WoTR: Reaching Drezen

(Dragon Age: Inquisition)

I know I've posted up the various settlements surrounding Drezen before but now that Alphy has literally marched a bunch of people through it, I thought it would be worth lining up where the various NPCs following him ended up and how the various folks in these little towns will react to him and his companions.  If you're going to conquer the Worldwound and be all epic, you're going to want to feel epic and the best way to do that is to have the world around you react to your choices.  Yes, this is another article that belongs to an earlier point but I messed up the Scheduled Post arrangements so here we are.

Troubles as a LARP GM at the Nurse Cassandra Sessions

As with all of the Cassandra sessions, I felt like I missed a lot and saw very little.  Part of the problem is that in such a large space whenever I headed over to a small cluster of people, they'd all break conversation and look at me in case I had anything GM-like to say which made me feel less comfortable eavesdropping. 

The volume also left much to be desired, but unfortunately, part of that was just the problem with the audio-visual equipment.  You can click THIS LINK to see more about what I've learned thus far about audio-visual equipment from earlier Cassandra sessions.  Trust me, if you're planning to use it in a LARP you will want to know what to worry about.  Three sessions and I still haven't gotten it quite right!

My text slides were just fine (slightly long time-wise for me but fine for others) and adding sub-titles to the video clips worked out great.  Unfortunately they were all too quiet (the last more than most) compared to the surrounding music so although Nurse Cassandra was meant to arrive before or after them to dispense the Emotion Cards and otherwise be creepy, I had to instead crouch OOC by the volume controls and turn it up once the video clips were going, then let the following song be loud as I did my Cassandra thing post-clip.  Then I had to remember to go over and turn it down.  Now my video editing program does allow me to turn up the volume on certain clips but sitting at home in front of the computer they didn't seem to be all that different.  Always road test your clips at the volume they'll be playing at during the game.

The clips also weren't quite spaced far enough apart, but since we started half an hour late because of a last minute Windows Update that took forever (remember to switch off auto-updates) and the player with the backup laptop had already said they would be late, I was already skipping through some of the blank spaces to condense the recordings to fit.  There were basically five sets of text slides followed by video clips, which was a bit much (I know!) but in truth the number of them seemed a bit fine.  Their duration was okay, too, it was more of a spacing thing.

Of course out of the few players I've polled so far, one player thought the timing was perfect as they'd keep flicking up just as she'd run out of stuff to do, another player thought they were too tightly packed at the beginning and another too tightly packed at the end.  Since they were all roughly as separate as each other, I'd have to say that it's simply a matter of when you have the most to do.  If you're busier at the start, they're intrusive.  If you're busier at the end, they're intrusive.

Thankfully as it's a campaign LARP, it's not a deal breaker, but if this were a one shot I'd really either use fewer or have it something the characters can trigger in small groups as they please, such as if they have access to a laptop that plays it small and they can just turn them on and off as they please.  Probably the latter, so it's not intrusive and people can interact with them at their leisure whenever they've got some downtime or run out of stuff to do.

Anyway, the other problem I had as a GM is that since the players are so spread out, I can only catch snippets of their roleplay and seem to spend so much time simply moving across the space that I just never can pull together a meaningful storyline of any of the characters.  Since I was only called on as a GM about a dozen times in the space of three and a half hours, you'd think I would have witnessed far more than I did.  Luckily my players have made a big point of telling me anecdotes.

So as you'll notice over in the write up at THIS LINK, many of the points are briefly described because I didn't really see them.

WoTR: Trouble in Kenabres (earlier segment)

Well this will be totally out of chronological order, but it's worth posting up anyway as it might be of value to those dealing with any brief returns to Kenabres during the campaign.

Once they are successful, Alphy Hernaste likely won't be able to stop himself from gloating but the gathering is then attacked by individuals calling themselves the Children of Mendev.  This band of tieflings lack the power to be a credible threat but they are desperate to free themselves and people like them from the thread of the Third Crusade's deparations.  Little do they know but Prelate Hulrun (LN Inquisitor 13) has mellowed to the extent that he would only lock tieflings and suspected cultists into a ghetto rather than burn them alive without trial.

