Venicia: Quest Design - Flow Chart

What I have created below is a flowchart based on how I create quests.

It is designed to be flexible so that it can be changed to suit the needs of the situation as well as informative enough that the extra preparation allows for "off rail" play. You can say perhaps change the NPC quest giver to a physical item or predesignate available solutions. Even thinking of how the same task can be completed in multiple ways is advantageous.

This can also be scaled down as well. An NPC requires delivery of an item. It is valuable but dangerous and may be unstable. The NPC  is an archaeologist, wanting to move goods from a dig site to a research camp.  It has been advertised on a local guild bounty board. The PCs have gotten so far as to the dig site but now they must transport the items. Their new goal would be to find a form of transport. Depending on what they choose would affect the safety of the party but this choice could be considered a small aspect by a GM, I know I have forgotten to think about small things like that. I've sometimes forgotten to given my party any form of ambient help  and no possibility to continue or I've been unprepared for player ingenuity,

If you see quests as as a series of choices and events it will allow you to prepare for a few different outcomes. It will not only expand your own understanding as a GM but may also help create a more 'satisfying' quest than initially thought. It will also give you a framework to adapt if you want to improvise. All components can be changed to suit individual games but it may or may not work as this is beneficial to my playstyle. I have stated before I'm pretty new to GM'ing and the community in general so I've been designing ways to help.

On a side note I got more research materials for Venicia game design for Christmas.

Let me know what you think.

Happy New Year!

/Drew - Tesla

Numenera: Auspar - The Long Game

Hope everyone is enjoying the festive period. I want to say thankyou for the two and a half thousand views over Christmas week.

 Me and the TSC group have been on hold for two weeks and this week things finally start rolling for Saturday's game. Firstly there will be two player additions to the game; two gentlemen by the name of Danton Scalar and Gur Tallan. The player of Chloe will be taking over a new role of Jarvi Keito. With this addition the game dynamic has changed. The setting will be taken out of Auspar and into the Steadfast of Thaemor and the wider world. I'm still wanting to learn more mechanical story elements and so my second addition will be a homebrewed version of the Stars Without Numbers' factions system.

I don't know how much of next season will be influenced by my seriously long playtime with DA:I but factions and war have become a little bit of an inspiration.  I knew I was sowing the seeds of a war but the style of how it was presented in Dragon Age gave me an idea. I am always keen to run a living world and for a 'war' to take place there are factions and therefore needed a mechanical narrative aspect to them. The reason I chose the SWN system was twofold, one because Adam Koebel /@skinnyghost 's thorough walkthrough of turns on Twitch and YouTube, but also because part of the initial group for TSC was brought together through that game.  I may perhaps in future dedicate a small portion to the GM turns I will take with this system. For now I have set up the initial parameters for five factions, with a spot open for a player faction.

These factions are the Nibovians, the Purple Order, The Shadow Guard, the Hawk-Eyes and the newly created Shadow Guard. The latter is an amalgamation of three factions; Melch, the Rings of Melch and The  Grapnel Guard. The narrative explanation for this is due to the new leader of Auspar and Thaemor is under Melch's control, but due to the Chancellor not  showing signs of madness, the City Guard have sworn allegiance again to the monarchy. The name itself will not be used in game and will therefore not serve as a narrative link between the merging of factions. Although much can already be inferred from season one about the state of affairs in the monarchy, I am keeping the full disclosure ready for if one of my players explicitly links it all together.

As for planning things have gotten far easier since I moved the game out of the city. It has allowed me to use the Numenera Maps Glimmer and since I'm using Roll20, covering the entirety of them in places to go. These are now due to a list of quests with the average first destination placed on the map for player reference.  As I was talking earlier of a player faction, this is where the Darkperch quests come into play, the more they do for Darkperch, the more of a faction reputation they build. There are also Auspar quests, the city is currently being rebuilt after the disaster but if my PCs want to return to this place then they can help the rebuild efforts. The last list is bounties. As revealed in season one, the Hawk-Eyes are not just big game hunters they are also bounty hunters, although this fact is lesser known. As multiple members of my PC party are affiliated with this group I thought it fitting that there would be presented a few straight up, generic kill quest; of course with a few twists. My players also have an option to follow individual quests about their own characters as well as having the option to generally explore.

For the generated quests I have turned to a very useful tool I had used previously to help me tie all the narrative threads together for the first season. That programme is Visio, a flowchart maker. I have found these invaluable for plotting for my essays at University and have found endless uses for structuring narrative. This programme also allows me to map a quest chain. The points I  plot are specifics, such as background lore, cyphers, or roll conditions. They are dispersed between plot points, narrative anchors that act as waypoints. Between point A and B is not my decision, I can only try my best to get my party to B if that is my intention. This also allows me to look at where I present player urgency.

