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View Full Version : The big Giving Birth conflict



Totally Guy
06-12-2010, 05:29 PM
Next week I want to centre the conflict on Harris' wife Polly giving birth to their child.


Thel
I am a pacifist that lives up to all pacifist standards.
I will send the immigrants away from elven lands back to where they came from.
I've got a sickly half brother somewhere. My mother told me he regularly goes missing when he gets sick.

Bob
I will send the criminals away from the lands that aren't theirs back to where they came from.
I will set Annoying Jiminy upon the right path and be rid of him.
I will help Polly have a comfortable birth

Harris
Personal isn't the same as important. (http://scholar-blog.blogspot.com/2005/07/personal-isnt-same-as-important.html)
I will find a place to call home because I'll be a father soon.
I will learn to be a good husband by listening to Polly.

Unknown potential character, Bernhard died... possibly a 3 LP elf replacement. From current riffing:
I will find Laboon, I made a promise to him.
My path is one of most resistance.
I will restore my faith in humanity by finding a good human.

Nobody in the group has any midwifery or medical skills, and only Thel has any kind of circles ability (G2) in the (brand new currently undescribed) town they've ended up in...

They've made it to an elven town in an area that knights have been placing townships for their country's criminals. The locations where the criminals prosper would be noted as ideal locations for the king to set up permanent colonies to expand his empire.

With that in mind the immediate conflict comes from the elves asking "What's the difference between you and the criminal population we don't like?", but Thel has a silver tongue. Maybe the elves are ready to take action of ridding their lands of the humans but if they were to do that they'd include Harris and Polly. Then he'd have to go against his belief. But that would make it too easy to let the belief happen unchallenged and then argue later with a very specific stake for his friends...

The group became enemies with a young knight enforcing the bandit township experiment when the now deceased Bernhard killed his liege. Maybe he could show up keep that conflict relevant somehow. By bringing in an important conflict regarding the future of the lands they love at the same time as the birth I hit Harris' Personal-not-important philosophy, will he listen to his wife?

Giving Polly a comfortable birth... that's Bob's belief. I'd like to have the baby's life and Polly's life at stake here somehow. But is that too harsh? Polly is Harris' relationship, but I'm primarily challenging Bob's belief. We could have a complication in the delivery (I really don't want to handle this in an insensitive or silly way...), or a rare drug that's needed to free her from pain or save her life that's located in an old well somewhere... (I don't want to trivialise the conflict down to a dungeoncrawl mission). I don't want it to strictly be all about circles, it'll be a high obstacle to find a midwife as I imagine elves have a low enough birth rate to not need many midwives so one with human anatomy knowledge would be rare indeed.

This is making me think about my comfort zone. I've not run something so close to the player's hearts before. This will perhaps be the most important thing ever, yet on a mirco personal scale.

Where are the old days where they just saved the world every other week by way of long tedious combat sequences? :p

noclue
06-12-2010, 09:20 PM
Sounds fine to me. Hit Bob in the Beliefs and Harris in his Relationship. Two with one blow.

noofy
06-14-2010, 11:56 PM
Yup, James is spot on. I would make Polly have a few 'false labours' first, then drop a carrot in front of Harris in terms of a perfect new home somewhere in return for a small 'favour' to someone. Make the home / castle / tower / shack / Inn personal (it belonged to a relative, or was bequeathed to him in return for loyal servitude etc...)

Have a trip to take posession of the new home before eventually breaking Polly's waters and subjecting her to a difficult birth in a most uncomfortable place. During which she'll tell Harris to piss off during the labour because he's giving her the shits with his journey to their 'new home' and being a father is much more than giving them a place to live! (targeting his 2nd and 3rd Belief).

Jiminy will be hanging around like a bad smell, but he'll have the answer to the difficult birth (knows how to c-section, where the pain killer herbs are, how to reach the 'new home' quickly or has given birth to plenty of other babies). This targets Bob's Beliefs.

Whilst Bob, Harris and Jimny are dealing with the Birth, some opportunistic bandits (or even that nasty wizard) come across the impromptu maternity suite (hopefully in the wild somewhere) and demand the baby for some nerfarious scheme. Thel is just going to have to drive / talk them off or deal with his pacifist Belief.

Hope that helps. Should be a serious, Persona driven scene!