Ok, but what I don’t have is an appropriate gif…
IMO this is good for practically every occaison.
If Gethin had hoped to be greeted as a hero–or even an ally–the people of Summersong had other ideas. Asha has been working hard to prepare the town and its people for the return of the Black Fang, but progress is mixed, at best. The people are divided, and this is reflected in the arguments of the council of elders. Some propose trying to buy off the raiders; some would rather flee. Asha leads the group preparing a defense, and still others argue that their foes have moved on, and the crisis is over. After conferring with Asha, Gethin cannot imagine that the town will be ready in time, unless something changes.
As for the reinforcements from Olgar’s Stand, Asha’s people do their best to make them welcome, though others view them with suspicion. It turns out they do have enough food to share, at least for now: though there was much burning and destruction of the outlying lands as the raiders passed through, they moved too quickly to do much more than superficial damage. In addition to the granary within the town walls, each farm has plenty of hiding places of its own–Ironlanders are nothing if not canny survivors.
Gethin had hoped to confer with Kataka, but she is not in Summersong. According to Asha, she had become convinced that the blight, the new Black Fang leader, and… other things… were connected. She’s now trailing the raider warband, and Gethin decides that he should find her. After all, finding out just who is in charge of the Black Fang must be the first step on the journey to defeating, or at least surviving, them.
Finding Kataka
- Gather Information (track Kataka).
2, 5 vs 5 + 2 wits + 1 hound = 8. Strong hit. +2 momentum/10 (still!). Finding Kataka is easy. - Oracle for information about the BF leader: Communicate Idea.
- Reach a milestone on Black Fang Leader’s Identity. +3 progress/3.
Pebble (and to a lesser extent, Gethin) has no trouble tracking Kataka; it helps that she was tracking a warband not being particularly careful about their own tracks. Kataka has made some discoveries about the leader of the Black Fang. She goes by Adda, although the name is probably a recent acquisition. She believes that she has received some sort of communication about her destiny to rule the Ironlands, or the whole world, or perhaps just the raider clans. Who, or what, gave her this idea–or how she plans to go about it, other than tearing through the Havens, is unclear. The warband’s progress has been erratic, bouncing between the Graywatch Hills to the east and the edge of the Deep Wilds to the west. It seems they are looking for something, and are running out of patience. Kataka worries that soon they will return to Summersong–the pillaging is getting thin and despite Adda’s unusual ability to corral the usually fractious raiders, more and more of their eyes turn greedily to the wealth they think must lie behind the town’s walls.
Only one roll in that whole session? Uh oh.
“But now that you’re here,” Kataka says, “I want to track down a pair of raiders that snuck off yesterday from the main group. With the two of us, we should be able to handle them.”
Pebble yelps. “And yes, with you, girl, they won’t stand a chance,” Kataka adds, while scratching the dog’s head.
The Raider Pair
- Gather Information (track the raider pair).
6, 7 vs 3 + 2 wits + 1 hound = 6. Miss. The raiders get the drop on them. - Enter the Fray (ambushed; dangerous, as it’s 2v2).
5, 5 vs 5 + 2 wits = 7. Strong hit, match. +2 momentum/10. Gain initiative. - Strike (staff, deadly weapon).
5, 8 vs 2 + 2 iron = 4. Burn momentum for a strong hit. 2 (deadly weapon) + 1 (strong hit) + 1 (ferocious hound) = 4 harm / 8 progress. Reset momentum. - Strike (staff, simple weapon).
8, 4 vs 2 + 3 edge + 1 strong-arm. Weak hit. 1 harm / 10 progress. +1 momentum (ferocious hound) / 3. Lose initiative. - Clash (staff, simple weapon).
2, 1 vs 3 + 4 = 7. Strong hit. 1 harm / still 10 progress. +2 momentum (strong hit, ferocious hound) / 5. Gain initiative. - End the Fight. 9, 4 vs 10. Strong hit.
- Oracle (character motivation): Refute a falsehood. Action/theme: uncover blood.
- Reach a milestone on Black Fang Leader’s Identity. +3 progress/6.
Despite Kataka’s assurances, the raiders seem to know they’re coming and have an ambush prepared. What they aren’t prepared for, though, is a second opponent and a ferocious hound. As the pair close on Kataka, Gethin and Pebble charge in; Gethin drops the first with a severe blow to the head with his staff, and Pebble bowls over the second. However, he regains his footing and advances on the dog, but Kataka and Gethin quickly have him surrounded, and he drops his sword.
Questioning the remaining raider, Gethin and Kataka learn that despite the warband’s chaotic journey, the Black Fang was aware it was being tracked by Kataka, and these two were assigned to handle her. Perhaps it was a good thing Gethin and Pebble arrived when they did, though he suspects Kataka could have handled them herself.
Apparently key to Adda’s belief in her destiny is her ancestry. She claims descent from Yorath, the leader of the first refugees from the Old World to arrive in the Ironlands. Of course, this is preposterous–everyone knows that Yorath and his band were slain, to a person, by the Firstborn. Still, she seems convinced of it, and that she will find a token of some kind to prove it and give her leadership of all Ironlanders.
Regardless, the raider’s account of the Black Fang’s wanderings make it clear that they are not done with Summersong. Gethin and Kataka decide to bring him back to the town and, hopefully, galvanize resistance there.
(I finally remembered to use momentum!)
Yessssss. An update!
I know, I’ve been so bad at it. I’ve got one more in the pipe and then I’m going to put up a poll for what Gethin should do next. (I’ve got a couple ideas but can’t decide.)