Still the attack causes his generals to reconsider their standing as there is no point in holding reprobates, at best, and cultists at worst - wasting their dwindling food supplies over winter.  If Alphy doesn't think of it himself, Nestrin Alodae will recommend that he takes the ghetto with him.  Prelate Hulrun declares at this that they cannot waste food on fools.  In truth his declaration here is more rooted in a desire to justify protecting Kenabres' own damaged stores of food for the right people rather than a desire to see Drezen wither and starve.  He has also written off Drezen as a lost cause due to its leadership.

A Sense Motive DC 25 check will reveal each individual's thoughts.  Nestrin Alodae feels that these are the last days of the world and wishes only to shepherd people into the light and fears losing their souls in senseless bloodshed against their own number.  Prelate Hulrun Shappock has vague fears that he never arrived in Iomedae's lands but that too many other souls will be consigned to the Abyss by his poor decision making -- he is torn by his indecision and his own shame causes him to throw his weight behind black and white thinking in the hopes of finding a rock to cling to.  General Dyre is uncertain whether Kenabres will survive the winter without resort to cannibalism if the stores aren't adequately protected.  General Marcovina is angry that resources are sent on a morale stunt like Drezen when they could be better used on Kenabres.  Eterrius Sunnestier is confident that all will be well with the world.

Side Quests in Mendev / Worldwound

Here's a few bits and bobs that I've run with my solo player with a different character to his Mythic Monk prior to the introduction of our second player.  It gives me a chance to play with grittier low level themes where there's no real expectation of levelling up to awesome ... basically, the typical state of affairs for your average NPC.  His level 3 Ranger is an ex-paladin who lost his faith after one too many brushes with the Worldwound (he completed several tours) prior to the Wardstone's collapse and has only returned to Mendev via the River Kingdoms because he believes the Wardstone collapse to be the end of the world and he wants to make his stand.

Thus far he's mainly followed one of the main Crusader Roads from Egede, recruiting a half dozen tieflings who'd been begging for a job from the side of the road (as the best way to avoid being killed by locals is joining a squad) and losing a few of his own mercenaries after their first taste of demonic behaviour.

Most of this was roleplaying with him dealing with his squad and seeing the signs of demonic attacks on villagers and even an army (three Vrocks teleported into the middle of them while Brimoraks provided some fireball support before all teleporting away).  It was all body bits and superstition and looting the dead.  He also saw some conmen trying to sell false cold iron weaponry and superstitious demon wards that didn't work (but which some of the sellers genuinely thought would be effective).

Later he met a Chelish "heal hex" witch who thought himself a paladin and who had way more loot than his level since he'd gutted his house financially, won back his soul through loopholes (ancestral contract) and tricked his evil relatives into getting themselves executed by accident.  Basically a brush with a saint whose personality was a little more ordinary than his triple-carts made him seem.  He hired on the ranger's squad for the distance from Egede to Kenabres and eventually gave him a holy merciful demonbane longsword that has turned the ranger from ordinary level three to a paper tiger.

Journeying with the fellow that is now referred to as the Chelish Saint since he can cure everyone once per day (and has been doing so) gave him a sterling reputation which he promptly sullied by telling a bunch of generals to go to hell, basically, when they invited him into their tent to win him over to their side.  He still wasn't pleased that they raised Lord Hulrun who had inspired so many witch burnings in his time.

