Last week I GMed an online session of Fantasy For Real. I'd bought the rules the evening before - thankfully they're quite short, and so I'd been able to read them.
I was expecting to be a player rather than GM, and so had written up a PC. But when the three of us logged on, after a quick discussion there was an agreed change of responsibilities: and so I GMed while the other two played.
We started by doing our respective prep.
For players, that means creating a character. PC build is pretty straightforward:
The action resolution rules are also fairly simple, and are based around skill tests (with magic as an exception - see below). When a character has their PC do a thing that invokes a skill, a test is made. The GM rolls a d6, and on an odd number the test succeeds; otherwise it fails. However, if the skill is rated Not Great then failure is automatic with no test rolled unless the player spends a Pool point; and if the skill is rated Great then on a success the player can spend a Pool point for extra effect.
Success means the PC does the thing they tried to do; failure means some sort of adverse change in the situation. And on a failure, the player also gains a Pool point.
A final, and important, component of PC creation is the player's choice to create a "picklet" for their character. As the rules explain, this is "a specific relationship, goal, or other personal concern: such as "a rivalry to resolve, a non-negotiable task, a specific monetary need, a mission of vengeance, a rescue, a romantic complication, a family obligation, a magic trinket to find, etc".
Elan is a curious skill, with three uses: first, it defends against ranged attacks (that's it most straightforward use); second, it is used by a player to bring their PC back into play if taken out (see more below on how combat works); and third, it can be used once per seen to bring the PC's picklet into play - a bit like Circles or Wises in Burning Wheel. When this is done, the picklet automatically is established as an element of the situation, but on a success the content the player wanted is present to the PC's advantage; whereas on a failure the content is not present in the immediate situation, and the character gets into some sort of trouble.
Elan can also be used in that third way to create new picklets during play.
It's interesting that Elan is, by default, Not Great. I think the incentive to make it at least OK is quite high; but only one of our two PCs had OK Elan.
Here is @thefutilist's PC, an Elf-y Goblin:
And here is @Manbearcat's character, a more goblin-y Goblin:
For the GM, prep is about establishing setting and latent situation.
The rulebook has a list of five fantasy places - a terrible swamp, a feudal kingdom, a fantastic desert, etc - each with about 50 words description including an account of how humans and Goblins fit in. The GM chooses one, then sketches a map and comes up with basic ideas about animals, culture and society (including money). As the rules put it, the GM should "daydream about the inhabitants’ ways of life, the look-and-feel of being there, and a sense of culture", and should "Consider the basics of any social location, beginning with animals and money". The GM is also directed to come up with a list of 10 personal names, to be used for NPCs.
The GM shares all of the above with the players.
I had to prepare in a hurry (I think I took 10 minutes or so), and so I wanted to short-cut as much as possible. I started with The White Wastes,
I told the players I was thinking of Dark Sun, swords-and-sandals with kanks and tharks and also creatures like kruthiks part-way between reptiles and insects. And that I would use the name list from In A Wicked Age. As I kept working on prep, @Manbearcat found a Dark Sun-y map online and drew in a Nile-like river (that I had mentioned as part of my conception of the setting). The start of play requires specifying a "specific location" although there is a bit of flexibility in that respect (see more below). Here is the map we used, with the red circle showing the starting location that we all agreed on:
The crucial bit of GM prep, which the GM does not share with the players, is creating the pickle - that is, the starting situation that, together with the PCs' picklets, will drive play. This is done procedurally - first, roll a d6 to determine how many elements, and then roll a d6 for each element. The elements are specified in general terms, but with a couple of pages of advice on how to flesh them out.
Naturally, I rolled a 6 on my first roll, and so had to roll for and flesh out 6 elements in the pickle:
The last of those was my first brush with the magic system, which serves three functions: for setting up magical elements in the pickle; for establishing "trinkets" (ie the system's version of magic items); and for resolving PC use of magic. There are a series of tables, which are lists of words from one to four or more syllables - Type (d10), Object (d100), Author (d8), Colour/Metal (d12) and Adjective (d100). When you need a magical effect, you choose the tables to roll on - 3 for a trinket or the pickle; equal to Base for a PC's spell - and that gives you the spell's name (words like "the" and "and" and "of" can be interpolated as required). The number of syllables in the name (ignoring the interpolated words) determines the spell's strength, in accordance with a few extra rules and charts.
