No this isn't talking about what proper "fluffing" is. It has been a constant struggle to get through to players what 4e's version of refluffing or reskinning of abilities is like. I decided that the best way to talk about it from here on in, would be to just talk about it.
We
had a lot of talking to do today and 6 hours with no combat. At some
point soon they are gonna have to start murderizing things or Amulet
might explode IRL.
When
I talk about gaming the system I'm talking about a method of inherent
bonuses I'm giving to the players. Their equipment levels up with
them normally. It is not an elegant fix to the fact that I don't
care about magic equipment, but it has worked for the game so far.
I
make a point of asking at the end of every session what they thought
of the session. The only way to get better is to get good feedback.
The
Paragon Path note that I brought up was pretty important. Since they
are doing specific quests to “unlock” their paragon paths I made
it all or nothing. If one player hasn't finished their quest, that
means nobody gets their Paragon paths. If they finish it at 10, they
get their PPs at 10.
When
Sprites speak to one another they do so exclusively through light.
Sprites also can change their color at will if they want, but if they
don't control their colors they will change to the color when their
mood changes. Kiducan doesn't keep his colors under control at all.
Kiducan's
true first name is still unknown to the group, but his last name is
Cloudhem.
Note:
When sprites cast a spell they burn away their lifespan and the
character Amulet is a sprite who has done this. Sprites are able to
tell if other sprites have cast spells before and have shortened
lifespans. Sprites can even tell if another sprite has come in
contact with someone who has cast a spell before.
“The
Jar” discussed in the podcast is an item they have which contains a
greater elemental that was cut in half. They are searching for the
other half and they know if they open the jar the “half” they
have will immediately flow out. Last time they had him even
partially unshielded it caused a lot of problem. They explain the
plan a little later in the episode.
Since
the magic shop scene was getting really long and all over the place I
sort of glossed over the gland that Hiwi brought up.
Kiducan
mentions Paugle Kulinta, the old head of house before it fell. The
PCs know this is the same person who Aaron guards.
I
will constantly refer to the Croc Talikma in this episode as being a
male, but it is actually a she. I'm bad at life.
Chunkus'
hammer is described much like Thor's hammer as being extremely heavy
when not in his hands.
House
Nasema is another one of the houses. That house is another house
that is tied closely to the Port of Blades. They are made up from a
lot of individuals that made their money individually. So former
adventurers, sell-swords, gladiators, merchants who made their money
without the help of a house all unite under the Coins of Nasema.
During
this part of the podcast we have a modified skill challenge. This
descriptive “fight as a skill challenge” is something that
happens whenever there is only one person involved in the skill
challenge. At one point I have to get up to describe what the scene
looks like so she can get a good example of what to do.
At
one point in the podcast Toy and Amulet are given, basically for
free, an extremely valuable magic item. In a place where money is
power and the houses have all the power it is interesting to see
people just accept gifts so nonchalantly...
Session One Part Seven – The Next
Morning and Meeting Kiducan
Kietoch's
Blessing
Divine
Boon - Utility
Power Encounter
(Free Action) Trigger: You
hit a creature with a power with at least two of the keywords Fire,
Cold, Lighting, Thunder, Effect:
You slide each creature 1d6 squares. Level
11:Increase
the slide to 1d6+2 squares. Level
21:Increase
the slide to 1d6+4 squares. Creatures who end their slide next
to one of your allies grant combat advantage until the end of your next turn.
Utility
Power Daily
(No Action) Effect:Until
the end of your next turn you only have to use one of the keywords
associated with this boon instead of two in order for the boon to
trigger.
During
this session I talk about “Spotlighting” specific characters.
Right now we are moving through each character as they go through
things in game that are story-line justifications for their chosen
paragon paths. Much of the game the sessions before I started
recording them were centered around Chunkus helping the Aspect of
Earth and unlocking his paragon path. Jack has had some paragon
introduction as well and the scene with his dice is the climax of
that arc.
Again
I press the group a little too much leading them out of the inn at
the beginning of the session.
Normally
when the players are “in town” I just RP it quickly and we move
on. However there are a lot of specifics that the players wanted to
roleplay so we stayed in real time for the two major stops in town.
Several
times now in the podcast I've talked about magicians and how they are
different from wizards or mages. In the setting magic is everywhere,
but knowledge of how to use that magic and the ability to wield
powerful magic is quite rare. Most people with innate magical
ability are “magician level” which in mechanical terms means they
are only able to cast cantrips. These magicians, however, have a
fairly prominent spot in society as workers depending on what they
are particularly good at. Some magicians are good at mending things,
so they fix pots and broken windows and the like. Others are good at
cleaning teeth and function somewhat like a dentist. Broadly
speaking the magicians use magic to give the setting a lot of the
conveniences of modern living without the technology that goes with
it.