Actual mini-quests he has accomplished / will accomplish include:

1. A Riddleport-style town cooped up within walls and full of shell shocked veterans and peasants too poor to leave the country and too scared to stay had a few of the insubordination demons called Thoxel demons were infiltrating brothels as prostitutes and bartenders to sow dissent.
2. The Pathfinder Society Adventure "Scars of the Third Crusade" where he is paid by Pathfinders to solve the murders before their own people hang.
3. The false conspiracy rumours in Bedis that turn out to be nothing.  A bit of a breather episode to contrast some of the things he's been dealing with and the rather ordinary lives of those in Bedis.
4. Brave Brak Gloomaxe of the Divine Beetles Squad hires him on for a short while in Valas' Gift for general guard duty.  Slowly he hears of a strange and bizarre culture and only later does he realise that it's, in fact, a Marid and not a succubi he needs to worry about.  Also mild intrigue between a Pharasmin cleric and an ex-lake pirate from Brevoy.  Also contrast this village with the previous one he'd visited before the slaughter that occurred during the wardstone collapse.
5. A week spent on Bridgepoint in Fort Portmanteau where he fills in for an ailing fighter and battles a few bored demons and must avoid being tempted to follow them into either the Death Woods or the Worldwound.
6. The ruined temple that once housed a half-Nabasu on the road to Drezen is now a one-storey watchtower temple dedicated to Shelyn but they are struggling against several Hala demons who are harassing the troops below and themselves at night.
7. Vilareth Ford is currently being held by only a few squads when he crosses here and perhaps spends a night or two.  He may aim to help clear out the crypts but will definitely be turned back partway through (another higher level party can clear it later).  He can leave with one of the squads escorting merchants down Canyon Road.
8. Keeper's Canyon involves an ambush on the troops in the main streets from a few Brimoraks eager to cause some damage followed by a single angry Vrock.  The point is to rout the protagonist into the ruins where he can meet the few people who are still living in this city and to take a look around the old ruins of the signs of death and terror that occasionally still lives within this place.  A good place for low level random encounters and general hauntings.
9. The Singing Stones Fort needs help taking out a few Hala demons and Quasits that like to lurk in the air and report back to their various commanders.  They offer wood coins for demon heads brought back to them that can be traded with the Army for services.

Lessons from Audio-Visual Equipment in a LARP

LARPs are interesting beasts.  Creating audio-visual clips for a LARP is an equally interesting experience.  For my previous three big note LARPs I have used such clips projected onto a wall and my upcoming big session will use the same.  During one of these sessions, it was a typical news reel player before the game to give context.  During the other two sessions it was part of a campaign game and there was a constant image projected against the wall that went black in favour of white writing every so often.  There was also music that played along with it the entire time as part of the "movie."

My mistakes the first time around were two-fold. 

As there was no auditory cue for the shift from image to text, many of the text sections weren't seen which was doubly problematic because certain numbers were actually cues for certain player characters to become possessed.  So when you create such "clips" for your game it's important to make sure that any important shifts also have an auditory cue.  In the second session I fixed it by having the music shift from instrumental to lyric-based which drew attention to the screen.

I also made the written sections flash past too quickly.  It turns out that reading at a computer screen is far easier and quicker than reading on a projection screen.  Even my speed reading had a bit of trouble at times.  I've found that five seconds for one line and around 20 seconds for six lines works out much better, though erring on the side of more time rather than less is a good idea as it still seemed a little quick in the second session.

In my upcoming game I'm including actual short movie clips with subtitles for the hard of hearing, and for those inevitable times when half the players are talking among themselves (or talking about what's on the clip) which would make it harder for the other half to hear.  With subtitles, players don't necessarily have to shush other players unless their character would do so. 

Since it's such a large space, players who grow bored by the clips (3-4 minutes of writing from Cassandra than a 3-4 minute movie clip from another character's point of view) can always move elsewhere to continue their action.  These movie clips also start after the first hour and there are five of them - one for every half hour - which may prove too many.  I'll see how it goes.  These break points also signal me to bring new elements into the game which will create some pretty rapid pacing which may not be a bad thing with my players who are typically more into so-called brute force plots where there's plenty to do.

Since these new elements involve Emotion Cards that unlock sections of their real memories, inspiring new roleplay, it shouldn't be too bad since it's at least a social opportunity rather than an six to eight minute combination of clips and then BLAM!