The trip back to Summersong is uneventful. Gethin, Kataka, and Asha “work with” the captured raider to attempt to build a picture of Adda, the Black Fang leader, and then present that to the Summersong council of elders.
Interrogation and Presentation
- Secure an Advantage (compile evidence).
3, 2 vs 4 (2 + 2 wits): Strong hit. +1 to next move. - Gather Information (speak to council).
4, 8 vs 8 (5 + 2 wits + 1 advantage): Weak hit. +1 momentum/6. - Reach a Milestone on Black Fang Leader’s Identity. 3 progress / 9.
- Fulfill Your Vow:
8, 1 vs 9 progress: Strong hit. +1 experience, vow fulfilled. - Reach a Milestone on See Summersong Survive. 1 progress / 3.
One elder is able to shed some light on Adda’s possible motivation. When Yorath first landed in the Ironlands, he was said to have brought a helmet from the Old World that bound the people together under his rule. This was lost when he and his band were defeated and slain by the Firstborn. Nobody knows where, exactly, his final defeat occurred, but rumor places it somewhere in the vicinity of Summersong. (With an eye roll, Kataka mutters that rumor places Yorath’s Helm all over the Ironlands.) This is not as absurd a claim as it appears at first glance; while we think of the Firstborn today as inhabiting the wilder reaches of the Ironlands, back then they would have roamed the whole of the land, and the relatively fertile area around what is now Summersong would be a natural place for Yorath’s band to attempt to settle. While there’s no actual evidence for any of this, the story–combined with Gethin’s evidence that Adda is actually seeking a relic of Yorath’s–helps sway the council into taking the Black Fang’s threat to Summersong more seriously.
- Advance a threat: 36. The threat works subtly to advance toward its goal, or the danger escalates. Mark menace / 1.
While the council is hearing stories about ancient history, a scout brings word that the Black Fang has not been idle. They have been turning to more desperate methods in their search: there are reports that they are no longer content to pillage food and supplies from the farms they overrun, but have taken to brutally “questioning” farmers about any hint of unusual features or mystical anomalies on their land.
How are you tracking all this? In a journal? Or do you use Stargazer?
The Delve expansion had a sale a while ago, and I was overdue to actually fork out some money for this thing, so I grabbed it. (Also, whoever said email marketing never works didn’t know that all you had to do was to put your product on sale for an attractive price and then email people who’d want to buy it.)
The Threat mechanic seems pretty spot on for what I’m going for with the raider warband menacing Summersong. I might have structured things differently if I’d had Delve way back then! Better late than never, I suppose. (Perhaps I should just up the threat a couple ticks to compensate.)
Now, of course, I want to do some Delve’ing, and Yorath’s Helm seems a natural target for that. But I have no idea where it is, or if it even exists!
Anyway, Gethin’s got a couple options, and I couldn’t decide what to do next:
What’s Next?
- Seek more information on Yorath’s Helm
- Prepare Summersong directly: supplies, weapons, allies…
- Harass and/or investigate the Black Fang warband
- s.b. (aka “I have another suggestion I’ll post below”)
0
voters
It’s fairly manual. I have a big ol’ Google doc with the narrative and rolls–it’s about 20 pages now (but feels longer, somehow). For a while I had a OneNote thingy with the rest of the data (character sheet; map; assets; note “cards” on locations, quests, and characters), but I’m transitioning to something more online. At least as I had it set up, it only works on the desktop app, not the web, so I can’t do anything away from my desktop computer, and I’d like to be able to do it on a laptop. I’m moving it to Google Slides for notes and asset cards; a Google drawing for the character sheet; and, uh, I seem to have lost the map, but I’ll find that in a moment.
I also want to keep a hard copy, i.e. a printed out character sheet with pencil and paperclips and whatnot, but that works against the “do it on my laptop” goal. But I like the physicality…
edit: something like Stargazer would probably be much better, honestly.
Also, to help everyone in their voting:
Here’s the character sheet (I’m only 50% confident all the values are currently “correct”):
Here’s the Ironlands:
And here are some less interesting details
Stargazer is pretty slick but I always export just in case the next time I use it, everything’s gone (that hasn’t happened, but I fear it).
I need to get back to Starforged. I’m thinking of doing a run that uses the systemless Astonishing Worlds, a retro space opera setting:
https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/213760/Astonishing-Worlds
Heh, I don’t really go for the retro SF theme, but I’d love to read your adventures there! I really want to try a Starforged run myself, but I’ve told myself I’m not allowed to until I “finish” this one.
I’m not sure I do either, but I’m hoping it’ll temper my propensity to take sessions too seriously. I do want to explore DriveThruRPG for other such SF system-less settings. I’m sure there are a few.
And since there’s no separate Ironsworn/Starforged thread, pardon the derail but noting that there’s currently a kickstarter for @BiggerBoat’s Starforged expansion, Sundered Isles. It includes an opportunity to order the based game for those who don’t have it.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shawntomkin/sundered-isles-expansion-for-ironsworn-starforged
Ooh, ta, behind in reading my KS emails, might have missed that. Technically, I should have the digital copy from backing Starforged, but screw that, me wants a hard copy!
Thanks for the shoutout! I am very happy with the success of the campaign so far, considering that 90% of my audience already gets the digital version as a stretch goal on the previous Kickstarter.
@BiggerBoat two questions:
Is the pdf of Sundered Isles available now for those like me who were on the previous KS and if so, how do I access it?
Is this a seafaring SF setting that merges with Starforged? Or a seafaring fantasy or realistic setting that is separate from Starforged in terms of content? How do the two merge, if at all?
Thanks!