Month / August 2023

by guyeatsfood

Into the Wasps Nest – a 13th Age Glorantha One-Shot

I’ve just got back from The Kraken, the best 5 days in gaming, in Germany. I ran two 13th Age Glorantha games, and this is one I didn’t run but took along with me. I ran it first five years ago at the Furnace convention, and it’s a great way to use one of 13th Age’s ‘signature monsters,’ the Goblin Bat Cavalry, in a Glorantha game. So here it is!

It’s balanced for 5 2nd level adventurers; Patrons have access to a set of pregens for this, which makes it truly ‘ready-to-run’.

Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

Into the Wasps’ Nest

A 13th Age in Glorantha Adventure for 5 2nd-level PCs

first played at Furnace 2018

Introduction

Deep into the siege of Whitewall, your Sartarite comrades hold strong against the coming hordes outside. But rumours of the Crimson Bat awakening mean they are in dire need of air support, and so the heroes are dispatched to find out what happened to the Wasp Riders, pygmy riders of giant wasps. The last person to deal with them, you realise, is the hero Crontas – but he was last seen heading towards Troll Woods to broker a peace with the trolls there. Can you rescue Crontas and escort him to negotiate with the Wasp Riders?

Dramatis Personae

Orana is the current leader of the Sartarites in Whitewall. A tall, stout woman, she smokes a pipe filled with pungent tobacco and, while determined to never surrender to the Lunars, is a pragmatist – which is why she favours sending the heroes to negotiate instead of her soldiers

Crontas is a ‘legendary’ duck hero. He talks a bit like Peter Falk in Columbo, and is incredibly cowardly until he is persuaded or flattered into action. He’s a lovable goof, but a little older and calmer (if not wiser) than he has been in other adventures.

Gruk is the leader of a band of Kitori trolls in the Troll Woods. He has adopted Crontas as a jester, and doesn’t want him to leave.

Essa and Iva are the rightful leaders of the wasp riders. They are currently under the sway of their older, and angrier, brother Yani. They are friendly with Crontas, but have been captured by their brother

Yani is an exceptionally short, even for a pygmy, wasp rider who was insulted by Crontas when he last visited Wasp Nest. He has taken over leadership of the tribe and wants nothing to do with the Sartarites.

Scene One – In Whitewall, The Heroes

Whitewall is a near-impregnable fortress that is currently surrounded by a half-hearted Lunar army legion. The Lunars are just about able to maintain the siege, but it is certain that Whitewall has enough defences and supplies to hold out for years if needed. Orana summons the heroes to her war chambers, filled with tobacco smoke, and explains the circumstances. 

She needs to be able to call on the wasp riders for aerial support, and they are currently refusing and contact. The last ‘diplomat’ she sent was most recently sent into Troll Woods, so she wants them to make contact with him, persuade him to accompany them to Wasp Nest, and negotiate with the wasp riders.

She begins by asking the heroes of their previous heroics – each player should recount a tale of their band, in which they made a heroic act, finishing off each others tales. With this, they are sent on their way.

Scene Two – Lunar breakout

If needed, and if time allows, the heroes encounter Lunar resistance as they exit Whitewall through the tunnels. At 2nd level, this is six Dara Happan Legionaires and a Dara Happan Veteran (p310-311 of the 13G book)

Scene Three – Into Troll Woods

The heroes must now venture into the Troll Woods. These woods are full of Kitori trolls, humans that transform into trolls. Ask for a relevant DC 15 background check – success means they are able to creep up on Crontas, failure means they are ambushed and taken by the trolls to their leader, Gruk.

At Gruk’s cave, they see Crontas – an energetic Duck armed with a wooden broadsword – demonstrating his heroics to a group of onlooking Trolls, who chortle and applaud every time they hear a good bit. A DC 15 background check will reveal that they are much more laughing at him than with him.

Crontas is keen that his roll as ambassador to the Kitori trolls is vital – he is educating him in the ways of the world, just like Lhankor Mhy would. He even shows them a ridiculous beard he has fashioned for himself. He must be persuaded to accompany them – the trolls are much more fun than the serious wasp riders – even though he has been there before and will speak of Essa and Iva, and his great friend Yan, from his time with them.

It’s possible that they will have to break Crontas out if they manage to offend the trolls; if that’s the case, here’s a troll squad ready to fight. It’s 3 dark troll warriors and a troll spirit priestess (13G p295-296). These could also be an encounter on the way out of the forest, if time allows or the players look like they need it.

Scene Four – The Approach to Wasps Nest

Crontas tells them that a frontal approach to Wasp Nest is suicide – the wasp riders defend their borders forcefully, and he isn’t sure that they’ll recognise him even though the are of course great friends. He instead suggests skirting round the foothills near Dragonrise; there have been increased chaos incursions there, which mean both the Kitori and the Wasp Riders are probably steering clear.

