Great write up and a good point about Cerys made by Nathan C. For the sale of the narrative, I was also hoping the same about her.
As satisfying and realpolitik it would be to execute Owain, I feel Anwen just wouldn't go for it, especially after seeing his son in the crowd. Kill Owain and she has a future enemy. Catch the boy's eye while offering Owain exile and the boy will be grateful. Of course, if Owain tries to run Anwen through he's only go himself to blame...
Finally caught up! What an amazing journey this blog has been so far, and I am amazed at what an engrossing piece of fiction you created (I have paid far more for books I have enjoyed far less). Also the prospect of seeing a Wuxia-style playthrough at some far point on the horizon has me very excited. I have been devouring this book/blog for the past few days, and it's been sufficiently inspiring to make me finally try my hand at a solo Ironsworn playthrough during the holiday-time ttrpg drought.
Tough poll choice there. The varying possibilities of an Owain that survives, exiled, are enticing. Would he return as a villain? Or redeemed? Additionally, the trope of a villain that survives due to the Hero's naivete to come bite back later feels like the right turning point from Anwen as "would-be-hero" to Anwen as the "hero" of this cold iron (bronze?) age. Killing someone in an honor-duel, however much of a terrible person they are, feels like a bit of a cold-blooded step up from the life and death duels Anwen had before, which were already a moral struggle.
Yet her anger at his actions, grappling with her new fear (killing Owain *is* what must be done, after all, as she steps into her role as a Marshal), her recent life-ending experiences; that might be enough for her to steel her determination.
Hehe, I got a flood of notifications when you liked posts today, and that always makes my day! I'm so glad you found the project and are having fun with it.
I'm pretty happy with the poll this week for exactly the reasons you describe -- there are really strong reasons to go both ways. I'm not totally sure what I'd do as a player at the table, and I'm excited to see what y'all pick. :)
Hey, would you mind if I made a pull quote of the first paragraph of your comment here and used it in some promotions of the project on Twitter and Discord? If not, let me know how (if at all) you'd like to be credited.
It is very possible that move will get triggered -- if the vote is to finish the duel, then a weak hit on Clash will mean Owain gets one more damage roll, which will cancel out his advantage on damage due to Never Going to Keep Me Down (and if he still manages to deal 5+ damage, she'll auto-succeed on the Face Death roll).
It could also happen if the vote is to offer exile, but Owain refuses (seems very within his character) and fights on.
I'm very flattered to have been quoted and very pleased to learn that Cerys is, in her way, trustworthy. Thank you!
I just missed the poll - it's been a busy week - but I'm hoping that Anwen will offer quarter. I wish I had a really pithy argument for this, but it just comes down to feeling that it wouldn't be very heroic for Anwen to kill Owain in front of his kid.
Speaking of which, what becomes of the boy after Owain is dead or in exile? Does his family go with him? Do they just move in with Cerys and carry on without Dad? Or is Stonetop one of those societies in which killing someone in a duel gains you both their property and the obligation to care for their dependents? (An amusing possibility, but probably not the story you were itching to tell.)
In any outcome, I agree with justjeffisfine: I have paid far more for books I have enjoyed far less.
I think you're very right about the dynamics of Owain's son being present -- though certainly, this is a different time (and it's entirely possible the kid has watched Owain kill or wound people in the circle before). If the votes end up falling that way, I'll have to think very hard about how Anwen would make that right for herself.
Re: The legal matter of Owain's death -- I imagined him being exiled alone. I think it's possible his family might accompany him if they felt the result was unjust, or they just loved him that much, but I think Owain's behavior suggests that he may not be someone who inspires a lot of loyalty in his family.
I think they likely do move in with Cerys -- we've sort of established her as someone who takes people in (she took Anwen in, after all), maybe as a show of strength and influence, maybe because she believes its her duty, or more likely both.
