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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6815356" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>In BW, the expectation is that some Beliefs will change over the course of play, but that certain core Beliefs (or, at least, Beliefs around certain core relationships or similar subject-matters) will emerge as the focus of play and that, when those are resolved, the campaign is done.</p><p></p><p>For instance, in my BW game it seems likely that, if some resolution is reached in respect of the possessed brother, the story of at least some of the PCs will be done. That said, there is always the possibility that, during play, some new focus will emerge which can sustain the dramatic participation of those PCs. Maybe something linking them in to the elves, perhaps.</p><p></p><p>Not as well as it should. Part of the skill of being a player in this sort of game is finding ways to hook your PC into others' PCs. FATE builds this into its PC generation system. In BW, it is not a formal part of the system but the books talk a lot about how to go about it.</p><p></p><p>Well, that's part of the skill of GMing this sort of game. At this level of abstract description, it's no different from the skill that Monte Cook talks about in the 3E DMG, of being able to manage the consequences for exploratory-type play of high level D&D spells like Commune, Teleport etc. All GMing, whatever the approach, needs some skill if it's to be done well.</p><p></p><p>Getting more into the nitty-gritty, a given session might be more likely to focus on one PC rather than another. So in the second-to-last session, the elven princess got a lot of "screen time" as she dealt with the (alleged) death cultist priest. In our most recent session, the focus was more on all the other PCs, especially the mage and the sorcerer-assassin, while the princess got comparatively little "screen time". If I was running a one-off, or for strangers, I would put more effort into trying to even these things out, but I'm GMing for friends, who are in for the long haul and so are going to cut some slack in relation to session-by-session variation in whose PC is the focus of the action.</p><p></p><p>But it's also part of my job to frame situations in a way that create overlapping engagement from multiple angles. Eg the dark elf with the mace relates to both elven PCs, plus the mage PC; and by using a rockfall in the Abor-Alz, he creates an opportunity for the shaman PC (introduced in that session) who can summon spirits of the foothills. Or the (alleged) death cult priest who is carrying wedding gifts from Urnst to Hardby, for the marriage of Jabal the Red and the Gynarch of Hardby: this connects to the sorcerer-assassin (who wants to rob the wedding gifts, and who has a bad relationship with another evil mage who trades in suspicious tomes), to the elven ronin sworn to oppose evil, to the elven princess who wants to learn more about the forthcoming wedding (and who is also a natural point of focus for upper class NPCs), and to the mage PC, who has a prior history with Jabal (the intended recipient of the wedding gifts).</p><p></p><p>Sometimes it misfires - I imagine most GMs have had that experience at least on occasion. As I've posted just above this post, I'm not sure that the dark elf, or the dark naga, have quite worked out as I had hoped they might. Maybe they'll somehow become reinvigorated within the fiction, or maybe they'll just fade away - it's too early to tell.</p><p></p><p>At the start of my 4e game I told the players that each PC had to have (i) at least one loyalty written into his/her backstory, and (ii) a reason to be ready to fight goblins. (ii) was because I wanted to use the module Night's Dark Terror, which opens with a goblin assault on a forest homestead. (i) produced a Corellon-worshipper, three Raven Queen devotees (one of whom was also one of the last surviving refugees from the (one-time) city of Entekash (an invention of that player), which had been sacked by evil humanoids) and a dwarven stalwart wanting to prove himself.</p><p></p><p>These loyalties have all remained central to the game. The dwarven PC went on to become the most powerful cleric of Moradin in the gameworld, and an Eternal Defender who has now (in our last 4e session) taken on the mantel of the god of pain and imprisonment (whom the PCs had earlier killed). The PCs - even those who don't profess to serve the Raven Queen - have mostly done her bidding very well, killing her enemies Lolth and Orcus and giving her a high degree of influence on the Feywild by bringing the Winter Fey under he sway. By killing Lolth the PCs also freed the drow, while by killing Torog they rendered the Underdark uninhabitable - so the drow have now returned to the surface and can be welcomed back to the fold of Corellon.</p><p></p><p>I don't own it and haven't read it. But my suspicion is that it is not well-suited, which is one reason why I didn't buy it, despite my curiosity about the Deck of Many Things.</p><p></p><p>When I use a module I typically use (or adapt) maps and NPCs, and bits of general backstory, but otherwise treat is as a collection of ideas for situations or scenes to use in my game. I don't expect to play through the module systematically and entirely.