Building My Hunter Setting

I'm really excited to run Hunter. I've got a few of my aerial friends interested now. I'm hoping we'll find an evening we're all free so we can play. I'm figuring to start early next year.

Here's an issue I have though, and a reason I've struggled with Hunter in the past: having played various of the WoD supernatural creatures, I have great sympathy with them that means it's hard for me to make them the bad guys. Especially werewolves. I really loved playing Werewolf.

My setting is my take on Aberrheidol, a dark version of my uni town and used in various games run by my friends from there. My version has a few places from my home town as well, the library I grew up with, the pub/club where I had one of my first jobs (and that was a significant place in the Buffy game I played in that was my very first exposure to TTRPG's), and probably the climbing centre that holds our aerial circus school. I might attach it to the swimming pool; I'm not likely to put it on campus.

I don't know what sort of characters I'll have among my players. I'm going to give them support and freedom; I'm excited about it. Also, my usual GM has agreed to show up occasionally. I will run it by him, but I'd like him to play an experienced Hunter who can sometimes drag them along when he needs backup, or something like that.

Among the major NPC's, I've a few ideas. I need to read the book in a bit more depth, though. 

For antagonists, I think they'll start with a degree of ghostbusting before we move onto more fearsome foes. I've been listening to The Witch Farm (and other Danny Robins ghostly podcasts), and this is giving me lots of inspiration.

I'd like some kind of metaplot/end game/bigger bad so that maybe they need to befriend or at least work with supernatural creatures from time to time, but I don't know what that could be yet, so maybe we'll just run monster of the week for a while until I have a better idea.

Wish me (and them!) luck!

Running Hunter

I haven't run a game since uni, and only ever run a handful of sessions. But I want to introduce new people to TTRPG's and I want to run games for them that might bring them the same pleasure playing brings me.

I don't know if it will work. I haven't the experience to bring the skill to running games as yet, and also playing is one of my biggest Special Interests, so I'm not sure other people can even get as much out of these games as I can. 

I'm going to try, though. I'm going to run Hunter. I feel confident in White Wolf systems; I like rolling all those dice, and I like the flexibility of creating dice pools. I have played in Hunter before, but a long, long time ago. This gives me an idea of how it can feel (although we were playing within a wider World of Darkness where we were also werewolves and vampires).

I've got a good setting in mind, my take on a town called Aberrheidol (a name that may be familiar to some of my uni friends). It's a coastal Welsh town, with a ruined castle and a pier and hills and woodlands and all sorts of cool things. I'm transplanting a few landmarks from other places too. It's a location I know well, so I think that will help.

I've got a few ideas for NPC's, and I think a plothook for the first adventure, but I'm not especially set in stone there. I'm looking forward to the book arriving to do more on this. On which note, I never treat myself but I looked in my PayPal and it was the exact right amount for the book so it was a great justification to treat myself and I'm so excited.

No idea how we're going to organise when we're playing, or even a full list of who I'm inviting. They need to want to play the way I want to run and also have free time when I do. However, I refuse to let this be a pipedream; I insist on bringing it to reality.

There will be more to follow...

Mage - Breaking In

This is the story of our Mage game, told from the perspective of my character Ragna "Reagan" Halvorsen. Index here.

~~~

3rd March 2016

I invited Marcus over for breakfast. Partly to get some advice. Partly cos, better to get him to meet Mormor sooner rather than later, right? They got on well - think she was on her best behaviour. Think she liked him, respected him in a way she doesn't many people. No auditions until 2, and Marcus was also free. He was nice about how hard I was finding it - "Maybe it's a bit early for this sort of investigation, but learn on the job. It's how I did it" - and offered to come with me, help me out. Mormor glared! And he reassured her I wouldn't be out late. I wasn't so worried about that, so he reassured me he'd get me to my audition on time. Suncream on. Parasol up. LA is too sunny.

We talked as we travelled. He told me more about his missing friend. She went by Susie. They'd been at school together in New York, and now she was a stunt double and taught kung fu. Most of her students were kids who were often in trouble and needed help refocussing their energy. One of the kids got into new trouble and came to Susie for help, and now they're both missing. It's a bit mystical, which means he can't be seen to investigate because he's known. But I'm not, yet. I'm low enough level it doesn't mess with any Accord if I go meddling. That's why he asked me to help. Susie's one of us, a Mage.

The guy in the laundry didn't charge me for my uniform. Very grateful - had barely enough money to get the bus back after my audition. Marcus could sense the same disturbance I'd felt before, and got me to feel for it again. With no distractions, I could pinpoint it better: somewhere upstairs. Found a fire escape, but the window of the floor we agreed we wanted was locked. Carried onto the roof, where the access door was also locked but there was a lock on the outside, so Marcus showed me how to pick it. He did it in no time, locked it back up again and it took me more like 15 minutes, but I got it. That final click, so satisfying. His point was that sometimes we should use mundane means rather than always reaching for and relying on magic, on which note he wanted me to learn some fighting, maybe kung fu, if we can find Susie. It's developed from yoga, so I should pick it up well. But that doesn't mean I should slouch on learning magic, either: he stressed the importance of the Prime sphere, which I'd so far neglected. With the door unlocked, he found a brick to prop it open and told me to always make sure I had multiple exits clear.

As we crept down the first stairs, heard a bell sound, like a shop door opening, but no sounds inside so we felt hopeful the apartments were all empty and headed to the 3rd floor. I cast my runes to help pull on Correspondence to find the right flat. There were no sounds from inside and the door was locked.. I asked Marcus for his lockpicks and hummed to myself, calling a little Entropy to help me out - didn't feel we could wait quite so long this time! As I went to kneel by the door, I slipped slightly on the doormat, revealing a key. Much easier!

A 2-bed apartment, looking over the main street. Kitchen, shower room, living space and airing cupboard. That disturbance we'd felt seemed to be from the wardrobe in the second bedroom: it had a strong sense of Correspondence about it. I wanted to know how to find where it was linked without stepping through, and Marcus said I couldn't, yet; he wasn't even sure if he could. I looked around, hoping to find clues, but - faen! - my parasol caught on the shower sceen and shattered it. Which was followed by the sound of the apartment door opening. Marcus took a quick "look" and reported two people, one thin and nerdy in a sweater vest; the other an old man.

"Who wears a sweater vest in this heat?"

"Who wears a coat like that?" I countered, indicating Marcus's long leather trench coat, then realised how he manages the heat. "Oh dritt! They're Mages."

We started to discuss what to do, when I heard the others speak, and recognised Howard's voice, the weirdo from the night before. Stepping into the hall, the old man recognised Marcus. Introduced himself as Archibald. Like Mormor, turns out he's even older than he looks, and there's something unconsciously intimidating about his manner. They're investigating the same as us, though "Council business" rather than personal. 

Showed Archibald the wardrobe. He agreed with my assessment, and could tell more: it linked to a location to the west, not very far, and was keyed to a single person, so no one else could travel through. Howard suggested laying a trap for anyone coming out, which Archibald did with no visible effort. He instructed us on how to narrow our search: powerful magic suggests empty places, so look for large empty buildings: warehouses, homes, etc. They left, then, as Howard had a lecture to teach.

Marcus summoned a cab to take us to my audition, and we talked. He explained Archibald is the strong arm of the law for the Council of Traditions in LA. He's also the de facto leader of the Order of Hermes, which probably explained how come the nerd was his apprentice. He told me a bit more about Susie, too, like how she's very good at her job and very successful, but also a massive philanthropist who gives everything she earns to support her community and especially the kids she teaches. She sounded like one of the good guys, and this made me even more keen to help.

Exalted - Our First Command

This is the story of our Second Age Exalted game, told from the point of view of my character, Cathak Taji. Click here for the index.