Personally I think it's best to err on the side of shorter clips but as this is part of a campaign LARP, the players will doubtless be more forgiving than if it were a one shot for multiple reasons.  For one, players are typically more forgiving of a game that has had only six weeks of lead time rather than six months and when that lead time is the result of a campaign's pace rather than procrastination.  Secondly, players reprise their roles for later sessions so such clips actually give them more to play with (potentially) and remove a smaller percentage of overall game time than in a one shot.

Whether this means they actually enjoy these clips, or find them too long, is yet to be determined.  Odds are personal preference will come into play but so long as the majority don't mind them and a few wouldn't mind them being a big shorter (rather than loathing them), I'll be happy.

Finally, I'm bringing two laptops because you always need a back up, just in case.  And two USB devices.  You never can tell when things will go wrong. 

Have you used audiovisual elements involving clips in your tabletop or LARP games?  How'd it go for you?

Wrath of the Righteous: Demon's Heresy Some More

During this week plenty happens with a new PC called Dantalian entering the field (and a new player) who is a Mythic CN Half-Succubus of Calistria Magus/Cleric who is the son of the CN succubus Arushalae (hence being CN himself).  Alphy Hernaste meets him when he assaults the Mythic Vrock who was attempting to perform a ritual to turn Dantalion into a full succubus (and some imprisoned paladins into demons as well). 

 

The battle with the Vrock goes down easily enough, but not too easily, and Dantalian's half-succubus status and benefits really lets him shine which is good because both player and character are totally new to the campaign and so the roleplay spotlight is more typically centred on Alphy (for now). 

Vorimeraak had a watcher, however.  Two Blackfire Adepts and none other than Xanthir Vang who covered his own retreat with a Mythic Cloud Kill that had even the poison immune Dantalian flying for cover.  It was their first brush with the Worm That Walks.

 

Alphy Hernaste has to convince the people of Drezen that this new half-succubus totally isn't evil ... which is difficult yet not impossible due to the presence of the half-invidiak boy.  Yes, I know the themes of the game are meant to be one of shock and awe that there's a neutral succubus but a) I've always figured Calistria's CN vengeance demons were redeemed succubi and b) I'm not comfortable with the idea that there's literally dozens of ways to turn a person evil against their will and banish their souls to hell with plenty of corrupted angels and the like in the various game lines yet only one redeemed demon.  Also I knew my players would love it.

 

They still loved dealing with Arushalae, though her interactions with her son are still pretty awkward.  Dantalian calls her "mother", though, which is cute.  They rescued her from the old Desnan temple during an Abyssal Storm of Vengeance (which I rolled on the weather table) and had to deal with a dozen Warped Ones at the same time.  This kept things interesting for them.  Quantity of enemies, and variety, seem to keep the battles exciting over single enemies which they take out very easily through concentrated fire.  They then contrived a way to bring the bell back to Drezen.  It was all very epic and dramatic and we enjoyed it immensely. 

 

Proximity to so much demonic energy causes Alphy Hernaste's eyes to glow yellow and his horns to enlarge as he becomes more clearly demonic, slowly shifting toward a half-demon of unknown type (player still doesn't know which demon he's twisting towards).  He gains a few extra abilities, though still doesn't match the half-succubus just yet.

 

Then they had returned Drezen only to reveal Arushalae (from Demon's Heresy).  They put Arushalae (publicly) through a series of trials to prove to the populace that she has truly repented.  This included having her bathe in holy water (a sight to behold), submit to various spells (including a Smite Evil) and questioning her under various truth spells.  While her arrival (and the half-fiend) did increase discontent, thus far his efforts have prevented a literal riot or uprising.

 

Then they head out to take down the woundwyrm, after a few failed teleports they locate it in its lair and proceed to slowly take it apart.  It was a fun battle, though reasonably easy, as I'd anticipated but just tricky enough to keep it from being a push over.  I maximised its hit die and that seemed to do the trick though next time I'd be tempted to double it and make them a mated pair as action economy really does matter in this game.

