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Major Arcana and Minor Indiscretions |
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Newsletter February 10th, 2007</TBODY> |
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<TBODY>Wade Lahoda |
Head Storyteller storyteller@saskatoonbynight.com or 477-0145 |
The official Saskatoon by Night webpage can be found at www.saskatoonbynight.com
Next Game Saturday, March 10th, downtime submissions due Saturday, February 17th
We’ll be wrapping up tonight’s game at 11:30pm or so due to venue constraints. Please bear that in mind when timing your roleplay.
Game fee shift to $5…
It looks like most people are in favor of raising the game fee to $5, with a few wanting it to go higher and very few wanting it lower. So, barring massive objections at wrap-up, the game fee for the next game will be $5. As usual, if you can’t afford to pay, don’t worry, no one is going to harass you over it. On the flip side, if you’ve got extra cash(maybe you were one of the folks pushing for a $10 game fee), we’ll always accept extra donations – every little bit counts, and moves us closer to having another game in a nice pay venue.
For the next game: Item Cards
Some of you have them already – little item cards with my initials on them. They provide a handy way of both keeping the stats of your important items on hand, and a way for me to keep track of who I’ve given out implements of destruction to. Before the next game, I’d like everyone to e-mail me if they have any items they would like cards for and they figure their character would already have – weapons and armor, even if cheap or easily available, will require cards if they have a game mechanics effect. Most other stuff will only need a car if it is exceptional or hard to get ahold of. I’ll also hand out cards to folks who have Artifact, Imbued Item, or Enhanced Item Merits. Then next month I’ll make sure everyone has what they should, and after that point I’ll hand them out as needed(things like “Weapon: Knife” or “Weapon: Club” are pretty much available for the asking, of course, but getting guns and Kevlar for those who swing that way will probably require downtime actions). Once they’re in play, the general policy will be “If you don’t have the card, you don’t have the item” / “If you lose/put in the laundry/accidentally eat your item card, your character has lost/put in the laundry/accidentally eaten his or her item”. We won’t be worrying about item cards this month, I just wanted to warn you for next month – it is probably something you should include in your downtime submission, in addition to experience spending, plot leadership nominations, and downtime actions.
Nominations for Plot Leadership points
As explained in last month’s newsletter, one of the experience points you can get is a point for “Plot Leadership”. You get this point for being active in the game and giving other players things to do. This doesn't mean your character has to be extroverted or a drama queen, just that their existence in the game gives other characters things to do. I highly encourage you to include nominations for these types of things in your downtime submissions – there is absolutely no reason why everyone can’t get this point at every game, but I can’t be everywhere at once. If you nominate someone in your downtime and tell me succinctly what it was they did to generate plot(as opposed to “was fun to play with”, or “did a funny thing during game”), I’ll almost always award the point.
Forums, webpages, and Yahoogroups.
This game is definitely one born of the 21st century. We have a webpage at www.saskatoonbynight.com. We have a forum at http://www.slarpa.com/forum2/viewforum.php?f=10(there’ll be a link to that on the webpage). We have a Yahoogroup – sbn_larp@yahoogroups.com. The Yahoogroup is used mainly for announcements, the webpage mainly for more static elements of the game, and the forum for discussions. It is worth checking out all of them right now, especially since things tend to get posted first to the forum, only to get later transferred to the webpage once a final form is decided upon.
The Duel Arcane
Since conflict between the Wise is bound to occur, some of you might be interested in the custom of the Duel Arcane.
Since time immemorial, mages have struggled against each other. Long ago, the orders codified and formalized their conflicts to allow the Awakened to settle their differences. Their system is known in common parlance as the Duel Arcane or wizard’s duel, a magical battle between mages.
The practice of the Duel Arcane dates back to the time of Atlantis, and remains largely unchanged since then. All the orders, even the Seers of the Throne, recognize the validity of a challenge from a fellow mage (although the non-Atlantean orders are more likely to cheat or ignore the results of a lost duel). The ultimate purpose of the Duel Arcane is to allow sorcerers to test their powers against each other without immediately fatal results.
The Challenge
The duel begins with a formal challenge or declaration of hostilities. The challenger informs the challenged of the nature of the dispute and the demands involved. It might be a formal apology over a point of honor, a dispute over possession of a Hallow or Artifact, or rights to a particular territory. The challenged mage must either cede the point (thus ending the conflict peaceably) or take up the challenge.
The challenge must be a one-on-one duel, one mage versus another. It’s possible and known for a group of mages to challenge another of equal number to simultaneous one-on-one duels, but the vast majority of the time the Duel Arcane is fought one on one. Should a group of mages have the audacity to challenge a lesser number of opponents (or even a single mage), the challenged is under no obligation to accept. Still, accepting such a lopsided duel may still be preferable to the alternative of facing a larger number of mages in open combat. There are also legends of powerful mages overcoming multiple opponents in a single Duel Arcane. (Mage: The Awakening, page 286)
Mechanically, you need someone with at least Prime 2 to Square the Circle and allow the duel to take place. The duel itself is a battle of raw magic and willpower – to Sleeper it simply appears as if the two Awakened are staring each other down, but those with the Mage Sight can see the magic clash between the two. Actual spells are not cast, instead the duel matches skill in the Arcana and magical puissance – in game terms, your success in the Duel Arcane generally depends on your Gnosis, your ratings in your two highest Arcana, and your Willpower. It really is a test of magical skill, not necessarily combat prowess. How you use the Duel Arcane in play is up to you, but I figured people might appreciate knowing about the option.
What needs to be a downtime action?
General lifestyle stuff doesn’t generally need to be represented by a downtime action – things like bringing in money and holding down a job are already represented by things like the Resources or Status Merits. You also don’t generally need to submit a downtime action for roleplaying things between PCs – some folks submitted downtime actions that amounted to “I talk with Jack’s character”, to which my response is “Well, go and talk to Jack, you don’t need my permission.” (As a side note, things like ferreting out information from other PCs or spreading rumors around the Consillium usually aren’t downtime actions, or storyteller actions at all – they just involve roleplaying with your fellow PCs) Downtime is meant to represent those tasks you are spending your time working on between sessions, be they large or small. Getting ahold of significant possessions usually requires one. Doing in-depth research (including an extended or in-depth examination of Resonance) requires one. Extended casting of a spell requires one. If you’ve ever found yourself saying “This doesn’t require a downtime action, since I could just keep rolling on it until I succeed/until I accumulate enough successes” – well, that is exactly the type of thing that a downtime action is meant to represent. You can read up on what I’m doing for Downtime Actions on the forums, or just ask me if you have a question. Remember, too, that if the letter of the tabletop rules seems to contradict the spirit of the downtime rules (or any other house rules), I’ll probably side with the house rules.
In Character Venue – Mendal Art Gallery
This Gathering is being held at the Mendal Art Gallery. You should still assume that layout is roughly the same – my general guideline for “How far is it to the nearest exit?”, is usually to say “Well, how far is it OOC?” and if people want to hold scenes outside or whatever, that people go outside to hold them.