~~~

 

We headed north, knowing we couldn't take on the Bull (yet) but determined to learn as much about him as possible. The journey was uneventful: we rested at Port Kaylen, where the gate guard slept as we walked past. The inn we stayed in was cheap, pleasant in itself, but run by a harridan. We were back at Highcastle by the next evening. Rey greeted us with good news: she'd been reassigned with us as the Empress pulled some strings after our visit, and was glad to be out of the cold. She led us to Rose Black and the leader of House Tepet to make our promotion official. Our new unit was the 73rd Regiment, a scale within the 33rd Legion. Our first mission had the primary objective of coming back alive: to the north was The Hold of White Idols, a rice farming region whose produce supplied much of the Realm and Threshold, but they'd gone quiet recently and we were to learn why. On our way, we were to stop at a holding of one of the lesser Houses of Ledaal. She gave us a Hearthstone amulet that would allow us to contact her, our medals of office showing us as Scale Lords, and sent us on our way.

We picked our way through the campsite to reach our scale, their tents in a semicircle that broke the perfect order of the camp. 6 who appeared to be normal humans, and 6 Dynasts: 3 from Tepet, 2 from Cathak and 1 Ledaal, Sven. He called us "kids", but I managed not to rise to his baiting. We were young, and I knew we'd soon prove we were there on merit.

They were the troublemakers, which delighted me. It meant they could think.

We found a rabbit in Kito's bed that night. I was set to punish them or at least get revenge, but Kito calmed me and I listened. We fashioned it a harness and named it 'Ghost' and kept it as a mascot. It was a sweet thing, white with black spots.

We left in the morning and got to know our unit as we travelled. Cathak Cainan was particularly grizzled and seemed to have the most leadership experience. The other member of our House, Kou, was the youngest of the Dynasts, an Immaculate Monk wearing a tunic with a leaping flame motif. House Tepet was represented by Rihannon, a blonde-haired older woman with a reaper diklaive and an excellent cook, Elena, who felt familiar until it struck me she reminded me of the Rose Black, and Hoarst, whose bald head was one of the shiniest things I'd ever seen, and who seemed... shifty. He kept grumbling about the cold. Ledaal Sven had fair hair and skin, blue eyes and light stubble, and seemed young and irreverent. Everything was a joke to him - I had no doubt he was behind Ghost's appearance. Of the mortals, Osada and Iki were married. They wore full plate armour as though it were nothing, and had strange amulets grafted into their wrists. Matsu Dairu had a pair of ornate guns with which he was very skilled.

After half a day's travel, Sven was already bored. We could hear running water and headed toward it. Before we reached the river, we found a giant rock gouged with great clawmarks indicating we were passing into an Anathema's territory. After a quick discussion, we decded to take the risk as the river would vastly speed up our travel. Once we reached it, Cainan oversaw the building of a raft while Rihannon, a good fisherman and cook, prepared a meal. Osada, Rey, Elena and I secured the perimeter, and I learnt more about Osada and Iki's armour. It wasn't full plate, but "gonzai" armour, linked to the amulets. It's a special kind of power armour that can be used by those who can't normally channel essence, but it halves their lifespan. In thanks for such a sacrifice, the Realm promises to look after their families and gives them a command. He met Iki through this, and they're here rather than commanding their own unit because they're coming to the end of their time and "well, I'm not the type to die in bed, so I'm refusing to retire." I could respect that.

Cainan and I were sharing watch when the tyrant lizard attacked that night, crashed through the trees towards our camp. I fired arrows into it as Cainan swung at it. It bent its mighty head and caught him in his jaws, lifting to swallow him, but in that instant he flared so that it looked like it was breathing fire for a moment and cut his way free, the sword getting wedged as he finally fell. I fired an arrow into its open mouth and must have hit a nerve that caused the jaws to snap shut, lodging the sword deep into the creature's brain. We looked at each other with the joy of hard fought victory. There's good eating on a tyrant lizard. Rihannon joined us in time to organise the creature's dissection, splitting the parts into edible, valuable, useful and detritus.

The river raced us along until we reached an offshoot used to irrigate the fields of the Ledaal holding. We saw fewer people than we'd expected, but it seemed to be very efficient. Overseers stared as we floated past,visibly relaxing when they saw the  Imperial red armour worn by some of the unit.

