Author: Michael X. Heiligenstein

What are some of the Gauntlet’s favorite PBTA starters? Can be Dungeon World, Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts, anything PBTA. There’s a lot of great DW starters I’ve seen (including Ray Otus’ great work –– my favorite of his is Hoard, for making an old fantasy trope fun and interesting), but I’m curious what starters the Gauntleteers love and use across all PBTA systems. So what are your favorite PBTA starters?

Super hyped to start my 7-session The Watch campaign yesterday! This is a game that I consistently find really, really exciting. For this session, we were very focused on the setup, which is pretty intensive for The Watch –– and very much worth it, in my opinion. We went through a big chunk of this process when I played at Dreamation, but this is my first time running through the whole thing. So I’m going to focus on that process here, rather than diving into the story itself. For reference, though, here’s our cast:

Corporal Rezzi, the Bear. A middle-aged woman of Clan Royshan, the warrior clan. Played by Michael G. Barford

Warden Teka, the Fox. A young mystic of Clan Sharn, the clan of hunters & gatherers. Played by Yoshi Creelman

Warden Reva, the Eagle. A young champion of Clan Dothas, the clan of priests and mystics. Played by Stephen Humphreys

The setup process handles not only character creation, but a big chunk of world building as well, and it does an excellent job placing characters in the world they’re creating. A lot of this comes out via clans, which are a key connector between the characters and their society. Through the setup, for example, we learned that Clan Royshan (warriors) split off from Clan Dothas (mystics) a long, long time ago. Dothas brokered a peace with a rival dominion that ultimately failed resulting in a catastrophic war. It also prompted the warriors to break off from the mystics, forming Clan Royshan. Centuries later, these tensions still linger, and the remaining Dothas say that Royshan violence caused the Shadow to spread and become such a devastating enemy. And on the other side, Reva, ceremonial warrior of the Dothas clan, views Teka’s backwoods magic (she’s Clan Molthas) as scary and possibly illegimate…

All of this is just a part of the lore, character and world details we came up with. The great thing is that all of this comes from the players. The game only provides a 2-3 word summary of the clan (Dothas: Mystics.) and a set of questions that enable the players to flesh them out from there. Very cool. One result of this is that the same clan can turn out very differently on different games. In my last campaign, for example, Royshan was a martial clan with a heavy focus on power politics. This time, they’re rooted in ancient mysticism and are known for their secret police forces and a certain dark ritual they have recently forsworn.

Then there’s the Shadow. The game’s intro intentionally leaves The Shadow pretty undefined. Instead, the GM & players get to define a few aspects of the Shadow at the start of the campaign, and more as the game goes on. The options are all super compelling and thematic, but are otherwise diverse and in some cases surprising: the Shadow might be darkly sorcerous, sure, but it might also be technological, fronting terrifying war machines against the players.

I’m very eager to play these traits out in the story. At one point, after I picked “Reality warping”, one of my players asked how it would play out. That prompted a good GM cackle. 😈😈 The Shadow is an enigmatic villain, especially at first, which makes it easier to deepen and enhance those details as the game progresses.

Anyways those are just some impressions of the setup process. Another thing that stood out to me and others at the table was how cool the playbooks are. Rather than lean into genre archetypes, The Watch centers its books around personalities and playstyles. It helps that the GM sheet includes a quick two sentence summary of each that really makes clear what each book is about. The playbook agendas are very helpful as well, and I’ve made sure to integrate them into the sheets we’re using for online play.

Just wrapped up some deadly times at Dharma Heights! An insane fireman raged over the willing and unwilling participants at a yoga retreat gone terribly wrong. Only (known womanizer) Kale survived.

So crispy. So tasty. What a delight. With Gerrit Reininghaus David Rothfeder Yoshi Creelman

Sharing this with you guys also! This is Part 2 of my The Watch Dreamation writeup. The Kickstarter just hit its goal, but there’s still plenty of time to back it! kickstarter.com/projects/medeiros/the-watch-rpg/

Originally shared by Michael X. Heiligenstein

Here’s part two of my write-up of The Watch at Dreamation 2017! You can check out part one here: https://plus.google.com/112385927503441977582/posts/aj19gGAzhHn

Also worth checking out Tony Lower-Basch’s write-ups which often cover a totally different side of the action:

https://plus.google.com/111342308702465447948/posts/QsYaKJM6AFm

https://plus.google.com/111342308702465447948/posts/QtSyHBKzpBC

Thanks again to Anna Kreider and Andrew Medeiros for designing this awesome system, and Aaron Friesen for running it with Anna at Dreamation! Here’s our cast, now that our captains are switching over:

“Mean Girls squad”

Cpl. Laustec “Lau”, the spider. Clan Richti? (nomads). Played by Albert D

Lanec, the lioness. Clan Thason (herders/equestrians). Played by yours truly.

