Finally doing my first game...

[Mitchi]

I got the CoE book a few months back when I found it by chance in a half price books store, and I knew i had to add it to my collection. Now, half a year later, I finally found the drive to run a game for my friends, and it's the first they've seen of this system (other than hearing me fawn over the book).

So here's my little problem. I'm infamous for my love of blind games (ya know, the players know nothing about the game and through the course of it they learn about the game), but i've only partially planned out what to do.

A few ideas I have for it are:
- it's an infinite time loop scenario like in Ephemeral Fantasia or Majora's mask.
- They're all humans normal humans, but as the game goes on, they awaken and learn more about the world, the supernatural, and their true heritage *cough*.

I pretty much need to run through almost all of the book, to get them to learn as much of the backstory as possible (a welcome break from the V:tm games my friend always runs).

My main problems to tackle:
- How do I get them to follow a strange little girl and convince them something's wrong?
- With a story as hackneyed as I'm probably gonna run them through, how can I make it memorable, so they don't dislike the game because of one lousy GM?

Any ideas anyone?

*ps, I don't wanna reveal too much of my plans, as one of them might be reading. Sneaky little runts >_>

I'll post more about my adventures in GMing this game as we go through.

[Elune]

Our GM (see posts by "The Painter" elsewhere on the forum) had our characters all belong to a close knit group of families, Silana, Asa and Lirie, thus they look upon one another as family (that was to stop Scarlet from always picking on my character, which she does ALL the time).

Since only he had a copy of the rules at that time, the system and background was unknown and fresh to us, which was part of the appeal.

This post reveals the basics of what he did to cover the players lack of knowledge about the game system and the world their characters come from:
http://www.brokendollstudios.com/forum/showthread.php?p=717#post717

Basically our characters knew very little of their true backgrounds or heritage, and because the players knew almost nothing (other than what was revealed during character generation), the game is a learning experience for both the characters and the players.

If you know your players well, then you will know what style of game each of them likes - seduce them with plots and features which appeal to each of them - give all of them a chance to shine and come to the fore, and use their unique skills.

[KaiyureGirl]

I tried some possibilities ( etc.) but with no success.
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[Mitchi]

All of them have very different play styles and different likes and dislikes when it comes to games (for example, one guy makes awesome unique characters that generally degrade into being the same person, one HATES vampires with a passion and won't even look at World of darkness games because of it, one is so used to being the Gm that he has to know everything (read the book when I asked him not to...he ALWAYS does that)).

They're all used to D&D (3.5) and V:tM

I always have trouble getting my players to start the game properly because they ALWAYS tend to follow the first NPC they meet (hence why I lay traps for them to encourage proper RP).

hmm...how many days should the time loop be?

First session is tonight! *squeal* I'm excited :D

[ThePainter]

Hi Mitchi

Sorry that I have not replied to your post before this ... I was busy; but that's no excuse!

I will not give you my reply to your questions here, but I've sent you a private message that can be received when you logon at the main entrance page to the forum; or so I've been told. If you don't get it let me know. Actually, personally I rarely logon at the main entrance page and so if anyone actually sends me a private message I only see them at odd intervals, ho hum! If you send me a private message in reply please mention it in a general post too!

The unknown aspect of the game system was definitely one of the many things that drew me and our group to the CoE game background. As you and your group, we too had played in the WoD background (the players started as FBI Agents looking into strange occurrences) but that background became just a bit too familiar. That, and an enforced break from role-playing, meant that we moved on to CoE, and it's proven very successful so far! The mystery and unknown certainly add something to a game!

A looping scenario is certainly an interesting idea that could work very well. You'll have to let us know how it works in game play. And yes, those pesky players are definitely sneaky enough to read the GM's posts, damn them!

PS: As with you, my fawning over the game book/background is part of the reason that my group chose this game to play :)

PPS: I know that my reply may be a bit late now seeing as you say that your first session is tonight ... sorry!