After tying up the raft, we were led to Overseer Vash, a corpulent man grown comfortable in his position. He introduced us to his servant George and showed us around. Housing for the workers and livestock was pointed out and dismissed as he led us to the gardens, replete with ornate topiaries and pristine lawns and flower beds. Even the ivy clinging to the buildings was immaculate. The stables housed horses of particularly fine eastern stock. As we approached the main house, servants tripped out and lined up as though for an inspection. Vash then offered his hospitality for as long as we might want, his obsequious bow and unctuous grin failing to hide his desire it wouldn't be long: with so many Dynasts in our party, perhaps he thought he was being replaced. He then began a detailed tour of the house, and this was when we noticed Hoarst was missing. Kito left Sven in charge, and we snuck off to look for him.

We found him in a study, feet on table, flicking through paperwork, looking, he explained, for any dodgy dealings. Behind him, a painting rested on the floor to expose a safe in the wall, the open door revealing a jewellery box filled with large gems, and two talents of yellow jade! Hoarst chuckled at our shocked expressions. 

"There was more." He indicated the paperwork. "Our Overseer Vash has been dealing with the Azlanti." And not just the Azlanti: he showed us where 12 talents had been paid to the Azlanti, 5 to the Guild (for slaves), and finally 5 to the Realm. Payments had been coming later and later and with less and less interest, so the Realm had become suspicious. This was the real reason we'd been told to go via this site. He explained something the Rose Black had omitted telling us: each member of our unit has their own purpose and their own mission. This was his.

As we helped him restore the room, I discovered a secret compartment in the safe, holding a key labled 73256. Hoarst pocketed the guide and promised to keep digging, but seemed genuinely impressed I'd found the key. We rejoined the tour briefly: Sven was doing a fantastic job of keeping Vash occupied, so we slipped off again to look for a bigger safe. 

 

Kito suggested the wine cellar, figuring a safe as large as we're expecting would have to be underground. As we walked, Hoarst explained the unit's recent history. The previous leader, Scale Lord Chow, faced down an Anathema so the rest could escape, but even so half the unit had died. 

The wine cellar was filled with expensive bottles of wine and spirits, and barrels of various sizes, up to some several metres in diameter laid on their sides. One of these sounded empty so I fiddled around and found a catch that opened the front, revealing a large metal door. The key fitted the latch, and the number turned out to be the code. The wall the barrel had been pressed against wasn't, as it had appeared, been the edge of the cellar. While the room had been large, where we now stood was even larger. The size and structure made us think the room had to be Shogunite, or even older, but was clearly in current use. The wine stored here was worth even more than that we'd already seen. There were green jade talents stacked fairly near the door, artworks and other items dotted around. Kito found a small box in green jade. Opening it, we found 8 needles around the length of a finger and the diameter of a stem of wheat, 2 in each of the magical materials. We recognised them as Wound Healing Needles and hid them in my bag. A fine pair of gloves next caught our eyes, chased in orichalcum. The left included a Hearthstone socket. Kito identified them as Gloves of Martial Readiness, and again we squirrelled them away. I picked up a small orichalcum chevron, that could clip over a belt buckle, and spent a moment attuning to it. Throwing it to the ground caused it to expand until I could stand on it, hovering. It responded to my awkward movements and my feet felt secured. With practice, I knew it would make a very useful archery platform (I'd later learn it was known as a Wind Blade Class Personal Transport, and it remains one of my favourite possessions). Finally was another small jade box, with motifs picked out in moonsilver, locked and dusty like it had been discarded. Kito attuned to this which allowed him to open it and discover a plasma tongue repeater, like the one the Highcastle Quarter Master had given us, complete with ammo. I restored my wind blade to belt buckle sized and shared a look with Kito: there was a lot of orichalcum in the room.

What we found there made us look more closely at the yellow jade Hoarst had found in the office. Stamped by the Imperial Mint but dated to the first 5 or 6 years of the Shogunite. We took these and rejoined our unit, throwing the jade down in front of Vash with our accusations. He prevaricated and tried to justify himself, but before he got far Elena's blade flashed past, beheading him. I was shocked and angry, wanting to hear more, especially about where he'd found the orichalcum items (Anathema tombs, but we didn't learn the location), and frustrated that she was acting on orders from above me and about which I knew nothing. I understood this wasn't unusual in an army situation, but I felt undermined and that was nearly unbearable. I suppressed my feelings and gave instructions to split up and find more evidence.

As the others amassed paperwork and such in the great hall, I found a hidden room behind the kitchen - I had to squirm through the back of a cupboard to reach it. Inside was a strange device, with an array of buttons and blinking lights. I didn't recognise any of the symbols and curiously tapped a couple of the buttons. The lights and some symbols changed. I tapped again, and the blinking intensified. An alarm sounded. I frantically batted more of the buttons until the blinking and alarm synced into what sounded like a countdown. I bolted from the strange room and started yelling for everyone to evacuate. As I reached the edge of the gardens, I saw a large, metal dragon-shape break out of the house and explode. I was shaken but not injured, unlike Kito who'd been trying to rescue servants. He was bleeding profusely when I found him, badly bruised all over with his leg twisted beneath him. We laid him out carefully, and I tested the needles. To my relief, they worked. Guards came running over, but Sven led them off. I instructed our unit to clear the ruin, and we got the surviving servants to prepare the guest house as the main residence.

 

As Kito came to, he pointed out there was no essence in the area. The device must have been similar to a Thousand Forged Dragon, though with less destructive power. All the same, it shouldn't have been possible to accidentally enter the launch code. Either I got very, very unlucky, or those things have a lifespan and become unstable towards the end. That might explain why there was less damage, too... Either way, I was just grateful my brother was ok and the damage not as bad as it might have been.

