I’m happy to say I’ve started a new group and we’re going to be trying our hand at Star Trek Adventures. Here is a prologue:
Star Trek Adventures: Prologue
The door slid open with a chime. A tall, dark-skinned man wearing a Starfleet uniform and Captain’s insignia on the collar walked in. “Captain Thabo Mbeki, reporting as ordered.” He saluted and stood upright in a stiff, formal posture.
Admiral Hicks stood up from his desk and smiled, the gesture making him look much younger than his graying hair would indicate. He waved off the salute. “At ease, Thabo. You’re not even officially on duty yet. Please, have a seat.”
Mbeki paused for a moment, looking uncertain. “I was given to understand…that is, I thought – “
Hicks nodded in understanding. “You are wondering about your medical evaluation. Well, don’t. You’ve been cleared for duty. And we have a new posting for you.”
Mbeki took a deep breath, visibly relaxing. The admiral motioned towards the chair in front of him, and Mbeki let himself relax into it. “It’s taken so long, Adam. I thought Starfleet was through with me.”
“We’d all be fools if we were,” Hicks replied, “considering your knowledge and experience… and what you went through, for the good of the Federation.” The Admiral’s gaze scanned Mbeki. Starfleet’s surgeons had done an excellent job, but if you looked close enough you could see the scars on his face and head.
A sad smile came over the Captain’s visage. “Thank you for saying that. With the investigation, the months of interrogations, I was sure they were looking for any excuse to get rid of me.”
“Oh, some of them were. But I watched them like a hawk. Anyone attempting to cast doubt on your loyalty I gave chapter and verse to. Still, it was a near thing: I was the deciding vote on the commission. After what happened, some people are always going to have doubts. I know it’s unfair. But that’s just how it is.”
Mbeki looked down for a moment. “Yes,” he sighed, “the world is imperfect.”
Hicks gazed at his friend for a while, then reached under his desk, bringing out a bottle of blue liquid. He poured two shots, and slid one glass to Mbeki. “Medicinal purposes.”
The Captain studied the blue concoction, raising an eyebrow. “Is this…?”
“Yes,” Hicks smiled, “Romulan ale. Don’t ask me how I got it.” He downed his shot, the fiery liquid exploding in his mouth and down his throat. Mbeki shrugged, then followed suit.
After the tears cleared from his eyes, Hicks said, “Listen, the admiralty is not what it’s cracked up to be. You deserve a promotion. But given the -“
Mbeki waved him off. “I don’t care. I don’t want a promotion. I don’t want to command from a desk. I want to be out there, on the deck of my own ship, working on behalf of the Federation.”
Hicks stared at him for a beat. “You are sure that’s what you want? I get not wanting to become an admiral. And I know what the medical evaluation said. But tell me, man to man, are you ready to get back in the saddle?”
Captain Mbeki straightened up and looked the admiral straight in the eye. “Yes”, was all he said.
Hicks gazed at him, then nodded. “Very well. Then I am officially placing you back on duty. You will take command of the USS Venture, effective immediately.”
Mbeki’s eyebrows went up. “The Venture? So…the rumors are true?”
“Unfortunately yes. The incident claimed the lives of a good portion of the crew, including Captain Kulak and most of the command staff. The ship has been repaired, and awaits in the shipyard.”
Mbeki looked thoughtful. “A challenging situation. It will take time for the new crew to learn to work together as a team.”
“Unfortunately, time is a luxury you don’t have.” Hicks passed a tablet to his friend. “You have a mission. Here are your new directives.”
Mbeki frowned as he read, then looked up sharply. “Is this correct? A potential first contact, in the Epsilon Hydra system?”
Hicks nodded. “Clear FTL waves were detected from the borders of the system by Deep Space Six, near the neutral zone. There’s a lot of subspace interference in that region, so we don’t know how long that species has had the technology. We know nothing about them at all, in fact. But now that we know they’re there, and have the requisite level of technology, we’ve got to make contact before the Romulans do. And of course invite them into the Federation. So there’s no time to waste.”
“I understand.” Mbeki rose to his feet. “Thanks for everything you have done for me, Adam. I will not let you down.”
Hicks clasped hands with Mbeki. “I know you won’t. But be careful – the Romulans cannot be trusted. Godspeed, Thabo.”
As the Captain left the room, Admiral Hicks sighed, and poured himself another shot of Romulan ale. He paused for a moment before partaking. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had really done his friend any favor at all.
In the first part of this series, I examined what roleplaying games are by exploring what people actually do in them. In the second part, I outlined the different reasons people enjoy participating in these games. Now I want to focus on how to play roleplaying games well—specifically, how to be a good player.
When playing, we often need to balance our own enjoyment with contributing to—or at least not hindering—other people’s fun. Fortunately, good roleplaying tends to emerge naturally when we’re doing what we enjoy while remaining curious about what other players find enjoyable.
The Number One Principle: Be Curious
Be curious about:
The world and setting that the GM is creating for you
The other player characters—who they are, what they want, and what they’re willing to do to get it
Your own character—we often discover who our character truly is through play, as they interact with the setting, the GM’s characters, and the other player characters
Core Principles for Collaborative Play
1. Be Curious and Engaged
Ask questions about the world. GMs invest significant effort in establishing the setting and scene details, and they appreciate when players show interest. Understanding more about your shared imagined world gives you more elements to play with, creating a richer experience for everyone.