[Mitchi]

@ ThePainter

Thanks for the advice dude :3

We were supposed to start tonight, but due to circumstances, we were only able to do character creation and a small bit of a prelude (which led to my usual Storyteller complaining about how the system doesn't work as well as vampire (lol, just because he failed his roll XD). I also had the problem of quite a few of them trying to make nearly all their Primal stats a 4. The CP point system seems a little broken if you don't limit power playing characters. I actually had to restrict them from making more then 3 primals a 4. -_-

So far, here's what I got to work with:

- An Itallian Demolitions man. Yay, Bomberman and Mario had a kid! wait...what?!
- A psychologically unstable engineering student.
- A German surgeon. I told him he has to make his character a homosexual since he made the joke that he's Crashman (http://youtube.com/watch?v=LdzjVnH9YoY) (lol). Also, the only "female" in the group is his brother.
- An Interpol detective, well, a newbie anyways.
- A brawler chick. O-o
- My NPC, an Asa girl who looks like Alice (in wonderland) and speaks in nursery rhymes (not always, it's her way of calling out to those who are supernaturally inclined).

Lucky for me, I know the motivations and draws of most of the characters (interpol guy is all about Justice, German doctor dude is...well...a doctor. Hippocratic oath and all that. Plus, he's superstitious about the number 12 being horrible and is OCD).

[ThePainter]

Lucky for me, I know the motivations and draws of most of the characters (interpol guy is all about Justice, German doctor dude is...well...a doctor. Hippocratic oath and all that. Plus, he's superstitious about the number 12 being horrible and is OCD).

Don't mention it Mitchi, although I suspect that all, or at least most of it was far too general to be of much use.

It's a pity that you didn't get any further with the game, but then again, it is further than my group managed in the same circumstances :)

I actually had to restrict them Let's just say that I understand your problem! Not that I'm naming names :)

Characters ... hmmm! You certainly have an interesting selection of characters; certainly more varied than mine, but then again I did restrict!

The Asa NPC sounds as if she could be interesting, although speaking in nursery rhymes ... argggggh! My head hurts just thinking about it!

As for motivations, well, knowing your player motivations is definitely useful. Hippocratic oath and all Hehe! That could be a problem ... mind you I once played a pacifist medic in Twilight 2000 :)

Keep us updated as things progress!

PS: Damn those bots!

PPS: If I've missed replying to anyone's posts, my apologies; the bots are to blame ... and not my laziness for once :)

[Mitchi]

Oh, I'm really careful about the over use of cliches like using nursery rhymes and stuff.

And since all of my member have given their word not to read the forum until we get a little further along, I want to ask your opinion on something.

This is the super cliched thing I was talking about with the heritage:

All of thecharacters are souls of fallen wariors, but they've been hidden in the new world, amongst men, in order to keep them away from forces that want to destroy them, at least, until the time is right. But the great war has excalated, and Ilana, an Asa in the meta stage of life, the heir to a family who takes care of the shrine dedicated to Shea, must retrieve these warriors, and awaken their slumbering souls.

Basically, later in the game, they unlock dfferent supernatural aspects (that I choose for them based on the character's development) and transform into their true selves (Which also depends on the character...say for example, the bomber or the Engineering student (or maybe both) are actually Oraki warriors, and the brawler is a Silana, or something like that). I know it's kinda hackneyed and overdone, but...I kinda like it.

I also took my love of relic making for Vampire the Masquerade and made a special set of weapons called the "blood, sweat and tears" set, Individually they are called "Khintana's Sorrow (tears)," "Marius' Pain (blood)," and "Liea's Labor (sweat lol)". The tear is a Dirk, but I haven't thought of what the others should be or should do. The Tear has a tear shaped crystal which is said to actually be a tear of Khintana, and the set was forged by a humble Blacksmith's apprentice, and were blessed as to become very powerful items. Alone, they are very strong, but together, they can alter the course of history. Unfortunately, they were sold by the Blacksmith to a wealthy Oraki salesman, and have travelled between owners, none of which knew the real power of these weapons. Many just thought they looked nice,and none knew the legend. The tale was passed down through the Apprentice's family, and recently, they were seperated from each other. How the Asana tribe that Ilana came from got the Tear, no one knows, but she wields it as her primary weapon. And no, she doesn't know it's true origin either. All she knows is that its called "The Tear."