Sometimes a sequence of events will result in a GM asking questions, even if unintentionally. Usually it is these latter ones that cause an on rails to suddenly go off track if given enough freedom. To me this will always happen, I tend to improvise my games and sometimes even I decide to do something cooler in the heat of the moment and not really think about what it would mean for the rest of the game. So  I have tried  to at least guide myself on the questions I should be asking by plotting those as the 'events' that my players must get to, allowing anything else that happens in-between to occur as naturally as possible. There is however also a portion of control you can take, limiting situational factors as well as understanding your players motives rather than their characters can help change the course of action by putting what you want to happen after an event that a player will be drawn to and complete. Saving life, restoring peace, finding a love for the rest of their life, or a one night stand. Knowing how your players' needs  play their characters and their character's needs will allow you to guide the plot if you so desire, as long as you meet the needs of the individual.  Using this format has also allowed me to link events together, to create parallel timelines and events that do not have to occur sequentially but are linked in some way, allowing me to create a layer of complexity in a visual fashion.

• GMs: Research flowcharts and try to write up the last encounter for your players. Analyse what factors contributed to the event and what decisions were available to your players, not just the ones you asked.
• Players: Tell your GM about your short term and long term goals, tell them what motivates you as a player and as a character. 

To my readers, if you have a favorite PC, NPC, location, theme, event or Numenera, in fact any suggest for season two and you will be duly accredited, I'm hopefully going to include a lot more of the community in my games from now on. 

/Drew - Tesla

Numenera: Auspar - Schrödinger's Gun

I just want to say a huge thank you for the support I have received for the first season of the Shattered Child, [Virtual high five]. More news on that at the end.

Also a warning, blogs from here on out will be using all the details from the Shattered Child season one. If you haven't read it all and don't want to be spoiled, then go and read it.

So Schrödinger's Gun, a mashup of Chekhov's Gun and Schrödinger's Cat. The gun part of the term essentially means if presented with a gun at the start of a play, it should go off in the second. For me, nothing should be wasted, if you are going to create something for your game, keep it, reuse it, repurpose. Coming back onto familiar things that have changed or perhaps even remained the same will influence your players actions. The Schrödinger part is essentially something can exist in as many states as possible until observed. Your plot should be as fluid as this implies. The whole idea is that even if you have a predestined route for your party as a GM, nothing should be set in stone.

In the CoreBook of Numenera, there is a section on alternate realities. A way for running games regardless of team composition. Events become fluid, important items move from one character to another and conversations happen between different people.  When one player cannot make it to the game, their actions that have meaning are transferred to other party members for the plot to continue without narrative dissonance.  Schrödinger's Gun is essentially this principal for GM's but for future events.

Play agency is something I've tried to work into my game the most out of any tenant of game making. I may have the ultimate say over what happens in the end, it the players that give me the action. I change and alter the plot I have coursed for the group depending on their actions. If they choose to do something out of the ordinary, kill an important NPC or even become best friends with the opposition, then I have a responsibility to respond. Some would plot armour, others demand high rolls but for me I am the interface for the game, and I am responsible for making it fun for them. If they want to do something I should be flexible. If someone was meant to attack at a certain point and now cannot, then something else should attack instead. If information needs to be revealed, it will happen in a different way. Although this might sound like over pandering to my players, the reactions they get usually double negatively back at them in some form. This is possibly due to the fact that a simple unfortunate act ends up being committed by someone who would have too much power.                 

The player that controlled the Televaraen had to pull out quite early on but I still kept echoes of the character in the game. The new reaction Eryn got from the Pale Spine, very similar to the creature. If I'm going to be honest, I included the Televaraen at the end because I thought it would be cool rather than anything logical. It was at that point the person controlling Eryn actually explained to the group that the creature was a Bounty Hunter, since Eryn had received the same reaction and was also one as well. That was a plausible ret-con for me and actually made me smile that somehow, on some level, the workings of the city had gained a foothold. I was a proud Dad/GM/Writer that day.

That then brings me on to season 2. Currently writing up at the minute and I'm looking for two players. I'm also looking for places, story hooks, people, items etc to also include,  so if you have any suggestions I'll try to work them in and credit those accordingly.

Anywho, I'll talk to you guys later and don't forget to read the advertisement below. Happy Holidays and may all your rolls be crits.

