Know Your Conflicts

Sometimes it’s easy for GMs and players to make the mistake of thinking that Combat is the only form of conflict that can harm characters. While combat is admittedly one of the easiest and most obvious means to inject tension in a game, it always helps to remember that there are other ways by which a game can present challenges that engage players.

Those familiar with the study of Literature have most likely run into a list of the different kinds of conflict before, but I think it bears repeating here:

• Man vs. Man – This is conflict between two characters of the same kind.  Combat is usually found here, though battles of wits are also part of this.
• Man vs. Nature – This is the central conflict involved in stories about survival against the forces of nature.  Despite being such a primal sort of struggle, I don’t seem to see a lot of GMs use this sort of thing on characters.  I think many fans of Rangers and other survivalist characters would rejoice at seeing more of these challenges.
• Man vs. Self – This is the sort of conflict that I would love to see more of.  Among the others in this list, this has to be the hardest to encourage since it has to come from the Player himself.  This sort of conflict deals with a character struggling with an aspect of themselves.  Tough moral choices, as well as crucial life-changing decisions are the sort of things that this form of conflict deals with.
• Man vs. Society – It takes a special sort of campaign to set up this sort of conflict, as it requires the players to be passionate about overturning the status quo.  Whether they’re rebels fighting against the established order, or a man going up against the apathy of modern society, this sort of game is usually not that common.  That said, this can also be one of the most rewarding once the changes that the player characters are fighting for start manifesting.
• Man vs. Supernatural – Man against something that he cannot comprehend.  Call of Cthulhu practically owns this sort of conflict, but it can also be used for any genre.  Ridley Scott’s Alien, and John Carpenter’s The Thing are both excellent films that use this.  This is a nice conflict to use but GMs have to be extra careful to not make it so bleak as to make resistance pointless.
• Man vs. Destiny – Interestingly this is another good conflict to try one time.  Fighting against destiny resonates deeply in a lot of people, and the idea of being able to change their fate is the sort of thing that could be the seeds of an Epic campaign.  Even now I’m seeing this work in a Supers campaign where the heroes are told by some sort of cosmic space god that they’re destiny is the doom of the world… and now the characters have to make sure that never happens.

GMs who are looking to try something new should consider mixing it up by tossing together two or more of these  forms of conflict in a single session.  It may add complexity, but it also adds further depth and challenge that your players may find more interesting than just another fight against a group of monsters.

Selfishness Ruins Games, Or The Importance of Meeting Halfway

Dialog, negotiation and compromise.  These are important things for any social activity, and roleplaying games are not exempt from this.  I often get rants from people who either GM or play in a campaign that they’re unhappy with.  Almost always, the cause of their dissatisfaction lies in the fact that either the GM or his players have inadvertently (or, in some rare cases, deliberately) run roughshod over some of the fundamental assumptions of a game.

I’m sure that these examples are not new to you:

• The Bait-and-Switch GM, who promises one thing and then pulls the rug out from under you, undermining all your assumptions in character creation by running the campaign in a manner completely different from his pitch to get an edge over his players.
• The Absolute Control GM, whose narrative is forged in steel, unyielding and hateful of the efforts of the Characters.  It is an uncaring, stoic campaign whose events unfold merely at the GMs whim, and only when the GM allows it.  The player character’s efforts are merely doodles on the margins of their sacred story.
• The Solipsist Player, who insists on a character with a concept so removed from the campaign that it becomes impossible for them to actually join the rest of the party or participate in the conflict central to the game, forcing the GM to somehow reach out and conform to their concept in an effort to have anything interact with that character at all.
• The Combat Savant Player, who insists on a character so specialized in hurting things as to be incapable of meaningful social interaction for the sake of being a combat monster.  Nevermind that soldiers and combatants are often highly educated in order to be capable to begin with, the only thing that truly matters is their personal survival.

Each and every one of these are prime examples of people who have refused to listen, and refused to compromise.  There is an inherent selfishness in this sort of thinking, as people who exhibit this sort of behavior are putting their enjoyment before others.  Much in the same way that toddlers refuse to share toys, these GMs and Players are unwilling to surrender their ideas towards a collaborative effort such as an RPG.

In many ways, an RPG is like a potluck dinner, where the GM is the host and the players are the guests.  Ultimately everyone brings something to the table, and everyone else gets to enjoy it.  The GM has greater control over the experience, but ultimately even they have to submit themselves to the communal pool of ideas.