I decided to make the time loop 3 days, with the Ephemeral Fantasia thing of once you recruit someone, they know what's going on.

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[Mitchi]

Oh man, one of my players is just killing me!

Okay, here's the update on one guy's prelude. He's playing a justice loving Interpol agent, and he's been going through a bit of Deja Vu trying to track down an Oklahoma militia group. Time keeps looping for him, and after 4 loops of three days (including him going home to the UK and then waking up in Texas again), he realizes something is up. First, streetlight start changing colors, then leads go cold after 3 days. And what about this little girl in the blue dress, the one with the bunny? And his weird dreams? And him always waking up at 4:09 in the morning?

Unfortunately, the character is so logic oriented, he can't see that something weird is going on (yay, a 1 affinity!) and that time is collapsing on itself. What's going on in this city?

Btw, you guys think a Silana is a good idea for this guy? He's definitely not an Asa or a mousie.

[Elune]

have you seen the tv show "daybreak" ? this was an ok example of time looping.
(and the guy got to wake up next to the lovely Moon Bloodgood every morning too).


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0801425/

Silana or Lirie should work for the guy.

[ThePainter]

This is the super cliched thing I was talking about with the heritage:

All of thecharacters are souls of fallen wariors, but they've been hidden in the new world...

Hmmm! Heritage isn't really a part of our game, or at least not in quite the same way, but the way that you seem to be treating it works well enough for me! Alright, it may have been done before and so could be regarded as clichéd, however, clichés become clichés for very good reasons ... they work!

One aspect that I think you need to give serious consideration to is exactly why was there is a need to hide the souls in the 'new world'? Alright, it may just be because the dark is extremely vindictive and desires to destroy old enemies, but I suspect that there is a lot more going on here than that! In other words, why does the Dark still fear them; what are they going to do that the Dark wants to prevent? Are they gong to prevent an apocalypse? You get the idea?

I'm sure that you've already given that point quite a bit of thought (i.e. the great war has escalated!), but be very careful with this, it's very difficult to get right! I've got something similar going on in my game (a supposedly potential apocalypse), but I don't think that I've quite managed to pull it off and my players aren't really sold on the idea. I don't think that my players actually want to think on that grand a scale and see a potential apocalypse as too overwhelming for them! Actually, all I'm really trying to say here is, don't just assume that your players will be interested in this (or any!) particular storyline; you have to lure them into it by generating interest in their characters ... how you do that is another matter :) Better yet, try to make it the player's own idea to follow your storyline!

As for the concept that the characters will, later in the game, have their particular supernatural aspects unlocked dependant on their style of play and characterisation, well that works for me. The only thing I'd mention is to beware of the possibility of disappointing your players! Unhappy players... :( Personally I've found that players and GM's (and the other players) often have totally different ideas as to what the characters are actually like. For instance, I used to have one player who always designed rough, tough, heroic, he men (and stat-wise they were!), however, the reality was that they were always played as wimps! In other words, it might be an idea to discuss the 'awakening' with your players to so as to ensure that they get what they want. On the other hand you can't pander to them either!

Relics! Not much to say on this except you need to assign ownership to actual players at some point ... who doesn't get one?

The other classic weapons would be a bow and a sword.

The bow would probably (possibly) belong to a Silana character due to their nature affinity and mythical precedent! Perhaps something built out of 'living wood' and/or from the 'world tree' (I used Yggdrasil from the Norse myths). Potential powers: to unerringly find its target, massively increased range, inflict x plus lots of damage to agents of the Dark, etc.

The sword would probably (possibly) belong to a Lirie-Kana possibly reflecting their grit and determination. Perhaps something made out of Allynite (see page 282) or even Farynite (see page 282) although this latter may be too powerful (I'm sure that I read that Khintanna has one of the few in existence)! Note that a sword composed of Farynite cuts through ALL other metals! Possible powers: Adds to wielders strength and hence damage, unerringly hits creature of the Dark but will not injure those pure of heart, ignores armour, cuts through the fabric of reality opening gates to Zaira, etc.