/Drew

For the second season I'm wanting to recruit two new players:-

Time: Weekly - Saturdays -11:00 PST/14:00 EST, 19:00 GMT 3-4 Hours

Place: Skype and Roll20

Description: The Mad King has been kidnapped and now Chancellor Pheylor has taken his place. The Grapnel City Guard have become Pheylor's private army; enforcing new laws and taxes far beyond the Mad Kings decree. New outposts are being built across Thaemor between Auspar and Jyrek with no clear intention. The Nibovian's are moving on to Phase 2 heralding the  threat of the destruction of reality itself  and there are whispers of the return of Shadow Heard that chill the air. The Silent War is coming.

Using:  Numenera Core Book, Numenera Character Options, Whisper Campaigns  by Ryan Chaddock and Ninth World Assassins by Andreas Walters

Welcome to all experience levels, so if you're interested in joining Eryn and Xera in Season Two let me know either by:

Google+

Twitter: @Proftesla
Skype: Professor_Tesla

In the mean time read up on the whole series at The Shattered Child blog.

Numenera: Auspar - The Houses and the Antagonists

First and foremost this is your less than four  day warning to grab your own box set, that's right I said box set, of Numenera which includes practically everything published for Numenera, some not even in printed format before and more oh and a walking talking, gelatinous kitchen sink!  Head over to the Kickstarter campaign for the box set of Numenera.

I've already discussed the more generalist elements of the guilds/factions for an urban campaign and specifically within Auspar, now it's time for the narrative ones. If I'm going to be honest I cannot claim sole responsibility. As the campaign has developed so too has the understanding of the old families within the Steadfast. These I have taken from Ryan Chaddock's  et al. Whisper Campaigns supplement. For those of you that haven't read this wonderful thing, it provides not only a political framework for courts and other gentrified settings but something I love, Intrigue Cyphers.

These cyphers  are more akin to one shot social advantages, rather than a physical item. They have allowed my characters to gain status, holdings and even as you will read this week in the narrative blog, heists.  But this is not all I've used, the structure of the royal court of Auspar was heavily influenced by the supplement as well as the houses and families. These specifically are Lyathra, Narrkonis, Ethis and Thanosa. Each has a distinct flavour and differing relationships with each other which help contextualise their concepts. It has even gone so far to be the focus of the character of Chloe, Transmutes Matter. Although I have lifted them out of framework given by Chaddock they have proven far more than just mere NPCs. They have become a centralised part of the game and I could not imagine the campaign without them. For this campaign in particular, the PCs became more focused on the Whisper Network and in turn Lyathra.

For the Matrix I had given them these base motives; Preserve Secrets, Gather Secrets, Abuse Power, Infiltrate, Gather Information, Increase Control. The point here is that in no way should any antagonist be described as 'evil'. Their intentions and actions may be at odds with other factions, including your PCs but that does not automatically make them the 'Big Bad'. In fact the antagonists, which there are a few of in my campaign, are all seen through different eyes, and those voices colour their interpretation to the PCs. Thematically they are the string pullers, a reference made by the  rankings of the Whisper Network.  Although their work may not be seen as beneficial to the region, their abilities and links have been to my players, which has caused more than one conflict of interest. And this is what I have found most fascinating about it. My PCs have been willing to forgo the stalwart hero archetype in favour of what benefits them as a PC. This is vital and hopefully a confirmation of my portrayal, they are dangerous when betrayed, but kept sated, they have become a tool for my players. 

As I have said there are many antagonists within The Shattered Child, some yet to come in Season 2, while some are only being realised now by my PCs as I come to the finale this weekend. Those for the moment have been drawn entirely from the source text. They have been born out of a amalgamation of the history of Auspar and the highly influential bestiary. At no point does any of the Numenera works or glimmers define an specifically antagonistic creature, but they may have, to certain viewpoints, a malicious intent. If a creature is killing humans, it's more likely to be due to the fact that it needs to feed. One of my antagonists is actually built upon three different creature interactions with the world. Albeit very different to how they are laid out in the bestiary. For me as a writer, there always have to be two sides of an argument, or more. Nobody is in the right! My characters, my PCs and even you dear reader, should question your own intent. If your world is set up as clear cut as good vs. evil then that is by design not by narrative providence. I wanted my PCs to make their own morality choices and what better when their preconceived  ideas are shattered.