Mage - Introductions

This is the story of our Mage game, told from the perspective of my character Ragna "Reagan" Halvorsen. Index here.

~~~

1st March 2016

I sat among the other hopefuls, waiting for my turn. While they ran lines in their heads and practiced faces and poses, I centred my breathing as I moved between yoga poses and looked over their auras, seeing the nerves, the confidence, the hopes and fears of every other audition room I'd been in. This time, I was going to try something different and needed my mind in the right place.

When they called my name, I walked to the stage and looked out, through their auras, into their minds to see what they thought they were looking for, and deeper, to what they actually wanted. They were mostly bored, but I got their attention anyway. A little life magic can add sparkle like that.

It's not cheating, using the gifts I inherited from my mormor. After all, I could be using her name and her agency to get parts. At least this way I'm doing it myself.

They smiled as they thanked me. I smiled back and hid the relief. A chocolate milk commercial might not be much, but it had lines and that's a start.

Caervus, the man who'd initiated me to the Euthanatoi tradition a few months ago, met me outside. He gave me an address and told me to be there at 9pm, before slipping away in his mysterious manner. I raced to my waitressing shift - long as usual, still lacking any high powered film producer who might cast me as the lead in his movie. Managed to find the right buses to get me across town to what turned out to be an occult store. You know the type, lots of dangling charms and trays of gemstones (many fake), and tarot cards behind glass, and a funny smell from mismatched incense. Confused and shy, I spoke to the guy behind the counter. He led me creaking stairs to a landing so decrepit I felt sure I'd fall through - he went back to his store and left me there, so I went through the only door.

To somewhere bright and sunny, but cool (or at least, cooler than LA). The ground was made of carved stones and a pool glistened. Snowy mountains in the distance. Caervus came over and explained this place is a meeting place for new members, and I won't be back here for a while.

"Your path coincides with another for now. This is Marcus Waite." 

Older than me, maybe mid-20's. Dark hair, styled longer on top and shorter on the sides with a purple tinge, dark eyes. Was wearing ragged jeans and a white shirt under his long coat, the way he was nearly always dressed, I'd come to learn. He removed his headphones as we were introduced. Caervus explained he's further on his path and will be teaching me. Gave him my number and he left, then Caervus wished me luck and gave me a blessing. Felt a bit sad when I realised I wouldn't be seeing him for a while. Initiation isn't gentle and he supported me through it.

When I left, I saw the door stood with in the middle of the balcony. Marcus was waiting, took me for a coffee and we chatted. He was from the East coast, played in bands and came here for a record deal that fell through. Caervus found him in a particularly bad spot - he looked haunted by it and I didn't ask more. The more we talked, the more I thought Mormor would like him.

He took me to meet a mysterious "someone". The house was typical suburban, maintained with pride. Before we went in, Marcus explained I was here to have a reading, which I should only discuss with him, and any questions should be to him not her - she "gets funny".

The lady was African American. I'm no expert on accents, but I think she was from somewhere South. She looked older than Mormor looks, but not as old as Mormor is. She had a nice smile and ushered me into a candlelit room, sat me down in front of a table covered in a deep velvet cloth. Talked me through the cards. She clearly knew what she was doing, but I felt dazzled by it and came away only understanding I had a lot to learn.

Marcus got us a cab home, somehow getting away without paying for it.

2nd March 2016

Marcus was worried about a friend of his who'd gone missing, and wanted me to check out a laundromat in Chinatown where there were rumours of strange goings on. Warned me "be circumspect" so I 'accidentally' spilled somethng down my uniform at the end of my shift and headed over, humming to myself - singing to the building. There was a tingle of ... something. I couldn't place it. Went in and talked to the guy, but I couldn't get a read on him. As I tried, a strange, skinny guy came in so I left. Back out on the street, I tried to pinpoint what I'd sensed before, sketching a circle and trying to focus through that onto the building, but the skinny guy reappeared, and everywhere I went he seemed to follow. Went back in and arranged to collect my uniform the next day - try again then. The strange guy offered me a lift home, which I eventually accepted. Howard. Think he was surprised when I got him to drop me off in Beverly, and Mormor, of course, teased me mercilessly.

Amaryllis "Blazing Shield of the Sun" (Exalted First Age Solar)

As well as the Second Age Exalted game featuring Taji which I'm slowly writing up, Rich has been running a First Age game for Bells (Kito)  and Ash, another of their friends. I was invited in, as Ash is going to join our Aberrant game (which starts next week 😀).

Game Background
Bells and Ash are playing teenagers, brand new Solar Exalts attending Meru High. They've both inherited cities and vast fortunes from their previous incarnations and are learning about what it means to be Exalts. It's an alternate history of the Second Age game, so there's a few familiar names and faces, which is fun. 

As with the Second Age game, various liberties have been taken with the official setting.

Character Background
I've joined as an older Exalt, a Zenith by the name of "Blazing Shield of the Sun" who also still goes by her mortal name of Amaryllis. She Exalted maybe 100 years ago, so is still young in Solar terms. Her Lunar mate (Nevalia or Nevaris, depending if they're in female or male form) is older again (several points in the Ally background). They're close, friends and lovers, currently with an adopted daughter Mara (a few points of the Ward or Dependent flaw, forget the name), though they have raised other children that one or other has birthed (need to double check that about Nevalia, but I assume they've both carried babies). Amaryllis is also the ruler of Ondar-Shambal (inherited from her previous incarnation), and is a devoted follower of the Unconquered Sun. She has a following within Ondar-Shambal (Cult) that she finds embarrassing and does her best to reflect the praise to Ignis Divine.

Personality
Amaryllis's overriding trait, the one that gives her the form of her Great Curse, is Compassion. She can't stand by if she sees innocents suffering ("greater curse" flaw means her trigger track is shorter than normal). This is how Mara came to be in her custody: she arrived too late to stop the destruction of a town caught between two warring factions. The only survivor was a young girl, whom she immediately took in.

At the opposite end, her Temperance is very low, meaning she acts compulsively and, when not actively engaged in praying to the Unconquered Sun, is restless and finds it hard to sit still. Her Deliberative paperwork is vastly out of date, she rarely shows up for non-religious official events she's expected to attend, and she's easily distracted. Fortunately for her health, she overindulges as much in healthy things as unhealthy: she's always eating fruit, trains rigorously in martial arts for the pleasure of movement, enjoys sex and parties, drinks too much, reads romance and adventure (but nothing non-fiction unless she has to)...

She's a loyal friend, fiercely protective and hates letting people down. She worries that her lack of temperance makes her unworthy to lead Ondar-Shambal but trusts Lytek knew what he was doing when he chose her.

Attributes and Abilities
She's quick-witted, sharp-eyed, smart, charismatic, tough and resilient. She loves martial arts and is an effective fighter - though she's rarely been called on to use her skills for real, and even when she has, it's been to defend an innocent (or innocent group) from someone significantly less powerful than herself. Her love of movement extends to high acrobatics. She's got a good stage presence that helps her lead group worship, and prayer is a big focus for her. 

While she never had the patience or commitment to learn sorcery, Nevalia/Nevaris is an accomplished sorceror and some of the knowledge has rubbed off on Amaryllis.

As well as being a religious centre, Ondar-Shambal is an active trading partner and, despite the tedium of it, she has become fairly skilled in bureaucracy as a result

Most of her charms relate to resilience, acrobatics and martial arts. Her hearthstones focus on memory and reading (to help her complete necessary tasks she finds dull as quickly as possible), and healing.

The Game...
May or may not get written up at some point.

Exalted - The Death of Raven

This is the story of our Exalted game, told from the point of view of my character, Cathak Taji. Click here for the index.

