BW One-Shot Thought

[Judd]

I'm going to have to run a BW one-shot in the coming weeks with two or three gamers and I'm formulating an idea.

Inspired by:

"We have heard tell that Legolas took Glimli Gloin's son with him because of their great friendship, greater than any that has been between Elf and Dwarf."

Lord Darkness and his bride, Lady Shadow's armies of Orcs and Trolls were destroyed and the War of Night was at an end. Lord Darkness' head was taken at the gateway to his Dark Land and his Lady was bound by stars in the highest Elven tower whose highest window is far above the clouds.

You are the shining heroic examples of your races who saved the world during the war. But now the war is at an end. The Elves are gathering their fleets, heading west. The Dwarves have shut their gates now that the funeral dirges are over. Humanity has begun to rule its own fate for the first time in its short history.

But there is some unfinished business between you and your fellowship. During the bloodiest night of the war you all swore an oath to aid one another with some unfinished business that had to wait for the war's end.

The war is over and peace is settling over the land. The final celebration has ended and the rose petals are even now being swept from the cobblestone streets. It is time to venture out one last time.

This is the quest that the history books might miss but that makes it no less important to you.

What is it that makes you ride out one last time?

[Grong]

To see the caves beneath Helm's Deep. And the forest of legolas's birth.

[Judd]

To see the caves beneath Helm's Deep. And the forest of legolas's birth.

That's the inspiration but I hope my players come up with something different.

We'll see.

[Viper]

How about to return an artifact that was instrumental to the winning of the war to its rightful owner?

Or, to bury the remains or scatter the ashes of another comrade that has fallen in battle?

Or, to track down one of their former comrades, who betrayed them at a crucial moment and nearly cost them the war?

[Judd]

How about to return an artifact that was instrumental to the winning of the war to its rightful owner?

That would work.

Like the GGG's game run by Gronti, Fool's Quest, I want the players to shape the adventure so that it is personal to them yet I still want a fast and dirty one-shot.

[Trayer]

I think the betrayal aspect works best for a quick and dirty one shot. Personally I think my character (obviously in a hypothetic sense) would be most easily motivated by such a situation.

Just my 2 yen, (which is worth considerably less that 2 cents)

--CMC

[Judd]

I am going to use this thread as a storing house of one-shot ideas until I figure out what I'm going to do exactly.

Poking through the abstraction rules from the Magic Burner download I'm also thinking of this:

Your master was the Court Sorcerer, Ambassador to the Fey Folk and private arcane tutor to the Queen. Being his apprentice was difficult.

"My master was a bastard to me and it forged me into a fine figure of a wizard. His spite crafted me, distilling my arcane skills and driving the weakness from me. When I'm cruel, know it is only to test your steel and make you better at the art of sorcerery."

He was a bastard too, a total bastard.

Last night he died in his sleep. You both found his corpose upon bringing him his breakfast and tea.

Now what?

[luke]

One nighters are tough in any game, but you can get very satisfying playi in BW if you front load the Beliefs and Instincts.

More important the situation, is laying out the track work of intersecting priorities so that all of the players conflict/interact in a way that is desirable to them. Doesn't have to be pretty and happy, but it does have to happen.

Situations for play are pretty easy to come up with, but just make sure that everyone has a stake in getting the story done. I've found that one simple goal with complex conflicting BITs usually is ammunition for a good night's play. You saw that in action in The Gift and Poisonous Ambition. The goals there are: Negotiate a peaceful stay at your cousin's, and survive your own and your comrade's ambition, respectively. (I think that sums them up.) And play just goes wild from there.

No EVER thought to go on a quest for lost Dwarven artifacts before...

-L

[Kaare Berg]

How about this,

It is yule time and the grand old college of magic is quiet, wrapped in a cloak of snow. The other students have returned to ther homes and families, leaving you the mavericks, the orphans and the outcasts to wander the great halls alone. Only a few servants and doddering old magisters to keep you company.

Then one night there is a loud crash from the dining hall and when you come down you find one of the magisters dead. There is blood everywhere and a small tinge of sulfur in the air.
And that's how the killings began.

Who is behind the murders?
What causes that stench of sulfur at the scene of the crime?
And why is the sealed door ajar?

And have the Gm seen toomuch Harry Potter?

[Judd]

I am going to use this thread as a storing house of one-shot ideas until I figure out what I'm going to do exactly.

Poking through the abstraction rules from the Magic Burner download I'm also thinking of this:

Your master was the Court Sorcerer, Ambassador to the Fey Folk and private arcane tutor to the Queen. Being his apprentice was difficult.

