So everyone ran out really quick after the session, but I wanna give you all kudos for upping your game. I could feel the great motivation to always be moving forward and making progress. Next week, really try to throw your beliefs and goals at it with everything you've got. With every session is a new opportunity to reassess what goals your character wants to pursue, what beliefs can best express their behavior, and what instincts might best serve them and their allies. Will you keep the B/G/I that isn't earning you rewards in the hope that you'll better bring them into the game, or will you change them to things that you can better bring to bear? Try to play them to the point where I don't even have to question you, to the point where I can just say, "yes, well done, fate point for that one" - and if you can't, branch out with your character and see what other aspects of them might be able to shine! Also seek to improve in other areas: traits, wises, help, and coming up with creative Good Ideas that can sometimes even mitigate the need to take a test. Some examples from tonight that could be helpful moving forward: B/G/I (Belief/Goal/Instinct) Opportunities: - The conflict with the bats was a great opportunity for Ander to stand his ground. After all, we can defeat anything! Why flee when you can drive the bats away? With the other two yelling to run, he could have really been dramatic with his belief to sway them. "We are greater than these creatures, we can defeat them with ease! Stand firm, our advantage lies in driving them away, not breaking and running!" This would also have been a great opportunity for Kemba to advocate nonviolence to resolve the conflict. - As everyone was debating, Kemba had an opportunity to voice his opinion: he wants to get to the temple, what might the best way to the temple be? Think this aloud, ask the other players, and advocate for the path you think has the best chance of getting there! Be discerning, try to search for clues to its location! There's more to finding a place than picking a direction and walking. - After Nyx drove off the rats from their warren, it was the perfect opportunity for Ander to dash in and scour the place for loot! Had he done so the treasure would have landed in his pockets, and he would have benefited from his instinct! Choices: - Nyx desperately wished to discover the source of the tinking, but he couldn't possibly agree with Ander in taking the direct route. He put his belief over his goal! (this is a great example of a personal dilemma for a character, and Nate elected to play to his belief and hope that he could achieve his goal another way. Sometimes this pays off; tonight that earned him his belief but not progress toward his goal.) - After driving off the rats and camping to lick his wounds, Nyx had the opportunity to turn and face the bats more prepared and with a level head in order to reach his goal, or linger and loot the chamber of its riches. He put treasure over his goal! Treasure is always a reward in itself, but once again he chose to delay in his goal. Traits: - Nyx did an excellent job of calling on his born of darkness trait to appeal to his dark lords to grant him their boon. This was a perfect example of taking your traits to the next level and using them to truly immerse the group into the world when they're called upon. - I've been less impressed with the way the loner trait has been getting played. Loner doesn't just mean you work well on your own, it means your character seeks out solitude and has qualities that alienate him from others. Instead of saying, "I go off to a corner away from the others to work in solitude," a more colorful and immersive option for building on the trait could have been, "these fools would not understand the dark powers with which I deal, it would corrupt their weak hearts! They cast their judging glances at me as I step away to perform my magics, but their fear and suspicion only fuels my resolve. Power pushes mortals to great heights, and it is lonely at the top, but I chose to walk this path alone long ago." >>A few meaty sentences can really showcase your character to the table, guarantee that the GM will allow its use, earn you embodiment rewards at the end of the session, and in the long term, memorably playing your traits will not only protect them from the party voting them off your character sheet come Winter, but reinforce them and encourage the others to advance them to higher ranks. It's also just way more fun for everyone when traits are played well! - Kemba's use of unwavering was at a borderline where I think a lot of people have been confused about traits, and it's come up in prior sessions especially with the cunning trait. Using a trait against yourself does not mean your character is demonstrating the lack of that trait. Rather, it means your character holds so tightly to that trait that it works against them in some situations. I think Simon had the right idea about what was happening (Kemba's unwavering personality was being challenged by his body), but it's a red flag to say, "so basically my character is being the opposite of their trait." Better ways of expressing such things in that situation might have been, "Kemba is unwavering, but his body is failing him. He tries to stand against the onslaught of the bats, but his exhausted body simply doesn't put up the kind of resistance Kemba has grown to rely on." (I recall you describing it similarly last session, Simon, but I understand you can't always find the right words in English. That's perfectly alright. I'm just using this as a teaching tool.) Alternately, "Kemba is unwavering, and it is not like him to flee from adversity! He takes pause, choosing instead to show resolve and hang back to cover the others' escape. It's a dangerous decision that will certainly work against him, especially since he's so weak right now!" - To elaborate, many of us have the cunning trait for some reason, and more than a few times it's been negatively used by saying, "I come up with a reallly stupid plan." Don't say that. Instead, try something like, "Marfose attempts a cunning plan, but fails to anticipate W, underestimates X, arrogantly overlooks Y, or his plan falls flat because Z." e.g. "Marfose attempts to cunningly dupe these gnolls, but wholly underestimates their own keen intuition. He makes his promises with his axe behind his back, but it only gives the gnolls time to lay hands on their own weapons. A good plan, but they've seen through it. If only he'd tried leaping on them while they were still unprepared instead of trying to be so cunning. Hopefully his sugared words are enough to keep this gaffe from landing everyone in a bloodbath." Help: - By and large, I think one of the biggest hurdles characters have in Torchbearer is describing help that will actually give dice. Try and think in terms of A) what the goal of the test is, B) what skill is being called on and C) what the lead character is doing. Let's use one example from tonight. Nyx decided to press forward, keeping his eyes on the ground and trying to be alert. I called on him to test Scout - but did not say why - and Ander offered to help by describing the quality of the stone in intimate detail. This is a good example of doing something that's almost helpful that ends up being counterproductive. Think of it this way: we know Nyx is testing Scout, so that means there's probably some trap, monster, or hidden thing about. Nyx is trying to keep an eye and an ear out, looking at the floor especially. Any form of searching, listening, or using other senses and skills to observe the surroundings could be helpful. Closely examining the stonework might indeed be helpful. Droning on about the details of the rock and potentially drowning out the angry squeals of killer rats up ahead? Not helpful. - In things with more clear goals, paths to helpfulness are much more clear. The other party members are trying to haul a bath tub made of solid bronze out of the dungeon, but you don't have laborer. Hmm. What might help them accomplish their goal of hauling this big, bulky object? Well let's see, you do have carpenter! Why not throw together a crude pulley or sleigh to help your teammates out? In fact, such a good idea might significantly mitigate the difficulty of the task! Just because you can come up with something peripheral to the situation does not mean it helps the other achieve the goal of the test. Be creative, be realistic, just don't be obscure. Simply think about how you would tackle the situation yourself in real life to come up with good, useful help. Wises: Your wise can come up more often than you think. Just like you should be thinking about your B/G/Is at all times, be thinking about your wises as well. Might your wise provide you with knowledge that can be helpful in this situation? Be creative, don't be afraid to offer an idea that can get shot down. Just don't ask, "does my wise apply here?" Instead ask, "I'm mine-wise. Mining deep in the earth, it's important to maintain safe tunnels and always know where you're going. Nyxaelfen is trying to discern whether this passage has led us up or down, and whether that strange chemical smell is safe. Surely my time spent in the mines of Efenel have given me indispensable experience in this matter." To this end, I have started making 'wise loresheets' for everyone. Basically, they contain basic information relating to your wise that can spark ideas for how and when they can be effectively used. Check for them in the 'wise loresheets' folder of your journal, beneath the character folders.