The in-fiction rationale for this as a method of spell-casting is that "Everyone has memorized some spells at some point. This is the one you remember at this particular moment, and once cast, it goes away, poof, out of your mind."
There is no test required to use Magic (though if a PC's skill is Not Great, they still need to spend a Pool point to cast a spell), but the GM is given a lot of licence to decide the effects of magic, especially when, as the rulebook puts it,
For my magical element in the pickle, I rolled a Type ("Saying"), an Object ("Revelation") and an Adjective ("Dire"). Hence The Saying of Dire Revelation. I then specified its effect based on that name.
With PCs and setting done, and the pickle information noted on my scrap of paper, it was time to establish starting situations. Both PCs had their homes off the map (to the west), and so we knew they would be far from home. The rules state that "All of the characters already know one another and are at least marginally invested in one another’s well-being. They may or may not know the others are present." The players agreed that Verly had met Zirgly while travelling in Klad, the City of Thieves; and Zirgly had subsequently heard rumours of Verly in his travels, from multiple "dalliances".
The rules then tell "each player to say what their character is doing and where, then test a relevant skill" with success meaning that the character is where the play says they are, and failure (i) earning the player a Pool point and (ii) meaning that the GM says where the PC is, with it not being safe or good for the character. Then the GM establishes each character's immediate situation.
We had one success and one failure for the starting situation - Zirgley was a success (and so was crossing the Tablelands, looking for food and water) and Verly a failure (and so was in the jaws of a kruthik that was also looking for food and water).
I'll do a second post for how the session actually unfolded.
I was expecting to be a player rather than GM, and so had written up a PC. But when the three of us logged on, after a quick discussion there was an agreed change of responsibilities: and so I GMed while the other two played.
We started by doing our respective prep.
For players, that means creating a character. PC build is pretty straightforward:
*PCs start with Base 3. This is a like a mixture of hit points and RQ-esque Power.
*PCs start with Pool 3. This is something like karma/spirit/reserves/"oomph" - by default it's probably meta-currency, but nothing stops it being given in-game flavour.
*The player rolls a d6 to see whether their PC is a Goblin (which, as per the rulebook, may be "anywhere in the range from elfy-fairy to ogre-orc" or a human "as known and loved". The chance of each is 50/50.
*The player picks a name for their PC, and also a pithy descriptive phrase to give a sense of role/theme/genre for the character (the rules have some examples, but they are just that - examples); and picks two bits of noteworthy gear from a short list, and then briefly describes their character, including where they’re from (this requires the GM to share part of their prep, as I'll explain below).
*The only technical bit of PC creation is choosing skills. There is a list of 14 skills, and each skill is rated at one of 3 levels of expertise: Not Great, OK, and Great:
As part of build, the player can shift as many skills as they want: but lifting a skill up one level requires shifting a different skill down. The skills themselves are mostly self-explanatory: the rules provide a brief description of what falls under each of Culture, Normal Lore and Weird Lore; explain how Convince works against NPCs and clarifies that it doesn't work on PCs; and explain Speed and Elan.
^Athletics, Convince, Fight, Magic, Money, Normal Lore, Outdoors, Sneak and Speed all default to OK;
^Arts & Crafts, Culture, Elan, Ranged Weapons and Weird Lore all default to Not Great.
As part of build, the player can shift as many skills as they want: but lifting a skill up one level requires shifting a different skill down. The skills themselves are mostly self-explanatory: the rules provide a brief description of what falls under each of Culture, Normal Lore and Weird Lore; explain how Convince works against NPCs and clarifies that it doesn't work on PCs; and explain Speed and Elan.
