Beyond Rune Chads

Ah, Father's Day.

A chance to reflect on the Patriarchy and gather as a family. An opportunity to...game. In this session, somewhat uncountable now over 4 years, the Nobles in Exile found themselves looking at each other wondering: "Why are we still here?" 

Yes, they were all a bit surprised when I pointed out it had been 2 years since last we played. The world did not stop spinning while they sat happy and safe on the Isle of Man. No, all was not restored in their homeland. No one had given them back their privileged position in Glamorganshire. The young ones worked their fingers bloody crafting and weaving on the docks for the boats heading out. Now it was for what scant silver they could make whereas before it was for the joy of being with family on ancestral lands. Were it not for their talented mother and sister, at least one would have been taken by famine. And, oh alas their mother! The years had been hard on her. Slightly more bent of frame, just a little more feeble, she still looked every bit the noble Lady she had been prior to the destruction of their home those years ago.

"Why are we still here?" My dear, it is because you...never left. 

This session report really is about a group of players facing the reality of 1:1 time in a living world head on and the mechanics of them engaging with a world that had gone on without them. As a gamemaster, I am not going to create situations to drive engagement. This is a game for creative people to explore their creativity. There really are no "modules" on which to fall as crutches. There is no penumbra of a Sunken Citadel/Stone of Sakarra which emanates into this world. Not to say the sands of Zahar might not blow far to the South and East... Or the Lunar Empire might not at this very moment be marching to the West far from the coracles of Cymru. Who knows? Only the intrepid will ever find out.

RuneQuest has a very detailed process for aging and seasons advancing. It is not designed for 1:1 time however the span of engagement for people getting married, heading off to college, and entering the work force irl made the adaptation work very well. In this case, we needed to resolve characters experience rolls, identify interim occupations, resolve income and cost of living, establish progeny, evaluate effects of aging, and allow for intrigue/rumors.

The experience rolls were perfunctory and per the established rules. Not much to discuss and no great changes occurred. One character (maybe two??) is frighteningly close to Rune Lord status, more to come on that I am sure. No one is actively pursuing that goal and until they do, I will let it sit in the background.

Interim Occupations was a fascinating experience. Early in the game, the players had gotten used to being related to most of the people they ran across in the neighboring villages and similarly used to preferential treatment. In a neighboring land without relatives or status, they slowly realized things are much more difficult on the lower end of the social ladder. An important life lesson to be sure! This lesson was driven home by Income and Cost of Living resolution. This would have impacted the survival of any children born in the interim years, alas, none were born so infant mortality did not rear its ugly head. The effects of aging were more demonstrative of the fate awaiting all who sit and wait. When the matriarch of the clan takes ill, the clan suffers for it. This as much as anything prompted the players to movement. Which brings us to the rumors.

I owe BDubs1776 BDubs and Dragons an incalculable debt for mechanic of obtaining and resolving rumors in downtime. Using the Intrigue skill and allowing one roll per Season, each player could accumulate and use "rumor points" with stacking up to three points on any one rumor. This ended up being the majority of the session and brought us to an actual starting point for a proper session. Knowing what had transpired since last we played, I could only smile when one player said "Wouldn't it be interesting if the Giant and the Fountain were found together? What a plot tie in that would be!"

Oh, if only you knew the rest of the story! The #RuneChads know. With Discord up and running (Thank you #RuneChads and #NoPrepNovember!), a third PC group is starting up. Destitute and dodging both ogre and Telmori depredations in the Wild, several people are deciding to better themselves and take up adventuring. Seize a throne? Why not?

One of the three-point rumors was used to identify a ship that would take them to the ruins of the Temple of Llyr back near Home. "Maybe we could bribe the crew to make a side trip on the way!" Indeed, maybe you could. Blessed simple child, you think the path will be so simple and straight. You hurtle your bodies into the unknown. BWAHAHAHA!

Seeing the lights come on in so many eyes as they began to see they were only limited by what they wanted to game and not by any external rails was absolutely priceless. Now that they appear to be fully engaged, even I can not predict what comes next. Maybe a Dubstein is just around the corner after all...