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6815356, member: 42582"] In BW, the expectation is that some Beliefs will change over the course of play, but that certain core Beliefs (or, at least, Beliefs around certain core relationships or similar subject-matters) will emerge as the focus of play and that, when those are resolved, the campaign is done. For instance, in my BW game it seems likely that, if some resolution is reached in respect of the possessed brother, the story of at least some of the PCs will be done. That said, there is always the possibility that, during play, some new focus will emerge which can sustain the dramatic participation of those PCs. Maybe something linking them in to the elves, perhaps. Not as well as it should. Part of the skill of being a player in this sort of game is finding ways to hook your PC into others' PCs. FATE builds this into its PC generation system. In BW, it is not a formal part of the system but the books talk a lot about how to go about it. Well, that's part of the skill of GMing this sort of game. At this level of abstract description, it's no different from the skill that Monte Cook talks about in the 3E DMG, of being able to manage the consequences for exploratory-type play of high level D&D spells like Commune, Teleport etc. All GMing, whatever the approach, needs some skill if it's to be done well. Getting more into the nitty-gritty, a given session might be more likely to focus on one PC rather than another. So in the second-to-last session, the elven princess got a lot of "screen time" as she dealt with the (alleged) death cultist priest. In our most recent session, the focus was more on all the other PCs, especially the mage and the sorcerer-assassin, while the princess got comparatively little "screen time". If I was running a one-off, or for strangers, I would put more effort into trying to even these things out, but I'm GMing for friends, who are in for the long haul and so are going to cut some slack in relation to session-by-session variation in whose PC is the focus of the action. But it's also part of my job to frame situations in a way that create overlapping engagement from multiple angles. Eg the dark elf with the mace relates to both elven PCs, plus the mage PC; and by using a rockfall in the Abor-Alz, he creates an opportunity for the shaman PC (introduced in that session) who can summon spirits of the foothills. Or the (alleged) death cult priest who is carrying wedding gifts from Urnst to Hardby, for the marriage of Jabal the Red and the Gynarch of Hardby: this connects to the sorcerer-assassin (who wants to rob the wedding gifts, and who has a bad relationship with another evil mage who trades in suspicious tomes), to the elven ronin sworn to oppose evil, to the elven princess who wants to learn more about the forthcoming wedding (and who is also a natural point of focus for upper class NPCs), and to the mage PC, who has a prior history with Jabal (the intended recipient of the wedding gifts). Sometimes it misfires - I imagine most GMs have had that experience at least on occasion. As I've posted just above this post, I'm not sure that the dark elf, or the dark naga, have quite worked out as I had hoped they might. Maybe they'll somehow become reinvigorated within the fiction, or maybe they'll just fade away - it's too early to tell. At the start of my 4e game I told the players that each PC had to have (i) at least one loyalty written into his/her backstory, and (ii) a reason to be ready to fight goblins. (ii) was because I wanted to use the module Night's Dark Terror, which opens with a goblin assault on a forest homestead. (i) produced a Corellon-worshipper, three Raven Queen devotees (one of whom was also one of the last surviving refugees from the (one-time) city of Entekash (an invention of that player), which had been sacked by evil humanoids) and a dwarven stalwart wanting to prove himself. These loyalties have all remained central to the game. The dwarven PC went on to become the most powerful cleric of Moradin in the gameworld, and an Eternal Defender who has now (in our last 4e session) taken on the mantel of the god of pain and imprisonment (whom the PCs had earlier killed). The PCs - even those who don't profess to serve the Raven Queen - have mostly done her bidding very well, killing her enemies Lolth and Orcus and giving her a high degree of influence on the Feywild by bringing the Winter Fey under he sway. By killing Lolth the PCs also freed the drow, while by killing Torog they rendered the Underdark uninhabitable - so the drow have now returned to the surface and can be welcomed back to the fold of Corellon. I don't own it and haven't read it. But my suspicion is that it is not well-suited, which is one reason why I didn't buy it, despite my curiosity about the Deck of Many Things. When I use a module I typically use (or adapt) maps and NPCs, and bits of general backstory, but otherwise treat is as a collection of ideas for situations or scenes to use in my game. I don't expect to play through the module systematically and entirely. [/QUOTE]
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