~~~

Tiger reached the temple doors as they opened in a swirl of feathers. Raven stood there, muscular male torso bared, but a bird's head and a pair of huge black-feathered wings. Twirling a silver daiklave as though it were a twig, he leapt at Tiger and landed a blow. In response, Tiger's form shifted, becoming sleeker, leaner, faster. Raven flew up high, gathering essence to him - realising he was casting sorcery, Kito and Ray ran for cover, but I hadn't taken my eyes from him since he emerged and he was still just inside the range of my bow. I drew the string back far enough to hurt, pictured white mice and the symbol Kito had found, whispered a prayer, and loosed the arrow. It took all my courage, but I watched the arrow fly true. It glanced against the beast - not enough to distract him, but I hit him.

There was no immediate effect to Raven's casting. The 5 beastmen who'd made it into the temple now raced out, dressed for battle and armed with bows - which was when volcanic tentacles erupted from the ground, lashing at Ray, Tiger and Kito but ignoring me, still hidden in the forest. Tiger fought the tentacles, but Ray backed off and Kito ran into the temple. The remaining beastmen chased after him, so Ray followed.

The tentacles had flailed as individuals, but with only one target remaining I saw Raven focus on them, and those Tiger hadn't destroyed stilled then turned on my ally, one wrapping itself around him and the others then smashing into him. He looked awful; I knew I had to do something, for all I felt out of my depth. I braced myself against the trunk of the tree I stood in, and took careful aim at Raven once more. Again, I managed to hit! The tentacle dropped Tiger, but my relief lasted barely an exhale as Raven dove through the foliage to me. I dropped from my branch as his blade sliced through where I had been standing, turning a killing blow to a glancing one, compounded with bruising as I landed awkwardly. Raven returned to the sky as I tried to hide.

Curling up in the roots of a tree,I looked back up to see Tiger had transformed into a roc and Ray standing near the temple doors. Raven swooped at Tiger, who rose above, shifted back to human and drew his axe as he fell to land on Raven's back. Ray's lance flashed past, close but missing both. Tiger roared as he swung his axe - an impossible arc, he'd clearly missed... and yet somehow twisting to cut through Raven.

They fell, one of Raven's wings spiralling separately.

Kito emerged from the temple as I disentangled myself from the jungle. Ray left to retrieve the lance and Kito checked on Tiger, which left me to look to Raven. A young-looking man, fine-boned with a pointed, beak-like nose. I decapitated the body. Tiger left the head for us to take back as a gory trophy, gave the daiklave to Kito and burnt the rest of Raven. He would fix the damage Kito had attempted to inflict on the manse and claim it as his own. I looked around at this warm, tranquil spot and envied him, swore to myself I would have a manse at least as fine as this of my own, one day.

The journey back to the camp felt anti-climatic after that. We told Captain Riley that we'd found Raven and the beastmen dead when we reached the village, but he didn't believe us and blamed Ray's leadership for us disobeying his direct order not to get involved. Ray was angry, clear even through the faceless armour, stated we should be being rewarded for this, and insisted on taking a few days off. The armour cracked open then, and a tall woman stepped out, with long, blonde hair and vibrant green eyes. "And for the record, Riley, fuck you," she spat as she spun on her heel and left the room. We followed like lost sheep, and she sent us to rest, explaining she'd be visiting a village a few miles up river.

She's gone when we woke. We spent a couple of anxious weeks trying to keep our heads down and doing general camp tasks, and then she was back, with no further comment. Everything continued as if she'd never left, never sworn at Riley. We stayed with the camp for another year and half, earning a few promotions and continuing to serve under Ray. Once we reached the point where we'd been in the army for 2 years (making us about 17), Captain Riley sent us back to the Rose Black at High Castle.

#RPGaDay2018: Day 30 - Share something you learnt about playing your character

The character I'm going to talk about is Ragna, from Mage: The Ascension (20th Anniversary Edition). The game started at the end of 2017 or the start of 2018, when we took a break from Exalted, and we came to the end of the first arc a couple of weeks ago (opening up the gaming slot to a different Exalted game, set in the First Age - a sort of alternative history to the game I had been playing in, in that some of the characters are recognisable but the plot doesn't necessarily match the history of Taji and Kito's world).

She's a new character, and those first few months are generally where you learn the most about playing a character, so this question feels well-timed to me. 

So, what have I learnt?

She's a lot more innocent than I originally wrote. I knew I didn't want her to be the cut-throat, achieve-at-all-cost wannabe actress stereotype, which has ended with her being innocent in a sweet and earnest way. She has the 'martyr' demeanour, which combined with her sweetness means she will try to do everything she's asked because she wants to please people, but she never gets upset or passive aggressive about it. If someone points out she doesn't need to take so much on (usually her grandmother) she'll chew her bottom lip and fret because she doesn't want to let anyone down - including the person telling her to take less on.