Show interest in other players’ characters. We all appreciate when others take an interest in our creative work, which is exactly what our characters represent.
Be proactive. Look for hooks to engage with rather than passively waiting for the GM to direct you (unless the scenario explicitly calls for that, such as a mission briefing). Put yourself in your character’s shoes and decide what they would do based on their motivations and abilities.
2. Play With the Party
Avoid lone-wolf behavior unless the group has explicitly agreed to it. While some games are designed for characters to pursue separate goals in different scenes, it’s generally wise to check whether the other players prefer when characters stick together.
3. Be a Good Scene Partner
Share the spotlight. Don’t try to dominate every scene—ensure other players have opportunities to actively participate.
Support other characters’ moments to shine. Help create situations where each player can have breakthrough or significant moments, and have your character acknowledge their efforts when appropriate.
Ask other characters questions and engage in dialogue. This helps everyone learn about each other’s characters and explore what motivates them.
Set others up for impressive moments rather than always taking center stage yourself. The most memorable sessions often happen when players elevate each other.
Be a fan of the other player characters. Enthusiasm is contagious and creates a positive table culture.
4. Embrace Failure & Complications
Don’t resist bad rolls or consequences. Some players treat failed rolls as personal failures and struggle to enjoy the game when things go wrong. In reality, failure can lead to interesting situations and compelling stories. Often, failure drives the most engaging story developments.
Play to discover what happens. If you knew the session’s outcome in advance, wouldn’t that be boring? When a roll has significant stakes and the outcome is uncertain, the anticipation creates genuine excitement.
5. Learn the Rules
Take time to learn rules relevant to your character. This doesn’t have to happen all at once, but make an effort to become familiar with them over time.
Know your character’s abilities and how they interact with game mechanics to avoid time spent looking them up.
Help the GM track your resources (spells, equipment, etc.). This prevents the GM from becoming overwhelmed and keeps the session flowing smoothly.
6. Communicate Out of Character (OOC)
Check in with other players during intense scenes, especially if you’re unsure about their comfort level.
Clearly distinguish between your opinions as a player and your character’s thoughts and feelings. In emotionally charged scenes, other players might confuse character emotions for player emotions, so be transparent about when you’re roleplaying.
Use safety tools when needed. The simplest are:
“Let’s fade to black on that” when you prefer not to hear potentially disturbing details
The “X-card,” where saying “let’s X that out” signals you don’t want something included in the setting or gameplay
Remember that good play requires trust, and communication helps build it.
7. Show Up Ready to Play
Be on time.
Come prepared with your character sheet, dice, and notes from previous sessions.
Minimize distractions.
Put away your cell phone. Checking your phone while the GM is describing something or another player is having an important moment is disrespectful and demoralizing to the group.
And there you have it—my current thoughts on being a good roleplaying game player. How does this list compare with your own experience? Did I miss anything important? Is there anything I should have left out? I welcome your comments!
Hi everyone! I thought I’d spend the next few posts exploring the fundamentals of roleplaying games (RPGs). Not because I claim any special expertise, but simply because I enjoy thinking and talking about them. I’m also hoping this sparks a conversation, inviting you to share your own thoughts and perspectives.
Part of my motivation is personal: I’m working to articulate my understanding in my own words, moving away from the specific jargon of a group I was previously involved with (AdeptPlay). This series is part of that process.
What Roleplaying Isn’t: Storytelling
First, let’s tackle what in my opinion is a common misconception. Despite what many books and articles suggest, roleplaying is not storytelling, at least not in the conventional sense. I believe framing it that way is misleading.
Think about traditional storytelling: the storyteller typically arrives with a fully formed narrative – beginning, middle, end, plot points, the works. They then recount this pre-existing story to the audience.
Roleplaying doesn’t work like that. While a story certainly emerges from a roleplaying session after it’s over, the act of playing isn’t about reciting or playing to a pre-written script.
Crucially, the quality of the story that emerges after the session often has little correlation with how much fun the participants had during the session. You can have an incredible, engaging time playing, yet the resulting story, viewed objectively, might lack classic story structure or polish. Conversely, you might endure a dull or frustrating session where your contributions felt ignored, but the sequence of events, when looked back upon, coincidentally forms a structurally “good” story.
Because the process isn’t storytelling, and because the quality of the resulting narrative doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality of the play experience, I find using “storytelling” as the primary lens for understanding RPGs to be unhelpful, even misleading.
So, What Is Roleplaying? (Focusing on Game-mastered Games)
Okay, if it’s not storytelling, what is happening during a roleplaying game?
There’s a vast spectrum of RPGs. One major distinction is between games with a designated Game Master (GM) and those without (often called GM-less games). For this post, I’ll focus on games with a GM, simply because they are very common, though GM-less games are a fascinating topic for another time. (Note: It’s difficult to make sweeping generalizations about GM-less games due to their huge variety.)
At its core, a GM’d roleplaying session is a conversation. Participants talk about what’s happening within a shared setting.
