I prepared some introductory play material for The Mountain Witch for some recent public activities. When our Spelens Hus EABA game ran into on-and-off scheduling, some of the guys indicated they’d like to play it, so we prepared and played for a session. Now that EABA is concluded, we’re continuing with everyone.
- Tanaka (Nils): older, scruffy, entirely not-a-samurai any more, bearded, wearing a wide straw hat, armed only with the two swords; sign: Horse
- Oshiro (Filip): clearly a ronin for some time, with long hair, armed with a longbow in addition to the two swords; sign: Dog
- Saito (Neo): quite young, clearly having just become ronin and not accustomed to living rough, armed with naginata and the two swords; sign: Tiger
- Maeda (Arvid): young, stubble indicating the first re-growth from his samurai hairstyle, maintains as much of a samurai appearance as he can, stays as clean as possible, armed with a daisho; sign: Dragon
- Otake (Theo): middle-aged, armed with naginata and the two swords; sign: Monkey
I decided long ago to dial down the Abilities feature, and lately, I’ve found play to be greatly improved simply by eliminating it and having the characters be fully competent at anything samurai-ish, including a specialty weapon apiece if they want, and without any distinct “powers.” So the Dark Fate and zodiac sign are the only formal individualized features, in addition to the verbal content of why they’re a ronin and why they want the money from this job.
Of these, the only shared information is the zodiac sign, which sets the starting Trust (in the picture, green = 3, red = 0, no arrow connection indicates neutrality at 2). For those of you unfamiliar with the game, these are effectively the characters’ first impressions of one another.
I’ve also found that the game definitely needs a brief verbal portrait from each player, during play, as part of these first impressions.
Session 1
Our first session, with Arvid, Nils, Neo, and Filip, wasn’t recorded. I decided not to recycle any creatures or general situations from playing the game previously, treating this group play-time seriously as entirely its own experience.
I like to establish a bit of actual Mount Fuji geography in playing this game, so this time, I’ve been reviewing it more carefully. I’ve always been impressed with its shape, so perfectly conical like a kid’s too-simple drawing of a volcano, and I like to use the lake at its base as a starting point, but now, I also decided to use the historical pathways and routes of ascent as my guide to assigning content to the game’s formal Chapters.
I hadn’t played gaki (hungry ghosts) before, so I went for a real nightmare in the last moments of a chilly ruined town near the lake. They arrived as a Buddhist priest did his best to dispel the gaki, ultimately caught up in a gory fight. In fact, it was downright repulsive, considering the bloated, gaseous, sewage-saliva opponents, some obviously having been gaki for a while and others just now risen from being partly devoured. Maeda began in the most danerous circumstances, alone against the horde who killed the priest, but he nailed it with a 6 vs. a 1 … which tied in well with his starting enmity with Oshiro, suspicious that this untrustworthy fellow seemed not to have been in much danger.
This is a good opportunity to review the organization of combat in the game, which is extremely coherent and useful to apply across many systems, including back-extending aspects of it to The Pool.
- Determine who is fighting with whom
- You end up with one or more groups of foes engaged with one or more player-characters each
- Every combatant has its own die to roll
- Inside a given group, the dice are all rolled and the highest is taken as the value
- Exception: if someone inside a group spends a point of Trust, their die result is added to the result for the person in the group who granted that Trust (characters only; monsters, et cetera, don’t do this)
- The result for each group is derived from the difference between the two rolled values
- Weak, Able, and Strong characters differ in terms of how much damage they take from a given dice outcome, but they are all the same regarding how much they deliver from it (player-characters are Able)
At the end, I reminded them about the Dark Fates and clarified how they worked. Nils said that Tanaka sat by himself and made an entry in what appears to be a journal, and Neo described a group of very well-appointed, very high-status riders approaching the ruined village, proceeding from the lake just as the ronin had done (i.e., not from the mountain).
Session 2
For this session, knowing that we had an ongoing game at hand, I put some thought into what “Chapter 1” really meant as a playable unit. The text treats the concept essentially geographically, which I like, so I retained my usual concept that it’s the lakeside, foothills, initial walking paths, and the transition from small villages to “now we’re going up the mountain,” without getting very far. However, I made it a point for the whole game that I’m not going to repeat anything I’ve GMed before, and to rely on new monsters or general situations.