The action resolution rules are also fairly simple, and are based around skill tests (with magic as an exception - see below). When a character has their PC do a thing that invokes a skill, a test is made. The GM rolls a d6, and on an odd number the test succeeds; otherwise it fails. However, if the skill is rated Not Great then failure is automatic with no test rolled unless the player spends a Pool point; and if the skill is rated Great then on a success the player can spend a Pool point for extra effect.
Success means the PC does the thing they tried to do; failure means some sort of adverse change in the situation. And on a failure, the player also gains a Pool point.
A final, and important, component of PC creation is the player's choice to create a "picklet" for their character. As the rules explain, this is "a specific relationship, goal, or other personal concern: such as "a rivalry to resolve, a non-negotiable task, a specific monetary need, a mission of vengeance, a rescue, a romantic complication, a family obligation, a magic trinket to find, etc".
Elan is a curious skill, with three uses: first, it defends against ranged attacks (that's it most straightforward use); second, it is used by a player to bring their PC back into play if taken out (see more below on how combat works); and third, it can be used once per seen to bring the PC's picklet into play - a bit like Circles or Wises in Burning Wheel. When this is done, the picklet automatically is established as an element of the situation, but on a success the content the player wanted is present to the PC's advantage; whereas on a failure the content is not present in the immediate situation, and the character gets into some sort of trouble.
Elan can also be used in that third way to create new picklets during play.
It's interesting that Elan is, by default, Not Great. I think the incentive to make it at least OK is quite high; but only one of our two PCs had OK Elan.
Here is @thefutilist's PC, an Elf-y Goblin:
NAME: Verly
SUMMARY AND DESCRIPTION: An incorrigible bounder, from the Elven city of Syenis
GREAT SKILLS: Athletics, Fight
OK SKILLS: Arts & Crafts, Convince, Normal Lore, Sneak, Speed
NOT GREAT SKILLS: Culture, Elan, Magic, Money, Outdoors, Ranged Weapons, Weird Lore
GEAR:
A decent weapon (Elven thinblade)
Fancy Elven clothes, inappropriate for the climate (black and white fur coat)
PICKLET: To apologise to a former lover
And here is @Manbearcat's character, a more goblin-y Goblin:
NAME, SUMMARY AND DESCRIPTION: Zirgly the (footloose) Goblin exile from the Dead Lands (where worship of my goodly god Zyrr the Vigilant is outlawed)
GREAT SKILLS: Fight
OK SKILLS: Athletics, Convince, Elan, Magic, Outdoors, Speed, Weird Lore
NOT GREAT SKILLS: Arts & Crafts, Culture, Money, Normal Lore, Ranged Weapons, Sneak
GEAR:
A decent weapon (a mace with its head carved with the Unblinking Eye)
Light armour
PICKLET: Zyrr the Vigilant has charged me with finding the ancient, broken temple in his name and restarting the faith
For the GM, prep is about establishing setting and latent situation.
The rulebook has a list of five fantasy places - a terrible swamp, a feudal kingdom, a fantastic desert, etc - each with about 50 words description including an account of how humans and Goblins fit in. The GM chooses one, then sketches a map and comes up with basic ideas about animals, culture and society (including money). As the rules put it, the GM should "daydream about the inhabitants’ ways of life, the look-and-feel of being there, and a sense of culture", and should "Consider the basics of any social location, beginning with animals and money". The GM is also directed to come up with a list of 10 personal names, to be used for NPCs.
The GM shares all of the above with the players.
I had to prepare in a hurry (I think I took 10 minutes or so), and so I wanted to short-cut as much as possible. I started with The White Wastes,
a baking hot, blinding expanse, where veiled human nomads ride brilliant-scaled reptiles, and lean and mean rawboned goblins stalk around, not averse to human meat. All revere the Temple of the Great Zero, whatever that might be.
