=== Shyft's Observations: Session #1 ===
[11:04] - Minor goof here. I invoked a per+aware roll, but I should have paused and cited the 'noticing details' rules on page 135pdf of 2e core. This would've given Aleph a framework to decide how difficult anything was, and explained the 'Zero Difficulty' concept as well as the idea of a rising threshold for secret information.
- (Aleph: Yup, corebook RAW is something I may need reminders on every so often.)
[11:16] - At this point I'm using Flawless Diagnosis technique in its modular interpretation, where you use it to spot-check 'is it relevant', and then use it again to properly diagnose it as a 5 minute action with no chance of misdiagnosis.*
*It automatically succeeds unless there is some critical piece of information not available at time of diagnosis.
[11:20] - This discussion about the stomach bottle bug was in part because we had talked about her having bound one off-camera before session start.
[11:24] - Here I realized I should/could have rolled Inks's valor 2, because as I planned to later, bring up that she's from Nexus. "Do you know what happens to women who wake up drugged in Nexus? Yeah, Not a pretty thought!"
- (Aleph: It may be evident that I'm a little too used to writing for an Exalt who can be reasonably sure of murdering or at least escaping anything short of a combat-focused Third Circle or Incarnae-level god.)
[11:32] - We're still trying to get a handle on our respective styles, which is why we keep forgetting to write ((done)) at the end of a post, forcing it to a hard linebreak. Related to this, I have long since practiced pre-writing stunts, while Aleph is actually likely waiting for me to write, then writing the NPCs/environment response.
- (Aleph: I am, yes.)
[11:40] - This is one of those vagaries of the IRC format, where a lot of time is actually spent Talking without Rolling. We're still getting used to how we want to pace the mechanics and rolls,and for the record, a game can actually be run without much rolling or charm use and still be fun!
- (Aleph: I'm actually kind of fine with this. I consider "soft" roleplay where things happen by conversation and RP skill to be a valuable part of a game, which can and should have considerable impact on it. I don't expect Shyft to be as good a speaker as Inks, but the direction of his stunts and how she chooses to go about convincing people of things will matter.)
[11:40] - Also of note is that neither ST or PC have made much note about languages yet, we can assume we're both talking Riverspeak, which is the 'trade language' of Creation and occupies a niche similar to that of English in my opinion. (It's not actually English)
[11:45] - This is one of those awkward moments where a roll is asked for, but you don't have enough information as a player to create a stunt. I was also called away, so I made the decision to just roll it straight. It also occured to me that previously, Aleph had houseruled I have inherent 1st and 2nd excellencies without charm purchases, so all my rolls to this point could've been upgraded for motes.
- (Aleph: This issue here is that if you call for a perception check to spot things lurking in the dark shadowy alleyway, it kind of gives away that there may be things lurking in the dark shadowy alleyway. But if you don't stunt to see them, you may be less likely /to/ see them. Which is a bit paradoxical. I don't really have a good solution.)
[11:47] - I also just remembered we're using the mote reactor hack, and I don't actually know how many motes you regen when not in combat, if any. Because I didn't wnat to interrupt Aleph (who was already quite nervous at running a session), I simply stuck to the roleplaying goal of not outing Inks as a Solar to her potential ally.
- (Aleph: For reference, it's in the motes-per-hour range, so not really applicable in short periods of time like this.)
[12:09] - This is another one of those 'unstuntable' rolls
[12:25] - Note that Maji is not a corebook familiar, we're using specific houserules to better model an Awesome Exalted familiar.
[12:29] - Maji and Suleiman are both evidence of how much pre-session planning went into this before we sat down and actually Played. The high notes of the first half of the session- the whirlwind betrothal, Suleiman's character and profession, a lot of it was already set up. Inks waking up in a wedding dress was part of five in-media res options we came up with previously.
- (Aleph: All of which were amusing, some of which we may see reused.)
[12:48] - I'm not actually sure if Aleph is using MDV rules here.