I really liked this preparation and play in terms of thinking about a “chapter” defined as the foothills. The prepared components all brought in different aspects. The village from the first session is now clarified and expanded by the general cold, the cats who’ve fled the village, and the riders approaching, or rather following, from afar. The cats were especially nasty, by which I mean, especially fun to play, since I knew that they wanted to enthrall the characters, as in, cats have servants, not masters or owners.
The mysterious squad of horsemen had been introduced by Neo as Dark Fate content, and I played it simply by having them approach, not as landing them with a sudden fight. They ultimately decided to avoid it and (mostly) act together, especially when Filip drew a schematic map of how he suggested the group should deploy, and it made sense to everyone.
I have some dice things to review for myself, in general and especially concerning this encounter.
- Can you have separate defenses against the same attacker, i.e., not include your die in your own group’s “stack” for highest value, or to put it differently, defend in such a way that you can’t be said to be working with the others at all? This is what Tanaka wanted to do in this encounter
- It doesn’t seem to fit, at first glance. Going strictly by the rules text, I should have split the attackers to provide a full separate roll vs. Tanaka, which also would also mean, assuming the same result for argument’s sake, that he was did not escape upon being clipped by the gunshot, and that this roll did not conclude his end of the confrontation.
- Or maybe I don’t have to split them, and give a foe (or group thereof) “separate attack rolls” in such a case, especially if it’s a general effect like the cold or a really dispersable group … but this is probably a bad idea, seems like borking some of the rules’ coherence and making foes way too strong.
- Can players chain Trust for an effective multi-die roll for the final recipient? A spends Trust pool from B to add to B’s roll, B spends Trust pool from C to add to C’s roll … it seems valid and arguably rather nice, thematically, but I need to go back to the book to see whether it’s explicitly acknowledged or prohibited.
In anticipation of the upcoming workshop, let’s take a look at authorities. For anything pertaining to the Dark Fate, the player says what it is and why, and the GM says what it does. Therefore in terms of authorities, I’m playing a lot of situation but must ask questions about a lot of backstory, or even be corrected when necessary. This is ordinary and common if you reverse player and GM, so the act itself is not hard, but I know it takes a session or two to everyone to realize it’s in play and that they have the responsibility to bring in the content before I can use it, and to be prepared with real backstory when it’s relevant (which is often).
I’m struggling to remember to GM the damn horses. I really should have disallowed them at the start, and barring that, I should have had Tanaka’s got shot or ran off in that last fight. I’m kind of stuck with them now, and it seems a Dark Fate has brought in a new horse too.
Now for Chapter 2, still basically geographic (where it’s set), but more dynamic, less up-the-mountain meet-the-thing, more “who is doing what.” Also, privately, each player assigned new Trust values, which establishes the new pools for this chapter.
- Tanaka receives from 3 Oshiro, 4 from Saito, 2 from Maeda, 2 from Otake
- Oshiro receives 2 from Tanaka, 3 from Saito, 1 from Maeda, 2 from Otake
- Saito receives 4 from Tanaka, 4 from Oshiro, 2 from Maeda, 0 from Otake
- Maeda receives 2 from Tanaka, 0 from Oshiro, 3 from Saito, 4 from Otake
- Otake receives 2 from Tanaka, 3 from Oshiro, 1 from Saito, 4 from Maeda
I’ve been playing with these guys for a long time, some of them almost weekly for three years. I’ve noticed that now, they reboot their sense of “what we’re here for” with every game and own it masterfully. The EABA game became somewhat idealistic, or at least bitterly hopeful in a blasted landscape, and people played into it or in contrast with it, as everyone noted, enjoyed, and commented upon as we went along. This one is only two sessions in, but already, the sense of brooding horror + extreme personal danger is already thick at the table. Their collective Trust is increased … but only a bit, variably so, and asymmetrically. Everyone is clearly aware that the danger is both external from the creatures on the mountain and internal among themselves.
Session 3
See the comment below for my thoughts about this one.
Session 4
See the comment below for thoughts and discussion.
Session 5
See the comment below for thoughts and discussion.
Session 6 (conclusion)
See the comment below for thoughts and discussion
6 responses to “Horror in the cold”
SESSION THREE (audio in post)
I set myself to some standards for this game. I don’t want to rush it, I want to develop my own enjoyment of genuine horror, I want to keep a good eye on the text so that any changes from it are really considered, and I want its player-side system features to be provided and practiced, not merely shoehorned in by me telling players to do them.
