[RQ III] The most unexpected emotional moment

[Imperator]

We played another session in our ongoing RuneQuest campaign “The Gates of Karshit.” This campaign starts in 589 AD in Byzantium, and then takes the crew to the Ancient Mycenes (2000 years before) so the PCs can remove a curse that befell upon them for raiding Agammenon’s tomb. It’s full of Mythic Greece stuff, the clash of Christianity vs the Old Ways, and some other stuff.

Thing is, we had the most unexpected emotional moment during the session, and I wanted to share it.

In order to remove the curse, according to a seer they have with them (friendly / burden NPC), the PCs had to visit the Oracle at Delphi, and sneak back into Ancient Mycenes to access the Sun Temple which hosts the time gate. But the seer foretold that they could just not try to come back to the city, as the King himself would kill them at the city walls. To get back to their time, they had to defeat the Chimera, which guards a tunnel that leads into the heart of the Mycenian fortress.

Chimeras are tough motherfuckers, but one of the PCs (kind of a bard) managed to roll Lore and remember Bellerophon’s myth, so all they had to do is get Pegassus to help them. That’s why they had to steal a magic bridle from Mycene’s King treasure (which they did), and that’s why this King wants to kill them.

The PCs managed to escape the city, joined a rebel army led by the King’s brother, tried (and failed) to prevent this man from meeting his tragic fate, watched as the rebel army was destroyed by the King’s army, and fled to Delphi. After getting some ideas from the Oracle on how they could lift the curse upon them (which involves getting back to their own time), they set course to find Pegassus. And find him they do, frolicking at a beautiful glade. It’s time to use the bridle.

After some discussion, they decide that the best course of action is to have only one person approach the winged horse. For some reason, they decide that a virgin woman is best suited for the task, and as they fail their Lore rolls I don’t object. We have a male PC (a Goth noble warrior from Spain who wants to be king), and three female PCs. Of them, only one is a virgin (my girlfriend’s PC), an amazon warrior sent on a quest to capture one of the other PCs: another amazon warrior who dishonoured herself by falling in love and fleeing with a sorcerer from Athens. The third girl, the bard PC, spent a whole night with a Satyr King, so obviously doesn’t qualify as virgin (she’s actually pregnant, but that’s another story). So, it’s on my girlfriend’s PC the task of taming Pegassus.

As she approached the horse, I described the magnificence of the creature, its majesty and beauty, and my girlfriend started to fall into… bliss, I think. She was really impacted for the beauty of the scene she was imagining. Her PC managed (with heavy risks) to tame the horse, and Pegassus agreed to help them to defeat the Chimera (and preventing Bellerophon from becoming a hero, btw ). Using the winged horse to scout ahead, they managed to avoid all the barbarian raiders in their way to Mycenes (Greece was invaded by the Sea people and the Dorians at that moment), and confront the Chimera. All that time, my g/f sported the biggest smile and happiness grin I’ve ever seen in a game.

Once they reached the Chimera, a motherfucking Big Epic Battle ensued. While the rest of PCs tried to keep the beast at bay using long spears, my girlfriend’s PC and Pegassus tried to throw lead bars into the fiery mouth of the monster, so it would melt on its smoldering breath and choke the beast. As I roll all the dice in the open, the battle was an all out nail-biting contest. Luck favoured the PCs, though, and they managed to finish the monster without casualties, despite 2 of them being wounded by the fire breath of the beast.

After defeating the Chimera, Pegassus prepares to leave the PCs. My g/f humbly ask if she can hug the horse, and Pegassus allows it, and gently caress her face. Then Pegassus flew away, and my g/f asked “May I find a feather from him? Maybe one of them fell around.” I allowed it, and her expression was the most blissful ever, again. Pure happiness.

Thing is, I was totally unprepared. I didn’t see that coming. I believe that you cannot fully prepare for these moments, and you cannot try to ellicit them when planning the session. But you have to be ready to roll with them.

Have you ever been in similar situations, guys?

[jsnead]

What a wonderful campaign, it sounds truly amazing. You are all to be congratulated on having and excellent-sounding game.

Originally Posted by Imperator

Have you ever been in similar situations, guys?

Several times. Once in the demo I ran several times for Blue Rose - the basic idea was that an abused teenage girl was possessed by the ghost of a powerful ancient teenage sorcererss who had been killed long ago by her abusive parents. The ghost summoned up undead to kidnap the village's children to keep them safe (assuming that all parents were abusive). I ran this several times - with results ranging from one particularly brutal group blugeoning the teen unconscious, to TKing the ancient crown that was the ghost's focus off the girl's head, to one group. After fighting their way into the ghost's stronghold and seeing the children there, the leader of the PCs asked the ghost why she was doing this. The ghost ranted about her death, the abuse of the girl she was possessing, and how she had to keep the children safe. The PC pledged to keep the children safe, talked to the ghost about how skeletons are not the best caregivers, and also how what she was doing would not bring the possessed girl's parents' to justice.