I guess this makes me a fan of the red herring. I love a good murder and a good mystery, give me my Sherlock, Miss Marple and Poirot any day of the week. However,  red herrings must be rewarded, much like shattered preconceptions. Exploration and understanding is key in Numenera. If you're going to allow such freedom and creativity then there is no such thing as a dead end, rather a new angle to approach. And this in part is also why I created the matrix for myself. If the PCs wanted to go further than what other NPCs were telling them, then I couldn't make them one dimensional. I have tried my hardest to never say 'No' to my players, but reward them for the ingenuity and resourcefulness. This is something I recommend to everyone. Plot armour is bad, railroading is bad. As long as you have a contingency, multiple tracks to switch to even though pre planned, they give the illusion of derailment and you can hear the excitement in the players  voices when they do something unexpected, awesome and logical which would go against everything you've done and are rewarded.

I apologise if this blog is a little veiled or a little rantish. I'm currently suffering a minor illness but it has been sapping all my strength as of late. And unfortunately, until my campaign ends and all is written up on the other blog some of the big twists related to this topic are currently under a personal NDA.  In essence, inspiration is what you make of it, and I am ways inspired by the community, every time I open up anything related to Numenera, and especially my players, who have never made it easy for me as a first timer to this whole thing but have made me fall in love with Numenera and the tale I have told you.

GMs: Think back to a time where you players have gone in one direction rather than another. Was it by their choice or yours? Were they rewarded for their actions or did they end up falling into a pit of snakes? Is your antagonist really the embodiment that polarises with your PCs. Are their motives purely selfish or are they more complex. Could you try to turn one of your PCs into the antagonist role, in fact, could your entire PC party be unwittingly the antagonist to the setting. Do your PC's ever guess correctly what is going to happen next, if so why?

PCs: If you see yourself as a 'hero', why? Is your character infallible or would something easily corrupt their morals or point of view. How much of the world you are playing in has been informed by your interactions with it. Do you trust everything you see or hear? Do you trust your own party? Who is the most likely, when given enough power, to turn on the party and try to murder them all. Has anyone, or anything surprised you? Next time you play, try to approach a problem from a different angle, you're more than likely to find something far more interesting.

PS.  KICKSTARTER!

Numenera: Auspar - Building Factions (3)

[Here's the second part to Saturday's blog post]

The hunter-gatherers:  The Hawk-Eyes. To live you need to eat and drink, a very simple fact. As Auspar is stuck in a caldera, the farm lands are outside of the city limits. All produce gathered is transported by carts to the edge of the city, and hoisted up and down spires, across bridges and zip lines until it has reached its intended destination. The transports of something like this is highly influential on the general transport of the city. You need to decide how goods are moved generally, if Auspar was a flatter city, transport would be more logically done by cart or hand rather than pulleys and  hooks. There will always be goods being moved in the background of your narrative, and drawing upon them, even for a description can help immerse your players in your world. The Hawk-Eyes as I've stated were influenced by the T.V. show. They are the poster children of the city, they are celebrities of the city, and adored not for their wealth or their popularity (although that has come with the position they are in) it is their skill and prowess at hunting, and brining back now only exotic creatures, and ones that could feed a good portion of the city, but also hunting down anyone outside of the city that would threaten the city in some way, be it either a thief, a mad Aeon priest, or a group of bandits. They, in my mind, all have a gladiator style name, not their real one but one that embodies their abilities and skills. The only reason I did this was purely for narrative effect, you should know how your society gets its food, and possibly what they eat as that influences their prosperity levels, as well as their numbers and their skills.

The criminal: The Silver Palm Syndicate. The Silver Palm are a little like the thieves guild of The Elder Scrolls series. They are an organised society but are comprised of many factions, rather than one leader. This makes their activities more diverse and open to external influence to change a shift in power if the PCs or I decided. They also function as antithetical to the entire city. Auspar is, in all respects ,trapped in its own obsession of image. From entertainment, to the tallest spire, to wearing the right clothes for a particular floor, to keeping up with the latest trends inside and outside the home. Image is the moral currency of Auspar, while the Silver Palm use their coins. These plain and mundane objects allow the user, within reason anything that the Silver Palm can offer. Of course, these are exchanged for actions and not responses. Anyone could have a Silver Palm coin stashed away for a troublesome time but the vast majority of the Silver Palm could never leave the Foundations. To make them a little more interesting, I decided for them have a contract with House Ethis, to transport any and all goods they want out of the city as one of my players were not keen on that house due to their history. If my PCs had investigated it at the start of the campaign, it would have given the narrative whole different spin. There will always be an underworld to a society but it is reactive and not as simple as just breaking the law.

