Not the Iron DM Tournament
- Thread starter chaochou
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Prince Valiant - in my view Greg Stafford's masterpiece. (I think it's better than Pendragon, which he described as his masterpiece.)
Rune
Once A Fool
I’ll have to check it out!
I have the edition that was re-released via Kickstarter a few years ago. I don't think it's still for sale by the publisher, but maybe second-hand? As might come through in my scenario, the focus is very much on deeds of knight-errantry.
I'll try this set as a set-up for a Burning Wheel situation. For setting details, I've stolen geographic labels from the World of Greyhawk and proper names from Dungeon World. Any others should do just as well. By my count it comes in at 750 words exactly.
The bridge
A situation for two Burning Wheel players and a GM.
Background: A river runs through the Welkwood, dividing the Elven kingdom of Celene and the human lands to the east. It was once traversed by a great stone bridge, crafted by the Elven shapers and a sign of friendship between the two peoples. The Elven bards would greet travellers and welcome many of them as Elf-friends. Seventy years ago, Ansley the Lion of Fax - lusting after the jewels of the Elves - led an incursion over the bridge. In the conflict the bridge was ruined. The Elven Protectors have left it in its fallen state, its stones lying in the long grass and the water. The Elves have retreated to their havens and citadels; and while the people of Fax now repent of Ansley's deeds, they lack the funds and skills to rebuild the bridge themselves.
PC 1: Dagoliir (Age 170 years; Born Wilder Elf, Song Singer, lead to Citadel, Bard, lead to Paths of Spite, Griever, Deceiver)
Will B6, Perception B6, Agility B6, Speed B4, Forte B4, Power B4, Spite B6,
Reflexes B5, Steel B5 (hesitation 4), Health B6, PTGS (Superficial B3, Light B5, Midi B7, Severe B8, Traumatic B9, Mortal Wound B10)
Resources B1, Circles B3, Reputation (+1D) as the last bard of the fallen bridge
Skills: Sing B4, Lyre B4, Elven Script B3, Conspicuous B4, Oratory B5, Persuasion B4, Song of Soothing B4, Sleight of Hand B3, Sword B3, Bridge-wise B3
Spellsongs: Song of Songs B3, Song of Merriment B3, Verse of Friendship B4, Tract of Enmity B5, Sorrow of Truth B3, Rhyme of the Unraveller G6
Traits: Charismatic, Deceptive, Vocal
Lives in the foundation hall of the ruined bridge, on the eastern side of the river; wears Elven clothes but goes barefoot; in the hall are Dagoliir's Elven lyre (+1D), Elven sword and the finery of their former office.
Beliefs: The ruins of the bridge exemplify the ruin of the world - its stones shall lie where they fell, and it shall never be rebuilt!; I will never forget Ansley's betrayal - it's better that I suffer than the humans prosper; I tire of living in squalor and solitude - why do none of my kin relieve me of my vigil?
Instincts: Always greet those who arrive at the river bank - and lift their purse if I can!; Always point out what is flawed; Sing the Rhyme of the Unraveller when anyone tries to build.
PC 2: Tripp (Age 35 years; City Born, lead to Noble, Bastard, lead to Soldier, Scout, lead to Peasant, Peddler, lead to Outcast, Strider)
Will B5, Perception B4, Agility B4, Speed B4, Forte B4, Power B4
Reflexes B4, Steel B5 (hesitation 5), Health B5, PTGS (Superficial B3, Light B5, Midi B7, Severe B8, Traumatic B9, Mortal Wound B10)
Resources B0, Circles B2, Noble father (the grandson of Ansley) who denies and despises Tripp, Infamous reputation (+1D) among the nobility as the bastard great-grandchild of Ansley the Lion, Affiliation (+1D) with the brave and sturdy woodsfolk of the Welkwood
Skills: Stealthy B3, Foraging B3, Orienteering B2, Observation B4, Mending B2, Sing B2, Etiquette B3, Haggling B4, Persuasion B5, Soothing Platitudes B4, Family Secret-wise B2, Forest-wise B2, Bow B3, Axe B4
Traits: Bastard, Blank Stare, Glib, Happy-Go-Lucky, Loner, Dreamer
Wears the clothes, boots and cloak of a traveller in the woods, and soft leather armour; carries travelling gear, a knife in a belt sheath, a kit for mending, a run-of-the-mill axe and a superior quality hunting bow (+1D).
Tripp has been visited while dreaming by the ghost of Ansley; and Ansley has described how, as the Elven Protectors routed his warband, he hid a pouch of Elven jewels in the foundations of the bridge.
Beliefs: It is a great life, wandering through this wonderful wood; I am not my ancestry; Ansley has visited me for a reason, so I will find the jewels that he cached.
Instinct: Whistle as I walk; Always offer a cheerful greeting; Never start a fight.
Additional setting details: Over the past 70 years, the river's course has shifted and the place where Ansley hid the jewels is now a couple of feet under the water, below Dagoliir's dwelling-hall. The jewels are a +3D fund.
As well as the stones in the river, there are also Dagoliir's old shoes. He lost them wading through the river during the battle 70 years ago. Being Elven shoes, while they are wet and damaged they can be mended.
