Paka
05-09-2005, 09:22 PM
So Luke Crane invites all of his fans from the BW forum to his apartment. This is a crazy idea, even a bad idea but many would say so is releasing a traditional fantasy RPG with no world and Orcs, Humans, Elves and Dwarves as the PC choices in the main book.
I played in three one-shots and wanted to write about A Matter of Trade, it was the easiest to write about, the smallest game. I got to game alongside a childhood friend of mine, Jason, which was a real rarity and Thor, the GM, ran a more traditional fantasy party as opposed to Luke's madly dysfunctional families and orc clans in his one-shots.
Thor let us know that this was a one-shot inspired by Black Company, which is cool, since in my weekly game, a PC is the captain of a mercenary company, having been inspired by theh same book.
We were the captain of the company's trusted leutenants, on our way to a small town behind enemy lines in order to make sure the enemy's supply lines were cut off and a holy relic held in a local monastery didn't end up in enemy hands. We were outnumbered and out-gunned, so we turned largely to the social skills.
The game started and Thor role-played as the captain and handed him four dice for resources in order to bribe and such. The four dice stayed with Jason the entire game. I was thinking it would be cool to have silvered or gold dice to represent the resources dice.
Resources in the revised edition are quick way to see if your PC has the ability to purchase. It ian't that one die = 20 gold pieces or something, not like that at all. Resources dice are your ability to raise capital, to take out loans and wheel & deal.
Jason was playing the Dwarven Quartermaster, I was the chaplain, and the other two PC's (whose names I regretfully forget, as we had a splendid time) were a human war wizard and an elven spearman.
There was a bunch of haggling, a neat vs. skill test that iehter drives the resources obstacle up or down around some fun role-playing.
There were a few fantastic Duels of Wits, one between my PC and a rival Chaplain and another between my PC, aided by the rest of the party, against the Elf because our humane immortal comrade was against me summarily whacking the rival chaplain, leading him to his death at the hands of a lynch party.
The two circles tests really put the game on its ear. At one point I wanted to gain an audience with the local abbot but I clearly didn't have the social pull, not even close. So, as per the circles rules, I made up an NPC that I wanted to meet, a friendly priest in the abbey who was partial to my politics.
But I failed.
So Thor enacted the Enmity Clause. We decided I ran into an old colleague who was now the chaplain of the rival mercenary company now in town. We argued and I won. Good stuff.
The second failed cirlces test was done by the Dwarf. We were trying to figure out how to meet with the Abbot when I said, "Thor, can JAy's dwarf meet with the whore who the Abbot procures services from?"
His eyes lit up. "Yes, he could."
Circles are player fuckin' authorship. We not only turned the game on its ear but put depth and intrigue into an otherwise faceless NPC. Good, good shit.
But Jay failed his roll and the whoremaster wouldn't budge. Intimidation won the day.
Other than the dwarf putting a crossbow bolt through the rival's head later in the adventure no a bit of phyiscal violence was done. It was a game whose conflicts looked more like a Soprano's episode than a Tolkien passage.
We blackmailed an abbot in front of his male whore, the Dwarf threatened a whorehouse madame at knife-point and we bought the services of a vicious poisoner to take out the horses of a local mercenary calvalry unit by putting poison in their grain and pinning it on the local Dwarven merchant's guild, sowing dischord in the supply line. Mission accomplished.
We were vicious bastards and when the blades were drawn, we ran.
As we ran the Dwarf yelled at my chaplain, "Next time we have to lie to mad drunken mercenaries, I'm doing the talking!"
Good times.
I played in three one-shots and wanted to write about A Matter of Trade, it was the easiest to write about, the smallest game. I got to game alongside a childhood friend of mine, Jason, which was a real rarity and Thor, the GM, ran a more traditional fantasy party as opposed to Luke's madly dysfunctional families and orc clans in his one-shots.
Thor let us know that this was a one-shot inspired by Black Company, which is cool, since in my weekly game, a PC is the captain of a mercenary company, having been inspired by theh same book.
We were the captain of the company's trusted leutenants, on our way to a small town behind enemy lines in order to make sure the enemy's supply lines were cut off and a holy relic held in a local monastery didn't end up in enemy hands. We were outnumbered and out-gunned, so we turned largely to the social skills.
The game started and Thor role-played as the captain and handed him four dice for resources in order to bribe and such. The four dice stayed with Jason the entire game. I was thinking it would be cool to have silvered or gold dice to represent the resources dice.
Resources in the revised edition are quick way to see if your PC has the ability to purchase. It ian't that one die = 20 gold pieces or something, not like that at all. Resources dice are your ability to raise capital, to take out loans and wheel & deal.
Jason was playing the Dwarven Quartermaster, I was the chaplain, and the other two PC's (whose names I regretfully forget, as we had a splendid time) were a human war wizard and an elven spearman.
There was a bunch of haggling, a neat vs. skill test that iehter drives the resources obstacle up or down around some fun role-playing.
There were a few fantastic Duels of Wits, one between my PC and a rival Chaplain and another between my PC, aided by the rest of the party, against the Elf because our humane immortal comrade was against me summarily whacking the rival chaplain, leading him to his death at the hands of a lynch party.
The two circles tests really put the game on its ear. At one point I wanted to gain an audience with the local abbot but I clearly didn't have the social pull, not even close. So, as per the circles rules, I made up an NPC that I wanted to meet, a friendly priest in the abbey who was partial to my politics.
But I failed.
So Thor enacted the Enmity Clause. We decided I ran into an old colleague who was now the chaplain of the rival mercenary company now in town. We argued and I won. Good stuff.
The second failed cirlces test was done by the Dwarf. We were trying to figure out how to meet with the Abbot when I said, "Thor, can JAy's dwarf meet with the whore who the Abbot procures services from?"
His eyes lit up. "Yes, he could."
Circles are player fuckin' authorship. We not only turned the game on its ear but put depth and intrigue into an otherwise faceless NPC. Good, good shit.
But Jay failed his roll and the whoremaster wouldn't budge. Intimidation won the day.
Other than the dwarf putting a crossbow bolt through the rival's head later in the adventure no a bit of phyiscal violence was done. It was a game whose conflicts looked more like a Soprano's episode than a Tolkien passage.
We blackmailed an abbot in front of his male whore, the Dwarf threatened a whorehouse madame at knife-point and we bought the services of a vicious poisoner to take out the horses of a local mercenary calvalry unit by putting poison in their grain and pinning it on the local Dwarven merchant's guild, sowing dischord in the supply line. Mission accomplished.
We were vicious bastards and when the blades were drawn, we ran.
As we ran the Dwarf yelled at my chaplain, "Next time we have to lie to mad drunken mercenaries, I'm doing the talking!"
Good times.