside of wanting to get to know and like Vahid some more. Like, what's his deal? Right now he feels like an opportunistic academic, which is fine for Session 2, but compared to Anwen and Padrig, if he took one to the neck I'd feel relatively little. This feels like something to kick to a later date, since it's such a wild card what there might be to discover.
Thanks Machi! This is super useful in teasing out what's working for you in the story. You'll see which threads are advanced in today's installment. Sadly, they're not your top picks, but this feedback helps me figure out how to make them as interesting as possible.
And, as I'm sure you're aware, just because we don't follow a storyline immediately doesn't mean it goes away. ;-)
Yeah! The ones on the bottom of my list, I thought, were the ones that could wait a session or three before we dug into it. Except for Vahid exploring Stonetop, which I'm most eh about because I'm not totally sold on Vahid yet.
The threads that jump out at me are #3, #4, and #5.
#3: I love the idea of Vahid putting his practical skills to use, perhaps feeling a bit ashamed at his academic whiff in the ruin. He sees this project as a way to build his reputation and respect, while taking another angle at finding out more about the history of the area.
#4: You've been writing training scenes and stories for a long time so I bet this will be good :)
#5: This would be a good way to get some resolution or evolution of the sniping and back and forth that's been ongoing since the very start; while it's been entertaining, a lot more bickering will be a bit tiresome, so an opportunity to move that forward to a new dynamic would be great.
Tell me more about these training scenes and stories Shankar be writin' 😁
Ananda's read a lot of my writing projects through the years, hopefully he's seen some improvement ;)
I'm remembering one from a screenplay Shankar wrote about the same subject matter as "300", although before that movie or graphic novel came out.
Agreed re #5 about more bickering potentially becoming a bit tiresome if it stays at the same volume, but I think 'ol pod has succeeded at enough rolls to quiet it down for a session or two while we focus on other threats. Esp if the companions get a hero's welcome for bringing back the green-eyed villager (blowden? Boldwin?), and something to occupy their time like training Anwen, or competing with that bully for control of the new and improved militia.
Firstly, lemme just say what a pleasure this has been, reading this work, imagining its future, getting to know the characters, and ruminating on their world. In terms of threads, I'll grapple with this two ways - as I would if I were "in the game" - and then try to bring them together:
The first way, is what do the mechanics want me to care about? I'm a firm believer in the social economics of game design. Jeremy Strandberg has told us, through his rules, what he wants us to care about as players, by making them xp triggers. I'll just focus on which ones could tap the Party XP triggers, since there'd always be opportunity for failing roles and the other personal triggers.
So, let's judge these potential routes on that (great) leveler, then I'll muse about what I think would simply be cool and interesting to see more of from an audience/player perspective. I'll put them in order of what I'd like to see next session. #MetaRolePlaying🙂
1. Did we learn more about the world and its history?
2. Did we defeat a threat to Stonetop or the region?
3. Did we improve our standing with our neighbors?
4. Did we make a meaningful improvement to Stonetop, or make progress towards doing so?
#1 Anwen’s initiation (Ft. Padrig)
Everyone would likely be able to score some high marks across these, save for "Did we defeat a threat to Stonetop or the region?" or "Did we improve our standing with our neighbors?". Having Anwen as a 'member in good standing' in stonetop might count as meaningful progress towards a more fair and well defended town. 2/4
I think it would be pretty cool to see Anwen fight her bully, 1 on 1. If she wins, their relationship changes big time - and gives her his wounded pride to deal with as a new front. If she loses, it would be an enormous blow to her ego, and he'd likely twist the knife at every opportunity - pushing her to take dramatic measures. The Anewn/Padrig relationship also feels the most un and interesting right now, among the PCs.
#2 Anwen & Padrig plan for Stonetop’s defense
This is a 1/4 - I think the only likely xp trigger here would be meaningfully improving Stonetop.
BUT, this is the one I'd push for - I'd like there to BE a stonetop, and spending some time at home making sure things are set up for success feels like something Anwen and Padrig would really want to do, and that Vahid could really help with (I know it's not in the move, but structural defenses are important too! Maybe he could figure out what the crinwin *are actually* afraid of, and provide that intel). It feels very 'homefront' and involves the whole community.
#3 Vahid seeks the Green Lords (Ft. Anwen)
This one has 4/4 potential. I can imagine ways in which it could hit each of these notes more than once, even.
I'm wondering how he would do this in a 'homefront' session, without venturing back to the woode, and needing more protection than just our budding hero. It's interesting, though - I'm into the Fey and the magic and the low-fantasy "dirty past" aesthetic (contrast with gladiator, where the past is sad, but clean), where every scene starts with a butcher cutting something's limb off at a market, and not everyone uses a sword, so you know it's authentic 😅. This feels like it could be the start of "The Main Plot", as well, so it makes a worthy early-game session.
#4 Padrig Makes Good to Ozbeg (ft. Anwen and/or Vahid)
This has potentialll for a 4/4 (which is a big plus), but a lot would have to go right (wrong? 🤔) More likely, this is a 1/4, and we'd miss defeating a threat, improving our standing (but we're traveling, so who knows!), and making a meaninful improvement to Stonetop.
I feel like it's fun to kick this can one storyline. I want to see this fester a liiitle bit more, and for Padrig to insinuate himself and his men a tad more to the village before they have to potentially face the music, so it's not such an easy call what would happen to them. Exciting idea, though, for sure.
#5 Vahid explores Stonetop (Ft. Padrig)
3/4 - unlikely to defeat a threat to Stonetop, but not bad at all.
This one isn't too interesting to me, outside of wanting to get to know and like Vahid some more. Like, what's his deal? Right now he feels like an opportunistic academic, which is fine for Session 2, but compared to Anwen and Padrig, if he took one to the neck I'd feel relatively little. This feels like something to kick to a later date, since it's such a wild card what there might be to discover.
Thanks Machi! This is super useful in teasing out what's working for you in the story. You'll see which threads are advanced in today's installment. Sadly, they're not your top picks, but this feedback helps me figure out how to make them as interesting as possible.
And, as I'm sure you're aware, just because we don't follow a storyline immediately doesn't mean it goes away. ;-)
Yeah! The ones on the bottom of my list, I thought, were the ones that could wait a session or three before we dug into it. Except for Vahid exploring Stonetop, which I'm most eh about because I'm not totally sold on Vahid yet.