barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Hey folks
I've started writing "Episode Teasers" for my Barsoom campaign. There's a discussion group for the players and before each game (usually a day or two beforehand) I'll post a "Teaser" for that episode -- something to set up the game session and give us a good, quick kind of opening so that as soon as folks sit down we can get started -- the players immediately have something in-game to talk about and focus on (I usually print it off and have it on the table before they arrive).
I find it's A) lots of fun to write them, and B) really helpful in getting game focus happening faster. It makes it easier for me to jump in and get things started (especially when the teaser ends with, "And then the castle starts to collapse around you").
Here's a couple of examples of what I'm talking about (there are minor spoilers for readers of my Barsoom Tales Story Hour, but nothing super huge):
Episode 95:
The two Lohanese women sit crumpled against the wall, one with her face buried in her arms while the other eyes you suspiciously.
She takes the skull from Elena and drinks, nods at the effect and holds it for her companion to drink from. Warily, she hands it back and takes off her helmet.
She looks like a teenage girl -- not more than seventeen or eighteen. Her eyes seem haunted, nearly empty, as she studies you.
When she speaks, her voice is soft but with a strong accent. She is obviously unused to speaking Imperial Kishite.
"Morisawa-sama... She is dead."
Their armour carries not only the scratches and dents of combat, but burn marks, as if streaks of fire had poured over the red lacquer, blackening and peeling it away.
"She gave a message. For you."
"The demon that bring you here is bound to serve another. We do not know who, but you will not be the last to come from... Kiriku. Barsoom's long peace will end.
"This is the message of Morisawa-sama. I am finished."
Which, of course, is when the castle gives a massive jolt and the cracks appear in the ceiling. It appears the entire place is about to come down.
Episode 101:
The wind, painted white by snow, curls off the surrounding cliffs in long, undulating banners against the pale pink of the clear sky.
It howls. And it bites.
The trail is lost under heavy drifts but the landscape is easy enough to follow; go straight up over the ridge ahead and down into what must be Lost Pine Valley. It's farther than it looks, however, and getting to the top of the ridge requires strength: shovelling aside packed snow and dragging half-frozen feet step by step up the snowy slope, hissing with ice particles. Without snowshoes, it would be impossible.
At the top, everyone is exhausted, puffing and sweating in their heavy robes, looking down.
The valley looks as though it's been scoured clean by the shrieking winds. No trees (pine or otherwise) are visible, and the only evidence of buildings are the faint ridges of rooftops, barely poking out of the drifts that span the valley from one side to another. At the far end of the valley, nearly a mile away, a single conical peak rises, its bare tip higher than all the other mountaintops around. At its base, a dark mist circles, seemingly impervious to the winds.
Nearer at hand, just down the other side of the ridge, a dark patch turns out to be two bodies. Blood Council women, in keen red winter clothes, frozen solid, lay half-buried in snow. Closer examination reveals one woman's robes have been torn open and terrible wounds, congealed with icicles of blood, tear across her back. One of her hands clutches the hilt of a dagger that protrudes from her comrade's side. The other woman's face is drawn back in a horrible grimace. Her teeth appear lengthened and grotesque and her eyes still burn even in death with a foul radiance. Blood has frozen on her chin.
A eruption of black mist nearby blows snow in heavy chunks across the slope. Where the mist came swirling up, a Lohanese woman, dressed in elaborate (if somewhat tattered) robes, appears and stumbles forward.
"Help me... It's eating me... Help... "
Downslope from the crest of the ridge, the bite of the wind is lessened.
But it still howls.
Episode 102:
Doing its best to ride the icy winds, the lone crow flaps in weary strokes through the pass, keeping as close to the crust of the snow as possible, squawking as the gale snags it from one moment to another, still pumping its wings as it descends into the valley where the mist-ringed mountain looms over the ruined village.
The black bird pays no attention to the half-buried buildings and only pauses a second on the edge of the dark mist, plunging in with an angry cry, darting into the long hall filled with strange statues, through an open stone door and spiralling down a dark, icy shaft.
Far below, faint light glimmers up, and the crow plunges downward, circling once over a number of not-quite-completely frozen corpses before, with another angry squawk, lifting up and continuing deeper into the cavern.
The crow flaps past tall columns, a strange rotunda of some sort, through open doors, down a long hall lined with floating corpses and into a vast chamber with tables, bodies, a massive grey pillar and and four weary-looking people. It calls out loudly a few times, ensuring it has everyone's undivided attention, and settles on the lip of a basin.
And speaks.
"I am Kuro. Message from Nakayo. Do you have the weapon?"
What do you do to get your game going with a strong start? Do you provide your players with "extra-curricular" materials between games?