The mercantile: The Metricious. PC's need to buy and sell their gear, a simple fact. This goes for your NPCs and background fodder. Of course the system for this could be trading of equal value, or to a disadvantage to one party, and exchange of services for goods or simple currency. This also may have an impact on how your society perceives wealth, as possibly either materialistic, spiritual or in some cases having a Scrooge McDuck style vault. Your merchants can be as one dimensional as you like but their forms of trading will be influential. In Auspar there are about eleven floors dedicated the Merchant class, a new social category for the city only, owing to its location and inaccurate law keeping attracting vast amounts of traders. This has probably been influenced by my love for the Great Gatsby and English history, where old money from the aristocracy (the families of Ethis, Lyathra and Narrkonis) and new money, acquired within that person's generation. I wanted to shake a the preconceived notion that a kingdom was ruled by its oldest and most powerful families, in comparison the Metricious, the old families in Auspar are outnumbered, and possibly out resourced. They however also serve a second function, as all of the others do. They provide a black market for Numenera, as well as knowledge.

The string pullers: The Whisper Network. Although technically in this campaign not an individual faction they are representative of the idea that there is always someone who controls the flow of the city. By bribery, blackmail or a deft hand or careful whisper the network has infiltrated all of Auspar Society and in doing so has access to pretty much all the information in the city, it only needs to be accessed by the right people. This in your campaign could be a traitor in the party, a dark force on the horizon, or perhaps even your party trying to change things without causing a fight. Your 'villain' or 'Big Bad' (and I hate to using those terms) may also have access to this kind of influence if they are less included to displays/threats of power or strength

The next blog will be on the narrative elements of the factions, those derived to create a story, rather than a cohesive and plausible setting.

GM: Think about how your factions are related to the environment they are in. Even if you aren't in a city some of these can still apply. Could you introduce a new group into your game that the party wouldn't expect but would work in the context of your game? Where do your own groupings lay. How does your society measure status, wealth, knowledge and power? How does a grain of wheat go from the field, to the table to be eaten? Can your NPCs have more than one side to them?

PCs: How much do you really know about the world your interacting with? Who can you really trust? Who's the most rich (not in money), who would more likely get into an exclusive venue, who could sell your most secret of secrets? Try to see the society as a maze you have yet to explore, of course there is a right path to get out, but finding the dead ends may be even more entertaining for you and for your GM.

/Drew  @proftesla

Venicia: Random Thoughts - Setting the Scene

I've tried to think of trying to explain Venicia in other therms than just its mechanical qualities. I wanted to get into the atmosphere, the people and the lives of those NPCs that live in my Venice. Try to give them expression so that the reality they live in is easily explained. Trying to explain the setting is one thing, but to hear it from someone who lives there is another. So I have tried to write what I could call something akin to a book blurb. Although I have yet to identify the voice of the speaker I thought I would share it with you and get a little feedback if possible.

I would welcome you to the court of Sanuto family and of Doge Ventura, but Venice is not for outsiders. Head this warning. The royal court is tainted with deceit, the merchants cut the purse strings of others and artisans would rather design death but this is just the earthly world.  There are as many layers to this place as there are canals but the squabbling of Venetians pales in comparison to what resides here with us.

Beneath the waters, beneath the many islands, the facade of beauty rots away. Many Venetians choose to ignore the 'other' world around us but some of must see what others hide from.  I have witnessed death and monsters, power beyond mortal control. Savage and exquisite constructs and artefacts that adorn the last underground bastions of long dead mystics. Shades, Djinn and monstrous beasts share that world below us while by our side, we walk ignorantly in the light with demons, devils and those that are soulless. Benevolence and camaraderie comes at the cost of coin, blood or power. 

 We Venetians do not fear the water, the creatures that dwell in it, or it swallowing our province whole. We are true Venetians, but we should fear what would reshape our world, destroy us or worse; infernally claim us. A blind eye marks us all. 

 If I could, I would turn back any ship that approaches our territory, even destroy it if it meant saving sailors, explorers and traders from our eventual fate. I pray to the Gods for strength and courage, I pray for their lives and all of our souls.  Elegance is arrogance and ignorance. We Venetians cling to it like sailors to flotsam; we drown ourselves in politics, in trade and art, only to be brutally savaged by the shadows we run from. 

 I wish you would forget what I have told you and sail back to your own province or country. Tell your royalty, your employers and your seers, Venice is soaked in blood, lies and the unnatural. But you won't, will you? You're just like the others. No matter where you came from, once you're eyes are open then they can never be shut, only by death or the Gods.   

