yooooo! This bit was _great_! Reminds me of Stolicus :P Such a great way to end a scene, and the most obvious strength of the medium - drafting. I've heard similar things with play by post 🤔
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Salonius the Wise once wrote: A wicked past can only be redeemed by a virtuous future.”
“Famously virtuous, was he?” Padrig asks.
“In point of fact, he was forced to drink poison after he seduced the tenth Despot’s son. But I believe the adage remains quite sound.” Vahid replies.
Padrig chuckles. “I’m sure if they were here, they could tell us all the wondrous things you can accomplish with a hole in the ground. But they are dead, and we need water today.”
- If there is a such thing as a Shankar Character Moment - it's this. The hardened pragmatist used to making life or death choices in the gutter is talking to a soft, ambitious dreamer about something spectacular, and pointing out wryly that while the arcane _may be_ wonderous, maybe, on the streets of _Baltimore_, you have to see to your needs before your wants. It feels like an Autor flourish, or a call back to previous works, for fans of the writer 😁.
Thanks bud. <3 Glad it landed with you. I would point out, though, that just a few moments later, it's Vahid who is pushing pragmatism to Padrig, re: his relationship with the village and his deception. They each have a point of view that's potentially valuable to the other, which I think is what you want in a PC ensemble.
As I read this, I often think about what departures and liberties this format allows you to take that a more traditional, GM+Players setup may not - the montage stuck out early for that this round. I wonder if x or y player with a connection to Owain might want to have it out with him, mussing the flow. Or again, after the montage, when Vahid and Padrig just arrive on the hill - this feels like the kind of scene that would normally start with Vahid having to "convince" Padrig to come with him, which is always awkward and often uninteresting, hinging on the Gygaxian model of "my pc can never be said to have done or thought anything I didn't expressly pilot "
100% agreed about that Owain moment -- it would be hard for Anwen and Padrig's players to just let it go, unless the GM overrode them in that moment.
In the case of the Vahid/Padrig scene, I think you can accomplish that with effective scene-setting between the two characters, i.e. Vahid's player says to Padrig's: "I want to pursue this Settlement Improvement, and you have relevant skills. Let's do a scene where we talk about the plan and Vahid tries to persuade Padrig." If Padrig agrees, someone (probably either the GM or Vahid) chooses where the scene is taking place and sets it up. For this specific scene, I figured Vahid would make his pitch on the green by the cistern, and I randomly determined the weather using one of Stonetop's fate tables. It just happened to be raining, which was perfect.
yooooo! This bit was _great_! Reminds me of Stolicus :P Such a great way to end a scene, and the most obvious strength of the medium - drafting. I've heard similar things with play by post 🤔
---
Salonius the Wise once wrote: A wicked past can only be redeemed by a virtuous future.”
“Famously virtuous, was he?” Padrig asks.
“In point of fact, he was forced to drink poison after he seduced the tenth Despot’s son. But I believe the adage remains quite sound.” Vahid replies.
Padrig chuckles. “I’m sure if they were here, they could tell us all the wondrous things you can accomplish with a hole in the ground. But they are dead, and we need water today.”
- If there is a such thing as a Shankar Character Moment - it's this. The hardened pragmatist used to making life or death choices in the gutter is talking to a soft, ambitious dreamer about something spectacular, and pointing out wryly that while the arcane _may be_ wonderous, maybe, on the streets of _Baltimore_, you have to see to your needs before your wants. It feels like an Autor flourish, or a call back to previous works, for fans of the writer 😁.
Thanks bud. <3 Glad it landed with you. I would point out, though, that just a few moments later, it's Vahid who is pushing pragmatism to Padrig, re: his relationship with the village and his deception. They each have a point of view that's potentially valuable to the other, which I think is what you want in a PC ensemble.
As I read this, I often think about what departures and liberties this format allows you to take that a more traditional, GM+Players setup may not - the montage stuck out early for that this round. I wonder if x or y player with a connection to Owain might want to have it out with him, mussing the flow. Or again, after the montage, when Vahid and Padrig just arrive on the hill - this feels like the kind of scene that would normally start with Vahid having to "convince" Padrig to come with him, which is always awkward and often uninteresting, hinging on the Gygaxian model of "my pc can never be said to have done or thought anything I didn't expressly pilot "
100% agreed about that Owain moment -- it would be hard for Anwen and Padrig's players to just let it go, unless the GM overrode them in that moment.
In the case of the Vahid/Padrig scene, I think you can accomplish that with effective scene-setting between the two characters, i.e. Vahid's player says to Padrig's: "I want to pursue this Settlement Improvement, and you have relevant skills. Let's do a scene where we talk about the plan and Vahid tries to persuade Padrig." If Padrig agrees, someone (probably either the GM or Vahid) chooses where the scene is taking place and sets it up. For this specific scene, I figured Vahid would make his pitch on the green by the cistern, and I randomly determined the weather using one of Stonetop's fate tables. It just happened to be raining, which was perfect.
oh wow the rain was random! huh!