For example, in a Star Trek Adventures game, the setting is the familiar sci-fi universe of the Federation, Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans, etc. Concepts like starships, phasers, transporters, and tractor beams are part of the assumed background shared by everyone playing.
Most participants are Players, each typically controlling one or more specific characters within that setting. One participant is the Game Master (GM).
Players assume the roles of their characters, describing their actions, words, and sometimes thoughts. They might also ask the GM questions to clarify the situation or environment (“What else do I see in this room?”).
The Game Master has the power and responsibility to describe the setting, determine how the environment and its inhabitants react to the player characters (PCs), and portray all the other characters in the world, known as Non-Player Characters (NPCs). From a player’s perspective, NPCs are part of the setting managed by the GM.
The Flow of Play
The way play proceeds is, the GM presents a context, the players describe how their characters react, and the GM describes the outcome or the world’s response. The conversation flows back and forth between one or more players talking, the GM responding, and the players responding in turn.
At certain points, most RPGs introduce an element of chance. Players, and sometimes the GM, might roll dice or use another randomizer (like drawing cards). The outcome of this randomization influences what happens next in the shared setting. Did the character succeed at their risky action? Did something unexpected occur? The result is incorporated into the ongoing conversation.
This cycle—conversation, action, occasional randomization and determination of the outcome, followed by more conversation—repeats until the session reaches an endpoint. This might be due to external factors (like running out of scheduled time) or internal narrative developments (reaching a satisfying conclusion, achieving a goal or failing to). Occasionally, a session might end because players decide they aren’t enjoying the game anymore, which can happen for a myriad of reasons.
Essential Elements of Gamemastered Roleplaying
If that describes the process, what are the core components that make it work? Based on the flow described above (and please comment if you think I’ve missed something crucial!), here are what I see as the essential elements:
Shared Setting: The group agrees to play within a specific fictional world (Middle-earth, the Star Trek universe, World War II, a post-apocalyptic wasteland, etc.) with common background assumptions about how that world works.
Agreed-Upon Rules (The Game System): The group uses a specific set of rules (Dungeons & Dragons, Star Trek Adventures, Alien RPG, Call of Cthulhu, Apocalypse World, or one of the countless others). This system defines:
The distinct powers and responsibilities of the GM and the Players.
How characters are created and what they can do.
How and when randomization (dice, cards, etc.) is used to resolve uncertainty.
The ways characters and the setting can change.
Essentially, the game system dictates who gets to say what, when, and with what effect within the flow of play.
GM Preparation:For most GM’d games, the GM does some preparation beforehand. The extent varies wildly by game system and GM style, but it generally involves creating or selecting fictional elements to drive the action and create conflict. This often includes:
Defining specific locations within the setting.
Creating NPCs with their own goals and motivations.
Establishing what’s at stake or what risks the player characters might face or care about.
For instance, if the GM knows the players want to reach a treasure cave on a mountain, they might prep the journey. This could involve creating a forest path, populating it with conflicting NPCs (like a lost baby dragon, goblins wanting to capture it, and its worried mother searching frantically), creating a dynamic context with choices for the players to navigate.
Scene Framing: Someone (usually, but not always the GM) needs to kick off the action by describing the initial context: where the PCs are, what time it is, and what’s immediately happening. Examples: “You’re walking through the forest under a bright sun when a small dragon crashes through the trees into a clearing ahead.” or “You’re aboard your freighter, the Beowolf, en route to Hypatia Station when you pick up a distress signal.”
Player Character Embodiment: Players respond to the framed scene by describing what their characters do, think, or say, guided by their character’s established goals, personality, and motivations.
Active Listening and Building: Participants listen to each other. When a player describes their character’s action, it’s generally accepted as having happened in the shared world unless the rules or the GM intervenes (often by saying something like, “Okay, let’s see if you succeed at that,” and calling for a dice roll). Other players and the GM then react and build upon that contribution.
GM Adjudication and Setting Response: The GM uses the rules and their prepared material (or improvisation) to describe how the world and NPCs react to the players’ actions. If a player character threatens a goblin, the GM portrays the goblin’s response based on what they know about its nature. If the outcome is uncertain (Just how intimidating was the threat? How tough is the goblin?), the GM might call for a dice roll based on the game’s rules. Similarly, if a character tries to scale a slippery wall, the GM might determine the difficulty and ask for a roll to see if they manage it.
Player Response and Iteration: Players react to the outcomes and the GM’s descriptions, deciding on their characters’ next actions, continuing the cycle.
Change and Consequence: As play progresses, the shared imagined world is dynamic. NPCs might change their goals, allegiances, abilities, or leave or die. Player characters can also change – gaining new abilities and powers, gaining or losing resources, changing their motivations, facing injuries and setbacks including death. Locations, organizations, and the overall setting will evolve based on the actions taken.
Play continues cyclically and iteratively until a natural endpoint is reached for the session.
Wrapping Up (For Now) So, that’s my initial take on describing what basic GM’d roleplaying is, focusing on the process rather than trying to define it by the story it might produce after the fact. I haven’t touched on what makes it good or effective yet – just the mechanics of what happens at the table.