"My master was a bastard to me and it forged me into a fine figure of a wizard. His spite crafted me, distilling my arcane skills and driving the weakness from me. When I'm cruel, know it is only to test your steel and make you better at the art of sorcerery."

He was a bastard too, a total bastard.

Last night he died in his sleep. You both found his corpose upon bringing him his breakfast and tea.

Now what?

Here are the characters I put out to the players:

Necromancer's Child: The Sorcerer defeated your father and his undead hordes and took you as his fosterling, despite the ravening village-folk with their torches and pitchfork who wanted to burn your pale-ass as a heretic.

You have been skulking about his tower for a while now, learning what you can.

Elven Ward: These humans are so fascinating, with their short-lives and attempts at sorcery. Your father thought that it would be important for the heir to the Citadel to know of these creatures and so he fostered you to this Sorcerer to learn what you could.

Hardened Street Urchin: The Sorcerer took you off of the street when he saw you had a gift for Sorcery and as tough this apprenticeship is, it ain't near as tough as a winter on the streets. He's a bastard, true enough, but the tower is a roof over your head and there are three square meals a day.

Dwarven Shortbeard: Father believes the Dwarven Kingdom's destiny and fortune is to be found deeper in the tunnels under the mountains but you always looked up. You have apprenticed yourself to this human sorcerer, the finest of their race, despite the disgrace and disgust it brought to your people.

Nurtured over Natured Orc: The Sorcerer took you in on a bet. He said that a young Orc, raised properly would cease to rely on its fury and anger. You've served in this tower for years now and can't cast a single fucking spell. Compared to your Orcish taskmasters the Sorcerer was kind but you can't help but hold on to that fury and remain pissed off at the world, yourself very much included.

Prodigy/Heir Apparent: If you were apprenticed to anyone else you would already be a journeyman but this Sorcerer's standards are impossibly high. Surely you will inherit his tower and staff now that he is dead. Right?

My girlfriend chose the Orc and I knew she would.

My buddy, Liz took the Prodigy and the third player hasn't chosen yet. We'll see.

Hopefully, we will run the game this Friday.

Cool.

Beliefs, Traits and Instincts to come.

[Judd]

Elven Ward

Beliefs

Human magic is quaint.

I shouldn't lord my Elven majesty over the humans too much.

This time in the human lands will make me a better prince.

Instincts

Take time to appreciate the beauty in everything, even if I must slay it.

Always know the fastest route to the forest.

Treat younger races like the children they are.


Hardened Street Urchin

Beliefs

A silver piece nobody knows about is worth two on the table.

A dagger nobody knows about is worth five on my hip.

Where you get your next meal is important.

Instincts

Always have a dagger (or three) within reach.

Always have an escape plan.

Keep food hidden for a lean day.



Dwarven Shortbeard

Beliefs

Dwarven Artifcats should be returned to the Mountain.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

We were all shaped in the same forge.

Instincts

When something is important, make an oath on it.

Never break an oath.

Always look for the craftsmanship in everything's making.


Nurtured over Natured Orc

Beliefs

They aren't trying to piss me off but that doesn't make 'em any less infuriating.

Human society is no less cruel and vicious as an Orc tribe, it only smells a little better.

Anger is my weakness and my strength.

Instincts

Warn them when my hatred simmers, hurt them when it boils, kill them when it explodes.

Always know what can be used as a weapon in a given room.

Find the weakest and make them cringe.



Prodigy/Heir Apparent

Beliefs

Despite what the law might say, I am a Sorcerer in all but name.

I will be the finest arcane practitioner of my generation.

Danger quickens magical learning.

Instincts

Solve problems with magic when possible.

Always strive to learn.

Think Big, Think HISTORY

[Thor]

Hey Paka,

How exactly do you see this going? By that, I mean what's the goal? Is it to decide who receives the sorcerer's legacy? If so, it might be worth going back and reworking those Beliefs and Instincts. Don't get me wrong, those are all great for characters. But how do they intersect with this particular story and drive them toward it?

In a longer game you can allow those Beliefs and Instincts to be diverse, as you'll have time to work them in and test them. But in a one nighter, they have to be a crucible. Those Beliefs and Instincts have to drive directly into the heart of the story.

Each belief should be a question hanging over the head of the character, and the players have to give the answer by the end of the story.

[Judd]

Thor,

If this was a Con game with gamers I didn't knwo you would be absolutely right.

As a matter of fact, you are absolutely right.

But I know the two tables of gamers I'm going to be running this for pretty well and kept them in mind when writing these up.