So what am I really getting at?  Well, to sum it up simply, I’d like to encourage everyone who has these kind of issues to have an honest-to-goodness conversation.  And by conversation, I’m not talking about just spewing demands in the other person’s face, but the honest-to-goodness kind of communication where each party takes turns speaking and listening and providing feedback.  This isn’t the place for passive-aggressive behavior either.  Be honest about what you expect, and what you plan to do, and see if you can work something out amongst each other.

Ultimately it all falls to trust.  It’s easy to be selfish if you don’t trust the other people in your group.  Open yourself up to the possibility of collaboration and see just how well your next session goes.

Players: Take Some Time To Read Up On The Setting

There’s something deeply rewarding about being able to play in a game that has a complex and elaborate setting.  Legend of the Five Rings, Exalted, World of Darkness, Fading Suns, Shadowrun, Eclipse Phase… these are all games which have a fairly steep learning curve when it comes to understanding the nuances of their settings.  These games are ones that take a long time to teach new players.  The various intricacies of social mores, standards, laws and customs can be daunting to new players.

But for those who really sit down and try to learn and understand these settings, the rewards are enormous.

This is perhaps the reason why I highly encourage players to read the backstory and setting details of the game that they’re about to play.  Like in many other hobbies and activities, people can derive more enjoyment in an activity by putting more into it.  By taking that extra step of reading up on the details of a setting, the player arms himself with the information he needs to portray his character better.

The benefits of this is apparent even as early as character generation, as knowing a setting allows you a better understanding of what kind of character concepts work for a given game, as well as how certain kinds of characters may think of behave.  A player who has read the Dragonlance novels, for example, will know exactly how a Kender thinks and talks much better than someone who just rolled up the character based on stats alone.

Likewise, taking the time to read up on the campaign setting takes an enormous burden off the GM’s shoulders.  While most GMs don’t mind easing new players into a complex setting, showing some initiative by reading up on the setting first helps smooth out the play experience, by reducing the need for the GM to give random information dumps for the sake of players who didn’t bother reading the book.  The end result is seamless play that doesn’t slow down as much to explain something that would have been “obvious” to the characters, but obscure to the players who haven’t read the book.

Finally, players who have read up on the setting can make better decisions.  Sometimes knowing that little tidbit about the setting can be the difference between a clever move, and something that is “obviously” stupid from the point of view of a character living in the setting.  While the GM can (and perhaps, should) take time out to warn players if something is clearly a bad idea from any self-respecting and sane member of society in the setting, it would be much easier if the players knew about it beforehand.

—

A little bit of reading never hurt anyone, and in this case Players have everything to gain by taking some time to read up on the finer points of the setting.  Games with complex settings often turn out to be some of the most interesting and rewarding campaigns, but only if you’re willing to put in the time and effort to make it happen.

[nMage Manila by Night] Illustrados (“The Enlightened”) – Silver Ladder

Led by the ruthless and authoritarian father-figure known as Maestro, the Illustrados are a predominantly Silver Ladder Cabal dedicated towards establishing full control over the Supernatural World of Manila.  Tracing their history back to the Awakened secret societies in the days of the Spanish Occupation, almost all the Illustrados come from a complex network of Proximi families with Spanish blood.  Rarely do the Illustrados recruit from those who do not come from la familia, and those that do end up in the cabal find that they are treated as outsiders and second-class members.  Still, these mestizo are often the most dangerous of the Illustrados as they are more than eager to prove their worth to their superiors.

The Illustrados are the powers behind the throne, careful power-brokers that sit on boardrooms and shake the hands of politicians in private function rooms. Their influence is that of the Padrino system, agreements based on nepotism and cronyism, making sure that their interests are served without being easily traced back to them. This approach has made them quite the target of the local Seers, who tend to frequent similar circles and practice similar tactics.  Little wonder then that Maestro is a severely paranoid man who has little in the way of scruples when it comes to taking harsh punitive action to those that threaten him and his Cabal.