 

Dantalian is contacted through the Dream Spell by Jerribeth, servant of Baphomet, who lives in the Sanctum of the Ivory Labyrinth and is a Glabrezu in the disguise of a beautiful elven woman.  He's tempted but sure it's a trap so defers a response until their arrival.  Once they get to the temple they happen to go the right way and meet Jerribeth in the flesh.  After a little more questioning, they decide to attack her.  She goes down pretty quickly due to being grappled by a monk and thus unable to do very much, which was probably a good thing, because her full attacks are vicious.

(NOTE: As you may have noticed, a lot of the key moments are being placed in Dantalian's lap at this stage to help the new player gain some investment and enough limelight since Alphy already has deep ties to everything else without any need for effort on my part.)

 

They take out a few more bad guys and then find a note left on the door of the workshop from the Blackfire Adepts saying they will kindly stay out of the way of the adventurers if they aren't attacked.  The PCs want to barrel in and knock them out.  Aravashniel (NPC tagalong roleplayed by me and controlled in combat by Dantalian's player) wants them to kill the Blackfire Adepts.  Arushalae (NPC tagalong roleplayed by me and controlled by Alphy Hernaste's player) wants them to leave the room alone because if they spook them there's a good chance they'll teleport away -- likely to provide the Big Bad support if they're forced to choose a side.

Or at least that's what I thought would happen.  Instead Alphy kicked open the door and they managed to lay everyone out in the first round / counterspell the one effort to Dimension Door that was attempted.  So they now have four Blackfire Adept prisoners.  They did keep one under Arushalae's charm effect so that they could interrogate the person about the Sanctum.  Once they heard about the treasure room, they quickly knocked him out and went looking.  Alphy smashed in the wall and they quickly took out the daemon before retreating to use Mage Hand to bring out a few special items.

I can't remember where they found it -- here or elsewhere -- but they got their hand on a Necklace of Strangulation which they discerned to be an Amulet that allowed both water breathing and protection from gases.  Since they knew of Xanthir Vang's cloud kill, they decided to give it to Aravashniel.  Luckily Aravashniel didn't wear the necklace yet, as he already had a good amulet but kept it just in case.

Dantalian also found within the recess a deck of Harrow Cards and a Starknife from his mortal father -- a Riftwarden whom Xanthir Vang claimed to have killed.  In truth, he hadn't.  His father was the Desnan priest whose dreams Arushalae entered while he lay dying.  In penance, Arushalae aimed to infiltrate Xanthir Vang under the pretence of being a different demonic succubus.  This would be revealed later on.  For now, Xanthir Vang contacted Dantalian telepathically and goaded him into assaulting him in the foyer by claiming to have slain his father.

It worked.  The group headed toward the foyer and at the last moment, after ensuring they had a few buffs on them, Alphy ran out and to the left to strike at Xanthir Vang who seemed to stand alone with two Blackfire Adepts and four Templars of the Ivory Labrynth and ... ran into the invisible leg of a retriever.  The retriever attacked him and cast a ray at him, but Alphy nimbly dodged.  Then Dantalian attempted to back down a set of stairs to the right and ran into another demon.

 

I had basically had all of the other enemies in the Labyrinth meet in the foyer and had most of them placed into invisibility by Xanthir Vang using a basic spell.  The man they thought was Xanthir was merely covered in semi-sentient demonic worms and was a Blackfire Adept himself while Xanthir hung back in Greater Invisibility.  For Templars I used non-mythic versions of Staunton Vhane -- which gave Alphy's player a real moment of shocked joy as he easily pummelled a multitude of copies of the same character who had given him such pause earlier on.

 

The battle was fun and interesting and worked out much better than if I had Xanthir Vang stand alone.  Although none of the characters were at real risk (except for Aravashniel), the players felt the tension and pulled out all stops to win.  A single Disintegrate spell from Xanthir nearly took out Aravashniel, dealing massive damage, and he used one of his spells to dart closer to the entrance.  An invisible Xanthir Vang flew over in one round while everyone rushed about, and threatened to kill Aravashniel with a Cloud Kill should he attempt to act.