I told the players I was thinking of Dark Sun, swords-and-sandals with kanks and tharks and also creatures like kruthiks part-way between reptiles and insects. And that I would use the name list from In A Wicked Age. As I kept working on prep, @Manbearcat found a Dark Sun-y map online and drew in a Nile-like river (that I had mentioned as part of my conception of the setting). The start of play requires specifying a "specific location" although there is a bit of flexibility in that respect (see more below). Here is the map we used, with the red circle showing the starting location that we all agreed on:
The crucial bit of GM prep, which the GM does not share with the players, is creating the pickle - that is, the starting situation that, together with the PCs' picklets, will drive play. This is done procedurally - first, roll a d6 to determine how many elements, and then roll a d6 for each element. The elements are specified in general terms, but with a couple of pages of advice on how to flesh them out.
Naturally, I rolled a 6 on my first roll, and so had to roll for and flesh out 6 elements in the pickle:
*A dangerous circumstance, namely, that the vizier of Nibenay (Natan) is trying to wake the Great Dragon;
*Another dangerous circumstance, namely, that crops are dying;
*A conflict, namely, that the Prince of Tyr (Nyr-Ayyaand) and the Queen of Gulg (Ubalnu) are sleeping together;
*A substance, namely the intoxicating cherry lotus powder;
*Another substance, namely, the silt from the Sea of Silt, blown on the wind and killing the crops;
*Magic, namely, the Saying of Dire Revelation, centred on the pyramid in Nibenay, which means that when one person says "tell me" (or some synonym of that) to another, the other must answer truthfully.
*Another dangerous circumstance, namely, that crops are dying;
*A conflict, namely, that the Prince of Tyr (Nyr-Ayyaand) and the Queen of Gulg (Ubalnu) are sleeping together;
*A substance, namely the intoxicating cherry lotus powder;
*Another substance, namely, the silt from the Sea of Silt, blown on the wind and killing the crops;
*Magic, namely, the Saying of Dire Revelation, centred on the pyramid in Nibenay, which means that when one person says "tell me" (or some synonym of that) to another, the other must answer truthfully.
The last of those was my first brush with the magic system, which serves three functions: for setting up magical elements in the pickle; for establishing "trinkets" (ie the system's version of magic items); and for resolving PC use of magic. There are a series of tables, which are lists of words from one to four or more syllables - Type (d10), Object (d100), Author (d8), Colour/Metal (d12) and Adjective (d100). When you need a magical effect, you choose the tables to roll on - 3 for a trinket or the pickle; equal to Base for a PC's spell - and that gives you the spell's name (words like "the" and "and" and "of" can be interpolated as required). The number of syllables in the name (ignoring the interpolated words) determines the spell's strength, in accordance with a few extra rules and charts.
The in-fiction rationale for this as a method of spell-casting is that "Everyone has memorized some spells at some point. This is the one you remember at this particular moment, and once cast, it goes away, poof, out of your mind."
There is no test required to use Magic (though if a PC's skill is Not Great, they still need to spend a Pool point to cast a spell), but the GM is given a lot of licence to decide the effects of magic, especially when, as the rulebook puts it,
A lot of magic in a single scene interacts: examine the name and strength of each spell, as they will affect one another – the more surreal and bizarre, the better.
For my magical element in the pickle, I rolled a Type ("Saying"), an Object ("Revelation") and an Adjective ("Dire"). Hence The Saying of Dire Revelation. I then specified its effect based on that name.
With PCs and setting done, and the pickle information noted on my scrap of paper, it was time to establish starting situations. Both PCs had their homes off the map (to the west), and so we knew they would be far from home. The rules state that "All of the characters already know one another and are at least marginally invested in one another’s well-being. They may or may not know the others are present." The players agreed that Verly had met Zirgly while travelling in Klad, the City of Thieves; and Zirgly had subsequently heard rumours of Verly in his travels, from multiple "dalliances".
The rules then tell "each player to say what their character is doing and where, then test a relevant skill" with success meaning that the character is where the play says they are, and failure (i) earning the player a Pool point and (ii) meaning that the GM says where the PC is, with it not being safe or good for the character. Then the GM establishes each character's immediate situation.
We had one success and one failure for the starting situation - Zirgley was a success (and so was crossing the Tablelands, looking for food and water) and Verly a failure (and so was in the jaws of a kruthik that was also looking for food and water).
I'll do a second post for how the session actually unfolded.
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