I've started writing "Episode Teasers" for my Barsoom campaign. There's a discussion group for the players and before each game (usually a day or two beforehand) I'll post a "Teaser" for that episode -- something to set up the game session and give us a good, quick kind of opening so that as soon as folks sit down we can get started -- the players immediately have something in-game to talk about and focus on (I usually print it off and have it on the table before they arrive).
I find it's A) lots of fun to write them, and B) really helpful in getting game focus happening faster. It makes it easier for me to jump in and get things started (especially when the teaser ends with, "And then the castle starts to collapse around you").
Here's a couple of examples of what I'm talking about (there are minor spoilers for readers of my Barsoom Tales Story Hour, but nothing super huge):
Episode 95:
The two Lohanese women sit crumpled against the wall, one with her face buried in her arms while the other eyes you suspiciously.
She takes the skull from Elena and drinks, nods at the effect and holds it for her companion to drink from. Warily, she hands it back and takes off her helmet.
She looks like a teenage girl -- not more than seventeen or eighteen. Her eyes seem haunted, nearly empty, as she studies you.
When she speaks, her voice is soft but with a strong accent. She is obviously unused to speaking Imperial Kishite.
"Morisawa-sama... She is dead."
Their armour carries not only the scratches and dents of combat, but burn marks, as if streaks of fire had poured over the red lacquer, blackening and peeling it away.
"She gave a message. For you."
"The demon that bring you here is bound to serve another. We do not know who, but you will not be the last to come from... Kiriku. Barsoom's long peace will end.
"This is the message of Morisawa-sama. I am finished."
Which, of course, is when the castle gives a massive jolt and the cracks appear in the ceiling. It appears the entire place is about to come down.
Episode 101:
The wind, painted white by snow, curls off the surrounding cliffs in long, undulating banners against the pale pink of the clear sky.
It howls. And it bites.
The trail is lost under heavy drifts but the landscape is easy enough to follow; go straight up over the ridge ahead and down into what must be Lost Pine Valley. It's farther than it looks, however, and getting to the top of the ridge requires strength: shovelling aside packed snow and dragging half-frozen feet step by step up the snowy slope, hissing with ice particles. Without snowshoes, it would be impossible.
At the top, everyone is exhausted, puffing and sweating in their heavy robes, looking down.
The valley looks as though it's been scoured clean by the shrieking winds. No trees (pine or otherwise) are visible, and the only evidence of buildings are the faint ridges of rooftops, barely poking out of the drifts that span the valley from one side to another. At the far end of the valley, nearly a mile away, a single conical peak rises, its bare tip higher than all the other mountaintops around. At its base, a dark mist circles, seemingly impervious to the winds.
Nearer at hand, just down the other side of the ridge, a dark patch turns out to be two bodies. Blood Council women, in keen red winter clothes, frozen solid, lay half-buried in snow. Closer examination reveals one woman's robes have been torn open and terrible wounds, congealed with icicles of blood, tear across her back. One of her hands clutches the hilt of a dagger that protrudes from her comrade's side. The other woman's face is drawn back in a horrible grimace. Her teeth appear lengthened and grotesque and her eyes still burn even in death with a foul radiance. Blood has frozen on her chin.
A eruption of black mist nearby blows snow in heavy chunks across the slope. Where the mist came swirling up, a Lohanese woman, dressed in elaborate (if somewhat tattered) robes, appears and stumbles forward.
"Help me... It's eating me... Help... "
Downslope from the crest of the ridge, the bite of the wind is lessened.
But it still howls.
Episode 102:
Doing its best to ride the icy winds, the lone crow flaps in weary strokes through the pass, keeping as close to the crust of the snow as possible, squawking as the gale snags it from one moment to another, still pumping its wings as it descends into the valley where the mist-ringed mountain looms over the ruined village.
The black bird pays no attention to the half-buried buildings and only pauses a second on the edge of the dark mist, plunging in with an angry cry, darting into the long hall filled with strange statues, through an open stone door and spiralling down a dark, icy shaft.
Far below, faint light glimmers up, and the crow plunges downward, circling once over a number of not-quite-completely frozen corpses before, with another angry squawk, lifting up and continuing deeper into the cavern.
The crow flaps past tall columns, a strange rotunda of some sort, through open doors, down a long hall lined with floating corpses and into a vast chamber with tables, bodies, a massive grey pillar and and four weary-looking people. It calls out loudly a few times, ensuring it has everyone's undivided attention, and settles on the lip of a basin.
And speaks.
"I am Kuro. Message from Nakayo. Do you have the weapon?"
What do you do to get your game going with a strong start? Do you provide your players with "extra-curricular" materials between games?