View Full Version : [Actual Play, Sorcerer] Intrigue in Mu's Bed (Paula and Rob)
Using the same Relationship Map as I did for my other game with Jeff, Julie and JJ, I have begun another Mu's Bed Sword and Sorcerer game with two new gamers, new to the Sorcerer system but taking to it like ducks to water.
It was interesting to see the Relationship Map take on a new shape as new areas grew important due to PC insertion.
Paula - she played in a long Ars Magica game I ran and has done alot of Vampire LARPing. She's a solid gamer, a real mover and shaker at the table.
She's also a junior high English teacher. Not sure why I mentioned that but there it is.
Robert - we've met recently at a 7th Sea game we both play in and he played in my Wyrd West Dust Devils (as did Paula). Robert's gaming experience is pretty extensive with many gamers in his family.
For the record, below is the R-Map and a link to the other game I ran in this setting with Jeff and Julie
The Witch King
Overlord of Stygia,
Master of Lemuria,
High Warlock of Mu’s Bed
Father of The Prince and Lovers with Lady Dresda
Lady Dresda
Witch-King’s Concubine
Mother of The Prince and lovers with the Witch King
The Prince
Witch-King’s Heir
Son of Dresda and the Witch King and lovers with Carv
Carv
Witch-King’s Assassin (formerly the Duke's Assassin)
Lovers with The Prince
Duke Malteek
Lord of Mu’s Bed
Father of Kessen
Kessen Malteek
Mu’s Bed socialite
Daughter of the Duke and Lovers with Doggod
Doggod
Slave-master of the Witch King
Lovers with Kessen
They took to the R-Map concept fast, inserting themselves right on in.
Paula decided to make her character the young illegitimate child of Doggod and Kessen Malteek, birthed years ago and Kessen didn't have the stones to kill the infant and then the child's Demon, in the form of a snake, coiled around the child and hissed, protecting it from the would-be murderers.
Neat.
Robert decided to be the Lady Dresda's brother, also a concubine to the Witch-King and doting uncle to the Prince, heir to Lemuria. His Demon is an ancestor his grandmother strangled due to court intrigues.
Good stuff.
Next up, Characters, Demons and Kickers!
Amaranth
Paula envisioned a creepy child with a bestial Demon. It progressed into the leader of a cult from the Wastes. She leads a prophetic tent revival that travels across Marr'd, telling petty prophecies and reading the future for the common folk.
Stamina 2 Whipped by Marr'd
Will 5 Wasteland Wisdom
Lore 3 Waste Schooled
Cover 5 Tent Revival Prophetess
Price Cynical
Humanity 5
Telltale Protruding canines, pointed ears, greyish skin
Demon Hasan is a passer who can change shape into various predatory animals. He was a god worshipped out in the red wastes in ages past but his worshippers were all killed.
Paula talked about the possibility that Doggod is a descendant of the people who killed Hasan's worshippers and the Malteek family are descendants of those worshippers. Meaning that this child's birth is playing out an ages old dramatic vendetta of some kind. Interesting...
Desire - to be a god once again
Need - to be adored
Kicker
Amaranth has returned to Mu's Bed, the land of her birth with her tutor and their cultish tent revival. She is having an angry adolescent fit and doesn't want to go out in front of the crowd tonight.
She and Hassane begin to fight when the Demon lots slip (whoops!) that she was birthed in this city, her parents wanted to kill her to keep her secret and her father is in the audience tonight, curious about the newly arrived cult.
Ardash
Robert also staked his slot on the R-Map right away, deciding to be the brother to Lady Dresda, also a concubine. Robert seems to be envisioning a cunning courtier whose sister, having given birth to the Witch-King's heir has her place nice and set. I'm curious to see how he plays this social climber.
Stamina 3 Basalt Hewn
Will 4 Lemurian Ox
Lore 3 Blood of the Old Ones
Cover 4 Concubine
Price Arrogant
Humanity 4
Telltale Ozone perfume scent in the air
Demon Agga
Ardash's Demon is the ghost of a family rival who his grandmother strangled to death decades ago. She is a cunning noble politicker and I see them having a rather bitchy relationship but the ghost also thriving on the drama of court LIFE.
Desire to live again...somehow
Need to be involved in court intrigue
Kicker
Ardash has followed a conspirator against the Witch-King in order to gain favor in court, hoping to rat the traitor out. The fellow concubine is followed by him to the revival tent and meets someone who was exiled by the Witch-King for unspeakable crimes.