Over to You! What’s your perspective? Did I miss anything crucial in this description? Is there anything you think I’m off the mark on? I’d genuinely love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
The first thing I did in my prep was read about Seattle in the 20s. The population at the time was 315,000, wages were about $35 a week, $1750 a year on average. A full, fancy lunch at a restaurant cost 40-80 cents, and a slice of pie 5 cents. There was no TV. Commercial radio had just started. There are phonographs and telegraphs; there were phones, and you could call throughout most of the country by this point. The Great War had ended in 1918; and the deadly 1918 flu pandemic was mostly over by 1920. Prohibition was in full swing, and smuggling booze was big business.
The famed Seattle General Strike of 1919 had just drawn global headlines. The strike was one of the first citywide work stoppages in a major U.S. city, and terrified the business community that a Bolshevik Revolution was about to sweep the country. The FBI swooped in to stop the strike, arrested the labor leaders, and shut down the labor newspapers.
This led to the country experiencing its first Red Scare, a time of national hysteria that brought crackdowns on trade unionists, socialists, anti-war activists, and so on. Vigilante groups such as the Seattle “Minute Men” formed, with the goal of discovering German spies.
The Ku Klux Klan was a powerful component of the Democratic Party at this time, and led an anti-immigrant crusade. In the same vein, Woodrow Wilson’s government launched the “Palmer Raids,” where the federal government rounded up and jailed or deported more than 500 immigrants throughout the country.
There were several incidents of political violence. In what’s come to be known as the Centralia Massacre, a vigilante group marched on the local headquarters of the IWW. In the resulting shootout, 3 of the vigilantes were killed. The police stopped the confrontation and arrested a Wobbly member, Wesley Everest. Later that evening, a mob raided the jail and lynched him from a bridge.
So, when I looked over this bit of history, quite dramatic and violent, I found myself drawn to the horror of the Centralia massacre incident. What if, I wondered, the slain man had a relative that wanted revenge – and was willing to go to extreme lengths to get it? In a Lovecraftian context, that would mean getting the power to identify Everest’s killers, and then bring to them a bloody justice. Suppose that was his son, who made a deal with a spawn of Nyarlathotep to gain dark powers. With that as a seed, I brainstormed from there.
In order to get the spell needed to identify his father’s killers, Everest would need a particular spell. How? Perhaps from a dealer in stolen or exotic goods. Let’s call her Gwendolyn Love, who does business out of a speakeasy. Love has her own problems – a rival, let’s say; Dave Vance, of Vance Export-Import Co., Ltd.
Vance will be a pretty bad guy. Looking over the history, I notice the KKK was quite active, holding large public rallies. Let’s make him their Grand Wizard, and have him be an actual sorcerer with a few spells in his pocket. He and Love have a gangland-type competition, not only in liquor but exotic goods such as scrolls. They’d each like to take the other out, and are looking to recruit others to help.
In addition, the local KKK suspect Everest knows or has some book or scroll from which he gained sorcerous powers, and are harassing him to get their hands on it.
Now, what about a starting scene to let the players know about and get into the thick of the situation? Well, suppose a couple of KKK thugs went a bit too far in harassing Everest, and he responded by letting the spawn of Nyarlathotep loose, killing them. The release of sorcerous energy would be felt by the PCs, who when they went to investigate would find the dead men, and a matchbook with the name “Jake Everest” circled.
I made a few notes on a few locations – the speakeasy, the Vance Company warehouse, a farm used for a KKK rally, and so on. I fleshed out the NPCs more, and my prep was done.
The characters created by the players included:
Name: Joseph Harbinger
Studying as a Jesuit exorcist, Joseph Harbinger discovered a book of arcane formulae that could twist reality. One formula summoned the Whispering Void, which told him secrets that destroyed his faith. He left the order and seeks the Book of Thomas the Other, rumored to contain proof of a benevolent god. Pursuing the book, Joseph had an education in the seattle underworld and persuading people.
Jesuit exorcist +1
Arcane formulae that could twist reality +2
Summoned the Whispering Void +1
Faith +1
Seeks the Book of Thomas the Other +1
Proof of a benevolent god +1
seattle underworld +1
persuading people. +1
And
Name: Silas Whigham
Accompanied by Jenkins (a rat) and plumbing tools, Silas leads the Subterranean Hygiene Intelligence Team. He knows the city’s underground, which is why politicians, detectives, and military officers call on him to deal with unspeakable messes. Silas inhales mind-altering fumes venting from underground: He’s convinced they inspire his prophetic visions. Silas uses his workman demeanor to persuade citizens that his activities are safe and authorized.
Jenkins (rat): +1
Plumbing tools: +2
Subterranean Hygiene Intelligence Team: +1
Knowledge of the underground: +2
Vision-inducing fumes: +2
I had the players introduce their characters and say what they were doing, and then described the initial scene. Unfortunately, I immediately ran into a problem: one of the players got angry with me, accusing me of railroading. The player of Harbinger refused to go to the scene I had prepped, instead wanting to go to the university in pursuit of the Thomas tome. At the time, I was taken aback; I was confused by the response. I went with it the best I could. My notes on the Thomas tome were minimal at best, so I quickly made up a few things – the tome is in Palestine, owned by a man named Mazran. Other people wanted the book as well, for different reasons. Both Love and Vance would have the contacts to broker a deal, but everyone involved was a backstabber. With this background in mind, I kept playing, alternating scenes between the two players.