The dagger would probably (possibly) belong to an Asa (or an Oraki) possibly reflecting their love for close in combat.

Don't forget to:
1] consider the racial weapons of the Silana, Asana-Lea and Oraki as possibilities too
2] consider detrimental factors to the weapons too (i.e. cursed, automatically noticed by demons, etc.)

PS: The back-story on the weapons creations is quite nice. I particularly liked the humble Blacksmith's apprentice bit, it seemed apt!

PPS: Sorry the comments and powers are so generic ... not feeling in a particularly imaginative mood at the moment.


Btw, you guys think a Silana is a good idea for this guy? He's definitely not an Asa or a mousie.

Yes, definitely not an Oraki or an Asa, and quite possibly therefore a Silana; although he still could be a Lirie-Kana! That said, as you describe him, he comes across as very bloody-minded and that (to me) makes him more Silana than Lirie-Kana ... but that's just my opinion. By the way, you have my sympathy; imagine a player being so bloody-minded that they cannot see what is directly in front of them! I've no idea what that is like :)

[Mitchi]

Thanks for the input.

As for whether or not they'll like the story...these are guys who are constantly wanting to do an epic game for D&D, but they never have a DM who can pull it off. I'm pretty much the only one, save my V:tM storyteller, who has the imagination and drive to actually pull off an epic level game.

As far as the whole souls hidden away thing...hehe, to be honest, I'm still thinking that bit up. They could have been very powerful, but at the same time, they might have just been ordinary foot soldiers who had great potential. Basically the whole thing of if they were given the chance, they could bring down an entire empire. I usually come up with something before too long, but as of right now, i'm admittedly not completely done with my story. Plus, I've only done one prelude, so I still have another week to work out a lot of the stuff.

The only thing I have figured out is that it's an Ephemeral Fantasia type story where at the end of the loop, the world kinda ends, but as the characters begin to realize what's going on, they see tiny changes in their environment, like everyday objects being a slightly different color.

I was able to finish the prelude of a different player, in hopes that I'll be able to get the other characters to convince the detective. I'll post more about his prelude later after I get off of work.

[ThePainter]

As far as the whole souls hidden away thing...hehe, to be honest, I'm still thinking that bit up.

...

they could bring down an entire empire.

...

he world kinda ends ... they see tiny changes in their environment

As far as the whole souls hidden away thing...hehe, to be honest, I'm still thinking that bit up.

Nooooo! I cannot believe that! We GM's never make things up as we go along; we plan everything out in minute detail before the game starts!!! :) Don't we? <players auto ignore>...Alright, just between the two of us, maybe I may have made up some tiny, insignificant little details as I went along … once! … but not any of the important stuff! :) <end players auto ignore>

they could bring down an entire empire

Exactly! It's all 'part and parcel' of the whole CoE background! The basic concept of the 13th Hour is that one seemingly insignificant person/group/event can change the whole course of history/the turning of the Hours! So yes, full agreement, you're heroes can make a difference ... and that's even if they aren't super hard!

the world kinda ends ... they see tiny changes in their environment

It ends, or it turns into something else? Either way, it makes sense to see gradual changes as events occur and as the characters progress through the loop.

Preludes are good, and yes, hopefully, the other characters can ultimately persuade the detective ... however, never underestimate the bloody-mindedness of players. Sometimes they can make their characters all but blind! Not that I've any experience of that sort of thing! No sir, not me, my players are perfect; they're perceptive, intelligent and extremely group orientated ... they never argue. HA!!! :(

PS: I had to look up the game Ephemeral Fantasia :) I don't play computer games ... sorry ... although I did understand the basic premise of the loop!

PPS: Looking forward to updates.