Both Kickers put the ball firmly in the players court and I know these two well enough to know that they will take the ball and run with it.
As always, the part of Sorcerer that people are most hesitant about is the idea of playing characters who aren't in the same scene. They have both GMed and It hink they engineered their kickers for an early meeting in order to make my life easier.
Next up BANGS!
I should really let the Kickers marinate in my head but I'm awake, so I'll churn out some hastily written Bangs and come back to this thread later with more developed ideas.
*Ardash's ghostly Demon sees her former husband, now a beggar king on the streets of Mu's Bed and she tries to communicate with him or manipulate Ardash back towards him.
*A rival of Ardash's sister attempts to kidnap him in order to make his sister send her own son, the heir, with the ransom so they can easily kill him.
*Amaranth is approached by escaped slaves, children her age, from her father's pens.
*Amaranth's Demon comes across an ancient alter from his dead religion and grows despondent of his faded glory, making his Need become all the more pronounced.
*The Prince asks his uncle Ardash to break off his relationship with Carv, the Witch-King's own assassin.
*Duke Malteek sends a pacted Immenent to kill Amaranth, in order to avoid the embarassment to his family she represents.
Broin
05-12-2004, 07:57 AM
Originally posted by Paka
*Amaranth's Demon comes across an ancient alter from his dead religion and grows despondent of his faded glory, making his Need become all the more pronounced.
I really like this one. Bunches of mood.
Joe.
Originally posted by Broin
I really like this one. Bunches of mood.
Joe.
Thanks. It has potential to really set the tone for the game and the setting.
E-mail correspondence concerning the game:
'Mirror, mirror on the wall
which of my rivals is poised to fall?'
Judd,
The Dictionary of Mu expedition has succeeded in getting my creative juices flowing. I'm pleased, and anticipatory.
My brain finally supplied the word it was questing for in lieu of 'arrogance' for Ardash's Price: 'ambition.' I like it. The price this lad pays for having power, is the desire for it. I like it even more in the context of a career concubine, whose greatest ambition is to have power by proxy (or proximity) but is limited in the fora where it (power) can be pursued for his own direct exercise thereof.
Could you talk for me a bit on the demon summoning system for Sorceror? Is it the full ritualistic form, octagram scribed in rare powders with hours of chanting? Is it the sort that one can pull off on short notice? Is primary demonic interaction through binding, as per our chars' familiar demons, or are fast and loose bargaining deals also done?
Could you also tell me a bit about The Prince, Ardash's darling nephew? What's he like?
More to come, but I'm diiiiirty, and it's time to get the soil and dead blackflies outta my hair. What a fuckin' sauna today!!!
Rob
Rob,
Love the rhyme. Love the trade from arrogance to ambition.
Demon summoning is difficult to do right off of the cuff. Ritual sacrifice and drugs can make it easier and it is very much an arcane ritual that you make up and describe well for extra dice from the GM, very much like swashbuckling in 7th Sea.
There are ways to Pact with SOME Demons but it isn't nearly as solid as a Binding, butthe fucking creature isn't IN your life. These Demons are called Immenents and are more monsters than Demons.
Summoning on the fly is difficult and probably not a smart move to do in the middle of combat. Best to go in with Demons ready to rock and roll.
When you summon, you create the Demon, whole clothe. You tell me what you want to summon, the idea of it and I make up the stats without you seeing. You won't know exactly what you Summon. Its a risky deal but the power is immense.
Also summoning and binding and contacting forces you to roll on your Humanity to see if you lose it. Going to 0 Humanity is a big honking deal and I'll talk more about that before the game on Sunday.
The Prince is something of an enigma. Is he a spoiled brat who can't look after himself, whose mother killed all of his rivals for him? Or is that just the aura he projects so his enemies will underestimate him?
He has killed a number of men and women in duels but the whispers around court say that he had help from mommy or daddy. He's dating the Witch-King's assassin. Is he dating her because she's tough and dangerous? because she is tutoring him in the ways of violence? because its naughty?
I'm leaving it ambiguous but rumors abound.
Mind if I forward this along to Paula? I think she'll dig the further comments on the system and thoughts on the setting.