The gilded promise of the untold is a sirens call. We do not have much land to bury our dead nor do we bury outsiders. You will not transcend if you die here. You cannot take with you in death what you have had in life. May whoever or whatever finds your soul, have mercy.    

Let me know what you think in the comments, or contact me via gmail through links on here or on twitter @proftesla

/Drew

Numenera: Auspar - Building Factions (2)

I'm going to develop a little on what I talked about last time. As you hopefully know the setting for my campaign for Numenera is set in the city of Auspar. Now running an urban sandbox terrified me but also thrilled me at the same time. It was a challenge, a serious challenge for someone who has never played any Table-Top RPG ever let alone GM'd, so I had to draw upon what I knew. Creating and telling stories. Doing my masters degree I fell in love with the Oulipian movement in writing and enjoyed expressing a scientific eye over a text when I could. This lead to my love of mechanical text, narratives derived from systems and I thought what better system that an Table-Top RPG game. But being myself I wanted a challenge, and coming up with a living, breathing city was just that. As I've said I came up with the Narrative Matrix so let's talk about the other guilds/factions and how they thematically exist in relation to my urban setting. If you havn't already read The Shattered Child, you might want to. I use it to give examples to my theoretical work.

For me personally there are a few qualities to urban life, regardless of time. There will always be,in my mind, these categories. The rule maker, the rebellious, the religious, the lawful, the mercantile, the criminal, the entertainers, the hunter gatherers and the string pullers. These sound very vague but that would be the point, they are not specifics you can just plop into your game, or narrative, these are tropes.

The rule maker: The King. The governing body or bodies of a particular society, in Auspar it's the mad King. It could easily be a creed,  a government,a  dictator, a bandit chief, a majority vote or even the leader of your PC's party. It's up to you how you lead your society but each one comes with different styles of societal organisation so you need to make sure it's tailored.

The rebellious: The Purple Order. These guys something I am quite proud of, they function as rebellious as the societal rules are in their mind are not applicable due to certain circumstances or reasoning. This is different to breaking the rules, which is an important point. The rebellious could be an example, royalty from another kingdom, someone who knows nothing of urban life and its airs and graces, or someone who just perceives the world differently. The Purple Order believe they have the right to investigate any possibility of an answer, to survive the world being 'devoured'. They have a unique ability, or pretend to, to read certain materials like brail. This has lead to some invading homes, causing panic and generally creating dismay and disruption. They do not see themselves as breaking any laws as they believe their task transcends any set of rulings. The Purple Order are also known as great artists and sculptors, owing to their intimate understanding of their chosen material. Those that have disowned the order for following fruitless ideas, have become very rich and very famous, regardless of their past. Their sculpting and creation is an extension of their analysis, and they claim their endeavours were not controlled by them, almost as if they were reading a book, rather than writing one.

The religious: The Guldspar. Regardless on your personal stance there will always be an element of this in some form wherever you go. To some it's the belief they will survive tomorrow, in a guardian spirit, in an omnipotent being, or perhaps their task will save then from whatever fate will befall them. Religious, in this context, is more about belief than the practice. Of course I made the Guldspar very practice heavy just to contradict myself. They are the societal curators, the gatekeepers to climbing the social ladder. They have an intrinsic connection to the Obsidian Spire, which keeps a measure, by growth, of the tallest building in the city and therefore the highest and richest members of society. When a new building is built, Numenera is left at the Spire by the owners of the building to appease the spire and prove that their work is the tallest in Auspar. The Guldspar provide the ceremonial aspects as well as guarding and cataloging the Numenera left They also have a hive mind of sorts, akin to the Borg, however I wanted something a little different. Their hive mind is a hive of emotion and not thought. In Auspar many people have been injected with what the Guldspar use and is seen as a noble position, but does not grant you any gain in society. They also serve as adjudicators in matters where no clear guilt can be found by the Grapnel Guard. The interrogation is a simple as being injected and your emotions and behaviour monitored, some do not know they have been injected, but all do not know they are constantly being observed when they had been let go to ascertain guilt.

The Lawful: The Grapnel Guard. So named after their favoured method of travel; using the zip lines and connectors around the city so cross it with speed and ease. The king in Auspar is mad, and not trusted by the people and neither are his edicts. The Grapnel have stepped up from guard duty of the city to the law enforcers. Their tendencies however are as swift as their travel, guilty by proximity, or by coin. They have rarely caught the right person, which has had the unintended effect of everyone keeping within the rules, or else fall foul of someone else. It has become an unwritten tenet in Auspar society. Your lawmaker should be interesting and playable. Rigidity within their behaviour or outlook will only force the same encounters again and again they need to be flexible, surprising, even if you have a single sheriff, they can't always wear the sheriff's hat.

