Mortal Coil - First Play Session
We played our second session of Mortail Coil the on the 20th of July - the first actual play session after creating the theme document. Life was a bit hectic, so I managed to put the updated theme document on our forum only today.
I'm a bit conflicted about the actual play experience. It was certainly very interesting and lively (and challenging for me), but we had our problems too.
The most interesting (and hard-fought) conflict we had was about the fay country instilling for passion (Love) for it on a player character. The fay country one just barely, and the player had the passion imposed on his character. That was hard for him (although he rose to the challenge very well), because in our games so far the emotional state of characters has always been very much under the sovereignty of the player. Coping with (and role-playing) these system-imposed feelings is a challenge for our group.
Some interesting discussions and ideas arose from the fact/price bartering, but it also tended to break the suspension of disbelief (or immersion if you will), taking the discussion to the metagame level. Some players are worried this will continue (especially with our idea of an contiuously elevating magic level). We'll see whether we can shorten these moments, and I also hope the frequency of these will diminish when we have an established framework of facts.
So far facts and prices arose mostly from acute situations without us paying much attention to the game details set down in the theme document. As such it feels a bit haphazard. These are probably teething problems and we'll manage to get a better overall feeling to our facts and prices.
Characters are still feeling around for their relations amongst each other. The players did not want to go into the game with pre-defined relationships, so everything still has very much a "getting to know each other" and "story setup" feeling. No surprises there.
Detecting Magic
Fact: Some people have the inherent ability to feel whether someone has consciously "used magic" in the past.
Price: They need to touch the persion in question, and feeling it is a strong sensation. The "detected" may start a Wits vs Will conflict to notice the use of the power.
Fairy gifts and services
Fact: Taking gifts from fairies is dangerous, as it gives them some power over you.
Price: This is reciprocal. If you give a fairy something you gain power over it.
Church Bells and Fairies
Fact: The ringing of churchbells causes pain to fairies and disrupts their spells (-2 for all fairies while bells are ringing).
Price: THe pain is fleeting and immediately gone when the bells stop ringing. There are no lasting effects.
Fairy Glamour
Fact: Fairies can cast glamours (illusions) over themselbes at will. These last until broken or the fairies end them.
Price: The same glamour can never be cast twice. Each illusion must be distinctive from previous ones.
Empathy - Detect Life
Fact: An empath can detect life is a long distance ( hundreds of meters to a few kilometers) around himself by going into a trance.
Price: He must shut off all other senses while doing this.
Love for Fey Lands
Fact: Fey Lands and their emissaries can impress a love for them into people in their vicinity (creating a 1-strength love passion), through a Will vs Will conflict.
Price: If the conflict fails, the target receives a permanent resistance against all magic from that fey land and its inhabitants (+2 against all magic from that source).
Healing - Diagnosis
Fact: A healercan diagnose patients simply by touching them (difficult problems warrant a Wits test against a GM-set difficulty).
Price: The bond between healer and patient goes both ways. The patient learns one fact or secret from the healer.
Manipulation - Suggest Truth
Fact: A manipulator can implant one idea as "true fact" in someone's mind. He needs to win a Will vs Wits conflict for that, where the target gets a bonus for very wild and unbelievable things.
Price: The effect only remains while the manipulator is around and can regularly "reinforce" the stated fact.
Manipulation - Group Impulse
Fact: A manipulator can give a group of people the impulse to follow a certain decision or course of action. He needs to beat the highest Will among the group plus the group's size with this Will + Manipulator score.
Price: It's not mind control, i.e. people can still decide against the impulse. Again, the he needs to be around for a prolonged effect.
I'm a bit conflicted about the actual play experience. It was certainly very interesting and lively (and challenging for me), but we had our problems too.
The most interesting (and hard-fought) conflict we had was about the fay country instilling for passion (Love) for it on a player character. The fay country one just barely, and the player had the passion imposed on his character. That was hard for him (although he rose to the challenge very well), because in our games so far the emotional state of characters has always been very much under the sovereignty of the player. Coping with (and role-playing) these system-imposed feelings is a challenge for our group.
Some interesting discussions and ideas arose from the fact/price bartering, but it also tended to break the suspension of disbelief (or immersion if you will), taking the discussion to the metagame level. Some players are worried this will continue (especially with our idea of an contiuously elevating magic level). We'll see whether we can shorten these moments, and I also hope the frequency of these will diminish when we have an established framework of facts.
So far facts and prices arose mostly from acute situations without us paying much attention to the game details set down in the theme document. As such it feels a bit haphazard. These are probably teething problems and we'll manage to get a better overall feeling to our facts and prices.
Characters are still feeling around for their relations amongst each other. The players did not want to go into the game with pre-defined relationships, so everything still has very much a "getting to know each other" and "story setup" feeling. No surprises there.
Detecting Magic
Fact: Some people have the inherent ability to feel whether someone has consciously "used magic" in the past.
Price: They need to touch the persion in question, and feeling it is a strong sensation. The "detected" may start a Wits vs Will conflict to notice the use of the power.
Fairy gifts and services
Fact: Taking gifts from fairies is dangerous, as it gives them some power over you.
Price: This is reciprocal. If you give a fairy something you gain power over it.
Church Bells and Fairies
Fact: The ringing of churchbells causes pain to fairies and disrupts their spells (-2 for all fairies while bells are ringing).
Price: THe pain is fleeting and immediately gone when the bells stop ringing. There are no lasting effects.
Fairy Glamour
Fact: Fairies can cast glamours (illusions) over themselbes at will. These last until broken or the fairies end them.
Price: The same glamour can never be cast twice. Each illusion must be distinctive from previous ones.
Empathy - Detect Life
Fact: An empath can detect life is a long distance ( hundreds of meters to a few kilometers) around himself by going into a trance.
Price: He must shut off all other senses while doing this.
Love for Fey Lands
Fact: Fey Lands and their emissaries can impress a love for them into people in their vicinity (creating a 1-strength love passion), through a Will vs Will conflict.
Price: If the conflict fails, the target receives a permanent resistance against all magic from that fey land and its inhabitants (+2 against all magic from that source).
Healing - Diagnosis
Fact: A healercan diagnose patients simply by touching them (difficult problems warrant a Wits test against a GM-set difficulty).
Price: The bond between healer and patient goes both ways. The patient learns one fact or secret from the healer.
Manipulation - Suggest Truth
Fact: A manipulator can implant one idea as "true fact" in someone's mind. He needs to win a Will vs Wits conflict for that, where the target gets a bonus for very wild and unbelievable things.
Price: The effect only remains while the manipulator is around and can regularly "reinforce" the stated fact.
Manipulation - Group Impulse
Fact: A manipulator can give a group of people the impulse to follow a certain decision or course of action. He needs to beat the highest Will among the group plus the group's size with this Will + Manipulator score.
Price: It's not mind control, i.e. people can still decide against the impulse. Again, the he needs to be around for a prolonged effect.