She's quite quiet, especially around authority - almost mute around authority, in fact. This is in character because she's completely intimidated and often afraid, and out of character because Taji's the dominant, talking one in Exalted, and Chrissie often takes the lead in Aberrant, and I wanted to make sure Bells could take on that role in this game, especially where Howard (his character) has the 'overconfident' flaw. She will talk to authority, or powerful-seeming characters if he's not around, but if he is she'll stand slightly further back, as if hoping they won't notice her.

Despite this, she has a backbone of steel and will stand up for what she believes in. She is often afraid, but will still try to shield her mind from the Warden of Los Angeles to protect a secret she promised she'd keep, for instance. She'll still agree - offer - to do the things she believes are the right things to do, even when they scare her. After the confidence of Taji and the relative indestructableness of Chrissie (mega stamina how much?), I've enjoyed playing someone who is in danger, understands she's in danger, and does her best anyway.

She's not afraid to ask questions, or ask for help when she needs to, especially from her mentor. This is in contrast to Howard, who's almost desperate to prove himself capable and competent so will do everything he can to solve a problem by himself. It makes sense given their family histories: he's estranged from his pushy, overbearing parents who didn't understand him, while she's close with her family (even if they're the other side of the world) and was raised with love and respect and freedom in her decisions about her future (even if her parents weren't enamoured with the idea of her trying to become a film star, they were prepared to support her decision - although they found out about her decision after she was already in LA, which I think shows that determination and backbone that's hidden by her quietness and desire to please).

The biggest surprise was in realising she'd been in LA for 2 year or so without managing to make any friends. She's nice - sweet - but her determination to make it as an actress followed by her awakening as a Mage never gave her the time. She makes friends as the game progresses, but still doesn't have many.

What about you? Let me know below!

#RPGaDay2018: Day23 - Which game do you hope to play again?

This is a tough one, because a lot of the games I've played before and loved were very specific to the group and the way we played. For instance, I'm told the way my Awesome Uni WoD game went, we played Werewolf far more and Vampire far less politically than they're "meant" to be played, but I enjoyed both. I've played (and enjoyed) political Vampire since, but most people I know who are interested in playing Werewolf want to play fighty-smashy games with little interest in inter-player pack dynamics or how that pack fits into wider Garou society and how all of that impacts on the fight against the Wyrm.

I'd like to play Hunter again - or even run it. Of the 3 World of Darkness systems that made up the Awesome Uni WoD game, that was the one I ended with the least emotional attachment to, which meant I spent years not especially interested in it, but now feel more free to shape it to my will than the others because I feel like I have slightly less to live up to.

I want to play Shadowrun again. There's a very good Shadowrun GM locally, currently running other games, who'd like to run Shadowrun again. Problem is, he doesn't have as much time as he did, what with having a new baby and all, and I don't think I'd want to play with several members of his normal groups, and I'm told he can fall into the trap of only seeing one way out of a scenario and penalising players who try to take a different route (though I think his side of it was rather different). Also, Shadowrun's another game where I've got a fairly specific idea what I want, which makes it much harder on the GM (and I've tried running it, disasterously, which means I'm not prepared to try again until I have some real GM experience).

Heading back to my uni days again, my uni had an unusually high proportion of women in the Wargames and RolePlay Society, which meant someone organised a huge, female-only game of 7th Sea. It unfortunately only lasted one session and the only thing I remember is that my character was called "Crow's-Nest Jen". I'd like to try the system/setting again, as it sounds fun. 

The question specifically says "hope", which makes me a little reluctant to include my next pick: Dockyards, a setting created by my friend Monty and which I talked about for Day 11 of the very first #RPGaDay (here). I like interesting dystopian settings, and this fits the bill! The action taking place on a floating island enhances the sense of place, to me, and I can picture areas vividly. However, the chances of me actually getting to play again are so slim it's a wish rather than a hope. Still, if Monty does decide to do more with it, I'd love to write some accompanying fiction...

What about you? How did you answer today's question? What games have you loved and now miss? Tell me or add a link below!

#RPGaDay2018: Day 21 - Which dice mechanic appeals to you?

ALL OF THE DICE! They're mine! Mine! Mwahahahah!

Ahem.

By which I mean, dice mechanics that allow me to satisfy my inner magpie and give me an excuse to own more dice. It's undeniably part of why I like White Wolf and Shadowrun.

D10's! Nearly enough...

I don't remember the details of the Shadowrun system well, but I remember the exploding dice. My character had had her mono-filament whip taken from her, and couldn't afford a new one (or possibly it happened while we were trapped in the Arcology so there was no access to buy one). We killed someone, and I immediately asked whether he had a mono-whip. I think maybe I'd asked this often enough to have annoyed the GM slightly, because this time he responded "yeah, sure. Target number 36." I reached 40. It was one of those moments where he was a little annoyed I'd got my preferred weapon back, but entertained and impressed at the same time, and I've never forgotten the excitement of reaching such a high number on a d6.

I like systems where botching doesn't happen a set statistical amount of the time: it annoys me in D20 that now matter how good you are, you will fail 5% of the time. Savage Worlds gives you a wild die to roll as well as your skill die, and the chance of failing on your skill die reduces as you improve because you increase the size of that die - and you need a failure (a 1) on both the skill die and the wild die before you get a critical failure ("which is when I get to unleash funnies" says Husbit, grinning manically). And White Wolf, where 1's can cancel out successes, and it's only when the 1's outnumber the successes you have real problems (although in Exalted I think it's only when there are no successes that 1's matter, andI can't remember for Aberrant). Which means you're more likely to screw up when you're inexperienced than when you're experienced, but you can screw up far more epically later, because that experience comes in the form of more dice to roll. If you're only rolling a couple of dice, you physically can't screw up as badly as you can when you're rolling 10. That feels satisfying, somehow.

Oh, there was one D20 mechanic I came across once I liked! A friend at uni wanted to run a game for some other friends of his who'd never played an RPG before, and asked me to play as well to help them out. It was Space Munchkin, and I played a force sensitive cat person (curiosity meaning I could keep the story moving). One of the force sensitive powers was 'force nudge', which meant after rolling the D20 I could use a single finger to 'nudge' the die so another, adjacent face was topmost.