The entertainers: The Grapnel Guard. Now I can't help it but these were influenced by T.V. I was a ninety's kid and in 1992 there was a programme on ITV called Gladiators. Of course it was an idea nicked from America but I didn't have access to T.V across the pond as a child. Regardless they entertained with feats and contests of strength and agility. Now this reminded me of a city guard, or a guild of warriors, they did not perhaps perform but they carried out those feats. It made sense in the mercantile city of Auspar that everything was for sale, even the guards training and sparring. Leading to a more important role performing ceremonial acts for the city in combination with displays of strength, speed, combat prowess and flair. In your campaign this could easily be a bard, street performers (of which in Auspar there are many) to a theatre troop or a travelling circus. An urban environment requires catharsis, a release and expression of emotion, and boredom is high on that list. At its very basic level, the concept of the entertainer could go as far as the tavern you are in and the barkeep that runs it. The Gladiators inspiration also had the unintended effect of influencing the Hawk-Eyes.

More will be posted Monday so TBC....

/Drew @proftesla

Numenera: Auspar - Building Factions (1)

I am hoping to at least put one post on this blog up every week, alongside a possibly reduced schedule for The Shattered Child, going down to three posts rather than four, if needs be. This blog will be going out mostly Mondays if I can find the time. I thought I might leave you with a task, something to make you think during your week and perhaps influence how you play (hopefully positively, don't shoot me if you roll a one because of something I said).

If I'm going to be honest I'm  nervous about doing this. I'm a little greenhorn when it comes to TTRPGS so I hope my inexperienced ramblings might prove useful. To that effect I've had to come up with systems, and adaptable plots to deal with my inexperience as well as to facilitate player freedom. I didn't really want to start with a linear or restrictive game focus for my Numenera campaign, owing to the nature of the game itself. I wanted to try and capture some of the elements of a grand RPG; such as reputation, urban exploration and political intrigue.

I really wanted to do something that would perhaps make it easier for myself to navigate while allowing complex plot and NPC behaviour for the PC's. This is where I had an idea. It's called a 'Narrative Matrix' and in all intents and purposes it's pretty much just an Excel table. The table itself consists of categories that define a faction, guild or NPC in various forms of interaction with the setting and itself. They are categories defined with six possible outcomes and the lexicology used within those definitions create a stable and consistent persona. The table itself and its categories, I will leave for another blog but I would like to explain how these definitions interact.

When my PCs discovered a piece of Numenera they wanted to fix, they were given three options; The Order of Truth, House Narrkonis, or the Metricious.  To explain why, in each of their initial definitions in the 'General Motives' category of my matrix, they all contain the keyword of Numenera preceded by a verb; Gather/Protect/Study. In a functional role they will all provide assistance. The GM  needs to be concerned with the verbs attached to the Numenera which help define their relationship. The Order of Truth are more likely, in my campaign, to protect the Numenera from the general population. House Narrkonis has a long standing history of studying the Numenera, while the Metricious want to collect it, to sell it on. Each of these defines the interactions available and perhaps will offer different avenues for the PCs to explore, as well as perhaps dissuading them from certain choices.

The matrix, for myself at least, gives me a handy reference guide to who can do what. However when it comes to actual play the city is live and will react to and carry on regardless of PC interaction. This is why each category has been given six values. Initially to set up the tone and the atmosphere of the city I asked one of my players to roll a few six sided dice. Two are given to the General Motives Category which allows for more complex behaviours.  As an example the Metricious have these definitions within the General Motives category:

1. Brandish Wealth - Using assets to fund public displays of affluence
2. Mercantile - The buying, selling or trading of goods
3. Gather Numenera - Actively or passively perusing Numenera to collate
4. Celebrate - Involvement with religious, or non religious events in a positive manner
5. Brewing - The creation and/or selling of alcoholic beverages in various forms
6. Abuse Power - Influence and control with little regard for subterfuge.

At the start of the plot the group had rolled a one and a three, this resulted in the initial behaviours of the Metricious as 'Brandishing Wealth' and 'Gathering Numenera'. For a GM you can use these separately or if plausible, combining the two. In the city of Auspar, Numenera is left at the Obsidian Spire at the centre of the city. Perhaps, knowing that the Metricious are not so law abiding, they have used their wealth to deposit Numenera in a public display, however the Numenera is fake and as they are placing down their offerings, they are removing the real Numenera. This could provide a plot hook in itself, or provide a backing to whatever interactions your PCs need with that faction.