After the session, I asked this player what was going on. It turns out he and I had a basic misunderstanding: when I did my prep for the game, I did so with no regard for the PC backgrounds at all – similar to how I’d prep for running a dungeon crawl. The player, on the other hand, assumed the exact opposite, that I would base my preparation on his character background, as he wanted pursuing the tome to be his central focus of play. Ron Edwards has some terminology for these two approaches for GM prep, and also distinguishes a third option that’s in between the two, but unfortunately I can’t recall them or where to find them, so you’ll need to ask him if you need clarification. But the point is, the problem arose because the player and I had different expectations of what the focus of play was going to be. Once I learned what the player wanted, I then prepped the next session accordingly.
Anyway, Joseph Harbinger wound up at the Blue Royale, the speakeasy where Gwendolyn Love operated. For a price, she got him the contact information for Abdullah Mazran, the current owner of the tome.
Meanwhile, Silas Whigham pursued the clues he found on the dead klan members, and managed to sneak into Jake Everest’s apartment. Once inside, his luck ran out. After several failed rolls, he became possessed by another spawn of nyarlathotep, who Everest had been keeping in a box he’d hidden away. While the entity didn’t have total control, Whigham’s player would have to make rolls to resist when it tried to exert it.
Behind the scenes: between scenes, I made brief notes about what the NPCs were up to. Everest went to Love in pursuit of the pnakotic manuscript, from which he could learn the spell Azathoth’s shadow (this would give him the ability to look into the past and discover his father’s killers). Everest wouldn’t be able to afford to pay cash for the scroll, so what would Love accept in exchange? She agrees to give him the manuscript if he kills Vance. As this is happening, Vance is preparing to lead a KKK rally. He plans to use the energy of the rally to cast a spell at Love, to kill or enslave her.
The session ended and the players advanced their characters according to the standard Pool rules. Silas’ player added “Possessed by a demon, he has developed secret mental reserves to resist his dark master” and “Mental resistance to parasitic demons: +2”.
It would take a bit of time to describe the rest of the game in detail, but here are some of the moments that stand out:
Since the KKK rally was widely advertised, Jake knew where Vance would be, and followed him there. Silas encounters Jake at the rally, and they have a conversation. They can see the spawns in each other, and Jake is slowly losing his humanity. He reveals he is going to kill Vance. Vance arrives, heading for the speaker stage, and Jake closes in for the kill. Silas has the chance to intervene, but chooses not to. Jake kills Vance, and loses control to his spawn, which proceeds to massacre a number of the rally attendees, absorbing their life essence and growing stronger.
Harbinger locates and makes a deal with another antiquarian, a Mr. Said, who wants the Thomas book for himself but is willing to let Harbinger study it. Their plan involves taking Mazran’s son hostage, and demanding the book in exchange for him. To get the son requires Harbinger to cast a kind of dimensional gate spell, which unfortunately goes disastrously wrong. Said is sucked, screaming, into the void. Harbinger is left with nothing.
Silas is concerned that Jake will lose control and let something horrible into the world if his plan succeeds, so he follows him.
Harbinger goes back to Love, but fails to get anything out of her. Angered, he destroys the entire building with dark magic. He then goes to a church and causes a priest to lose their faith.
There is a final scene where Harbinger, Silas, and Jake are in a church. Jake is ready to cast his spell, and begin to take vengeance for his father. Silas repeatedly tries to do things but his player keeps failing his rolls. Finally, they both try to stop Jake, Silas grabbing him around the neck and holding him as Harbinger’s void spell consumes them both, then himself, leaving no trace of any of them. IIRC, both players succeeded in these final rolls, and both chose to do a monologue, so they collaborated on it.
Although I enjoyed the game overall, I felt bad because the players kept failing rather spectacularly on critical rolls – and I saw my role as to make sure these rolls had serious consequences. My impression was these multiple failures frustrated them a bit, but I didn’t know what I could do about it.
As always, I appreciate any comments, questions, or analysis. In particular, what is your experience when players have really bad luck with multiple critical rolls?
At the party, Nix is able to knock her assailant out, after which she and Morrigan steal a Lexus and head to Discovery Park.
Back at the park, Tien wrenches Odessa from the vampire’s grasp, and attempts to flee with her. However Lyra’s mesmerizing eyes take hold of him, and Tien agrees to hear her out. The vampire reiterates how she is reasonable, helping to keep this region safe for both human and supernatural folk alike; she warns Tien that if Jonathan, a particularly vicious vampire, is able to take up residence here they will all regret it. She denies taking Jamie, as she would never be so sloppy as to just disappear someone. She tells Tien to do his homework on this, and quickly vanishes.
Tien comforts the stunned Odessa, then goes to find Harvey, whose body is broken and dying. Tien heals him with his transference power, listening to how he had an unrequited crush on Jamie, and his other woes. He leads the now healed but shaken Harvey out to the parking lot, where Morrigan and Nix have discovered Odessa, who is no longer catatonic but starting to freak out. Tien takes Harvey and Odessa home, making up a story about how they were attacked by a rival school’s student.