And I have bangs set in my head for these B's and I's.

But I hear ya.

Judd

[Thor]

Cool Judd. I know you have some awesome stuff in that head of yours. Definitely let us know how it goes.

[luke]

Alright Judd,

It's time for a game clinic. Let's talk about what went wrong and what went right in the Wizard's Dead scenario.

-L

[Judd]

Alright Judd,

It's time for a game clinic. Let's talk about what went wrong and what went right in the Wizard's Dead scenario.

-L

The BIT's weren't charged enough. Thor was absolutely right. The players weren't sure what to do.

Two of the gamers were new to the hobby and they told me post-game that they were worried about doing things that were wrong because they weren't sure how their characters felt about certain key things in the game.

The Elf was played by a veteran gamer and I look at the Elf's BIT's now and he has nothing to do besides act aloof and watch the humans scurry, helping when and if he feels like it.

They weren't poised for action and drama, they were poised for making decisions but that isn't only what pre-made one-shot characters should be. The pump must be primed for epic drama right off of the bat and let the creativity in the players decide how that plays out.

The flashback mechanic worked well towards clearing that up but I think I could've yoinked it around a bit so the players could actually set up a scene in which they define something integral to the scenario, rather than just find something out about the past.

This makin's sense?

More on this when I run it again for the second group, two grizzled gamers who run LARP's and went with me across the U.S. of A. to attend Gen Con.

[luke]

I think you should tweak it based on what you learned in the first game.

PA and the Gift both went through substantial revisions. It's impossible to get it right the first time.

I try to work my way backwards. What possible outcomes do I see in the scenario? What's the point I'm trying to make.

For PA it's: This is why the Orcs always lose. Possible outcomes: The named holds his clan together, the Follower usurps control, the Whisper exacts his revenge (and gets the clan destroyed), or the clan just implodes.

For the Gift it's: People bring inherent prejudice to the table, will they let that meta game drive govern play, or will they break the mold? Possible outcomes: Players divide on the Dwarves vs Elves lines and pick each other apart. Players break the mold and come to some sort of agreement/compromise.

Using these goals and themes, I then built the BITs for all the characters.

just a suggestion,
-L

[Judd]

I think you should tweak it based on what you learned in the first game.

You're right, I should tweak it.

I will tweak it and post the new BIT's right here.

Probably Monday or so.

[Thor]

I'm sorry to hear it didn't go well, Judd. I'm sure the next iteration will go better.

Anyway, some food for though when reworking the BITs:

The characters that struck me as having the least stake were the Elf and the Dwarf. What motivation do they have to try to claim what the sorcerer has left? Right now, with the Elf's BITs, it would seem like the most logical choice would be to declare his time in the world of men over and head back to the forest. Nothing is keeping him anymore, and human magic is only quaint, so why should he desire any of these gewgaws?

It's the same story with the Dwarf. Unless the sorcerer has some big important dwarven relic, why stick around? What's worth arguing over or even fighting for?

The orc could be really interesting. Despite the Hatred boiling in his dark heart, the sorcerer was basically a father to him. And yet, the sorcerer saw him as an experiment. Personally, I see the orc filled to the brim with both sorrow at the sorcerer's death (his father and only protector) and also with black resentment that the sorcerer's only real interest in him was scientific. This could be a seriously charged character with the right BITs.

The Street Urchin. Does he feel any sort of obligation to the guy that took him in, gave him shelter and three squares, and educated him? Or is he just looking to grab the best loot and run? What's his motivation for interacting with the other characters?

Finally, the Prodigy. This one is seemingly the easiest to deal with. You could just give him a Belief that he's the heir to the sorcerer's might and knowledge. But what about the other apprentices? Does he have any friendships, loves or secret (or not so secret resentments)? Make him sing!

Also, have you considered that this could be a locked room murder mystery? What if the sorcerer's death were not natural? And he had certain defenses that kicked in when he was threatened (but weren't able to save him). Now all the characters are trapped in this tower (presumably with whatever killed the sorcerer, if it's not one of the apprentices themselves). So, work together? Use the confusion to settle long sublimated resentments? Try to make a play for the legacy?

One of the things that Luke does very well in his scenarios is make it impossible for any single character to go it alone. They each have items or skills that would be useful to another character. Play on that.

Can't wait to see what you come up with!

[Judd]

I'm sorry to hear it didn't go well, Judd. I'm sure the next iteration will go better.

It did go well, Thor but it didn't go GREAT.

Your idea about the tower's defenses is great.

I'll get back to ya on what I'm going to do with this scenario to make it cruise.