Sheesh! What a poll. Still catching up, can't wait to see what the community chose. Really enjoyed the bit with the folks playing the "grab the coin before the scorpion stings you" game, and the whole monomyth stuff with Vahid in general! And that fire spirit! Oh man, things are really coming to a boil.
Third option seems like a great challenge for a DM! Striking a balance between Vahid’s newfound hubris and the interests of other PCs wouldn’t be easy.
All of the scenes with Ustrina are so good, I can’t help but wonder if they can be allied with.
It would definitely provide a strong counterbalance to Padrig's Caution instinct -- Vahid already pushes against that sometimes, but he could push a lot harder. :) And I'm glad you liked the Ustrina! It's always a fun challenge trying to portray a somewhat alien sentience.
As a side note -- it always makes my week when I see someone tearing through the back catalogue and 'liking' lots of episodes. Can I ask you where you heard about the project?
I also play Stonetop, but not as a DM. The game is awesome and is usually one of the highlights of my week. I was looking for a reference image of crinwin and your Substack was among the first five google results. So, naturally, I bookmarked it and went to scratch my Stonetop itch once I got some free time.
I enjoyed your work greatly, and it’s been a source of inspiration, too! For example, we haven’t explored much of the internal politics of Stonetop, and after reading your Actual Play I’m very much looking forward to it!
I voted for 'escape' as I think it's time for the clock to hit midnight and all hell to break loose. Nothing like a wizard borne up on a cloak of thundering winds to draw unwanted attention.
That makes sense -- reading over it I didn't really do a good enough job making it clear what exactly the Valerix was asking for until he whipped out the eyeball extractor. In my head, it was clear that what the Ustrina would be most interested in is Vahid's ability to sense the flow of energies in the world, and his connection to the Azure Hand, but reading minds is nice too, no doubt -- and we did kind of stipulate that his various modes of sight are bleeding together, so maybe the Valerix will get a touch of that as well!
Sheesh! What a poll. Still catching up, can't wait to see what the community chose. Really enjoyed the bit with the folks playing the "grab the coin before the scorpion stings you" game, and the whole monomyth stuff with Vahid in general! And that fire spirit! Oh man, things are really coming to a boil.
Third option seems like a great challenge for a DM! Striking a balance between Vahid’s newfound hubris and the interests of other PCs wouldn’t be easy.
All of the scenes with Ustrina are so good, I can’t help but wonder if they can be allied with.
It would definitely provide a strong counterbalance to Padrig's Caution instinct -- Vahid already pushes against that sometimes, but he could push a lot harder. :) And I'm glad you liked the Ustrina! It's always a fun challenge trying to portray a somewhat alien sentience.
As a side note -- it always makes my week when I see someone tearing through the back catalogue and 'liking' lots of episodes. Can I ask you where you heard about the project?
I also play Stonetop, but not as a DM. The game is awesome and is usually one of the highlights of my week. I was looking for a reference image of crinwin and your Substack was among the first five google results. So, naturally, I bookmarked it and went to scratch my Stonetop itch once I got some free time.
I enjoyed your work greatly, and it’s been a source of inspiration, too! For example, we haven’t explored much of the internal politics of Stonetop, and after reading your Actual Play I’m very much looking forward to it!
I voted to rock the casbah (Ustrina don't like it).
Are you really a wizard if you don't cut loose every once in a while?
I voted for 'escape' as I think it's time for the clock to hit midnight and all hell to break loose. Nothing like a wizard borne up on a cloak of thundering winds to draw unwanted attention.
You just love to see clocks pop, don't you? :-D
Huh. I *honestly* thought that the Valerix was demanding Vahid’s third eye, not a flesh and blood eye.
That makes sense -- reading over it I didn't really do a good enough job making it clear what exactly the Valerix was asking for until he whipped out the eyeball extractor. In my head, it was clear that what the Ustrina would be most interested in is Vahid's ability to sense the flow of energies in the world, and his connection to the Azure Hand, but reading minds is nice too, no doubt -- and we did kind of stipulate that his various modes of sight are bleeding together, so maybe the Valerix will get a touch of that as well!
One of the spiciest polls so far!
I love some sacrifice and change. But you provided some nice in depth description to each choice.
I lean to pay the price. As I see Vahid in the end as a keeper of his word.
I don't like the brash cloak spirit escape BUT I like the 3rd option for it also is a nice and fitting change for going hubris.
So I go with.... Hubris