Thanks for the food for thought. On to the next e-mail,
Judd
from Rob:
Yes, do please tell me more about the concubinal status. Are they spouses (as the language 'brides/grooms' could be taken to suggest), kept toys without official status, or....? Also, tell me 'bout these mummies. How strict is the binding on fidelity - no flirtatious manipulations of various players, or no smoochies and rendezvouses but teasing (and offering a chance at the forbidden fruit, ahem) ok? Etc etc etc. I'm contextualising the world he knows, and the place he knows himself to fit in, within it.
I rather forgot about the mummies and, quite frankly, wasn't keen on forcing you to take a Demon of my design. That'd SUCK.
Let us say that many Bridges and Grooms have Mummies but your sister had yours assigned away. She still thinks there's one Pacted to keep an eye on the both of you but at least the creepy fucking thing is out of sight.
She hated the fucking thing and she's no slouch.
The Brides and Grooms are a political maneuver to tie families to the Witch-King, something of a hostage system for families far away. The Witch-King is known to sleep with a fair number of his Bridges and Grooms but a great many are ornamental and/or political.
Flirtations, etc. are FINE. The only thing that's wrong is sex and by sex I mean something that could possibly spawn a bastard linked to the Witch-King's house. Be careful with that seed, boy. It belongs to the Witch King now.
Mind if I post these two e-mails on-line?
Anymore questions are fine. Lay it on me.
Judd
Thanks for the excellent replies/answers by the way, Judd. And no, I don't mind at all if you share any game related blather I send your way. Story-time is funn to share!
Speaking of which, what do you think of this idea I had for a collaboration with his sister, the Lady Dresda (?). It ties into the whole 'must. stay. beautiful' idea I mentioned when we were doing character generation.
At one point in time, Ardash and Lady D worked together on the gruelling and very difficult conjuration of the demon Lost Beauty (sure, new pretty people are made all the time, but all beauty fades and dies...). It was hard and took a lot out of the both of them, hence the tag-team, but they pulled it off; the entity is now Bound as a parasite-style demon within the body of one of Lady D's maidservants who was drugged and unconscious at the time. The poor girl is rather the worse for wear, carrying upon her face as she does the ravages of age due to three people now. (Herself, the two concubines.)
However, since that primary act of cruelty committed upon her, she is *very* well looked after. She is kept cloistered in Lady D's apartments - for her protection, and also so that no one has a chance to figure out the little secret. She's given easy work, ironically enough beautification projects like braiding Lady D's hair, etc. Ardash and his sister feed her good foods, and a regular stream of tonics, elixirs and medicines '...to help you feel a little better, dear.' On the one hand, they've a vested interest in her health, because when she dies they'll have to face another ordeal (and potential... wrinkles! *shudder*). On the other, they both probably feel some remorse for what they did to the girl. Ardash does, although he feels it 'a necessary loss'... I don't know what his sister thinks. From the parasitic demon's point of view, *it* is the one being pampered, which suits its monstrous vanity just fine.
Lady D probably gets the added benefit of her other maidservants seeing: 'See now, the First Concubine's a mighty and dangerous sort, but lookee how nice she is to poor Issie what got sick.......'
Robert,
I love this idea but I don't want us to start playing this gameover e-mail. I'll meetcha in the middle.
How about your sister and you have already chosen the maidservant and the summoning has only to happen. That way we can do the summoning in-game.
Judd
The more I think about it, the more I think this summoning of Lost Beauty idea should somehow be his Kicker.
I sent Rober the following e-mail because I feel like a player's Kicker should be where their energy is, show what they're excited about. I think one of the most difficult concepts to get across is the idea that the characters need not start the game meeting in a tavern and need never meet at all.
Its late to be re-thinking this stuff but such is life...
Robert,
Do you want something to do with your summoning to somehow be your Kicker?
I feel like you chose your Kicker just to make my life easier, bringing your and Paula's PC's stories together fast. This is a very sweet gesture, done by a player who is considerate and knows what it is to GM. I like your Kicker, don't get my wrong, however if you like this idea better, perhaps we should somehow change it around.
* There could be a complication with the summoning preperation
* There could be some kind of gruesome and violent act you and your sister have to partake of before the summoning can happen.
I want your to be really invested in your Kicker and this idea is pretty grand. Ideas? If you want to stay with this idea as lurking in the background and keep your Kicker as is, that's cool too.