Run this scene as a montage as in the GM’s kit. They start in the midst of thick forest with warring troll tribes all around them; they will hit the foothills soon. Any and all chaos beasts – even dragonewts – are fair game, but there will be no skill checks made.

Scene Five – Ziggurat of the Wasp Riders

As the players approach Wasp Nest, they are greeted and warned by a pygmy who approaches them – she is Essa, living out in exile. She tells them that Yan has taken control of the throne and has forbidden the wasp riders from having any contact with humans – or especially Ducks. Crontas is confident that him and Yan were great friends, but he does admit that he was sometimes the butt of his jokes. Essa pleads with them to defeat Yan and free her sister Iva, who is being held captive after she stood up to him.

They can confront Yan at the throne room. As they challenge him, Wasps Swarm around and they must face his elite guard.

The fight is with 5 wasp-riders and 1 wasp rider shaman – this could be a tough battle, so be prepared to adjust on the fly if needed. Wasp-rider stats are from the 13th Age Bestiary – p235-6 have the monster list with references for them.

Scene Six – Return to Whitewall

With Essa and Iva restored as the leaders of Wasp Nest, they are happy to lend their aid to Whitewall – the heroes can return atop the giant wasps as they see another huge red bat appear in the distance!

by guyeatsfood

The 2023 Burnies – ENnies Awards Round-Up

The ENnies have come and gone, with much discussion and reaction to them. Overall, while awards things like this are a matter of fashions, taste, and similar subjective feelings, they’re better than nothing – and I’m sure the impact of them is felt by the winners and nominees. And this year, I think they’re a really great overview of the breadth and variety in the hobby – winners and nominees from a range of play styles, approaches, and sizes.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

So, here’s what I think of some of the winners. I’ve restricted myself, as usual, to products I’ve actually used at the table in play, and stuck to winners fo brevity – so here goes:

Journeys Through The Radiant Citadel absolutely deserves it’s Silver Best Adventure – it’s probably the best product I’ve seen for 5e D&D, a selection of adventures with a lightly-sketched setting attached to each one, easily one-shotted, easily adaptable, clever structures but still approachable to run. Each adventure is set on a mini-setting inspired by diverse real-world cultures, and this really showcases how different D&D can be.

Many of the settings make me want to run whole sequences of games in them. All excellent, here’s hoping for more of this, either from Wizards or third parties. I’ve run two of the adventures as one-shots at conventions and they play really well.

It won’t surprise you that I’m a big fan of Brindlewood Bay – I’ve run a few one-shots, reviewed it here and blogged about adapting to a one-shot format here. The Brindlewood mystery system is one of the most innovative developments I’ve seen in the last few years, and it’s set to change a lot of approaches to mysteries in a way that’s really to my tastes.

Similarly, Trophy is well deserving of it’s best game silver – it’s actually two games, and the narrative steps it takes (adding a smattering of extra rules to Cthulhu Dark to make it more of a ‘game’) lead to reliable play at the table. I’ve run a two-session Trophy Gold game and a few one-shots of Trophy Dark. Also, more games, like Trophy Dark, designed for one-shot play with options for ongoing, please. They’re excellent.

Avatar: Legends is an interesting one. I ran a campaign of this, blogged about it here, and while it was fun, I’m not sure if we really clicked with the rules. Or, more specifically, the combat rules. The rest of the game was excellent, values-led PBTA, and each character’s balance track really worked to bring the drama. But the combat system felt a bit too fiddly for what it provided. We might have missed something, and I’d definitely try it again with a few tweaks to my approach, but I felt like I might have missed it – any ideas gratefully received!

I’ve played a few sessions of Wildsea, and the writing is indeed great. It’s a setting that deserves lots of attention, being really interesting and definitely original (I played a beverage specialist, essential on any tree-sailing ship). 

But for me the real winner, and one of the games I’m most excited about overall, is Fabula Ultima. Fantastic that this has won Gold for Best Game, from a relatively small production company who’ve taken a genre and produced an excellent resource. The rules (adapted from Ryuutama) emulate JRPGs like Final Fantasy really well, and play fast and fun. It’s also got the single best quickstart I’ve ever seen, with scenes gradually unlocking bits of the character sheet as it teaches the rules – great work and a model for how to run new games at conventions, too.