I mentioned above that I’ve tried to use creatures or encounter-concepts that I haven’t used before, so as not to have a “Ron’s Mountain Witch adventure” in my pocket, and I realized that I liked the idea of having lots of things going on, from the witch’s minions point of view, routine and otherwise, that occupy their attention and have them do things besides merely hurl themselves at the ronin. That applies as well to notions of the witch himself (O-Yanma). In this case I’m relying heavily on the Dark Fates as I know them (still incompletely) which include the witch in some way, to build him, and to bring him in indirectly and directly as a motivated presence. I’m also working with character perceptions and getting away from comics and cinema as aesthetic touchpoints, which I think I’ll talk about more later.
Here’s a good example of reviewing the text, especially parts that I would have said I knew. It was pretty firm in my head that we have four chapters, and I know I’ve stated it that way when using the game as course and workshop examples. Four, fixed. Except that it’s not. The four are given as a good example and possibly a default, but that’s not structurally a feature. You have as many chapters as makes sense, and in my case, it makes a lot of sense that we’ll have at least five. I want to develop actual NPCs more, as you’ll hear if you check out the recording, and the players clearly don’t want to rush their Dark Fates with big data drops.
I enjoyed playing this session but also, while editing the audio, found myself impressed with the players’ focus on content. It’s an especially good example of people permitting themselves outside commentary and even being goofy while at the same time being deadly intent on exactly what’s happening and where the fault lines among the ronin may be developing. It’s also great to see that the first chapter expressed the starting Trust levels pretty well, whereas this one (which is not quite complete) rode on a fair amount of “well, we have to trust one another” Trust investment, but then new pairings and suspicions are arising based on played events.
SESSION FOUR (audio in post)
I think it’s due to the nature of the game. The nonverbal interactions, as part of play, are much more continuous and significant than they’ve ever been among this group. I left in a lot of audio that doesn’t make much sense unless you know that people are looking at one another responding to expressions or nonverbal indicators of what their characters are doing or feeling. I don’t know how well those can be understood indirectly, e.g., Maeda decides to murder Tanaka, or Saito is clearly relieved that the others’ suspicions have fallen upon Tanaka and not upon himself, who, to be fair, is in fact responsible for the particularly nasty attack they’ve just weathered.
I loved the monsters I found. I did get a little confused in play as I’d planned on using the dream-eating baku …
But jumped the gun and went right in with the nurikabe as part of the “dream,” which didn’t really make sense but it was too late to fix it, so that’s what happened.
I liked this modern interpretation too
Plus Councillor Tohei, whom I’ve been looking forward to use as a newly-minted Witch’s minion, and why not reprise the split-into-creatures motif, but with nue?
I always try to do the top of the mountain differently. In this case, paying more attention to Fuji’s geography than I have before, I brought in the gashadokuro as actually the route up and over into the crater, to finish chapter 3.
Here are my preparation notes.
SESSION FIVE (audio in post)
This might have been a high point for playing this game for me, which is saying a lot considering how highly I rate the game as such.
preparation notes
Here are some things that you can’t see which mattered to play.
Sometimes when I say “you” it’s obvious at the table whom I mean, but confusing in audio-only. At one point I ask Arvid what he thinks or will do, and he responded with a glare at Nils, i.e., Maeda glaring at Tanaka, and I respond to that as if he’d said something murderous. Much later, when I finally switch to Nils playing his interaction with the Witch, the transition in audio is extremely abrupt although it was obvious to all of us in play.
The dice really screwed me during the session, and since everyone could see them, I didn’t describe or call out the numbers, just my reaction. My first roll for the fight with Yuki-Onna and the storm included a low number and a 1. At the next roll I say to Filip, “Oh, come on!” in response to his rolling another 6. Late in the fight, when things were particularly desperate for all sides, I rolled a 1 for each of them, which is when Yuki-Onna was defeated. I think you can hear one of the players say “double 1” or “snake eyes” or something like that, but it’s not very explicit.
Theo’s facial expression was particularly morally conflicted when Yuki-Onna presented Otake with honorable suicide, which led to a wave of response around the table; similarly, after Saito emerged victorious from praying under the blanket during the storm to find the frozen dead body of his lover, Neo’s expression can only be described as the perfect blend of realizing how appropriate it was vs. not wanting this to have happened, and again, there’s a round of raucous comment.