There's also Royce's widow to consider -- Cerys promised both that they'd be provided for and that justice would be done. That third outcome you mentioned was definitely in my mind (despite its narrative complications), as I was imagining how things might unfold. Might Cerys expect Ronhl, Padrig, or one of the other Companions to "do the right thing" and marry Heledd, or at the very least commit to providing for her. I'll probably do some noodling on it in the prep for the coming episode. Your intuition is right -- I don't think the coming sessions will spend enough time on the homefront to do a marriage story real justice, but it could be something that's happening more in background. What do you think?
Well, if the votes go that way, I thought you did a good job foreshadowing how Anwen would steel herself to kill Owain by bringing her fear into play: She's afraid of what she must do. What (she believes) she must do, for the good of the village, is kill Owain. She overcame her fear and will now do what she must.
If she's later pretty broken up about the consequences of her actions... Grimly doing what you must even though you know it will end in pain and sorrow is the essence of tragedy. Gets kinda dark, though.
I think you could probably keep Ronhl's marriage to Heledd in the background without feeling contrived. Do you think you could do the same if it was Padraig? If that's where you want to go, it feels like another step in the transformation of the Companions from wandering cutthroats to respectable citizens of Stonetop. A second marriage makes it harder for the village to get rid of the Companions but ups the stakes if they decide to - what becomes of Nia and Heledd?
I haven't finished the episode, but before I do - this bit "If Anwen rolls well on a few Clash rolls, she’ll make mincemeat of any non-supernatural human opponent, so Owain needs a few tricks to short-circuit Anwen’s ability to easily trigger Clash rolls, meaning she has to use other tools to get fictional positioning to strike." is incredibly deep and important advice for creating and piloting NPCs in PBTA games. Short-circuiting enough to make it interesting, but not so much as to neuter a PC is a fine line, but the mechanics give us a more elegant tool to do it than "moar hp". Really great point.
Great write up and a good point about Cerys made by Nathan C. For the sale of the narrative, I was also hoping the same about her.
As satisfying and realpolitik it would be to execute Owain, I feel Anwen just wouldn't go for it, especially after seeing his son in the crowd. Kill Owain and she has a future enemy. Catch the boy's eye while offering Owain exile and the boy will be grateful. Of course, if Owain tries to run Anwen through he's only go himself to blame...
Finally caught up! What an amazing journey this blog has been so far, and I am amazed at what an engrossing piece of fiction you created (I have paid far more for books I have enjoyed far less). Also the prospect of seeing a Wuxia-style playthrough at some far point on the horizon has me very excited. I have been devouring this book/blog for the past few days, and it's been sufficiently inspiring to make me finally try my hand at a solo Ironsworn playthrough during the holiday-time ttrpg drought.
Tough poll choice there. The varying possibilities of an Owain that survives, exiled, are enticing. Would he return as a villain? Or redeemed? Additionally, the trope of a villain that survives due to the Hero's naivete to come bite back later feels like the right turning point from Anwen as "would-be-hero" to Anwen as the "hero" of this cold iron (bronze?) age. Killing someone in an honor-duel, however much of a terrible person they are, feels like a bit of a cold-blooded step up from the life and death duels Anwen had before, which were already a moral struggle.
Yet her anger at his actions, grappling with her new fear (killing Owain *is* what must be done, after all, as she steps into her role as a Marshal), her recent life-ending experiences; that might be enough for her to steel her determination.
Hehe, I got a flood of notifications when you liked posts today, and that always makes my day! I'm so glad you found the project and are having fun with it.
I'm pretty happy with the poll this week for exactly the reasons you describe -- there are really strong reasons to go both ways. I'm not totally sure what I'd do as a player at the table, and I'm excited to see what y'all pick. :)
Hey, would you mind if I made a pull quote of the first paragraph of your comment here and used it in some promotions of the project on Twitter and Discord? If not, let me know how (if at all) you'd like to be credited.
That's all fine by me, no crediting necessary!
Ossining returning redeemed! What an exiting possibility I’d not considered!
