Hi Gavinwulf!
Sorry to be so long in responding, but I haven't visited this thread in a while (obviously). So hopefully this will still be useful.
As written, Embellishments establish intent, not results. Otherwise, as youve pointed out, Baba Yaga would just grab the child and that would be that. So, no, everything the player says does not happen.
As for 'surprise', remember that once a player declares the Crescendo complete (even after one Embellishment), the other character gets a parting shot. So, no, sorry, you can't slit the guard's throat--at least, not without his sounding the alarm before expiring (note I didn't say "dying"). Keep in mind the genre of game the rules are intended to facilitate.
Now, I can easily imagine a variant where Embellishments were treated like improv: you can never reply with, "No", just "Yes, but" (Hogshead Games' 1998 Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen roleplaying game is a particularly hilarious example of this kind of narrative banter).
I hope this helps!
h
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gavinwulf
If I may have a question answered to any kind enough to reply...
I've found that the biggest obstacle in playing Seven Leagues has been our group's history of playing other games. What I mean is, during a conflict, the players tend to be a little lost sometimes on how to describe their embellishment.
I have to explain over and over that the embelishment exchange is not a blow-blow description of one 'action' per embellishment, as if the embellishments were 'turns' from other games.
Can anyone give me some examples of the Conflict System from their games?
Does everything the player describes always happen? Is the embellishment description supposed to be about what the character attempts or what the character does? (ie: "The Troll, with muscles coiling like enormous pythons, swings his club with all his ferocity at the armored knight" vs. "The troll, with muscles coiling like enormous pythons, ferociously crushes the knight with his mighty club")
What about 'Surprise'? Can the winner of the Courage roll say he 'surprises' a gaurd, slits the guard's throat, and declare embellishments concluded?
I know these may be silly questions, I fell they are the result of other games being a detriment to our understanding of how the Conflict System is handled. lol. But if anyone would be kind enough to answer I'd very much appreciate it.
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