For years I have served my Master faithfully. A loyal companion, I accompanied my Master through the difficult times, and the good times. Now, I am called in a moment of dire need: a Stranger has challenged my Master to a duel, alluding to time before me. My Master rises to the challenge, calling me forth. This is my moment. I have trained for this. It is time to do my Master proud.
My Master gives me the command:
I will, of course, obey. After all, I am a Good Dog.
Playing the same scenario over again is a tough proposition. As good as the first time went, finding something else to discover, some other way to engage with the scenario, or simply just another perspective is not easy. Admittedly, the core scenario of DIE, Reunited, isn’t any old module. This past month my group played it again, and doing things over again was a core component of the twist I introduced.
You’re likely familiar with the first time my group played Reunited, it’s the basis for Seamus’s review of DIE, and it was an incredible experience sinking our teeth into the game over one long day. There was interest in revisiting DIE this year, and my thought was there was going to be one of the scenarios for the game; last year I ran Distant Fans from the core rulebook and it went well, though not quite with the same gutpunch as Reunited. When the stars aligned and our gaming weekend was going to step down to six people on its final day, I decided to lean in to returning to the gutpunch. Arguably, I leaned too far.
Continue reading Adventure Log: If you could DIE all over againInfinite, ever-shifting, and sometimes dangerous, the Library exists in the space between worlds and times. Among the many who call it home are the Librarians, and only those who truly understand it may join their ranks. I seek to do so.
The path of a Librarian’s apprentice is a long one. My current task is designed to test my skills at traversing the Library and finding information. If I retrieve the six documents requested by my Librarian before the day is out, I will have completed one more step on my journey.
I think I’ll be okay. After all, I stumbled into the Library on my own and survived in the stacks for a while, dodging all manner of dangerous tomes and trespassers. Now I actually have training as an apprentice and the help of my familiar. the tumblefluff Dog ear, a library spirit who helps me navigate the stacks. That doesn’t mean it’ll be an easy task; after all, as the library itself once whispered to me, there are more things twisted here than plots.
Continue reading Solitaire Storytelling: The Librarian’s Apprentice
Every night at the Stellar Motel is a menagerie of the human condition. From my place behind the desk and some plexiglass, I watch elites and lowlives rub elbows, get into fights, and fall into each other’s beds. Last night was different: one of our guests was murdered, and no one seems much interested in finding out who did it or why.
As part of my job as the overnight clerk of the ‘No-Tell Motel‘ I’m supposed to help maintain the privacy of the guests, but I’m also supposed to keep an eye on them. The cops aren’t going to bother much with this, but now we’ve only got fifteen regulars left, and I’m sure it had to be one of them that did the killing. I’m going to have to watch them all like a hawk, because I’ve only got one chance to get this right.
Continue reading Solitaire Storytelling: No-Tell Motel Pt. 1
Check out part 1 of this Solitaire Storytelling here.
After more writing and more adventures, I’ve concluded my playthrough of Koriko: A Magical Year. The story I created, of Lapis, a witch-in-training who thinks she’s boring, ends up telling a pretty fascinating coming-of-age story. Lapis discovers how much bigger the world is than her village, how much deeper magic is than what her grandmother taught her, and how weird, wonderful, and sometimes terrible other people can be. All of those experiences and trials are filtered down from 65 pages of handwritten entries into seven letters home. Just like before, what the letters don’t tell is often as important as what they do…as the confession in the last letter so clearly broadcasts.
Continue reading Solitaire Storytelling: Koriko: A Magical Year part 2Mecha, giant robotic weapons of war, fly among the stars and stride across battlefields controlled by pilots – brave, terrified, determined, desperate – who will write the history books with beam fire and missile barrages. That is not my role.
My name is Armand Schole, and I’m the Chief Mechanic aboard the CHS Bern. It’s my job to repair, maintain, and maybe even upgrade a Mecha in-between missions. In doing so, I keep the Mecha in the fight. In doing so, I keep the Pilot alive. At least, that’s the goal.
In reality the supplies are never as plentiful as they should be, the allies not as dependable. I know better than anyone how fragile a Mecha can be. I know that the Pilot is not yet a legend, but an all-too fallible human being. I’ll do the best I can, it’s my job after all, but I’m all too aware how likely it is that when it comes to this weapon of war I’ll be…
Continue reading Solitaire Storytelling: The Cog That Remains
Koriko: A Magical Year is a solo game written by Jack Harrison. Using dice, tarot cards, and a journal, a player tells the story of a young witch going to the big city for the first time, and all that they learn there. Koriko is decidedly not a single session game; the experience is divided into seven ‘Volumes’ which each take 1-2 hours to complete. The benefit of a longer game is, just like with any other RPG, more time to sit with your character and see them develop.
Given the length of Koriko, I am about halfway done with the story of Lapis, a young witch from the village of Brod who communes with nature spirits and is looking for new experiences. So far Lapis has made new friends, discovered new skills, had a few dramatic failures, and might even be finding some romantic entanglements. Every season she writes a letter home to her grandmother and mentor, Yarrow, which I will include here. Needless to say, like any sixteen year old there are a lot of things she’s not telling her parents.
Continue reading Solitaire Storytelling: Koriko: A Magical Year Part 13, 2, 1…
Forte, Ichigo, and Matias have collected some winnings at the House of Dice casino, but someone is tipping the scales – and it’s not in favor of the bounty hunters’ employer. As the chips and whiskey fly, cybernetic eyeballs are put through their paces, and oddly similar figures move through the crowd, will the crew of the Progressive figure out who’s rigging the game?
Now Playing: Cowboy Bebop – Trifecta Tango Pt. 2!
Continue reading Cannibal Halfling Radio Ep. 24 – Now Playing: Cowboy Bebop – Trifecta Tango Pt. 2
DATE: 01/17/3728 Time: 1523
DESIGNATION: 09272024
UNIT: Paladin CHX-01
Today marks my first week in the CHVLR program, and is the day of my first deployment to the field. My SCS was installed three days ago, and I’ve run a few training simulations, but it’s the first time I’ve even been in the cockpit.
The Colonel says there is no other choice. The enemy is here and I have to stop them.
Paladin initializing. Systems green. Forrest McCoy, signing off.
A good heist requires an immense amount of careful setup. Details about the security, the target, the way in and the way out, the crew, the tools needed, all of those need to be studied and planned for extremely carefully in order to make success as likely as possible.
I have none of that.
There’s a big fancy estate up on that hill that I know has to be full of all sorts of goodies. There’s me. And there’s the cover of darkness.
I have no idea what I’m heading into tonight, where anything is, or how I’m going to get away, but I’m still determined to make a fortune with No Map, No Plan.
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