Judd
And it all comes together in the following e-mail.
Do you want something to do with your summoning to somehow be your Kicker?
Yes, you're right that the original Kicker was planned in part due to an interest in bringing Paula and my characters together, but I also quite like it in its own right. Ardash has been collecting information on this other concubine (always, always on the lookout for advantage vs. all of them). He's discovered that she's scheming against the Witch King directly, about to meet this exiled personage who has secretly returned from exile. Exposing this has the double advantage of removing a rival, and possibly earning the King's (positive) attention thereby, which is just juicy.
Contrast this to the 'usual' - this kind of complete Takedown of a rival would usually require equally elaborate planning to ensure that blame could never be definitively pinned on the perpetrator. The whole setup for the original Kicker could be fun.
* There could be a complication with the summoning preperation
* There could be some kind of gruesome and violent act you and your sister have to partake of before the summoning can happen.
We *could* try to tie the two together, though. After writing out this idea to you, I started to think: what sort of ritual *would* be involved? My generic ideas bloomed that they've been collecting items possessed by persons renowned for their beauty - a handmirror, a comb, whatnot, destroyed in a hothot fire to create the coal used to scribe a summoning circle. Phase two, they've arranged for sacrifices symbolic of beauty and grace: a peacock, a gazelle, butterflies. Phase three, they select a pretty young maidservant girl and bring her into Lady D's service - host fot the demon. For the summoning rite itself, in addition to the animal sacrifices, I thought that it would be appropriately grim that another person of great beauty be present as a sacrifice; the demon Lost Beauty is 'recreated' through the aspects of preparation and ritual, culminating with the brutal disfigurement of Lovely Person X, who is left alive but scarred and hideous. In the context of this rite as backstory I thought that this target might be a random pretty off the street, drugged up and trippin their ass off prior to their maiming and being dumped off in an alley or whatever, with no clear recollection of the nightmare they'd been subjected to.
Icky, huh? Anyway. If you'd like to tie this planned summoning into the game, I could easily offer the following. In addition to any other benefits from his present scheme, Ardash hopes that the Witch King might grant the request: 'Let me have the treasonous bitch, master?' She's pretty. She's hated. Only hitch with the idea of using her as a potential victim is that she would potentially comprimise the Secrecy of the rite. But I suppose, given enough disorientation to obscure her memory of the event, it needn't be secret *who* scarred her, merely *why*. Hmm. That kind of brutality would be a screaming red flag amongst the other concubines though, invite them to plot vs. Ardash before he 'gets around to doing *that* to *me*'.... (Whilst Lady D remains comfortably invisible, clever witch.) Hmm, hmm. I suppose there's no reason why said sacrifice would *have* to be left alive to suffer (that's just extra credit malignancy points), just their beauty destroyed in a ritual fashion.
*shrug* I could go either way on a tie-in. Feel free to suggest another method of doing so, also, if you like. I do like the initial Kicker though.
later,
R.
I love the idea of using tying the Kicker to the rite. Fun, gruesome and brilliant. Perfect.
Consider it done.
See you tomorrow,
Judd
The other character had a PC portrait drawn by one of the kids she teaches. It wasn't precisely what she pictured but was cool.
And tomorrow, after much posting and such, we game.
The game was a rousing success with excited players, Humanity loss, Summonings and vicious player-character sociopathic episodes.
In the end Amaranth stranged her mother with her snake Demon and Ardahs viciously scarring his rival concubine in a ritual to summon the Demon of Lost Beauty, helped along with his sister, who shared inthe Binding. As the game ended Rob and Paula were already discussing their next Kickers, raring to do another episode in the future.
It was interesting to run an adventure with the same Relationship Map that was used in another game. Rob and Paula's Kickers felt strong and drove the game forward from beginning to end.
The list of Bangs helped and many made it into the final game with minor to major alterations:
*Amaranth's Demon comes across an ancient alter from his dead religion and grows despondent of his faded glory, making his Need become all the more pronounced.
Paula wanted Amaranth to track down her mother's midwife and it led to them finding the room where she was born and where he mother tried to strangle her but was stopped by the Demon. Turns out the midwife put her down on a slab that was an ancient altar ot Hasan.
Hence the Summoning and binding at her Birth.
*The Prince asks his uncle Ardash to break off his relationship with Carv, the Witch-King's own assassin.