 

Aravashniel almost put on the Necklace of Strangulation to survive the Cloud Kill, but before he could act (in his turn), Dantalian struck him with a card which had a Word of Recall spell set on it which knocked him back to Drezen.  He arrived in Drezen, clutching the necklace, but like any good Mendevian crusader he put the object down because, let's face it, you never randomly put on any magical jewellery in the Worldwound without extensive study if you can help it.

 

I explained to the players what nearly happened, as Aravashniel would mention it later to their characters but the close call would resonate more if the revelation occurred in the same session.  The expressions on their faces was gratifying.  It was all the more satisfying that it didn't kill him, merely almost did.  It showed the dangers of the Worldwound without hampering it with frustration or loss.

 

They made short work of Xanthir Vang's allies, so Xanthir chased them with the Mythic Cloud Kill (slowly) through the labyrinth but they found a place where they could circle around it so he drew it back to the entrance to keep out the crusaders and disappeared.  He had no chance to succeed at this point, after all.  I'll keep having him plague them as time wears on but he doesn't stand a chance in combat against them.

 
 

The Rack Mini-Game

In my vampire: the requiem LARP, because I just love accounting or perhaps just love to torture myself, keep a separate set of calculations for each of the Racks which show how many points are necessary to raise or lower the rack to the next level.  These Racks are represented by suburbs and have two values - one for animal blood and one for human blood.  The North Western Barrens, for example, is good for animals but bad for feeding on humans.  Each Rack has a particular Rack value which also represents the number of vampires it can freely support without losing any points due to humans growing suspicious, animals become skittish, or the overall vibe of the area changing.

                It takes 10 points to raise or lower a Rack with a value of 1.

                It takes 15 points to raise or lower a Rack with a value of 2.

                It takes 20 points to raise or lower a Rack with a value of 3.

                It takes 30 points to raise or lower a Rack with a value of 4.

                It takes 50 points to raise or lower a Rack with a value of 5.

                Consider the Rack value as a range of feeding checks it can take before losing any points.  So if the CBD Rack has a 2/2 rack value, 2 feeding checks can occur there without any problem.  If there are three OR four feeding checks, the rack loses a single point.  It's only when a fifth feeding check occurs there that it would lose an additional point.  So long as a rack is being groomed, it can take a few hits without faltering.  Each downtime spent on boosting or damaging the Rack typically provides a single point though additional points may be added or taken away for truly spectacular actions.

                Methods of boosting a rack include:

·         Increasing tourism.

·         "Safe" supernatural encounters or expectations (i.e. ghost tours).

·         Scandal.

·         Drugs that increase risk-taking behaviours.

·         Drugs or events that reduce helpful bystander actions.

·         Encourage public use of "owned" security / medical personnel on the streets.

·         Encouraging homeless populace to settle in that region.

·         Keeping said homeless populace out of the public eye.

·         Festivals and nightclub strips.

·         Summer season (for beach Racks).

·         Late night shopping.

·         Late closing.

·         Ennui and indifference to other people.

·         Indifferent police.

·         Parklands that are not dry zones.

·         Car parking in dark and out of the way places.

·         Animal farms (for animals).

·         Rubbish strewn streets (for animals).

·         Access to more Barrens (for animals).

 

                Methods of damaging a rack include:

·         Recent murders.

·         Public violence.

·         Visible criminal activity.

·         Winter season (for beach Racks).

·         Sobriety programs and designated drivers.

·         Encouraging people to stay in groups.

·         Terrifying supernatural encounters.

·         Effective communities and neighbourhood watch groups.

·         Active hunter cells.

·         Uncontrolled security guards and cameras.

·         Early closing of shops and clubs.

·         Motivated and reliable police.

·         Pest control programs and stray catching (for animals).

·         Feeding check mishaps.

·         Overfeeding.

 

Thus it encourages a rack mini-game among the players to sink in enough downtimes to off-set the huge amounts of blood they have to draw off the locations in order to heal, use their disciplines and otherwise deal with all of the monsters lurking around the Adelaide plots.