Heavy stakes this week. I voted for Anwen to offer exile. I want Owain dead, but Anwen is a better person than I am, and I want to see that.
Time to take Owain's piece off the board.
Now, will 'Never Gonna Keep Me Down' get used?
Well, she did run around and (sort of) desert him…
Instinct: To never give you up
That’s how we roll!
It is very possible that move will get triggered -- if the vote is to finish the duel, then a weak hit on Clash will mean Owain gets one more damage roll, which will cancel out his advantage on damage due to Never Going to Keep Me Down (and if he still manages to deal 5+ damage, she'll auto-succeed on the Face Death roll).
It could also happen if the vote is to offer exile, but Owain refuses (seems very within his character) and fights on.
I'm very flattered to have been quoted and very pleased to learn that Cerys is, in her way, trustworthy. Thank you!
I just missed the poll - it's been a busy week - but I'm hoping that Anwen will offer quarter. I wish I had a really pithy argument for this, but it just comes down to feeling that it wouldn't be very heroic for Anwen to kill Owain in front of his kid.
Speaking of which, what becomes of the boy after Owain is dead or in exile? Does his family go with him? Do they just move in with Cerys and carry on without Dad? Or is Stonetop one of those societies in which killing someone in a duel gains you both their property and the obligation to care for their dependents? (An amusing possibility, but probably not the story you were itching to tell.)
In any outcome, I agree with justjeffisfine: I have paid far more for books I have enjoyed far less.
I think you're very right about the dynamics of Owain's son being present -- though certainly, this is a different time (and it's entirely possible the kid has watched Owain kill or wound people in the circle before). If the votes end up falling that way, I'll have to think very hard about how Anwen would make that right for herself.
Re: The legal matter of Owain's death -- I imagined him being exiled alone. I think it's possible his family might accompany him if they felt the result was unjust, or they just loved him that much, but I think Owain's behavior suggests that he may not be someone who inspires a lot of loyalty in his family.
I think they likely do move in with Cerys -- we've sort of established her as someone who takes people in (she took Anwen in, after all), maybe as a show of strength and influence, maybe because she believes its her duty, or more likely both.
There's also Royce's widow to consider -- Cerys promised both that they'd be provided for and that justice would be done. That third outcome you mentioned was definitely in my mind (despite its narrative complications), as I was imagining how things might unfold. Might Cerys expect Ronhl, Padrig, or one of the other Companions to "do the right thing" and marry Heledd, or at the very least commit to providing for her. I'll probably do some noodling on it in the prep for the coming episode. Your intuition is right -- I don't think the coming sessions will spend enough time on the homefront to do a marriage story real justice, but it could be something that's happening more in background. What do you think?
Well, if the votes go that way, I thought you did a good job foreshadowing how Anwen would steel herself to kill Owain by bringing her fear into play: She's afraid of what she must do. What (she believes) she must do, for the good of the village, is kill Owain. She overcame her fear and will now do what she must.
If she's later pretty broken up about the consequences of her actions... Grimly doing what you must even though you know it will end in pain and sorrow is the essence of tragedy. Gets kinda dark, though.
I think you could probably keep Ronhl's marriage to Heledd in the background without feeling contrived. Do you think you could do the same if it was Padraig? If that's where you want to go, it feels like another step in the transformation of the Companions from wandering cutthroats to respectable citizens of Stonetop. A second marriage makes it harder for the village to get rid of the Companions but ups the stakes if they decide to - what becomes of Nia and Heledd?
I haven't finished the episode, but before I do - this bit "If Anwen rolls well on a few Clash rolls, she’ll make mincemeat of any non-supernatural human opponent, so Owain needs a few tricks to short-circuit Anwen’s ability to easily trigger Clash rolls, meaning she has to use other tools to get fictional positioning to strike." is incredibly deep and important advice for creating and piloting NPCs in PBTA games. Short-circuiting enough to make it interesting, but not so much as to neuter a PC is a fine line, but the mechanics give us a more elegant tool to do it than "moar hp". Really great point.