This one was modified to include Amaranth's use of prophecy. Lady Dresda asked her brother to take her son to the prophetess for guidance. When the prophet let him know that his current relationship needed to be broken off, he asked that his uncle and the prophet make Carv understand.
It ended up driving the game along quite a bit.
Ardash's rival was meeting with an exorcist worshipper of the Dame Messiah. He is still at large at the end of the game, having cut his way past a Guardian Mummy. Should be an interesting NPC for later, his mystique is set.
Paula summoned and bound the spirit of her the late midwife who helped birth her and left her along with her mother, knowing full well her mother intended to strangle the babe to death in order to avoid any complications. Robert summoned and bound the Demon of Lost Beauty, a powerful mirror Object Demon, in a brutally described ritual in the last scene. Rob's description was very nice.
They took to the Summoning system quite well. Rob Contacted the Guardian Mummy in charge of guarding his rival in order to prove her guilt as a conspirator against the Witch King. It was a nice surprise.
They took to the game quickly and we had an exciting, blood-filled night.
They already have Kickers worked out for their next game.
Rob is down to 1 Humanity.
Rob's relationship with his Demon was tremendously catty and awesome. His concubine really was an evil he-bitch who would step on anyone to see him and his sister stay on top of the concubine heep.
Paula's relationship with her Demon was fantastically dysfunctional. She ran a 12 year old well, really bending under the pressures and demands being made on her by the cruel world of Marr'd.
I was pleased with the way it played out and some time this week I will write up their Kickers and begin brainstorming about next week's Bangs.
Fine moments that stood out:
Amaranth to Doggod, the Witch-King's Slavemaster: "The world is not your slave pit."
Adrash to Aga: "Don't be sad. Let's go to the market and you can choose an outfit that would've looked smashing on you and I'll wear it for you."
"That's cruel."
*shrugs* "I was trying to be kind."
Amaranth to Adrash: "Your husband, the Witch-King, is quite a powerful man."
"It is rather intoxicating, isn't it?"
Interactions with the NPC's of the R-Map
The Witch King
Overlord of Stygia,
Master of Lemuria,
High Warlock of Mu’s Bed
Father of The Prince and Lovers with Lady Dresda
The Witch King was in one scene with both players. His presence was about where I wanted it. I'd like to make up a few of his Demons, think about him with some more depth and know what Needs he has to see to.
Lady Dresda
Witch-King’s Concubine
Mother of The Prince and lovers with the Witch King
Dresda was in a few scenes with Ardash and needs some fleshing out, particularly any Demons she has.
She aided her brother with the summonginf of the Spirit of Lost Beauty, making sure their looks never diminish. Its a powerful object Demon with tremendous amounts of power.
The Prince
Witch-King’s Heir
Son of Dresda and the Witch King and lovers with Carv
He came out well and his relationship with Ardash really made him all the more human.
Carv
Witch-King’s Assassin (formerly the Duke's Assassin)
Lovers with The Prince
She was a great character who ended up challenging the Prince to a public duel that Amaranth prevented with clever role-playing. She wound up giving up her post as assassin and left town.
The Witch-King, fearing her wrath, sent soldiers to kill her. She got away.
There was a nice scene between her and Amaranth before she left town.
Duke Malteek
Lord of Mu’s Bed
Father of Kessen
Only seen at a distance but Amaranth is certainly intrigued by her mysterious grandfather. I should give him some thought in case she seeks him out.
Now that his only daughter is dead, he should be rather desperate.
Kessen Malteek
Mu’s Bed socialite
Daughter of the Duke and Lovers with Doggod
Amaranth ended up strangling her with her Demon, adding to Hassan's power. Everyone thinks Carv killed her because Kessen was rumored to be betrothed to the Prince, her lover. Carv wanted to drag her into the desert and sell her into slavery but Amaranth beat her to it.
Doggod
Slave-master of the Witch King
Lovers with Kessen
Doggod was at least honest with his daughter, although blunt and often cruel. Amaranth figured out that he has Demon blood in his veins. He left Mu's Bed to track down Carv and kill her because he believes, like everyone else in the city, that she killed Kessen.
The 2nd round of Kickers
Amaranth - She wakes up covered in the blood of her first period with a strange man in her bed. She realizes that it is her Demon, Hassan. He smiles, "It is time to add a new dimension to your relationsihp."