Of course this does not mean this Matrix is limited in scope to groups, guilds or families. If the campaign is more on a intimate level and requires interaction with single NPCs then you can easily change them to names of characters. In keeping with the Metricious, perhaps an unsavoury travelling merchant called Varen, is going around, pretending to be a lord and demanding Numenera as payment for some action. The use of the six descriptors allows a consistent portrait to be built and will hopefully result in minimal dissonance between what has been established and what will happen.

I thought I might leave you with a task, something to make you think during your week and perhaps influence how you play (hopefully positively, don't shoot me if you roll a one because of something I said):

• GM Task: Take one or more NPC's/Guilds/Factions/Families and define them in six ways using simple meanings. Make sure the categories you use can be reused to define others within your game. If some share, think how the rest of their definitions allow them to differentiate themselves in the same task, how they would complete it differently and how the outcomes would affect the PCs.
  
• PC Task: Can you define your motives as a character in a similar way? Can any of your previous characters be defined be the same characteristics as your current character, if so why? Can you describe the other characters in the game in a similar fashion and do they agree?

Hopefully you enjoyed reading, any feedback would be greatly appreciated, you can find me on twitter @proftesla or follow the links on the blog to my Google+.

Have a great week,

/Drew 

Introduction

I've decided to create a blog that is dedicated to the more technical aspects of my writing as well as updates on my research/development of my ideas (as well as possible rants). Primarily this will deal with two subjects, 'The Shattered Child', my Numenera campaign and a new setting for the Cypher System called under the working title of 'Venicia', hence the name of the blog.

My Numenera campaign The Shattered Child is something that I've been writing in both terms of campaign structure for play sessions, and translating it into a narrative. This goes in part with my PhD thesis I am researching before submission Ludological Mechanisms.Its turned into a pretty weighty blog with over forty thousand words at the time I'm writing. There are two conscious choices I made with it. Firstly, no speech. Unfortunately I've found that speech has only been useful if it was from an NPC as they normally function as plot development, while PC interactions can vary from casual to strategically and most take up the word count. Secondly retroactive continuity with action for the sake of narrative interest. My players decide the action that unfolds and react to situations that derive from them. Although the campaign is narrative driven and I have tried to implement a Schrödinger's Gun approach, allowing a constant flexibility while keeping within a narrative universe. It also allows for greater player agency while still delivering on what I believe to be an important factor, suspension of disbelief. Coming from my academic background, I'm primarily a storyteller.

On that note this brings in 'Venicia'. Although it is still in very early development it is using the research I have been collecting for my thesis and putting it into action. I'm currently studying and extracting elements from Italo Calvino's 'Italian Folklore' and '101 Arabian Nights'. I'll be exploring both schools of narrative and magic's to blend them together into something I can work with. I can generally say it can be described as gunpowder, clock punk and mystics. It implements an alternative history where the Mongols never sieged Baghdad and the Knights Templar never went on their crusades in the East. I won't give you much more than that I'm still working on it, but there will be elements from Italian folklore, Arabic Mythology and perhaps a small part of Arthurian legend. I am determined to make it as true to its origins as possible, limiting the translations that change or diffuse meaning. This setting will be partially urban, set in eighteenth century Venice and so, in part, the history and sociology of the original Venice will also be included. The three 'nouns' of the Cypher System are currently 'Bastion' 'Astrologist' and 'Marauder'. It's a weighty task and heavily research based.

In my mind's eye I can see a courtesan, holding an exotic and intricately ornate machine in his palm. He turns a few cogs and puts a key into the machine and a roar of flame bursts forth in the form of a jinn, manacled by chains and cogs. It speaks in a foreign tongue before the courtesan is shot in the back. The machine falls from his grasp as he falls to floor in a pool of his blood. The jinn returns to the machine as it falls into the water. As it hits the bed of the canal, a gondola casts dappled shadows down from the surface as a clawed hand reaches up from the silt and grabs hold of it. The inner parts of the machine glowing red in the murky waters.

This may provide some useful tips on how I play RPGs and how I develop my narratives but this is advice only, players, games, situations and GM's vary and my way of playing is probably alien to some and may not work with the game you are in. I've chosen Numenera and the Cypher System because of its exploration and narrative focus, its easily accessible rule set  and the sheer creativity of the Monte Cook Games team. If you haven't checked them out do so.

I think that's long enough, thanks for reading all the way through and I will catch you next time.

/Drew