Trull, the bear. Clan Toltho (craft folk/farmers). Played by Joe Beason

Reme, the owl. Clan Sharn (hunters/gatherers). Doug Bonar

guided by the amazing Anna Kreider

“Degrassi squad”

Cpl. Cal, the wolf. Clan Royshan (warriors) Played by Rebecca W

Preshi, the eagle. Clan Molthas? (mountain folk). Played by Tony Lower-Basch

Tabak, the fox. Clan Charsa (miners). Played by Christo Meid

Peyma, the raven. Clan Dothas (mystics). Played by George Austin

guided by the fantastic Aaron

On to Part 2!

The night after Cal leaves, Reme has a vision of an uncannily beautiful shadow sorceress. The sorceress promises Reme powers beyond her reckoning. Unsure, Reme says she would rather have raw knowledge, but tentatively accepts the sorcereress’s mysterious offer.

In the morning, Sergeant Lau arrives to take command of the squad. They go straight into battle, venturing deeper into lost territory. Lanec overextends herself, and again Trull comes in after to cover her back – but not before their squadmate Prashi (NPC) dies in the fighting.

As they make camp, Lau confronts Lanec, and asks her to take responsibility for Prashi’s death. Lanec insists that she did what was necessary for their victory, and opens up about her fears of being overtaken by the shadow. Lau claims to know techniques that can help, but refuses to teach her, saying she doesn’t trust Lanec yet. Lanec rebuffs Lau and storms out.

Reme comes to Lau to tell her about her recent dreams of the Shadow sorceress. Lau describes her own shadow encounters, while healing Reme with her freaky spider magic. Before leaving, Lau shows Reme her scars from being whipped as proof of what happens if the Watch’s leadership finds out about their forays into the shadow magic. Later that day, Trull and Reme reconcile with each other, and they both blow off steam together by chopping wood.

The next morning, Lanec wakes up early for her very public exercise routine. While sparring with Lomo (NPC), she hears a ghastly scream coming from Commander Ruenti’s tent. Lanec bursts in to find a possessed Dalu standing over Ruenti, who she has just murdered in her sleep. Left with no choice, Lanec cuts down Dalu.

This is when the other women of the Watch arrive to find Lanec standing over both womens’ bloody bodies. Lanec tries to explain herself as the officers bind her hands and take her prisoner. Reme intervenes on Lanec’s behalf, and asks Lau to help; after careful consideration, Lau agrees to not leave HALF HER SQUAD COMPLETELY HANGING OMG. Lau also asks Lanec to take responsibilty for Prashi’s death, and this time, she does.

Anyway, Lau vouches for Lanec and she’s released without her sword. Afterwards, the two of them spot the shadow Sorceress walking out of Ruenti’s tent, unnoticed by the other women. They confront the Sorceress. While Lau tries to learn more from their enemy (and opens up to her !?), Lanec blows a fuse and, despite Lau’s urging, tries to assault the sorceress, who isn’t actually there in tangible form. The Sorceress inflicts a vision on Lanec: Lanec witnesses Ruenti’s murder from Dalu’s perspective. Trull arrives out of nowhere and pulls Lanec away from the Sorceress.

Reme, meanwhile, is in the middle of a magic ritual to engage the Shadow head-on. Lanec drops in, sees Reme’s setup, and demands Reme destroy her demonic accessories. Reme agrees, while convincing Lanec to let her keep her journal – the only item of any significant value to her studies.

SESSION 3

Before long, the order comes through for another transfer: this time, Lanec is being sent to the other squad. Before she leaves, she wishes Trull goodbye and tells her how much she owes her for saving Lanec more than once, and how much she respects her for holding fast before the shadow. Trull makes Lanec promise to watch her back, and Lanec agrees. She says a curt goodbye to Lau and Reme before riding out to join the other squad.