Mostly, though, I like to roll lots of dice at a time. I giggle as I count them into my hands.

What about you? Let me know below!

#RPGaDay2018: Day 11 - Wildest Character Name

One of the things I love about Exalted is the character names. Bells is very good at these: Cathak Kito "Resplendent Blade Resonating Eternal" and "Quiver of Arrows Tipped with the Sun" (which is actually short for something even longer); I'm less so: Cathak Taji "Dawn's Dancing Butterfly" and Amaryllis "Blazing Shield of the Sun".

It turns out, I'm not particularly one for 'wild' names. I like Kismet as a name: it suited the character (a wild, bipolar young woman who'd grown up in the Dockyard, learning from books with no concept of which were fact and which fiction, and little regard for the lives of others - you can read more about her here).

I think the 'wildest' name has to be my werewolf, Plays in Shadows. A homid, she was born and raised on a hippie commune as "Starlight Moonbeam Acorn Rainbow", which I think shows why she generally went by her Garou name!

Taking part? Share a link to your response below!

#RPGaDay2018: Day 6 - How can players make the world seem real?

This is one where I'm especially looking forward to what other people have to say - it's something I want to be good at, as a player, so I'm hoping to pick up tips.

For me, at the moment, I think it probably boils down to the way you interact with the world. You can accept the quest, slaughter your way through the undead-filled dungeon, retrieve the macguffin, and return to receive your reward. So far, so computer game. Or, you can explore how you know the quest-giver, what you know about them. You can befriend them (and not just because a quest-giver is a useful person to have on your list of contacts). Then in the dungeon, as you slaughter you can investigate why it's so filled with undead (which might lead to more adventure hooks). If appropriate, you can make the macguffin more personal to you, too. So, if you're rescuing someone, talk to them, find out about how they ended up kidnapped, find out where they're from. Return to the quest-giver and don't just receive the reward (or argue with the quest-giver in the hopes of receiving a bigger reward just for the sake of it - that's one character interaction I see often and find boring), but recount tales of your heroism, or otherwise continue the interaction you started before you left.

In our Mage game, Howard and Ragna stole an RV and driving from Los Angeles to Chicago (to get holy water to fight vampires). Howard is LA born and bred, while Ragna is from Norway originally and has only seen LA in the US. Ragna's the better driver, but doesn't have a valid US licence. That didn't seem as important in a stolen RV, so they were driving in shifts. It was late evening, early night, and Howard's shift was ending. He pulled over on the side of the road at a safe spot, to stop for the night. It was eerie - tall pines grey in the gloaming, darkening fast as heavy clouds came over. The headlights picked up silver threads of rain.

A sudden thud against the RV woke Ragna with a start - she looked round to see Howard even more startled. Even his cat, Marcel, seemed disconcerted. Another rattling thud shook the truck. The storm didn't bother her, but Howard's fear spread through Ragna: she'd never seen him show any signs of it before. His face was white with it now and she wondered what he'd seen. She peered through the windows, but couldn't make anything out in the blackness beyond the pelting rain.

The next rattling was accompanied by an unearthly howling, which snapped Howard into action: he leapt back into the driver's seat and Ragna buckled in beside him, trying to calm her companion as she brought up a google maps route to the nearest official truck stop. Once there, he stepped outside and smoked an entire packet of cigarettes.

It was just a storm, but Howard had no idea what a storm was like outside a city. Ragna knew very well, but was infected by his fear. Our GM afterwards said he'd half-intended to have us attacked by werewolves, but the way we engaged with and expressed the experience meant he changed his mind.

So that's my advice: get curious about the world. React to it. Use the scenery. Make friends with the NPC's. Believe in it.

If you're taking part this year, I'd love it if you'd include a link to your reponse in the comments below. Look forward to hearing from you! 

#RPGaDay2018: Day 5 - Favourite Recurring NPC

As yesterday, I've thought back over the various NPC's who've recurred in the games I've loved. I kinda wanted to pick a villain. Irrevetti, is the one who stands out because I hate him, and I'm loving it! He mostly recurs through being mentioned rather than us interacting with him, though, and I want to pick someone we spend in-game time with.

Irrevetti is a major villain in our Pathfinder game. The GM, Rich, created a bunch of NPC's and gave life to others from the book - to the point I'm not always sure which are which. From there, he expanded it to give Bells and I a full superteam of NPC's, as well as family, friends, mentors and rivals in Aberrant. I was really tempted to pick either Holly or Alastair from that game, for the maternal relationship Chrissie has with them both (most complicated with Alastair), but in my opinion it was Exalted where all the effort he's put into NPC building and development really came together. Again, some of them are named in the setting and many more are his creations - including some (Lawrence) who were created on the fly in response to things we chose to do (hire a child to help us not fall foul of curious and changing laws in a new city).

Meredith is wonderful. A First Age Solar living in seclusion, a Twilight, a formidable sorceror and crafter, she's scatty, she swears a lot, and my character idolises her more than a little. 'Gruncle' Cathak Chow, who raised the twins, last seen when he saved their lives in a part of the story not yet told. Captain Ling, another character who was created on the cuff and we liked so much (because she kept the young twins safe) she was used as a reason to get us to go somewhere dangerous...

But I'm going to pick the Undying Fury of Creation. If you've followed the story, you'll have met him very briefly in the 'non-canon' section. He's another being from the First Age, and carries his emotional baggage far more clearly than Meredith. A powerful Lunar, his bond with his Solar mate was such that her death tore him apart and he's never quite recovered. As mortals, Taji and Kito caused him great harm, such that Taji feels she owes him her death - that her death can come at no hands but his (though she still puts herself in thoughtless, reckless danger). As Exalts, he's saved her life on more than one occasion. Their relationship is complicated, emotionally intense, and very rewarding.

