14 Comments

Another great episode! I admit I was disappointed when Vahid left, although I can see the reason behind it.

Great use of the clock. Definitely fits. I like your use of tools from different games. Are you still using the Ironsworn oracles behind the scenes, such as Maeve's personality, as you did with the Hillfolk?

Also, great writing in general

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Thanks man! Glad the clocks worked for you, I feel like they're always great at building tension in Apocalypse World and Blades in the Dark.

Re: Ironsworn Oracles, I am still using them for NPCs, particularly when I need to create fresh NPCs on the fly. The way Shawn Tompkins writes the Oracles is to use them when you don't have a strong intuition how to play a certain situation, which is generally what I do.

In Maeve's case, I did have a source for some strong intuition: For her personality, I used the statblock for the Marshedge town guard. Jeremy Strandberg, Stonetop's creator, did something kind of ingenious with the guard's statblock: They all have the same base stats (6HP, 1 armor, 1d8+1 damage) but they are divided into three separate factions that have different Instincts.

Here's how those factions break down:

Ex-Claws // Instinct: To lord over others

New Recruits // Instinct: To avoid danger or punishment

Old Guard // Instinct: To protect the town, no matter what

For Maeve's personality, I just used the Old Guard's core instinct to inform it -- she's an exemplar member of that group.

Thanks again for reading and commenting -- always very insightful. :)

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“ Anwen shuts her eyes and drives the spear into the young man’s stomach, silencing him.” yesss deeper into the abyss for the young hero. Develop that character!

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I know right? I'm more excited about her facing her trauma than the whole of the jailbreak at the moment

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Yeah, same. Also every second Ozbeg continues to live is a fucking _miracle_ 🤣. He's only 1 day away from retirement!

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I'm a fan of Vahid and as such sad to see him go but kinda hoping things go sour so he's off doing his own thing for a little bit. I think it'd be interesting to see that angle, a scholar going to war for his friends.

Your characters make me think of the doctor who quote.

"Demon's run when a good man goes to war."

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There's a strong chance things could go pear-shaped next session -- there's only one tick left on the clock, and there's at least one more roll before they're free and clear. I hope they get away and are reunited -- our squad is stronger together. But we'll play to find out!

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Holy hell man. Brennan and Bertrim both are two evil guys I love to hate. Amazing bud!

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I love writing Bertrim, he's such a creeper. Not sure what things will look like for him in the next episode. :)

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I know this is a year old at this point, but I’ve been binge reading to catch up.

I need to let you know that I’ve read over clock explanations from several people at this point and yours is the first one to finally make sense to me. It may help that you tie examples of their usage into the existing narrative, but even your initial explanation made things clear.

I think other PBTA designers should take notes on your explanation style; as of now I’m understanding Stonetop and other PBTA concepts a lot more clearly thanks to you (not them)

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That's great to hear -- the game that really crystalized clocks for me was The Sprawl, with their Mission Clock. It's a cyberpunk game that uses a countdown clock to track the security respond of the corp you're doing a mission against, and I used a similar approach here. Glad this work is helping your grok some of the fiddlier elements of PbtA!

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“You wear that sigil every day. If you do nothing while he soils it, what honor can you claim? You might as well take Bertrim’s silver.” She’s got a point 🤷🏿‍♂️

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Way more than a point.

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Seriously. Her and Pad are so dynamic. Her and Pad have really wonderful arcs so far, they feel so alive and complex - neck and neck for my faves, those two are. Pad might edge her out until she fully comes into herself, though. Strides be taken every chapter, though!

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