She arrives and reunites with Cal, and they confer what has happened on the two squads Lanec tells Cal about the suspicious behavior on Mean Girls squad. Cal tells Lanec that Degrassi squad has scored major victories against the Shadow, including the capture of multiple people afflicted by the Shadow.

Now, they turn their attention to the rebel clanswomen who have refused to join the united clans. Their next mission is to broker a deal with the Clan Royshan rebels – the warrior clan, of whom Cal was once the chieftain. The squad successfully finds a way to infiltrate the rebel ranks without bloodshed. They arrange a meeting between Cal and her former clanswomen.

While Cal goes in to broker a deal, Preshi, Tabak, and Lanec have a moment to get to know each other. Preshi compliments the squad on their efforts and tries to keep things positive, but Lanec quickly finds out that Tabak and Cal banged, pretty much right after Cal arrived at their squad. Tabak even callously mentions that Cal burnt all of Lanec’s letters, which yes did happen, and Lanec loses it and starts throwing punches. Preshi intervenes, and the three of them all walk away bruised.

A raucous celebration follows between the former rebels and the women of the Watch. Lanec feels the sting of jealousy – not just because Cal so readily bedded Tabak, but also because Cal has the remnants of a clan; Lanec’s clan, Thason, was all but wiped out in the early days of the Shadow. She tells all of this to Cal while they’re in bed together. Cal proposes to her, and says she can join Clan Royshan as her wife. Lanec says maybe.

From there, they prepare for a final battle against the Shadow. The entire Watch comes together against a massive field of Shadow soldiers led by two sorceresses, and engage them head-on in a battle to end the war. Going in, they enter the power of a silence spell that prevents the women from speaking.

Lanec and Preshi charge deep into Shadow lines, while Cal and Tabak mount a follow-up attack to exploit the Shadow’s weak spots. Lau and Reme turn the Shadow’s magic back on them, provoking the two sorceresses to fire back. Lau nearly succumbs completely to the Shadow.

Midway through the fight, the silencing stops but a powerful wave of Shadow magic passes across the battlefield, seriously injuring many of the women on the field. Lanec and Preshi take down the two sorceresses: in a magnificent hug, Preshi redeemed one sorceress; Lanec, meanwhile, tossed her sword to the ground and beat the other sorceress with her leather-clad fists.

From there the Shadow recedes, seemingly beat back for good. The women go different ways from there, some returning home to rebuild, others remaining on the Watch in case the Shadow returns.

I wanted to share this write-up of The Watch long con that I did a week ago at Dreamation. This is just part one! These were some really amazing sessions, and I highly recommend backing the KS if you haven’t already. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/medeiros/the-watch-rpg/

Surprisingly, what our campaign reminded me of most was Battlestar Galactica – a fantasy military drama that’s chiefly focused on what happens between the battles. It’s a really, really great system and I’m very excited to bring it to the table again in the near future.

Originally shared by Michael X. Heiligenstein

The Watch Long Con, Dreamation 2017 – pt 1

I started writing this on the train home from Morristown, the morning after finishing the last of three sessions of The Watch at Dreamation. When I started, I was writing solely for myself: I wanted to remember as much of this campaign as possible. But I’ve talked to a few people who were curious about these sessions, and I also wanted to share this with the wonderful people I got to play this with.

So far, it’s longer than I expected. I’ve edited it down a bit, and have split it into two entries. There are a lot of scenes I necessarily missed, since we were running two tables – I have a pretty decent sense of what happened in the other scenes, but I’d always love to hear more. There are also some missing scenes from the tables I was at. It’s hard to keep track of everything that happens in three rapidfire sessions, and unfortunately I can already feel some holes in my recollection.

Thanks so much to the 10 people who brought so much fantastic energy to the table, and a special thank you to Anna Kreider and Aaron Friesen for running such an amazing experience, plus a double thank you to Anna again and Andrew Medeiros for creating the system. Back it on Kickstarter if you haven’t already!! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/medeiros/the-watch-rpg/

Our Cast:

“Mean Girls squad”

Cpl. Cal, the wolf. Clan Royshan (warriors) Played by Rebecca W

Lanec, the lioness. Clan Thason (herders/equestrians). Played by yours truly.