If you're taking part in the challenge, don't forget to leave a link to your response in the comments :)

Exalted - Hunting Beastmen pt 2

This is the story of our Exalted game, told from the point of view of my character, Cathak Taji. Click here for the index.

~~~

The next evening, Raging Tiger sent us after a party of beastmen to see what we could do - he'd be nearby in case we got into trouble. There were about 20 of them with a wolf-like appearance, settling at a campfire, cooking meat and squabbling over scraps. Something about them seemed to disappoint Raging Tiger.

Kito and I quickly planned our attack. I don't think either Rey or Tiger expected us to open with a flurry of Obsidian Butterflies through their tents, and a Blazing Raptor straight into their campfire. The beastmen certainly didn't, but none tried to flee and Kito stepped in front of me to take the blows as they charged.

The fight was fierce and bloody; we were victorious, but Kito was severely hurt. Raging Tiger carried him away with Rey in support, telling me it wouldn't be safe to follow. Unnerved but trusting them, I explored the camp, finding a few furs but no clues as to where the beastmen had come from or where they were heading. When the others returned, Kito was healed. Completely healed, no scars remained anywhere, not even the ones he'd picked up as a child. Weirder, his hair and skin had gone white, his eyes blue, paler than anyone from the North.

We continued on, a strange group. Time started to blur. We'd run into the occasional small band of beastmen, all easily dealt with.

After 2, maybe 3 weeks, Kito got Raging Tiger to tell us a bit more about the Children of Luna and the rules the existance of the beastmen breach. Luna doesn't have a strict code, but chooses those who've survived hardship, telling them they're chosen and now her warrior, and there's a duty of stewardship over the land that comes with this. It was this stewardship our quarry had breached: they were lording it over their creations and using them to encroach Raging Ti2ger's territory. We worried again about the military camp where we were based, but he reassured us he didn't mind as long as we didn't overhunt the area. He valued self-sufficiency and wouldn't be a hero, not wanting the people he'd helped to fall back into the same danger once he'd moved on. The way he said it, it sounded like there was a story there, but when we asked more, he gave us the same line we'd heard many time from the Emissary so many times: "another time, perhaps". He repeated that when we tried to ask about how he got chosen by Luna, then told us to sleep. We'd reached the mountains we'd need to climb to reach to the valley where we'd find the other Lunar.

It was a hard climb, steep with few handholds. The first rest point was about 100m up; just as I was pulling myself onto the ledge, there was a terrible rumbling, clamourous clanging from below me. Ray and Raging Tiger were already on the ledge: my eyes widened to realise it was Kito who'd fallen, and I screamed the kind of scream that froze my entire body. Raging Tiger swooped into a giant bird to carry him to us: we couldn't get into his armour, which meant we couldn't see how hurt he was, but at least meant he was alive. Tiger strapped him to his back as we continued; he was just about conscious by the time we made camp, and halfway through the next night's travel he was fine.

And eventually we looked out over the valley. It was beautiful, utterly idyllic, and without Tiger we'd never have found it. A small town of old buildings surrounded a stepped pyramid being reclaimed by the local vegetation, more akin to a jungle than a tundra. There was no snow, either, and the climate was warm and humid. We guessed the place to be at least 2,000 years old: it was clearly First Age, so possibly even older. Armed beastmen and unarmed people walked the streets. Tiger explained the pyramid at the heart was likely a powerful manse, judging by the effect. At Kito's question, he said it was likely the hearthstone was with the rogue Lunar, assuming there was a stone. At our surprised expressions, he explained not all manses have stones; some are built to a specific purpose instead.

We observed the town for a while. The normal people seemed to act as a serving class. Of the 60 or so beastmen, not all were combatants. One stood out from the rest, a pure bipedal snow leopard, of which the others were cruder, more human-looking simulcrams. This individual was smaller and compact than Raging Tiger's first appearance and carried a longsword. Concern passed over the face of our new friend: this wasn't our quarry, who's Aspect was Raven, but one of their followers. He was confident he could take on Raven, but not so sure about Leopard. As nervous as this made him, it worried us more. He suggested we - Rey, Kito and I - shoot at the beastmen and keep them occupied while he fought the Lunar. Shoot and move on, he reiterated. Kito and I cast Invulnerable Skin of Bronze, and we were ready.

The Leopard leapt to intercept Tiger as he walked brazenly into the town, yanking a di-klave from its arm. Slightly more than half the beastmen followed into the fight, so Rey joined Tiger while Kito and I ranged the jungle the other side of the river, shooting into the remainder until we had their attention. I stayed in the trees, shooting and moving to make it harder for them to pinpoint me, but one small group reached Kito and he had to switch to his blades - Rey joined him as more hurtled toward the melee. 

I saw 4 of the beastmen creeping into a hut and thought they were hiding from the fight until I saw them leave again with a cart-sized ballista! I took aim as they set it up, but they fired before I loosed. A ball of glowing blue energy expanded... exploded... killed them all! I swung my bow, seeking a new target.

Shoot and move. Shoot and move.

A group made a break for the temple, the pyramid. I killed one, but the other 5 ran inside. I looked around: only 3 remained. One threw a javelin at Kito - I shot it, and hid again. A glance showed me it was still standing, so I fired again as I wormed my way into a spot with vantage on the temple. This shot went through his side and embedded on a wall beyond, dripping heart's blood as he slumped to the floor. As I turned my attention back to the temple, I saw Kito running across the rooftops and fall into a building - before I could leave my hiding place, he'd recovered and continued on his path. I continued to mark the temple doors. 

Raging Tiger continued a blur against the Leopard while the last beastmen fell to Kito's swirling blades. It was then we noticed the humans milling around, armed with scythes, pitchforks and other utensils. Only one held a shortsword, and awkwardly at that. Kito investigated the ballista while Ray defeated the farmers. I kept my bow trained on the temple doors, waiting for the beastmen to come out with whatever threat they had in mind, but the corner of my eye saw the other, the Leopard, heading towards it, and Tiger's aura flaring as he spent Essence in response: a silver light building until it exploded out in a blinding flash, revealing a join-the-dots tiger roaring behind. The Leopard's blade span away as she fell in half.

The temple doors swung open. I saw fleeting black movement within and feathers falling out, and Tiger was there.