- (Aleph: I am, but had just run into the issue that despite the many things I /did/ calculate for Sulieman, like his rough family history, dicepools and important Intimacies, his MDV was somehow not one of them. However, since Inks was gorgeous and playing to two of his strong Intimacies, I decided that the combination probably dropped his MDV low enough for her to overcome it.)
[13:08] - Another point in which IRC changes the game format. We have at this point only covered approximately two scenes worth of content, and the main reason for that is we're spending a lot of time writing 'narration' ala shared writing jam. This is not bad, but it definitely slows things down. Conversations between characters tend to be very plodding affairs unless all players are fast typists.
[13:08] - One of the goals of Sunlit Sands was, at least for me, to practice different game styles, like having scenes/sessions resolved in a wider angle that focuses less on direct narration more on cause-effect discussion. Narration however is really important and fun.
[13:40] - Here I very deliberately focused on 'wide angle' narration and made a point to not have Aleph control the NPC before I got what I wanted, this was to prevent unnecessary dawdling and delays. The madam and possile courtesans remain -potential- NPCs, but not yet.
[13:57] - So this was a four hour session, and I had to stop because of an errand that had to be run before it got too late. I for the record am in the pacific timezone.
- (Aleph: And I'm GMT.)
=== Aleph's Observations: Session #1 ===
[11:00] - Tenses are a constant lowkey challenge in this game. I'm fine with having it in past tense, but I'm so used to writing in present-tense for roleplay that I slip every so often. I'll get better with time. Probably.
[11:18] - This oversharing of information is a case of misinterpretation on my part - I didn't grok that Flawless Diagnosis is modular, and it's been a while since I've read Shyft's Solar Essays. I should probably throw the text of her Charms, as well as the Essay commentary/unpacking of them, into her character sheet.
- This is actually a compound fuckup on my part. I sort of wrote myself into a corner on the question of "how did she not wake up", patched it with "drugs", patched "that's /more than a bit skeevy/" with "medicinal dose" and then ran into "but Stomach Bottle Bug" and just sort of swore and gave up.
[11:30] - Suleiman - "Husbando" - was a character we discussed ahead of time, who was integral to the starting-session prompt of "Well This Is Awkward; I Appear To Have Gone To Sleep At A Hotel And Woken Up In A Wedding Dress". My goals with Suleiman were to avoid creepy-stalker territory by making him kookily adorable, to make him useful to Inks but not so useful that she'd be boneheaded not to take him, and to set him up in a situation where he could be a recurring character but not overshadow the plot. I'm hopeful that I struck the right balance in all three.
[11:56] - "I can't marry a man I just met!" QueenElsa.jpg
[12:02] - Yeah, this was just me making his rolls and such.
[12:06] - Shyft brings up an important point here: Suleiman didn't beat her MDV, but that doesn't mean she /has/ to reject him. It merely means that he hasn't won her over and that she can hold back and make a choice entirely of her own volition.
[12:25] - Shyft had already bought Maji, so there was no need for a protracted winning-him over plotline; he basically fell in loyalty-at-first-sight. Like merchant, like tiger.
[12:36] - Actions matter; even unrolled. Few women would dare to walk into a cage with a giant godblooded tiger. Fewer still would win him over in seconds where only three people in the caravan have managed it, and all took weeks. Suleiman knows he'd get his hand bitten off if he'd tried that. ++ Reputation for Inks in his eyes - and that may have consequences if he tells the story.
[12:43] - /Actions matter; even unrolled/. This is the sort of claim that would get a /lot/ of attention, a fair bit of it unfriendly - as Suleiman mentions later. His doing so is essentially an explicit ST warning: "Be Aware that stating your ambitions so bluntly will cause Complications and Consequences".
[12:49] - Much like Inks not being convinced earlier; this is him beating her roll but choosing to help her anyway. Though you'll notice he tried to talk her into choosing a more cautious approach.
[13:31] - Our first look at Gem and some of the landmarks around it, which I'm quite proud of. I've developed the region a fair bit, and added some points of interest and Things To Interact With outside of the city itself. Some of them are made so that Inks has pretty obvious ways to exploit them, but most are set up to support and compliment the city - making use of them will be an exercise in inventiveness.