Rune
Once A Fool
Thoughts on The bridge:
These are interesting characters, but I’m not sure I’m seeing the shape of how this is supposed to play out. Presumably, the PCs are meant to conflict, since the the elf holds humans responsible for a past betrayal and since the human will likely want to move the stones (for loot) that the elf views as a monument to that betrayal.
This seems like a fine encounter, but the choice to present it with pre-gen characters suggests it can’t easily fit into an ongoing campaign and it doesn’t seem likely to open into a wider adventure, either. Unless it sparks an ongoing rivalry or something.
Which makes this scenario potentially quite brief. Maybe it could be used as a cut-scene of sorts to break up the action of an adventure involving other PCs?
At any rate, it really is a neat scenario.
These are interesting characters, but I’m not sure I’m seeing the shape of how this is supposed to play out. Presumably, the PCs are meant to conflict, since the the elf holds humans responsible for a past betrayal and since the human will likely want to move the stones (for loot) that the elf views as a monument to that betrayal.
This seems like a fine encounter, but the choice to present it with pre-gen characters suggests it can’t easily fit into an ongoing campaign and it doesn’t seem likely to open into a wider adventure, either. Unless it sparks an ongoing rivalry or something.
Which makes this scenario potentially quite brief. Maybe it could be used as a cut-scene of sorts to break up the action of an adventure involving other PCs?
At any rate, it really is a neat scenario.
The problem with @pemerton is that once you've let him out of the box you'll never get him back in. 
Kudos for even attempting BW my man, that's tough. I like how you handled it though. Actual IDM entries at the 750 word count would usually have less stats than that, but this isn't that, just sort of like it in a dim light.
Kudos for even attempting BW my man, that's tough. I like how you handled it though. Actual IDM entries at the 750 word count would usually have less stats than that, but this isn't that, just sort of like it in a dim light.
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The problem with @pemerton is that once you've let him out of the box you'll never get him back in.
Kudos for even attempting BW my man, that's tough. I like how you handled it though. Actual IDM entries at the 750 word count would usually have less stats than that, but this isn't that, sort sort of like it in a dim light.
If I ever do Iron DM again, it's going to be an extended riff on the similarity between Elvish and Elvis.
I'm not sure which this is the dim-lighted version of which that.
I think when presenting a BW scenario for a one-shot (which I take it is the logic of Iron DM) the PC stats are crucial. I took inspiration in that respect from The Sword, which is an old BW demo scenario (I just had a quick poke around BWHQ to see if it's still there, but couldn't find it).
It's the intersection of situation, stats and Beliefs (and to a lesser extent Instincts) that suggest a way forward for the scenario.
There's no particular way that it's supposed to play out. But as I was writing it, and now re-reading it, a few ideas occurred to me.
The PCs probably meet, given one has an Instinct to whistle and cheerfully greet, and the other an Instinct to greet arrivals at the bridge. There's no reason to think an initial fight breaks out - Tripp prefers never to start a fight, and Dagoliir is bitter, not violent. Both PCs are built to be credible in a Duel of Wits (Dagoliir's Oratory is hampered by Deceiver but enhanced by Charismatic; Tripp's Soothing Platitudes and Falsehood are enhanced by Glib, and Blank Stare puts a penalty on some of Dagoliir's checks).
Tripp can pretend not to be related to Ansley (Falsehood - Tripp is cheerful but there is no Belief or Instinct about being honest). Dagoliir has a reason to help find the jewels (the third Belief) although also has a reason not to share them (and Sleight of Hand might come into play in that respect). Tripp might persuade Dagoliir that the best way to get revenge would be for the two of them to recover the jewels and then rub Tripp's father's nose in that fact!
Another option is that Dagolliir destroys what remains of the bridge (Rhyme of the Unmaker) to find the jewels.
I think that the jewels need to be more valuable than what I posted - probably +5D (the odd number makes it harder to agree on an even split, which is deliberate) - because one option should be that Tripp calls on the woodfolk to help rebuild the bridge, and +3D resources probably isn't quite enough to suggest that.
I also imagined smaller scenes, like Dagoliir disrupting stones that Tripp is moving into the river to help create "stepping stones". Or Tripp's whistling prompting Dagoliir to sing and play. If Dagoliir want to use Song of Soothing (the Elven version of herbalism), Tripp has Foraging to find the herbs. Tripp can find and mend Dagoliir's shoes (reducing his squalor).
There's no pathway in this scenario for Dagoliir to recover from Spite (that's a mechanically complicated process that requires the participation of another Elf whom the Dark Elf has wronged); but there is scope for Dagoliir to move on from the bridge, with or without Tripp. And with or without the jewels: after all, Tripp might lean hard into I am not my ancestry and forget about the dreams of Ansley.
So anyway, the sort of framework I had in mind was something more like the films Hero, or The Bridge on the River Kwai - unfolding over time, rather than a quick dust-up and it's all resolved. I haven't playtested it so don't know if it would work - but I think it could.
@AbdulAlhazred, is the laugh in response to the shoes, or the whistling in a bridge scenario, or something else I missed?
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