Morrigan and Nix search the park for any sign of Jamie, and follow her trail to a grove off the main paths; the center of the clearing contains a flat stone slab. The area has some signs of recently being occupied, mostly with many people having sex. The PCs discover that the stone slab was used as a kind of psychic battery to absorb and discharge various intense emotions, including sexual ecstasy and terrible fear. Tien rejoins them, and after doing some computer research discovers a disturbing but informative letter, from a 19th century newspaper man by the name of Benjamin Gilbert. Having lost Jamie’s trail, they call it quits for the night.
The following morning at Seattle High, they notice that Harvey looks quite pale, wears sunglasses, and seems to be uncomfortable in the sun. Tien questions him, and he mentions how a hot blond chick showed up at his house, wanted to be invited in, and they had a wild make-out session. The “hickey” she gave him is, in Tien’s estimation, rather large, and looks like a wound that’s several days old – but no such wound was there last night in the park.
Students are being interviewed one-by-one by SPD’s Detective Avery. He asks standard questions like when they saw her last, who did she hang out with, did anyone not like her, etc. but also takes pictures of their shoes. He also asks about her yoga classes, and they notice a brochure about a new yoga studio entitled Order of the New Dawn.
American history class is doing a segment on local history, so based on clues from the Gilbert letter, Nix and Morrigan decide to research Chinese immigration during the 18th century gold rush. Searching for the name “Ling”, they discover the sad event of the massacre of Chinese gold miners on the Snake river (read more here: The Snake River Massacre). Four names jump out at them: J. Canfield, Frank Vaughn, Hiram, and Hezekiah.
Morrigan, obsessed with finding out how and why she was resurrected, learns that Stacy’s mother, who recently lost her job, worked at the same hospital that treated her after the accident. Morrigan seductively cozies up to Stacy, and they have an intimate rendezvous in the girl’s locker room. She convinces Stacy to invite her over for dinner, so that she can interrogate her Mom; Stacy agrees.
Nix and Tien look for more clues to Jamie’s whereabouts. Nix decides to head down to the OND yoga studio. It’s an impressive place in a high-rent downtown building. When she enters, the assistant looks her over and says, “oh, you have one of those auras. You must be here for the soma.” The now-smiling assistant leads her back to an office, where a very fit Mr. Stile greets her from a challenging yoga pose. He bids her welcome, and asks what flavor of soma she wants. Confused, Nix blurts out that she just wants to know where Jamie is. Stile frowns, and says the police already asked about this. When Nix persists, Stile tells her to remain in the office, and leaves, locking the door behind him. Concerned, Nix tries to figure some way out of the room, but can’t. The door opens and two large men in business suits enter – and she can tell immediately that they’re vampires. “You made a bad mistake coming here,” one of them says, shaking his head.
Tien, meanwhile, has done such a bad job of researching that he attracts the attention of the police. Detective Avery stops by to grab him from the library. He accuses Tien of knowing more than he’s telling, and when Tien remains uncooperative he says he’ll have to come downtown. While headed to the police station in the back of Avery’s car, Tien makes a break for it – using his ghostly power he phases through the car door, into the middle of traffic. Brakes squeal and cars are rear-ended as Tien flees across the road. He heads with ghostly speed to the yoga studio.
At Morrigan’s dinner with Stacy and her mother, Morrigan guilt-trips Stacy’s Mom into telling her about two of the doctors who worked on her after her accident. She confirms that these doctors, while not unknown, tend to show up infrequently, and mostly for unusual cases. She also tells Morrigan that, from what she heard, when the paramedics first brought her in to the hospital they thought she was dead, and had covered her with a sheet.
Back at the yoga studio’s office, Nix tries to escape, making a break for the door, but is caught by one of the vampires. A big fight ensues, Nix kicking one of the creatures savagely while biting off the hand of the other. During the struggle she hears one of the vampires call the other “Hiram”. Unfortunately they are strong and fast, and she gets hurt, pinned to the wall by a vampire.
Tien arrives at the studio as well, and the assistant repeats that, “oh, you have one of those auras, you must be here for the soma,” and escorts him to the back office. From down the hall, a frowning Mr. Stile tells them to go back, now is not a good time, but Tien hears Nix cry out in pain. He darts past Stile and his assistant, and phases into the room. He pries a vampire off of Nix and tries to escape with her, but again the vampires are too fast. One of them catches him and tears him apart. He escapes death by becoming his darkest self, which in his case means he becomes an invisible poltergeist only able to interact with inanimate objects. He throws the office table into the vampires, but one of them catches it and reverses the throw, blasting it into Tien. The creatures slam Nix onto the floor, then tie her up; wrapping her up with the sheet from the sofa, they carry her out of the building. Invisible, Tien follows.
The whole history of the fire we published in the Times was a lie, of course. The fire had nothing to do with that foolish Swede in the wood shop, we just used him as a convenient scapegoat. It was all because of the vampires.