Adrash - The Prince has been tutored in Sorcerery and his Cydonian Lore by his loving uncle. Ardash realizes that his nephew has summoned the ancestor of the last Cydonian Empress, who has possessed a visiting Princess who is interested in marrying the Witch-King's heir.
Other NPC's
Melody - Concubine rival of Ardash, who he caught meeting with a servant of the Damsel Messiah, whose religion is outlawed in Mu's Bed. As punishment she was handed over to Dresda and Ardash, who destroyed her beauty in a vicious rite to summong the Spirit of Lost Beauty.
Now she is a deformed servant in the concubine's quarters, a living reminder not to betray the Witch King and of Ardash and Dresda's cruelty.
3 Slaves - Amaranth took 3 slaves who had escaped from Doggod as her priests, for her newfound Temple in Mu's Bed.
The Exorcist - A so-far mysterious figure who has gotten away from an ambush clevery set up by Ardash who Contacted a Mummy Guardian. It is known that his sword has magical properties of some kind but none have realized that it is his Demon and it is a Demon-eater.
Amaranth's Mentor - He is name don her character sheet but he hasn't been in-game yet. She has mentioned that she will seek him out now that she has left childhood behind and become a woman.
New Demons
The Midwife - Amaranth bound the spirit of the midwife who birthed her and then left the tent so that Kessen could strangle the child. only the wardership of Hassan saved the child's life.
Now she looks after the children, wishing to nurture life but the dysfunction of her role will become evident in this next adventure.
Desire - Redemption (from her life's sins)
Need - To nurture children
The Spirit of Lost Beauty - This object Demon is a silver mirror that Ardash and his sister summoned in an elaborate rite at the conclusion of the game. It is a viciously powerful Demon with powers to keep their looks from diminishing with time.
I look forward to many creepy encounters with strange reflections in other mirrors, dopplegangers of themselves out and about and the mirror demanding greater and greater sacrifices from its Binders. Eventually, it will ask that one of the siblings kills the other.
Desire - Power
Need - To see beauty broken and destroyed in its name.
Bangs
*The Mirror Reflects - Ardash follows someone wearing his clothes to the hidden chamber where they keep the mirror. He should realize that it was his living reflection from the mirror, out for a stroll, doing the mirrors business.
*Meeting of the City's Cults - The various religions of the city should have a meeting with Amaranth to discuss theology and how the temples of Mu's Bed operate peacefully. No one wants a war between their angry desert deities.
*Lost Children - Amaranth realizes that any children who try to escape from her Temple's orphanage are strangled by the Demon she has put in charge of them.
*The Prince's Duel - Ardash is asked to be the second in a duel with the Prince. The opponent will be his obvious superior, the Prince will have something of a death wish since Carv left and his betrothed was myseteriously murdered.
*The Exorcist Strikes - Someone's Demon needs to be Contained, Punished and a Banishment should be attempted or his Demon should feed on it.
*Dignitaries Visit Hasan's Temple - The Prince's nuptials are still in the air after the death of his last prospect. Princesses from visiting lands will be in Mu's Bed. Perhaps one visits the Prophetess, asking for her fortune and how to best charm the Witch King's heir.
Things that need fleshing out:
Dresda's Demon
The Witch King's Demon(s)
The dignitaries who are seeking an alliance with Lemuria through a wedding with the Witch King's heir.
Amaranth's mentor
We should be playing this weekend, any thoughts, comments or further Bangs are appreciated.
Duke Malteek
I need to really think about what happens in this setting when Humanity goes to 0. It feels too vague and Ardash is at 1 Humanity.
I'm using this as a clearinghouse to think out loud about the game. It helps to write some things down and it always helps to have feedback.
Thanks for reading.
Melody - Concubine rival of Ardash, who he caught meeting with a servant of the Damsel Messiah, whose religion is outlawed in Mu's Bed. As punishment she was handed over to Dresda and Ardash, who destroyed her beauty in a vicious rite to summong the Spirit of Lost Beauty.
Now she is a deformed servant in the concubine's quarters, a living reminder not to betray the Witch King and of Ardash and Dresda's cruelty.
*Meeting of the City's Cults - The various religions of the city should have a meeting with Amaranth to discuss theology and how the temples of Mu's Bed operate peacefully. No one wants a war between their angry desert deities.
