Owain: I'm reminded a bit of the Honor Harrington saga in which her worst recurring adversary for the first four books turns out to be a pushover because of the skills she's gained (while he remained static). It might be an amusing dream for Anwen to return to Stonetop and simply steamroll Owain - he has no inkling of the warrior she's become. This would also allow greater story focus on the other threats.
Future settings: Of the three listed, the wuxia one is interesting to me, perhaps with a highly multicultural bent - perhaps the school exists at the junction of many cultures and nations, and the styles blend in an interesting way (unlike what happened with real-life MMA).
Other settings you might find interesting... something about what the Culture might have looked like very early in its development? Something kind of brightpunk?
I like that multi culti concept a lot. Nuba and laamb wrestling, krabi krabong, catch as catch can, and other obscure martial arts represented in the different students influences... That's hot hot
Of the threats in Stonetop, Owain is the least interesting to me, despite Anwen being my favourite character. I'm more interested in the other NPCs in the village, and how Anwen and the others work to make Stonetop safe and able to grow.
The rural cyberpunk campaign is the most appealing of the three you described. A lot of cyberpunk in RPGs emphasizes guns and urban haves and have-nots. I'd like to see outside the city for once.
I’m really glad to hear you like Anwen! She was the character that’s most different from characters I’ve played in the past, so I’m glad she’s being portrayed in a compelling way.
Re: Cyberpunk, agreed! I always thought the Logan X-Men movie was a little rural cyberpunk-y, but other than that I feel like there are few references.
That's a lot of words! If you're roughly 60% through the word count then cranking up the pressure even more needs to happen soon, although I'd have loved to see more long-term seasonal growth in the settlement. No need to force it if that doesn't work with the existing narrative though. Of the threats Owain -> Brennan -> hdour seem a natural progression and escalation.
Post-Stonetop, I know nothing about Avatar, heard good things about Hearts of Wulin via the Gauntlet, and a rural Cyberpunk is an interesting angle to take. None of them grab me completely, but I'd follow whatever you chose.
Question! How long does it take you to write an average session?
A good amount of time! It’s generally more than I used to spend doing GM prep and playing with groups.
I generally “play” the session on Wednesday or Thursday night for 1-2 hours. The notes consist of major beats and the rolls they trigger, plus the jist of conversations between PCs and NPCs -- I try to record their mindset as the conversation begins and when it ends, plus any worldbuilding I wanted to establish. I also make note of specific GM/player notes I want to include about how a specific situation was narrated. The notes phase also includes making a decision about the episode poll -- as I get close to the end of the second or third scene, I try to identify interesting decision point to use for the poll.
Then, on Friday/Saturday and sometimes (but hopefully not) Sunday, I spend 6-10 hours doing the episode -- writing up the prose and the notes -- and editing (though I’m sure you’ve seen that I am not a very good editor). I also do one final read before the episode goes live on Monday, just for typos and whatnot (again, with mediocre results).
1st off, this is a game I wish I'd backed. Getting around to a pre-order, this site having pushed me off the fence into a cinema seat.
I think that if Owain isn't handled carefully, it could lead to Cerys to being a much more interesting and possibly vengeful internal threat.
I do like Brennan turning into a Macbeth type character, with witchy backing. This also leads me to wondering if a grieving, unhinged, but still calculating, Cerys might go looking in the direction of the Marshedge cabal, in an attempt to divert Brennan's attention to your protaganists.
The sorcerer in the winds, if he isn't prevented from achieving his goals to power early on, might actually require help later from these existing and potential foes, which might make for an interesting climactic power struggle.
That's some of my loose thoughts. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
I'd be interested in knowing if the Crinwin turn out to be those who are lost.
I shall channel a certain professor and suggest that this book might be too short.
I faintly considered running a revamped Car Wars style game in the past, so that might hold my attention.
On the other hand, a Mahabharata style game would be kind of cool, the Seleucids bringing the foreign influences, but I'm not a ATLA follower.
I have thought a bit about blowing up the length target and doing “seasons,” really letting each threat breathe in a lot of the ways you describe. Worth pondering over the next couple of months, since as Imperious noted elsewhere, if I want to finish under the Fellowship Benchmark, things will have to start accelerating very soon. The professor’s words are definitely worth considering.
And thank you for de-lurking! Always great to see a new profile pic in the comments.
I hear great things about Freebooters — I’ll grab it and take a look! Night Witches is a neat game, but I worry I wouldn’t do it justice as a storyteller. That said, I’ll grab a copy and give it a look in case something sparks. 😃
Re: Avatar — is the classical Indian setting interesting, or would it be more fun to see a story in the core ATLA universe?
I'm very weary of turning you off stonetop, but I'm very system focused when it comes to new games - all three of those could be really cool, and really fun! I'll check out the systems and report back. Jesus christ re: length. What an accomplishment SGH!
ATLA is also a very awesome universe and I love the bending stuff. Having a different spin on it would be interesting as for the default one... I would just stick to re-watching the show to be honest. So its the least intriguing.
That said, I personally would love some Cyberpunk PTFO. Do you have Games in mind that you consider? I know of the Sprawl and Urban Shadows (and CBR+PNK, but thats more a One-Shot). There are probably more, curious to see what you consider here.
Some thoughts -
Owain: I'm reminded a bit of the Honor Harrington saga in which her worst recurring adversary for the first four books turns out to be a pushover because of the skills she's gained (while he remained static). It might be an amusing dream for Anwen to return to Stonetop and simply steamroll Owain - he has no inkling of the warrior she's become. This would also allow greater story focus on the other threats.