When
Kiducan's servant comes down from the top floor he hands a list to
Iris. I hand the list to Shawn (who is playing Vynn/Iris).
I
apologize if Kiducan's voice is annoying to listen to on the
recording. If it is any consolation it really hurts my voice to talk
like him.
You may have noticed by now that there
is a lot of crosstalk at table going on. Generally speaking I
encourage people to hold side conversations in character. Sometimes
this might be slightly confusing for the recording.
Again, the Shovel symbol is called the
“Prayers and a Shovel” for House Kodenavala.
The game of dice at the Chimes takes
place over the course of about half an hour.
Reran guards are very well respected as
they can see through walls and other sorts of things. They are often
brought to make sure things that are happening are actually what is
happening. It is generally understood at table when the Reran comes
to watch the game it is to make sure he isn't cheating.
A summary of the side conversation
during the walk: The Reran's name is Aaron and he is not usually
in the city, but has a lot of sway with the guards. He is well
known. He is also currently without a house. Vynn gets from Aaron
that his house was Kulinta and that he is following along right now
because he has nowhere else to be and doesn't want any trouble in the
city. He is a personal bodyguard of the leader of house Kulinta. He
talks about his master going to hunt a Bogarsh corrupted creature
long ago and returning with his mind broken. This is something the
group has encountered a few times so far.
Makaeri – This house is one of the
powerful houses in the city. They are linked to the Port of Blades
and are very similar to a mob family.
During the dice game Jack looks down at
his hands and sort of drunkenly tilts about to roll the dice.
When I talk about magic being used when
there is a throw of the dice I talk about magical signature. In my
games everyone has a magical signature, something that defines their
particular soul in terms of magic. Anyone who is trained in arcana
can detect a magic signature. There are ways to hide your magic
signature, but it is one of the most relied upon methods of
identification in the game world.
Wyrx are roughly equivalent to Gray
Renders.
Kietoch is the god of Chaos, luck and
randomness. Jack sort of worships Kietoch in his own way and so does
Luke.
At the start of this section of the podcast we are making a reference
to a youtube video about the “Cuil Effect”. If you are
interested check it out
here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfdEdE96En0
I mention tabards with house symbols on them quite frequently.
Knine is a very house-focused city-state and each house keeps their
own guards.
“The Shovels” are referencing the
symbol of house Kodenavala. The gravedigger house.
Grek – Is a heroic Guarg that the
character Chunkus aspires to be. He is considered to be a “side
character” by other races tell of their history. There is a story
with many names (I will most often refer to it as “The Conquest or
The First War” that is similar to the Iliad and Odyssey in our
world).
Nav Kulinta – This anfibite is a
background character in both Luke and Hiwi's background. He was a
riverboat captain on the river. The information that Nav is no
longer a riverboat captain and that creatures are acting up in the
jungle is something the party has known for a long time, but is just
reinforcing this fact.
As a note I should try to not talk over
people when they are talking in character. But my group will slow to
a complete halt if I don't get things moving sometimes.
Jack is a character that is well known
for wining and dining women which explains all the discussion with
the waitress. Alan rolls for his self-control in contention with his
desires on a regular basis.
Guargs are herbivores so sometimes
finding enough green food for him can be a challenge.
“House Kulinta” is a large series
of quests for the players in the campaign should they choose to
interact with it. This is a good example of how my sandbox works.
When Hazel (who plays Hiwi) ran this campaign before they went to
Knine soon after character creation and started working with House
Kulinta who was under the threat of being dissolved. After getting
to know people of that house, and the situation, her group was able
to fight back against the forces causing the house to collapse,
ultimately saving it and setting themselves up quite nicely in the
city.
However, that is what is going on at
the start of the campaign timeline. This group is entering Knine
three months after that group and so rather than seeing a house
nearing collapse the version of the house they interact with is what
happens after the house has fallen. They may choose to interact with
some members of that house (Nav for example, since he is part of
Hiwi's background), but no matter what they do the house has already
been dissolved. Basically the pieces continue to move regardless of
the character's interaction. The Knine that Hazel knew last time
will still have some things in common with the Knine here, but that
quest line is drastically altered due to the choices of the PCs.
During the session I forget the word
“Caryatid”, which makes me sad as I love that word. It is also
rare that you get a chance to use the word. I missed out! We eventually settle on Plinth, which is close but not Caryatid.
Iris has a crush on Jack in the
story line and sometimes Amulet plays Toy so it mimics Iris' actions.
When Iris smacked Jack in the back of the head, Toy did as well.