Hunters from the east were on their trail, and had been for awhile – one of the creatures they called “Jonathan” was particularly disruptive, hardly bothering to cover his tracks as he left a trail of destruction, broken lives and broken families from New York to Oregon. He ravaged Seattle for weeks before we finally trapped him and his henchmen in the wood shop. The owner, may he Rest In Peace, was part of the plot, and invited them in so they would be unable to harm innocents when we confronted them. The vampire Jonathan – an exceptionally tall man, with dark hair, striking blue eyes, and an ugly scar down the right side of his neck – tried to compel us with that curious mental power they have, but we’d taken precautions – the standard herbal remedy from the old country proved effective. But we were unprepared for his extraordinary speed and power, and that of his companions.
DeMarigny took out two of the bloodsuckers with stakes, and I wounded one with my silver knife, but failed to slay it. Grossman’s bullets proved entirely ineffective, and Jonathan snapped his neck in the blink of an eye. DeMarigny and the other hunters fought like lions, but the vampires were just too fast. Jonathan knocked the knife out of my grasp and pinned me to the wall with an insane strength. He forced me to watch, helpless, as they drained DeMarigny of his life.
Gloating, the evil vampire looked into my eyes. “Now that your friends are dead or dying, I think we’ll take our time with you. You organized this hunt, and are worthy of special interest.”
Although my heart quailed within my breast, I put on a brave face. “Do your worst!” I cried, “I go to meet my maker with a clear conscience!”
Jonathan’s grin grew wider. “No, you won’t,” he crowed, “because I will turn you. You will join us, and I will personally supervise your transition as you feed on the innocent and helpless. You will receive a punishment beyond death.” With these words, fangs sprouted from his mouth and he bit down, piercing my neck. I am not ashamed to say I cried out then, in greater despair and horror than I had ever known.
When I was weak and dizzy from blood loss, he opened a vein in his arm and forced me to swallow some of his blood. “You will die soon now,” the vampire said, “and when you wake up, you will be one of us.” I was too weak to move or respond, and lay slumped against the doorframe. The exit was inches to my right, but may as well have been on another continent. The creatures turned to begin feeding on those wounded hunters they hadn’t yet killed, and tears fell from my eyes as I heard their cries of despair and pain.
It was then that she appeared. Beautiful, with a face showing traces of an ancestry from the east, and dark hair that fell in curls onto her shoulders. Kneeling down, she looked at me, and I thought I saw pity in her eyes, combined with a steely determination. I struggled to rise, entreating her to flee, to save herself, but she shook her head. “Invite me in,” she whispered, “and I will help you. This I promise.”
It was then I knew she was another creature of the night. My first instinct was to refuse her, but then, what did I have to lose? My fate was already sealed. “Come in,” I managed to croak.
Instantly she entered, followed by companions of her own. They were like a storm, unleashing a savagery upon Jonathan and his faction that words cannot describe. It was in this struggle that the fire started. I managed to crawl out of the burning building, and watched as the battle between the vampires continued, first onto the roof of the woodshop and then onto neighboring rooftops. The conflagration spread, as burning vampires set nearby buildings alight as they screamed and died. And so the Great Seattle Fire began. This was the truth we dared not print in the paper.
I died at some point during the night. Ling found me later, and cared for me, showing me how to feed. She had her own reasons for wanting Jonathan dead, but of these she forbids me to speak. She believes that monster perished in the fire, but I am not so sanguine. It is this Jonathan’s fault that I now walk as a creature of the night, condemned to darkness and to feed on the living for as long as my foul existence continues. And I make it my only goal to take vengeance upon this villain, and all those like him, who prey on the innocent with cruelty and malice.
I write this so that those on the inner council may know the truth, and be warned, and so take appropriate action. In my next note I will confirm for you the best and most reliable methods for warding against and destroying vampires. I urge you to employ these methods and protections throughout the region, using whatever excuses as may seem fit to the council.
I’m MCing Monsterhearts 2 for my gaming group right now, so figured I might as well post the updates to this blog. Here’s the first one!
Characters:
Nix, the Hollow, a magical construct possibly created by a government agency
Tien, the Ghost of a teenage boy who died when forgotten in the cold by his friends, many of the current students of Seattle High
Morrigan, the Ghoul, died in a car wreck with a friend, but was resurrected, possibly by a secret government experiment
Homeroom is abuzz with gossip when the police arrive to question Ms. Waterkin about the disappearance of Jamie Tyler, a student at Seattle High. The other major subject of discussion is tonight’s party at Sandy’s house, the rich and popular girl who lives in Blue Ridge; “everyone who’s anyone” will be there, which excludes our main characters who were not invited.
During gym and lunch, we discover that Lucas (NPC) is into Nix, who is dramatically uninterested in him. Tien has a crush on Odessa, who unfortunately is hanging around Harvey, the mean jock. Tien gets intimidated by Harvey, but is able to shut him down and embarrass him in turn. Meanwhile Lucas invites Nix to Sandy’s party, who accepts, but then plans to bring Morrigan along. Tien approaches Odessa about the party, but discovers she doesn’t really want to go – she’s worried about Jamie, and wants to help look for her. Based on a clue that Jamie was last seen headed to Discovery Park, they decide to go there to search.