Maestro

The Moros Willworker called Maestro is a severe and physically imposing eighty-year old man with a perpetually disapproving scowl.  Given to dressing in tailored suits and sporting luxury watches, Maestro is the undisputed patriarch of the Illustrados.  Decades of fighting the other Supernaturals for control of Manila have made Maestro a bitter, spiteful man with a healthy dose of paranoia.  On the other hand, it has also instilled in him the kind of discipline and savvy that has made the Illustrados one of the most feared Cabals in the city.  He takes his role as the padre de familia very seriously, and treats his Cabalmates as his very own children.  Maestro’s Nimbus is a wave of primal terror that young children experience upon being subjected to the scrutiny of a disapproving parent.

[L5R - Never a Dull Blade] Actual Play 14 – Nobody Expects the Rokugani Inquisition! (Long)

This session was the last one of Year 2 Spring Arc for Never a Dull Blade, and from the way it looks, was thematically tied in to three major investigations across several mysteries.  After the mess caused by the Tsuno attacks in the last session, the team was busy trying to make sure that the Tsuno would not be able to bring in more of their numbers again within the city. 

Kitsu Tetsumi had discovered that the Tsuno were able to uses sites of murder or violent death in order to create portals to attack, and the team formulated a solution to that.  The plan was simple enough, given that Tetsumi was also one of the Keepers of the Temple.  She and Matsu Hiroto worked together to formulate a ritual that could be added onto the traditional Spring blessing of the various districts to purify the regions and dispel the taint of murder and slaughter.

To hasten the process, they created three mobile altars, each carrying a statue of one of the three patron Fortunes of Two Rivers Town: Bishamon, the Fortune of Strength, Ebisu, the Fortune of Hard Work, and Daikoku, The Fortune of Wealth.  Each of the altars were tended to by the Shugenja in the town, including several guests, including Isawa Kazuki, an Ishiken from the Phoenix, as well as the two investigators sent to study Tetsumi’s ability with the dead: Jade Champion Asahina Sekawa, and Toturi Sezaru, the Wolf, brother of the Emperor.

—

Having managed to formulate the plan against the Tsuno, Akodo Kenji, the Lion’s Shadow brought up a more pressing issue.  With the help of the Crab courtier Yasuki Jiro, he was able to determine the identities of the blacksmiths that were working for Miyata, the rebel that was commissioning gaijin weapons for a rebellion against the Samurai Caste.  In order to safely perform the ritual, they had to make sure that there weren’t any sort of wayward rebels hoping to kill Toturi Sezaru after all.

And so the team shifted gears, Akodo Senji, the tactician putting his knowledge of battle to the test as they got ready to make an arrest.  Yasuki Jiro’s information was troubling.  All of the blacksmith craftsmen that were recruited to craft the components of the rifles were to be gathered together to meet with Miyata himself.  Jiro managed to win the confidence of Kintaro, one of the blacksmiths, and was to be introduced to Miyata as a sympathizer to the cause.  Kenji was to go with him, disguised as a yojimbo.  They were to meet in the next evening in a boat on the river.  The team had their misgivings, but this was their best opportunity as getting the information they needed.

Kenji and Jiro infiltrated the boat, pretending to be smugglers as they were brought onto the ship with Kintaro.  Kenji noticed that the other people on the ship were all trained to fight, and were not the sailors that they were pretending to be.  They were introduced to a nondescript young man, who introduced himself as Miyata, and were then led below decks to discuss matters in further detail.  Hiroto, Senji and Tetsumi were on full alert, hiding and preparing, but despaired when they saw their comrade led deeper into the ship.

Kenji was alone save for Jiro’s assistance, and it was after some talk about thanking the Blacksmiths for their service to the cause, Kenji was growing steadily nervous.  The Blacksmiths were paid, and when they tried to leave the ship, the doors were apparently locked.  The “Miyata” thanked them again, assuring them that the rebellion would go on thanks to their assistance, and instructed someone named “Tsuke” to go and cast a spell.  Kenji and Jiro were caught in an explosion from the hold of the ship, which was carrying gunpowder.  Thankfully, both of them survived (albeit with severe burns) and more importantly, Kenji remembered the name of one of the conspirators.

The team wasn’t about to let these conspirators get away with their attempt to wipe their trail clean.  The team tried to rescue the surviving blacksmiths, subdued any rebels that tried to kill themselves, and cast the necessary spells to try and scry into the spell used to keep tabs on the inside of the bat.  Matsu Hiroto was surprisingly able to commune with the Water Kami to reverse engineer the scrying spell, getting a face of the shugenja that was working with “Miyata”

The discovery was chilling, as they recognized that the shugenja was none other than Shiba Tsuke, the current Master of Water, who had ascended to the position only due to the execution of Doji Akiko.