So, the ENnies – lots to love in these games, and a really healthy sign for the hobby that we’re so diverse and varied. And while obviously Seth Skorkowsky isn’t a podcast, and Swords of the Serpentine isn’t a supplement, they’re both really good, so who cares? Owlbear plushies all round!

by guyeatsfood

“I hit it with my axe” – fostering better player narration in TTRPGs

Player narration lies at the heart of top-class game sessions. As the Bakers say in Apocalypse World, roleplaying is a conversation, and when only one side (or neither side) are contributing much, it can feel flat. Even in the most trad game, when players describe their characters actions, it lands better if they add some flavour to it. Compare:

  • I pick the lock to the door with the demon face #rollsd20
  • We see Cherbol pressed against the door, his face to the carved demon, as he carefully rotates the picks in his hands, elf-ears pricked up to hear the click #rollsd20

Deeper player narration, or even action description, leads to a more engaging and exciting table. So what techniques can we use to foster it?

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

Start Simple

I’m going to try for some definitions here. I’ve written previously about giving players more narrative weight in games, and some of these techniques foster a different kind of player narration.

Action Narration is where a player describes what they’re doing – it can be as simple as the first example above, or developed further. 

  • I step towards the door and, mindful of the demon face, slip my greased lockpicks into the lock and begin to turn.

Scene Narration is where the player sets the scene as well. The second example above is a possibly over-flowery example of this.

Some players, tables, and GMs don’t like scene narration from players. That’s fine, to a point; although if you’re playing a game like Feng Shui or FATE some scene narration is embedded in the game mechanics so I’d strongly advise you to use it – but some people prefer a harder distinction between player and GM. Occasionally people talk about “Immersion” and say that scene narration is ruining gaming, and they take issue with other people using it – these people are idiots, so back away slowly and ignore them.

If your table doesn’t want to push towards scene narration, start them out with action narration – and use some of the techniques below to encourage it. If they’re brand new, and/or you’re happy with it, go straight for scene narration – even completely new players will often find it just as easy to work with

Techniques to Use

There’s no one fix for this, but there are a few you can try to encourage this. I’m not at all a fan of 

Ask For It – any time a player wants to half-ass some action description, you can always ask for a bit more from them. I use this particularly if they’ve given almost no description at all, or if they’ve stated a game action instead of fiction

  • Can I roll Acrobatics?
  • Of course you can! What are you doing when you roll it?

Ask for a Bit More – particularly in open-skill challenges or extended tasks, asking for more flavour is also allowed – particularly if there’s a stretch to it

  • I’ll try and find a cure for the virus
  • Great, it’s probaly Reason+Science – can you give me a bit of flavour about what we see your PC doing?

Describe Locations Loosely – make the setting of scenes you describe flexible and open to player input. This includes using theatre of the mind whenever you can – there are some GMs online who’ll put out gridded maps all the time, even for non-combat encounters, and it’s really hard to not take the details on those maps as immutable fact (hey, there’s three barrels to the north- what’s in them?)

  • You’re in the back of the warehouse. You can see the goons are about to unload. There’s teetering piles of boxes, shelves, an idle forklift truck, and a workbench with some tools on it. You look like you’ve got the drop on them – what do want to do?

Give Permissions Generously – if a players asks if they can do something, with any sort of narrative justification, default to YES unless you think it’ll grate with the rest of the table. Want to use Command to inspire the science team to help defeat the virus? Of course you can. Want to Force open the door instead of picking it? Yeah, that works – a skill roll’s a skill roll. 

If you’re worried this will lead to players using their best skills all the time, the fix for that is that unusual approaches usually only work once – and sometimes I’ll even (with players with particular penchants for stretching) say they can only do it once per session. I also have some hard limits on what can be done. When I’m running Star Trek Adventures, you can pretty much use whatever on an Extended Task if you can narrate it in – but when you fire a phaser in combat, it’ll always be Control+Security.

What To Avoid

There’s some other approaches I’ve found less successful, and in particular one very common one. Don’t give bonuses for extra description or exciting narration. Your mileage may vary, but my experience is that player rewards for “good roleplay/narration” just reinforce a GM-in-charge attitude that undermines the other approaches. It’s not a good-roleplaying doggy biscuit. Cool player narration should be the standard, not some unusual extra effort they’ve made so they get an extra dice.

An exception to the above is where games come with some sort of ‘fan mail’ mechanic where the whole table has a resource they can use to reward – this can really work, and gets everyone engaged in the process.

Similarly, where possible default to the same difficulty and approach as if they’d made the roll normally. If they want to get past the guards by causing a distraction by spooking the horses with Animal Friendship, cool – it’s the same difficulty as the Stealth check they’d make to sneak past, or the Deception check to lie to them. You’ve got to apply a reasonableness test at times, of course, but if you’re defaulting to yes and being generous, your players will realise this is only a one-off ruling and it won’t put them off being more inventive in future.

So, some ideas for encouraging player narration. What do you do at your table? Let me know any that I’ve missed.