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Stormbringer #17
May. 8th, 2006 10:06 amRan my 17th Stormbringer adventure on Saturday.
I have to say, it really drove home how few real RPGers we have in the group, though perhaps I've been spoiled by years of large groups. But in and case, Woo was at home watching basketball, and so Fulton didn't make it either. Likewise Sweet wasn't around, because he's only allowed out of the house every couple of weeks. So that left me, Kevin, Pick, and Donald.
Now three players is a fine number for an RPG ... if they're three people who actually play. Unfortunately on the typical week's play, Donald plays solitaire and Kevin reads. So I said, "Look guys, I'll run today if I actually have three players, but I'm concerned I only have one." So Donald and Kevin each promised to actually play this week, and Donald even said he'd enjoy it. (Kevin didn't.) So, Pick, Donald, and I played Stormbringer and Kevin paid a little more attention than usual, but still spent a fair amount of time on an (interesting-looking) video game.
As a result there wasn't a whole lot of interesting interaction in the game itself. I drove the plot forward through player lulls, but there weren't the normative diversions, asides, and arguments that usually go with the group. I felt like I was rail-roading the game through just to give us something to play, which was entirely frustrating.
The plot itself was simple enough: the players got the song and singer they were looking for (or at least had the singer sing the song into a magic gem, as I didn't want her going home with them). They're now ready to head home, but have heard that dark things have been happening in the Purple Towns since they left. They're also exiting stage left, which is toward the Unknown East, to avoid the mercenaries who have been chasing them. I need to decide exactly what that's going to result in, after I've reviewed the source material a bit.
There's 1-2 weeks left in this "chapter" of the story, but afterward I need to think seriously about if I'm going to continue this forward. Probably, as long as I have a *good* week of gaming in the next 1 or 2.
I have to say, it really drove home how few real RPGers we have in the group, though perhaps I've been spoiled by years of large groups. But in and case, Woo was at home watching basketball, and so Fulton didn't make it either. Likewise Sweet wasn't around, because he's only allowed out of the house every couple of weeks. So that left me, Kevin, Pick, and Donald.
Now three players is a fine number for an RPG ... if they're three people who actually play. Unfortunately on the typical week's play, Donald plays solitaire and Kevin reads. So I said, "Look guys, I'll run today if I actually have three players, but I'm concerned I only have one." So Donald and Kevin each promised to actually play this week, and Donald even said he'd enjoy it. (Kevin didn't.) So, Pick, Donald, and I played Stormbringer and Kevin paid a little more attention than usual, but still spent a fair amount of time on an (interesting-looking) video game.
As a result there wasn't a whole lot of interesting interaction in the game itself. I drove the plot forward through player lulls, but there weren't the normative diversions, asides, and arguments that usually go with the group. I felt like I was rail-roading the game through just to give us something to play, which was entirely frustrating.
The plot itself was simple enough: the players got the song and singer they were looking for (or at least had the singer sing the song into a magic gem, as I didn't want her going home with them). They're now ready to head home, but have heard that dark things have been happening in the Purple Towns since they left. They're also exiting stage left, which is toward the Unknown East, to avoid the mercenaries who have been chasing them. I need to decide exactly what that's going to result in, after I've reviewed the source material a bit.
There's 1-2 weeks left in this "chapter" of the story, but afterward I need to think seriously about if I'm going to continue this forward. Probably, as long as I have a *good* week of gaming in the next 1 or 2.