[Scarlet]

[QUOTE=ThePainter;1082]Preludes are good, and yes, hopefully, the other characters can ultimately persuade the detective ... however, never underestimate the bloody-mindedness of players. Sometimes they can make their characters all but blind! Not that I've any experience of that sort of thing! No sir, not me, my players are perfect; they're perceptive, intelligent and extremely group orientated ... they [I]never argue. HA!!! :(

I don't argue with anyone its not my fault that Elune is so bloody minded and has her own agender if she did as she was told and took my advise in certain matters Lunnie wouldn't argue with her.

[Mitchi]

Yay, off of work now, so update time.

All he really cared about was Robotics. Darwin Wolf, an engineering student, loved tinkering with all things mechanical that moved. Sure, he played football, practiced kendo and hung out with friends, but Robotics was his true passion. His life took a turn, however, and he found himself getting feelings of Deja Vu.

It all started one monday afternoon, after his kendo lessons. As he passed a majestic tree that stood in the courtyard, he noticed a tiny girl, maybe 7 years of age, jumping furiously up and down. As he went over to investiate, he found that some mean people had tossed the girl's stuffed rabbit into the tree. Upon helping her get the rabit down, his life suddenly got weirder than it already was. a tune hummed in his mind and all around him. He couldn't get the song out of his head.

That night, he had a dream, a strange dream, of World of Warcraft and flying AK47s that had little glock children with a sniper rifle...and in it was the strangest thing of all: a girl, about 17, singing the song that had been stuck in his head...

Three blind mice.

(I shall return to edit the rest of the prelude into this post, i have to leave though)

[ThePainter]

I don't argue with anyone its not my fault that Elune is so bloody minded and has her own agender if she did as she was told and took my advise in certain matters Lunnie wouldn't argue with her.

I can practically see the halo glowing from here :)

[ThePainter]

Yay, off of work now, so update time.
...
(I shall return to edit the rest of the prelude into this post, i have to leave though)

Very evocative! I particularly liked the flying AK47s that had little glock children with a sniper rifle bit ... very nice ... actually make that very strange :)

a girl, about 17, singing the song that had been stuck in his head The girl in the dream is aged 17, or was that a typo, and she's actually the little girl (aged 7) that he helped earlier? At any rated 'Three blind mice' is an interesting choice of rhyme.

[Mitchi]

Okay, I got sidetracked and never returned to finish my post D:

No, not a typo, she wazs actually a teenaged girl, very attractive too.

but to continue...



He stared at the girl, commenting on her "hot pixelated ass" while wondering what she was doing ere in the Dead Scar. She turned to face him, and she and her musician companion, a mouse that stoof on it's hind legs, and stood about 4 feet tall, were swallowed up by the earth. A few moments later, a sward of mice came up to Darwin and asked him to smoke the peace pipe with them (lol, don't go to bed high?). Suddenly, he was flying and had a caterpillar on his shoulder, a big caterpillar who was smoking a hookah.

But before he knew what was going on, he heard the sounds of an air raid siren. The noice oscilated, coming from all over, until he realized it was his alarm clock.

His flying alarm clock.

Being a robotic engineering student, Darwin wanted something a bit less boring than the standard alarm clock. So he built a special one that buzzed around the room until you caught it.

Later that day, he heard people humming "three blind mice," no matter where he went. It got so stuck in his head that he had to find a techno rave version of the song!

However, as he went to the cafeteria to grab some dinner, he saw a small child in a blue dress, drinking chocolate milk. The same girl as before! He went to her, wanting to chat, until he realized that he was late for class.

A couple of days passed without incident, but come thursday morning, he realized that his past few days never happened! And his homework was gone!

After helping the girl retrieve her bunny a second time, he accepted her explanation, and agreed to help her on her quest for the sake of the one thing most important to him...


He didn't want to have to keep redoing his homework!


My apologies for it being so horridly written, I just wanted to type it all out so you guys could get the gist.