Trull, the bear. Clan Toltho (craft folk/farmers). Played by Joe Beason

Reme, the owl. Clan Sharn (hunters/gatherers). I don’t have his real name : (

guided by the amazing Anna Kreider

“Degrassi squad”

Cpl. Laustec “Lau”, the spider. Clan Richti? (nomads). Played by Albert D

Preshi, the eagle. Clan Molthas? (mountain folk). Played by Tony Lower-Basch

Tabak, the fox. Clan Charsa (miners). Played by Christo Meid

Peyma, the raven. Clan Dothas (mystics). Played by George Austin

guided by the fantastic Aaron

Both squads launch straight into two missions to reclaim ground taken by the Shadow. Our squad attacks a hill with some mysterious standing stones nearby. Lanec charges too far into enemy lines, and Cal and Trull have to close in to back her up. Meanwhile Dalu, an NPC, gets separated. Afterwards Cal asks Ruenti, our Commander, to launch a search party for her. Ruenti refuses.

Reme examines the standing stones and has a vision of Doshan-clan mystics sacrificing a woman. Afterwards, Reme criticizes Trull’s hackwork swordswomanship, and offers some pointers. Meanwhile, Lanec finds Cal and demands she let the squad go after Dalu. Cal calms Lanec down, asserts her authority, and hatches a plan to deceive Ruenti into launching a mission that might help them find Dalu.

Before they can act on it, a wave of Shadow attacks the camp, taking everyone by surprise. Cal quickly hashes out orders, but the situation spins out of control. In the chaos, Reme is wounded and the shadow overtakes Lanec, who injures Cal. Things look desperate, but the squad manages to drive the Shadow back.

After the battle, Cal summons Trull to dress the wounds Lanec inflicted. While Trull treats her, Cal tells Trull to put her sword, a family heirloom, aside, and use a hammer or axe instead. Trull doesn’t take kindly to this and storms off – though she does toss her sword aside on her way out of camp, taking a warhammer as her new weapon.

While the women of the Watch care for the dead, Reme asks Lanec about her clan’s funeral practices. Lanec, still rattled from being overtaken by the Shadow, rebuffs her and tells her it doesn’t matter: clan Thason got overrun so fast they left the dead where they lay. Lanec tells Reme the Shadow possessed her, and Reme, worried Lanec might still be possessed, asks her to disarm. Lanec tosses her sword to the ground in a show of faith. Cal, still bleeding, walks up and tells Reme to back off. Reme responds by critizicing Cal’s handling of the battle, and says something personally vindictive that I honestly can’t remember. Cal attacks her and they both become possessed by the Shadow. Lanec pulls Cal off Reme and throws her down the hill; both regain control of themselves. Cal asks Reme never to speak to her again – and storms off.

Lanec follows Cal back to her tent and asks how they can deal with an enemy that can attack from within. Cal tells her that they can’t beat it, but they can fight it, and the only solution is to keep fighting for as long as possible. Lanec respectfully tells her she wants something better.

Reme, meanwhile, discovers that Trull has left in search of Dalu. Cal asks Reme to take Trull’s sword back to her campsite to preserve the illusion of normalcy, but Reme insists on taking the sword straight to Trull. Reme and Lanec go after Trull and Dalu, while Cal covers for them with command.

SESSION 2

Trull soon finds Dalu in the woods not far away, bound and gagged, surrounded by freaky distorted Shadow warriors. She tosses Dalu a knife and proceeds to draw the Shadow off of Dalu long enough for Dalu to get to her feet. As the shadow close ranks, Reme and Lanec (on a shining white horse, of course) arrive to back her up. Dalu frees herself and the four of them drive off the shadow and return to camp largely unharmed.

They find out that command is sending Cal away, to be replaced by Laustec, who can hopefully discipline the unruly “Mean Girls” squad. Before leaving, she summons Lanec for a private “briefing”. Lanec is surprised to discover this is not a briefing at all but a TOTAL MAKEOUT SESS. But Cal soon has to leave for the other squad.

At this point, the Cal and Lau switch squads and we keep going from there. But this marks a good stopping point for now – expect the second & last entry in a few days.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/medeiros/the-watch-rpg/