Post by janewalksfar on Mar 12, 2016 22:51:07 GMT
I won't regale you with all the tales of my heroes' shenanigans, but I do want to share one of those moments from last night's session when all the planning, world-building, and storytelling came to brilliant fruition.
The heroes are a trio of friends (Gearpin the tinker gnome, Bill the ranger, and Gust the cleric of Strife) who grew up in a magically self-contained community called Cocoon. Hidden under the ruins of a dwarven stronghold, Cocoon has provided refuge for 7 generations after a war between wizards and human technology broke the world, leaving it a desolate wasteland. Only high level rangers, lead by Jaguar Mary and including Bill's mom Mrs. Sussman, travel to the surface.
The heroes discovered a hidden passage to the surface, but their final days in Cocoon were troubled by the unexpected arrival of Mrs. Sussman with an uncanny stranger--the 1st outsider to enter Cocoon in generations. As they prepared for their own departure, the heroes were shocked by news of violence: Jaguar Mary attacked two members of Cocoon's high council, killing one, before being disarmed by Mrs. Sussman and fleeing up the Vaulted Stairs with the stranger in pursuit.
For the past 6 sessions, the heroes have been exploring the Waste Land and Bill's been stubbornly avoiding thinking about the role of his mother and his mentor played in the murder. Gearpin, the tinker gnome, has created a number of fireside conspiracy theories and the well-meaning cleric of Strife has managed to overlook, destroy, or mis-interpret all the clues I've seeded into the game.
Last night they arrived at an astronomer's tower where they met an important NPC. We'd just taken a break so there was still quite a bit of table-chatter going on. I hear the fellow who plays Bill announce, "This is a waste of time. I just want to find Jaguar Mary" as he and the cleric begin searching through the astronomer's library. He rolls his search and discovers a leather-bound journal written in a familiar script: Jaguar Mary's travelogue.
The table EXPLODED. Bill's player jumped to his feet as his character began interrogating the astronomer, "HOW DID YOU GET THIS???". The gnome started screaming conspiracy theories. The cleric began trying to connect the dots. It was beautiful.
This encounter had been planned for a while as the hook back into the main story arc. But after sessions of player shenanigans: lots of crafting, lots of setting things on fire, I'd started to doubt how much they cared about (or even remembered) the early story-driven elements of the game. Turns out the mystery of Jaguar Mary and the uncanny stranger has occupied an important place in my players' minds. They each have theories, fears, and plans about these NPC's motives and what they're going to do when they find them again.
Mission accomplished.