Nix and Morrigan ambush Lucas and he reluctantly drives them both to the party. Sandy is perturbed to see Morrigan, who she deliberately said wasn’t welcome, but she doesn’t stop them from entering. The party is in full force with loud music, flashing lights, kegs and people doing kegstands, dancing, and teenagers diving into the outdoor pool. Nix notices that a small crowd has gathered around an exotic and beautiful dark-haired girl, who Lucas calls Lyra. She senses there’s something different about Lyra, and Lucas takes Nix through the crowd to meet her, with Morrigan pushing along behind. Very quickly Nix concludes that Lyra is a vampire, and so does Morrigan. When her eyes fall on Nix, Lyra’s eyes widen. She dismisses her hangers-on and drags Nix into an empty bedroom, where she questions her closely. Nix doesn’t reveal much, but gets the impression Lyra knows she’s not human, and is concerned she might be a construct made by one of her enemies. Lyra tries to seductively bite Nix on the neck, but Nix flings her off. The vampire smiles, then quickly vanishes. In the meantime, Morrigan tries to goad people into dangerous stunts, like jumping off the roof into the pool. She winds up on the roof of the house with Nix.
At night in Discovery Park, Odessa and Tien search for a hidden grove that Jamie used to go to with some weird friends of hers. They find the grove, but hear a twig snap nearby, and a red light dances around the clearing. Tien tells Odessa to stay quiet and not move, then moves towards the red light. It turns out to be Harvey, who is also out looking for Jamie. Tien and Harvey have words, then Tien calls out for Odessa that it’s safe to come out – but she doesn’t reply.
Meanwhile, Nix refuses Morrigan’s temptation to jump off the roof, and climbs back onto the third floor through a window. She’s alarmed to see an apparently stoned and distraught teenage boy inside, who says, “I don’t want to do it… I don’t!” Nix asks him what’s wrong, and he says, “I don’t want to kill you!” as he draws a gun and levels it at her. She tries to persuade him to drop the gun, but he just starts crying, and pulls the hammer back. Morrigan hears this and bursts into the hallway, and rushes the boy, grabbing for the gun. She misjudges and the gun goes off, hitting her in the shoulder. In the ensuing struggle, the boy loses the gun but slashes Morrigan with a knife, who falls down a flight of stairs. He turns to attack Nix, sobbing about how he’s sorry but he has to kill her.
Back in the park, Tien is horrified to see Odessa up high at the furthest reaches of a tall Douglas Fir, in the cold embrace of Lyra. He flies up to meet them and pleads with the vampire to let Odessa go. Stroking Odessa’s hair lovingly, Lyra says she’s pleased to meet Tien, and offers to make an alliance with him. In return for Tien’s help against her enemies, she promises to give him what he’s wanted for so long – vengeance against all those friends who left him to die in the cold. She will even release Odessa to him, unharmed. The vampire asks for a sign of his sincerity – subdue Harvey, who is still cluelessly wandering around the grove, and bring him to her.
At the party, Nix jumps out the window and climbs down a drainpipe to the ground. Knife-wielding boy pushes his way through the gyrating bodies on the first floor with little notice, except for some snickers from a couple of stoners. Outside, he finds Nix and attacks her, crying about how “she” is making him attack. Nix falls to the ground as they grapple, and is cut in the arm; sand spills out of it. Morrigan, badly wounded but still functional, stumbles towards them.
Meanwhile at Discovery, Tien subdues Harvey, and flies with his body towards Lyra and Odessa. Lyra smiles in triumph when she sees him, but Tien flings Harvey at her with all his strength. She cries out and is stunned by the blow: she manages to hold on to Odessa, but no longer has her in a tight embrace. Harvey’s unconscious body bounces off her and falls through the trees, breaking multiple branches on the way down to the hard ground.
There were some cool ideas flowing on the Story Games forum, so I stole one of them and came up with this: A Truly Silly Dungeon Crawl. Just for the pure fun of it. Let me know what you think of it, and if you actually play it let me know how it goes.
It’s copyleft attribution non-commercial share-alike, which basically means you can copy it, distribute it, and change it how you like, but don’t sell it.
The theme for 2014 was “There is No Book”, so I used the opportunity to explore the use of audio to explain a game. I wanted to emulate what happens in actual face-to-face sessions – usually only one person has read the game’s book, and then they teach it to the other players. So why not skip the book entirely and get to that core stuff? That’s what my humble attempt here was about.
The game comes in three files, one audio drama that presents the game’s setting, one play sheet with a summary of the rules, and another audio file of me explaining the rules to some friends. Here are the links:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9Pwq-FbdThtYWFCeTJ0U0ZoRW8/view?usp=sharing – this is a shorter version of the audio drama that introduces the setting of the game. Yes, it’s a bit choppy and amateurish, but it was all a labor of love done under a short time constraint; it gets the job done, I hope. Everyone who acted in it volunteered and gave generously of their time, my deep gratitude to them.
The audio files are mp3s, the play sheet is a Word document. Let me know your impressions – do you like the setting? Does the game system seem like something you’d like to try? I’d love to hear whatever you’d like to share!
The Hollows and Hobgoblins Blog 