Thankfully with quick medical attention, the two samurai were able to recover from the explosion.  Well aware now that one of the Elemental Masters is involved in this, they decided to do the right thing… see if they could bring this information up to the Phoenix Clan before this becomes another major incident and the spark of a war between Clans.

—-

The team went back to the procession first, as they were determined to not leave any loose ends anymore.  The procession happened without any further complications, but Kitsu Tetsumi was called in to speak with Asahina Sekawa and Toturi Sezaru with regards to her ability.  Alongside her adoptive father, Kitsu Juri, she was asked to demonstrate and explain her abilities.

It was during this demonstration that it became apparent that her ability to speak to the dead and convey their wishes was similar to the ancient practice of the Itako shamans from the days of the Dawn of the Empire.  The fact that this was an inborn ability of hers, and one that didn’t rely on the kami at all meant that it was a form of natural “magic.”  It also meant that she couldn’t convey it to anyone else but her own children.

This was a very big reveal, as it meant that when she marries, her children would be the heirs to this unique power, and any Clan that marries her could have access to an ability that could speak with the dead as well.  Sezaru and Sekawa documented their findings, apologizing in advance as this information would have to be entered to the Imperial libraries, and this would mean that the other clans could find out about her sooner or later.

Tetsumi was well aware of that fact, and so was her father.  Whoever her husband would be, should be very qualified indeed if he was to marry her.

—-

With things finally settled in Two Rivers, the team set their sights towards two pressing matters.  Kitsu Tetsumi wanted to begin her training with the Dragon Clan to become a monk, as she was hoping to found a monk school for her own Clan.  Meanwhile, Akodo Kenji, now the Diplomat of the Lion was tasked to bring the bad news to the Phoenix.  Accompanied by Akodo Senji and Matsu Hiroto, Kenji trekked up north, making their way to speak with Shiba Mirabu, the Champion of the Phoenix Clan.

Mirabu listened to their case, and their accusations.  The fact that one of the Council was actually involved in what amounted to treason against the empire was a serious charge, but having three Lion delegates present meant that the Military Clan was certainly not kidding.  With the assistance of Isawa Yuri, the student of Shiba Ningen, the Master of the Void, they were able to set up a meeting with the Elemental Council.

The accusations were made and serious debating in the Elemental Council ensued, with Mirabu serving as a tie-breaker.  Isawa Yuri volunteered the use of the spell to see through lies, and Shiba Tsuke did not allow himself to submit to it, instead asking for the Lions to leave the chambers so that he could address his clansmen.  The Lions were not happy about it, but stepped outside the chamber.

Tsuke gave an impassioned plea, admitting to his working with Miyata in an attempt to find out the extent of the conspiracy, as well as to serve as a double agent.  He reasoned that his attempts to study them would make it easier for the Phoenix to end the rebellion in one fell swoop, and in a manner that could end the rebellion and any other insurgencies like it.  His honor was compromised, yes, but this was for the greater good.

Shiba Ningen refused to listen to this argument, saying that over and over again, the Phoenix have made compromises with evil in order to serve the greater good, and always with tragic results.  The cycle of compromise born from arrogance must end.  And that change must begin with the Elemental Council.  Mirabu sided with him and the rest of the Council came to the decision.

The Lions were allowed inside, to find that the Master of Water was bound and gagged, and presented to them by the Council to stand trial in Lion Lands that justice may be served.  Kenji realized the political repercussions of this, and how such a move could greatly improve the reputation of the Phoenix Clan while fostering closer ties to the Lion.

—

And so the Year 2 Spring arc ends with the conclusion of several ongoing investigations.  The Tsuno are still a problem, but now the Lion and the Phoenix are united to ending the threat of Miyata and his peasant rebellion.  Kitsu Tetsumi’s heritage has been revealed to the Imperial Records, and no doubt she’ll be struggling with a deluge of interested suitors, many of which will be after her for the benefit of their clan.

Next session will be the wrap up for Spring and the beginning of the Summer arc, where war lingers in the air in other places in Rokugan, and the Lion may be forced to pick a side in conflicts that don’t necessarily involve them directly, but could influence their standing in the Empire at large.