She's still alive and might be some kind of living servant of the Demon she was scarred to Summong. They haven't seen the last of Melody, whose name seems viciously cruel since her tongue was cut out and her hands taken off as part of the rite. Paula and I were wincing through the description.
Duke Malteek
The Duke was hoping to solidify his place in the Witch King's hierarchy with Kessen's marriage to the Prince. I feel there is a Bang here as Amaranth hears about her grandfather becoming a hunted man, driven from hearth and home to become a wastelands bandit.
Perhaps. Robert's character referred to him as Duke Superfluous, which was funny, bitchy and fitting.
This game has been on hiatus for a little while but is in a nice groove.
The two players have excellent chemistry and the game moves quickly and dymanically.
Two bits of unfinished business from the last game will be a kind of prelude to the next round of Kickers. We're considering running these next round of Kickers and then jumping ahead to quite a bit into he future to explore these characters a decade or two from the game's present date.
The bits of unfinished business are Amaranth's marriage to her dead god-demon and Ardash and his sister dealing with their powerful and out of control Demon, Lost Beauty.
Here are their thoughts on kickers that they have sent me:
For Ardash:
---------------
Kidnapped! We'd play the kicker out at the start of the session, of course, but in this Kicker, Ardash is abducted. His eunuch, Nam, puts up a good fight and survives (barely), but is overwhelmed to pass out from blood loss. The concubine is subdued and dragged off: to what end?
----------------
Process of Elimination. In the time since our last session, possibly stretching into the interval before, a couple of the Witch King's servitor sorcerors have been assassinated. The connection between events is unclear, they've been a bit spread out, the reason and immediacy of the problem is unknown and not even fully suspected. Today, Dresda and Ardash go shopping in Mu's Bed, and they are attacked. Who's got a small armed force in the city that they can scramble on short notice to assail the sorceror concubines when they go out? Who let them know the pair were leaving the palace together? And for that matter, do they even survive the attack?
----------------
Extortion. Someone has clued into the nature of the Prince's new wife. They aren't someone that can be removed easily. Ardash intercepts (or is the recipient of) their threats of exposure, and they want something. I'd say that something is: they want some kind of demonic advantage of their own, and without a pet sorceror they've come up with a different strategy. Give us what we want, or we'll talk.
-----------------
Lost Beauty. The demon could easily be used for a Kicker, but without identifying the options for dealing with it as before (contain? punish? re-bind?), I'm unsure.
-----------------
Here Come the Brides. The Witch King has made himself a new political marriage. She's a sorceress. The underdog brides and grooms jockey as usual, but many are throwing in behind her for now. 'Whatever problems she may present, maybe this is our ticket to get rid of those Bitches from Bel.'
------------------
When Only Disgrace Will Do. A watch-dog demon of some sort, bound to the Witch King or one of his servitors, has warned that agents of High Brazil are involved in greater activity within Lemuria, sniffing around for links to those with info close to the WK. We could tie in Amaranth/Hassan and have the tip-off in the form of prophecy, doesn't really matter. Ardash volunteers/is volunteered for the job of 'viper in their midst.' An elabourate disgrace is orchestrated and played out, he is cast out from the palace and apparently hot for payback. Now he's got to get the spies to contact him, and find out what they're up to without getting killed. Dying while everyone thinks he actually made sufficient mistakes to be disgraced would be.... undignified. Pulling off the role, however, would further his ambitions nicely.
I like the abduction kicker myself, nice and simple and immediate.
Amaranth's possible Kickers:
1. A year and a day later, when Amaranth ascends as Duchess.
2. Birth of the baby
3. Assassination attempt on Amaranth/Hassan and counterattempts on the guys who tried to kill her
4. Possible alliances/conflicts with other cults
I think the first two could be combined and the second two could be incidental to the first two. Let me know if this isn't specific enough.
I like thinking about her when she ascends as Duchess. I also really like the parallel between her ascension as a noble and Ardash's imprisonment because taking up the duchy will be a kind of imprisonment.
We'll see how it flies, where the players are leaning.
Finally we will get to run this game again this evening.
We tend to make meals when Paula, Robert and I meet for this game and the chili is-a-cookin'.
Time to get the adventure cookin' as well.