That PCs was honest, sincere, and wonderfully empathetic and convincing, and brilliantly played. The ghost agreed with her and was about to depart, and the leader said that she would wear the crown and keep the ghost company until they both dealt with the girl's abusive parents and given the ghost's body a properly respectful burial. I (and pretty much everyone else at the table) sat there awestruck at the conclusion of 2 hours of some of the best roleplaying I've ever seen.

Another memorable incident also involved time travel. The PCs in a Dragonquest campaign I played in during the late 80s were traveling across a wide prairie, from one kingdom to another. There was a thunderstorm and we took shelter in an abandoned and half-ruined tower, the only structure for many hundreds of miles. We entered it and it was suddenly new - we had traveled back in time to the era before the magical collapse that ended the previous empire. The tower was unstuck in time, flashing through different eras, along with its two inhabitants, one who eventually went mad (due to the magical cataclysm) and became undead, and the other who was killed by her while she was insane (we caught various glimpses of their story over a number of decades). We eventually put the undead to rest and did what we could to help both of the inhabitants.

During the course of things, we got to know (and very much like) both individuals who lived in the tower, despite knowing what happened to them both over time. One of them wore a pocket watch, which was like nothing that any of the PCs had ever seen (coming from a late medieval tech level). My PC was fascinated by the watch and asked to see how it worked at one point. Then, we did what we could to put things right in the tower (I don't remember the details). In the end, we were standing back in the ruined tower, in the present, and the storm was breaking. As we left, the GM said that there was a board near the door that was sticking up a bit. My character pulled it up and found in an ancient box, the carefully wrapped (now old and very tarnished) pocketwatch along with a short note. He got it working in the next city we went to and it became his most treasured possession.

Incidents like that and others that take longer to describe are why I game.

[Asklepios]

Originally Posted by jsnead

Incidents like that and others that take longer to describe are why I game.

Agreed.

I'm a big fan of light hearted beer-and-pretzels gaming to pass the time, but ultimately its the immersive, emotional moments that will be remembered in years to come.

I think to the OP, you've also hit on that primal "pony" instinct found in most women as well. Hugging a beautiful winged horse and then keeping one of its feathers - well that's right up there with baby, corner and nobody putting her in one when it comes to the depths of the female "squeeeeeee" centre.

[Reverend Keith]

Originally Posted by Imperator

Thing is, I was totally unprepared. I didn’t see that coming. I believe that you cannot fully prepare for these moments, and you cannot try to ellicit them when planning the session. But you have to be ready to roll with them.

IMO, the above is a sign of good Game Mastering skills.

[Imperator]

Originally Posted by Reverend Keith

IMO, the above is a sign of good Game Mastering skills.

Thank you

Re: primal instict. I wouldn't know, my SO was not heavily into ponys AFAIK. She's more a DIY girl, like plumbing, building and cutting things with a saw.

[screen_monkey]

That sounds like a fantastic game. RQIII in mythological Greece is one of those games I've always wanted to run...

[Asklepios]

Originally Posted by Imperator

Thank you

Re: primal instict. I wouldn't know, my SO was not heavily into ponys AFAIK. She's more a DIY girl, like plumbing, building and cutting things with a saw.

So maybe you could have added to the moment by equipping her character with a saw, pinning the pegasus in place, and... :O

[Imperator]

Well, RQ III always delivers.

Thing is, the campaign is based on a published material by the editor of the game here, in Spain. The published campaign is shite, railroady, incoherent shite. But I loved the base idea of people raised in Christian Byzantium travelling to the era of Troy and the shock of finding that the Olympic Gods are real and all that. Also, there were some excellent plot hooks that the author completely ignored and that I used. So, with some work, it can be a really good campaign.

And the group is up to the task, which is really fortunate.

[jsnead]

Originally Posted by Imperator

And the group is up to the task, which is really fortunate.

A good group and (as you clearly are) a good GM are together worth far more than the best game system ever written. As a game designer, all I can do is attempt to help people find these sorts of moments. I can't make them or really make them all that more likely. I do my best to provide the tools so that other than make this sort of awesomeness.

[Mark Mohrfield]

Originally Posted by Imperator

For some reason, they decide that a virgin woman is best suited for the task, and as they fail their Lore rolls I don’t object.

Poosibly they got Pegasi mixed up with unicorns? Sounds like a great session, in any case.