Oh, that reminds me – since both topics concerned suicide (Neo saying so rather bluntly at that point), and since I reminded everyone that we’re discussing/making fiction, Filip provided a rather concise Public Service Announcement regarding the hotline. The trouble is, although in play it was firmly stated without smirking or trying to be funny, in audio-presentation it actually comes off exactly that way, since you can’t see us and there’s some sympathetic laughter for Saito. So I feel bad about leaving it out but couldn’t see how it could be done properly.
I have a decision to make about chapters. At this point, we have Otake, Saito, and Oshiro with various wounds, carrying Maeda frozen nigh-to-death through the freezing lunar-like rubble; and we have Tanaka, having sipped tea with the Witch and fulfilled his vow, back at home with his wife and son restored … and having named Oshiro as the proper duellist for the Witch to face, effectively executing the other three.
So … do I switch to a new chapter? I’m still thinking about it. Chapter four would then include only the dialogue-only encounter with the puppets and the fight with Yuki-Onna and the storm, which isn’t much of a chapter although arguably it was astonishing dramatic enough to qualify. In that case, Maeda would get a chance to recover (or die, which is cool in this game), and everyone’s Trust could be re-configured … which makes sense since, for example, now they know Tanaka had a secret deal with the Witch all along, and the pairs Saito/Otake and Oshiro/Maeda seem to have finally overcome their initial distrust. Furthermore, I am considering that Tanaka might qualify as “dead” in rules terms, permitting Nils to play the Trust rules. On the other hand, I am sad to see all those lovely wounds disappear. I fought hard for those, 1’s and all.
SESSION SIX (audio in post) – the conclusion
… for which I am reduced to saying that this is why I do this activity. I don’t want to comment. I’d like to see anyone’s comments above for previous sessions, or here for this session or the overall experience.
A few general notes before I dive into my impressions.
1. I enjoy audio without the video. Purely a personal thing. But for me, play comes through better with just the audio. There is a radio-play quality about it. So for myself it is a perfect medium to enjoy other’s play.
2. “Ron gets mad at his dice.” Do you think that our personalities come out more when PLAY is good or interactions less guarded? Do bad rolls spoil your overall enjoyment of play?
Toward the end in the Epilogue, while the duel/fight/moment was happening you dropped in a few details. Color really that gave the events a little more depth and the players something to incorporate into their own actions If they wanted) or not. I thought that was a good example of “just enough”. I think some GMs struggle with that or might be afraid to add too much. But your input seemed to work. Was that calculated or was it more fluid, in the moment, here is how I can contribute to what is going on kind of things?
Regarding failed dice rolls, the reactions you’re hearing are delighted. Claiming agony, betrayal, frustration at the dice outcomes are all part of being delighted by them and their effects on play. You can hear the other players doing exactly the same, with all sorts of vocal responses, but never any actual resentment of the system or sense that the dice are ruining anything. “Betrayed again!” someone might proclaim … with no pouting, no glaring at anyone, no disconnect from play, and no rejection of content.
I don’t think I understand what you mean about personalities coming out. All of play concerns personalities being expressed, especially these six sessions of this game with these people. Or your phrasing about play being good or interactions less guarded. Can you re-phrase from scratch? The whole paragraph is incomprehensible to me.
I developed my general use of details over many years, including my observation that over-tuning play toward a specific other medium (cinema, comics, prose) with constant reference to that medium’s details was counter-productive. Also, more specifically, when I realized that Jack Vance’s prose was much less detailed than readers’ claims about his prose or their attempts to imitate or parody it. I studied it carefully to learn how he provoked such detailed clarity in the reading experience. I put my mind to it most often regarding exotic beings and monsters. As to your question of calculation vs. fluidity, there’s a point at which this distjnction is meaningless. I worked on it as a skill, which required practice, and now it’s a feature, which of course still benefits from practice in the broader sense.
More importantly, I try to encourage others at the table to do the same thing, which in this group is often expressed as “I imagine it as …” in order to own it, therefore to share rather than to dictate. Everyone is aware that everyone’s imagination is their own. Keep an ear open for someone besides me providing punchy details without trying to take over or manage the whole experience. Sometimes it’s visual detail tated verbally or pantomimed, sometimes it’s a motivational comment (“why Tanaka kept fighting”), sometimes it’s just humming a tune or making a face.