[ThePainter]

He didn't want to have to keep redoing his homework! Yes, that's certainly as good a reason as any that I've ever heard of for going off and help save the world! :) Homework ... shudder!!!

she was actually a teenaged girl, very attractive too Hmmm! Intriguing! I wonder who she is? Mind you, I wonder much the same about the hookah smoking caterpillar too! :) Very nice imagery; in fact very nice imagery throughout the whole prelude!

[Mitchi]

He didn't want to have to keep redoing his homework! Yes, that's certainly as good a reason as any that I've ever heard of for going off and help save the world! :) Homework ... shudder!!!

she was actually a teenaged girl, very attractive too Hmmm! Intriguing! I wonder who she is? Mind you, I wonder much the same about the hookah smoking caterpillar too! :) Very nice imagery; in fact very nice imagery throughout the whole prelude!

Thanks. Detective boy was complaining that Darwin's dreams were much more animated than his, but than again, his character ignored almost everything while the robotics kid went along with the flow. I had great fun doing his prelude.

Whee, game night tonight. Hopefully I can get everyone else's preludes done quickly so we can get the actual game started.

[ThePainter]

Thanks. Detective boy was complaining that Darwin's dreams were much more animated than his, but than again, his character ignored almost everything while the robotics kid went along with the flow. I had great fun doing his prelude.

Whee, game night tonight. Hopefully I can get everyone else's preludes done quickly so we can get the actual game started.

his character ignored almost everything while the robotics kid went along
Isn't that always the case; a prelude, or a sequence of game play takes two (or more), and if the player doesn't bite, then there's little that even the most skilled GM can do! On the other hand, when both player and GM are working together you can both have tremendous fun ... that's what role-playing is all about!

so we can get the actual game started
Good luck! My game's on again tomorrow night. The players have just arrived back in Boulder (after saving a friend from an evil NPC!) and the main game picks up again.

[Scarlet]

Yeah Jay the npc did enjoy the game last night. Wish his charature had back ground like Elune and mine! ha ha

Scarlet:p

[ThePainter]

Yeah Jay the npc did enjoy the game last night. Wish his charature had back ground like Elune and mine! ha ha

Background!?! We NPC's don't need no steenkng background!!! :p

[Scarlet]

H i Michi

How's your game going are your players read kill the little girl yet?

We shocked the Painter last night by going after someone to do with campaign make a change for us instaed of just doing background stuff. Anyway hope the games going ok look forward to reading your updates.


Scarlet

[Mitchi]

H i Michi

How's your game going are your players read kill the little girl yet?

We shocked the Painter last night by going after someone to do with campaign make a change for us instaed of just doing background stuff. Anyway hope the games going ok look forward to reading your updates.


Scarlet

unfortunately, we haven't been doing our game. Most of my group lived together in one apartment, but they all had to move out, and one of my players (the detective) is unable to join at all, so he's booted permanently (mostly because he didn't seem to mind that his character might get kicked out for an in game reason).

I do have another group to do the game if I can't get my previous crew to do any games. This is how real life circumstances can greatly mess up a fantasy world ;-;

[Elune]

Ah that's a shame :(

We usually lost players when they got a 'ball and chain' (girl/boy friend, or married) , or a job.

Even when they are present, SOME of them (particularly npc's) are always on their phones to their girlfriends...causing no end of disruption.

I was in one of our local rpg/comic shops the other day and noticed they now have a proper notice board advertising local gaming groups, some of which started a long time ago, when Ad&d was a baby.

Are there no groups near you?

Some of the best gaming sessions I ever had were with just The Painter GMing, myself playing , so fun can be had with only one player if its done right.

[ThePainter]

I can only second Elune's comment ... sorry to hear about your game. It sounded extremely interesting, and I certainly found the young girl and your imagery to be excellent ... but there you go. Damn that RL!!!

This is how real life circumstances can greatly mess up a fantasy world
Mind you, I always wondered which one was RL and which one was the fantasy world :)

I hope that you manage to start something soon! Role-playing has been a big part of my life for quite some time and I definitely miss gaming when I'm not able to play.

Keep us posted as to what happens with you, and even if you don't manage to get another game going immediately keep in touch/posting!