Here's what I got:
Ardash's Kicker:
Kidnapped! We'd play the kicker out at the start of the session, of course, but in this Kicker, Ardash is abducted. His eunuch, Nam, puts up a good fight and survives (barely), but is overwhelmed to pass out from blood loss. The concubine is subdued and dragged off: to what end?
Amaranth's Kicker:
A year and a day later, when Amaranth ascends as Duchess.
Bangs:
* Amaranth gives birth to triplets, born of her Demon/God, Hassan. They are a snake, a wolf and a bear, forms her Demon favors when he isn't walking in human skin. Eventually they will be able to walk on two legs.
* The other religions, cults and churchs in Mu's Bed are frightened by Amaranth's rise to power. They wish to feel out her power and perhaps decide if they all wish to pay to have her assassinated.
If so they will summon a Demon to do the deed.
* She has become the Duchess of Mu's Bed, a vassal of the Witch King. Now she will have to visit her Well Forts, each a little adventure in and of itself.
Ardash:
* The Exorcist from the first adventure kidnapped him and wishes him to summon Demons for the Exorcist to Banish.
* It becomes obvious that the Exorcist hired the men and women who kidnapped him and they are mercenaries. They take his blood at one point, say they are going to sell it to Ardash's sister so that she can spread it on her mirror (object Demon).
* The Exorcist asks him to Summon the ghost of a historian who has the power to allow people to re-visit the past. Together the exorcist and Ardash will visit parts of their innocent youth.
Amaranth:
* Perhaps the churches want Amaranth to overthrow the Witch King and set up a Theocracy with her children as rulers.
Ardash:
* I know a big part of the plot of last session was getting a bride for Ardash's nephew, the Prince. He had summoned a Demon, a ghost of a powerful Cydonian Empress. There's gotta be a Bang or two in that...somewhere.
* Perhaps when Ardash hears that his beloved uncle is kidnapped he begins to rip the city apart looking for him or calls off his wedding, saying that he won't get married without his uncle returned.
This oculd lead to a tense scene in which guards break in but are killed, perhaps creating an opportunity for escape.
* His sister sends her ghost, contained in a powerful gem, with one of the mercenaries who has allowed him to see that Ardash is well for alot of coin.
* NO. No, I've got it. His Demon, the Mirror of Lost Beauty, has replaced Ardash with a reflection copy. No one knows he is even gone.
Holy shit.
The reflection pays him a visit.
Paula, Robert and I played the next to last session of Intrigue in Mu's Bed. The game went well and a good time was had by all.
I think my Bangs for Amaranth were weak and it showed. My scenes with her, and with Ardash kidnapped there was alot of split screen action, were stale and it was my fault entirely. Even looking back on the former post I can see that the Bangs concerning her were rather weak.
Ardash was kidnapped by Stygian mercenaries who were in league with many of the brides and grooms of the Witch-King who despire the priviledge of him and his sister, mother to the heir.
Attached to this kidnapping was the exorcist zealot of the Dame Messiah from the first game.
Amaranth gave birth to triplets who were in the form of a bear, snake and wolf, the three animal forms of her demon but with her eyes. They were demons and so, in fear of losing them to another sorcerer, she immediately bound them upon birth.
Paula and I are deciding what it means that the children are demons if all demons are dead things...
For the next game we are fast forwarding the game ten years. The Witch-King is dead and the Prince has declared himself Witch Emperor, having annexed Hy-Brasil to his kingdom and has troops occupying Atlantis.
We're going to work out the kickers and bring this sucker to a close.
Hi Paka,
Great posts, just a couple of questions; are you coming up with all the bangs yourself or asking the players to contribute them as well? From your posts it seems as if you resolve the kickers each session, how long are your sessions?
Cheers
Steve
Hi Paka,
Great posts, just a couple of questions; are you coming up with all the bangs yourself or asking the players to contribute them as well? From your posts it seems as if you resolve the kickers each session, how long are your sessions?
Cheers
Steve
Glad you like the posts, Steve. Thanks for reading.
I come up with Bangs. If you think about DMing, we all have used bangs. They aren't anything new. However, it is new to distill the idea into a situation that the players have to react to that is somehow related to their kicker. I'm not sure that players coming up with Bangs would work, it'd be like the players DMing the adventure.
Sessions are about 4 to 8 hours long, I'd think. To be honest I haven't been watching the clock that closely but that estimate seems about right.
vBulletin® v3.7.2, Copyright ©2000-2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.