Future settings: Of the three listed, the wuxia one is interesting to me, perhaps with a highly multicultural bent - perhaps the school exists at the junction of many cultures and nations, and the styles blend in an interesting way (unlike what happened with real-life MMA).
Other settings you might find interesting... something about what the Culture might have looked like very early in its development? Something kind of brightpunk?
I like that multi culti concept a lot. Nuba and laamb wrestling, krabi krabong, catch as catch can, and other obscure martial arts represented in the different students influences... That's hot hot
Of the threats in Stonetop, Owain is the least interesting to me, despite Anwen being my favourite character. I'm more interested in the other NPCs in the village, and how Anwen and the others work to make Stonetop safe and able to grow.
The rural cyberpunk campaign is the most appealing of the three you described. A lot of cyberpunk in RPGs emphasizes guns and urban haves and have-nots. I'd like to see outside the city for once.
I’m really glad to hear you like Anwen! She was the character that’s most different from characters I’ve played in the past, so I’m glad she’s being portrayed in a compelling way.
Re: Cyberpunk, agreed! I always thought the Logan X-Men movie was a little rural cyberpunk-y, but other than that I feel like there are few references.
That's a lot of words! If you're roughly 60% through the word count then cranking up the pressure even more needs to happen soon, although I'd have loved to see more long-term seasonal growth in the settlement. No need to force it if that doesn't work with the existing narrative though. Of the threats Owain -> Brennan -> hdour seem a natural progression and escalation.
Post-Stonetop, I know nothing about Avatar, heard good things about Hearts of Wulin via the Gauntlet, and a rural Cyberpunk is an interesting angle to take. None of them grab me completely, but I'd follow whatever you chose.
Question! How long does it take you to write an average session?
A good amount of time! It’s generally more than I used to spend doing GM prep and playing with groups.
I generally “play” the session on Wednesday or Thursday night for 1-2 hours. The notes consist of major beats and the rolls they trigger, plus the jist of conversations between PCs and NPCs -- I try to record their mindset as the conversation begins and when it ends, plus any worldbuilding I wanted to establish. I also make note of specific GM/player notes I want to include about how a specific situation was narrated. The notes phase also includes making a decision about the episode poll -- as I get close to the end of the second or third scene, I try to identify interesting decision point to use for the poll.
Then, on Friday/Saturday and sometimes (but hopefully not) Sunday, I spend 6-10 hours doing the episode -- writing up the prose and the notes -- and editing (though I’m sure you’ve seen that I am not a very good editor). I also do one final read before the episode goes live on Monday, just for typos and whatnot (again, with mediocre results).
How many ways have I asked for this in the dms and Rex gets it for free? 🤣👌🏿
OK, so de-lurking.
1st off, this is a game I wish I'd backed. Getting around to a pre-order, this site having pushed me off the fence into a cinema seat.
I think that if Owain isn't handled carefully, it could lead to Cerys to being a much more interesting and possibly vengeful internal threat.
I do like Brennan turning into a Macbeth type character, with witchy backing. This also leads me to wondering if a grieving, unhinged, but still calculating, Cerys might go looking in the direction of the Marshedge cabal, in an attempt to divert Brennan's attention to your protaganists.
The sorcerer in the winds, if he isn't prevented from achieving his goals to power early on, might actually require help later from these existing and potential foes, which might make for an interesting climactic power struggle.
That's some of my loose thoughts. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
I'd be interested in knowing if the Crinwin turn out to be those who are lost.
I shall channel a certain professor and suggest that this book might be too short.
I faintly considered running a revamped Car Wars style game in the past, so that might hold my attention.
On the other hand, a Mahabharata style game would be kind of cool, the Seleucids bringing the foreign influences, but I'm not a ATLA follower.
I have thought a bit about blowing up the length target and doing “seasons,” really letting each threat breathe in a lot of the ways you describe. Worth pondering over the next couple of months, since as Imperious noted elsewhere, if I want to finish under the Fellowship Benchmark, things will have to start accelerating very soon. The professor’s words are definitely worth considering.
And thank you for de-lurking! Always great to see a new profile pic in the comments.
Of these, I'd vote for Avatar--would love to see it hit the (virtual) table.
The other one I'll put out there is Freebooters on the Frontier or if you're feeling really out there: Night Witches...
Second Freebooters (lots of fun randomising tables) and I did a fun campaign of Night Witches last year. Plenty of emotionally agonising moments.
I hear great things about Freebooters — I’ll grab it and take a look! Night Witches is a neat game, but I worry I wouldn’t do it justice as a storyteller. That said, I’ll grab a copy and give it a look in case something sparks. 😃
Re: Avatar — is the classical Indian setting interesting, or would it be more fun to see a story in the core ATLA universe?
I'm very weary of turning you off stonetop, but I'm very system focused when it comes to new games - all three of those could be really cool, and really fun! I'll check out the systems and report back. Jesus christ re: length. What an accomplishment SGH!
Oh, I would love some Cyberpunk. 😍
ATLA is also a very awesome universe and I love the bending stuff. Having a different spin on it would be interesting as for the default one... I would just stick to re-watching the show to be honest. So its the least intriguing.
That said, I personally would love some Cyberpunk PTFO. Do you have Games in mind that you consider? I know of the Sprawl and Urban Shadows (and CBR+PNK, but thats more a One-Shot). There are probably more, curious to see what you consider here.