A Whirlwind of Order
Dec. 6th, 2023 10:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebeYesterday I did a bit of work to move Unlicensed Adventures to World Anvil. I could grow to like it, I think, once I figure out how to build a document structure that works for me. World Anvil has its out-of-the-box set-up that seems made for more general world-building and document linking, and I'm looking forward to taking advantage of it -- but it's a bit of a barrier to just setting up a session planning template and running with it.
But it's nice to sit back and create a space where I can write down all of the group's current "quests". In the main plot there are like, eight specific objectives across three quest chains. And I think there are likely to be about a dozen more PC quests once I actually write them all down -- mostly carried by Tarn and Hurik, though Veris' overall backstory and character arc needs to be hammered out and tied into the endgame.
Looking at all of this written down, it's no wonder that the group feels stretched thin. There are like, 20 things they could be doing at any given moment and many of them are ticking down with no idea when the alarm goes off. I'll have some work to do settling things down and making the plot feel less like an explosion and more like a slippery slope. :)
Which brings me to the game on Friday, which I've been struggling with. Right now the group is chasing down a lead that may help them uncover what's going on with the Stonehoof Mine, which has been plagued by monsters of late. Mycah Zol, a human merchant and mage, is intimately involved with Mrrog, a Leonin with a position at the Empire's embassy -- and Aesen Stonehoof's arch-rival. Aesen set up a confrontation between the group and mercenaries that Zol frequently hires to put the mage on their radar. It backfired a bit, and now the group is pissed at Aesen.
But they're also pissed at Mrrog, too. Mrrog insulted Tarn's honor in their first meeting, and he responded by chasing the younger Leonin down and forcibly shaving his mane -- a HUGE insult in their culture. Mrrog managed to get the Unity Guard to back off, challenged Tarn to a duel, and disappeared into the crowd. When Tarn arrived, the group was ambushed by more mercenaries.
Meanwhile, the group is trying to find a way into the Leonin Embassy so they can find incontrovertible proof of war plans against the Wolven Empire. Veris, a Haunted One ratfolk, is in possession of an evil, intelligent artifact that is somehow related to the Mephistopheles Cult stealing 1,000 souls to summon someone called "the Little King". And there's the cult itself, the College of Infernal Knowledge, which seems to be training Leonin mages who command impressive control over hellfire.
It could be a really fun, intense story -- but I have to figure out what I'm doing with it first. That's why I turned to World Anvil, to have a space to write down my thoughts and find the hidden connections within them. I'd like to have some of the PC backstory connect to the game plot, but not everything. Some of the "loyalty" missions on the table might provide a nice counter-point to the main plot, or serve up variation on the themes.
I just need time to work on it. :) I'm hoping that putting in a little bit of time every day will yield good results, but I've just started the experiment so we'll see. For now, I just need to put together a game for Friday.
It's not looking good for me to do that today, though. I'm putting in a half-day at work, and then doing a second interview for a Queer Christians of Color study I'm helping with. Then it's off to the dentist for a cleaning, then probably the gym, and then probably right to Curse of Strahd tonight. I'm looking forward to step into the scaled talons of Sir Zondra Taltos, Dragonborn Vengeance Paladin! But I'm also looking forward to having a bit of downtime so I can concentrate on my own shit.
But it's nice to sit back and create a space where I can write down all of the group's current "quests". In the main plot there are like, eight specific objectives across three quest chains. And I think there are likely to be about a dozen more PC quests once I actually write them all down -- mostly carried by Tarn and Hurik, though Veris' overall backstory and character arc needs to be hammered out and tied into the endgame.
Looking at all of this written down, it's no wonder that the group feels stretched thin. There are like, 20 things they could be doing at any given moment and many of them are ticking down with no idea when the alarm goes off. I'll have some work to do settling things down and making the plot feel less like an explosion and more like a slippery slope. :)
Which brings me to the game on Friday, which I've been struggling with. Right now the group is chasing down a lead that may help them uncover what's going on with the Stonehoof Mine, which has been plagued by monsters of late. Mycah Zol, a human merchant and mage, is intimately involved with Mrrog, a Leonin with a position at the Empire's embassy -- and Aesen Stonehoof's arch-rival. Aesen set up a confrontation between the group and mercenaries that Zol frequently hires to put the mage on their radar. It backfired a bit, and now the group is pissed at Aesen.
But they're also pissed at Mrrog, too. Mrrog insulted Tarn's honor in their first meeting, and he responded by chasing the younger Leonin down and forcibly shaving his mane -- a HUGE insult in their culture. Mrrog managed to get the Unity Guard to back off, challenged Tarn to a duel, and disappeared into the crowd. When Tarn arrived, the group was ambushed by more mercenaries.
Meanwhile, the group is trying to find a way into the Leonin Embassy so they can find incontrovertible proof of war plans against the Wolven Empire. Veris, a Haunted One ratfolk, is in possession of an evil, intelligent artifact that is somehow related to the Mephistopheles Cult stealing 1,000 souls to summon someone called "the Little King". And there's the cult itself, the College of Infernal Knowledge, which seems to be training Leonin mages who command impressive control over hellfire.
It could be a really fun, intense story -- but I have to figure out what I'm doing with it first. That's why I turned to World Anvil, to have a space to write down my thoughts and find the hidden connections within them. I'd like to have some of the PC backstory connect to the game plot, but not everything. Some of the "loyalty" missions on the table might provide a nice counter-point to the main plot, or serve up variation on the themes.
I just need time to work on it. :) I'm hoping that putting in a little bit of time every day will yield good results, but I've just started the experiment so we'll see. For now, I just need to put together a game for Friday.
It's not looking good for me to do that today, though. I'm putting in a half-day at work, and then doing a second interview for a Queer Christians of Color study I'm helping with. Then it's off to the dentist for a cleaning, then probably the gym, and then probably right to Curse of Strahd tonight. I'm looking forward to step into the scaled talons of Sir Zondra Taltos, Dragonborn Vengeance Paladin! But I'm also looking forward to having a bit of downtime so I can concentrate on my own shit.
