Convergence DM Log - Session 4 - 11/24

 Preamble

This was a session with some major twists and turns and "really?" moments.  Looking back at it, the players seem to have gotten a good groove with each other and together I'm learning how to pick up what everyone is really looking for in the game.  It's a bit of a change up from previous groups which I'll talk about more later.  But again, the players were on point, the game had some amazing moments and some great role play, and even a decent bit of action.

Hiding in a ditch

We agreed to start the session with the party regrouped in the woods, hiding.  The dragoons were searching the woods in pairs and the heroines had a chance to hatch a plan for what to do with the various artifacts they had acquired.  After some great in character discussion they hatched a plan.  Once again I felt like I could go get myself some pizza and just call out clarification answers from the kitchen while they had their fun outlining their options and hatching a proper scheme.

I've actually put some thought into modifying my gaming overlay to have one that removes me, and the dice roller, completely from the scene.  In these moments I'm not very active, nor should I be.  The players are the ones driving the scene.  This reminds me very much about the principle conceit in the RPG Kids on Bikes.  In that game, players are encouraged to provide not just their character's narratives but also to set the scene, describe the action and set their own challenges for dice rolls.  The system is very simple, and suggested DC's can easily be figured out.  If all is going well, once the Story Teller sets the scene and the parameters for the game, they can bow out and let the players just tell the story on their own.  

While this might seem a little off, think of how often a DM hears a player's theory for an NPC or a plot thread and suddenly that particular off shoot becomes cannon.  Quite often players will say things like "Wouldn't it be cool if" and the DM thinks "well now that you mention it, I can totally make that the real story".

Turning themselves in and the arrival of support

This is where the DM first showed his flakiness with the whole "Artificer" thing.  In theory there's a rock that is illusioned to look like a Convergence Shard.  Only, technically, the rock in question is not big enough or heavy enough to stand to inspection.  I totally forgot this and let the shard be given to the dragoons without question.  It worked though because we needed to get the party back to down, make some peace and move on with the story.

But then came the arrival of Mackenzie.  In many ways I love the cinematic nature of having this dwarven smith sneak up on the party.  The look on the faces of party as the realization that she was there made the entire set up worth it and gave Kati a chance to interact with her would-be mentor.  It also left a good number of questions unanswered (the best kind of questions) and it set up further conflict between the smith and the artificer.  I didn't think I'd come to love that sparring as much as I did.

And I think that plays into the depth of the characters in question.  As long as the game moves forward, a DM doesn't need all of the players/ characters to feel exactly the same about any NPC.  They can dislike them or distrust them; the only real danger is when a given NPC is needed to move the story and one of the party hold outs refuses to budge because of an in-character gripe or concern.  Nothing brings a game to a stop quite like having a single player refuse to move things along especially when the DM hasn't forged a plan for that contingency.

Which then brings us to the passing of the shard from one dragoon to the lieutenant.  Again, I totally forgot about the limits on this little first level spell but I have some ideas as to why it's working as well as it is.  Either way, if I'd been on my game there was no way that they were going to accept the shard and leave town.  At this point the story arc with the dragoons had more or less run its course and they needed to get off the table.

What has remained fun, though, is to see Aveline/ ThatOtherPond continue to have a truly love/hate relationship with them.  One moment the company is made up of decent, honorable people doing hard work within the empire, and in the next she's ready to murder them as oppressive tools of an absent regime.  One of the things I adore about the character of Aveline is the depth of her understanding of these complexities.  The Queens Own Dragoons aren't a monolith and they are neither good nor evil on their own.  They are simply necessary for the society to function.  And as much as Lt. Emberflight can be tied into the Empire and it's core principles, others within the company can be shown as more "human" and empathetic.  

I also really enjoyed bringing them back to buy some of Aveline's currency for "collecting".  It's something I hadn't planned but it hit me in the middle of the session as a tool that could create a bond, further develop one or two of these "random NPCs" and let the players further feel conflicted about the Empire.

Working the Forge or "I need the NPC to give me a hint"

So one thing that is hard at any table is communicating in and out of character about what is hoped for in a given scene.  The DM can't say "I hope one of you gets mortally wounded so you can meet this NPC that runs the temple" and the players often don't say "I hope this NPC gives us a hint".  In many ways we're all discovering the story as we go along and no one of us has the whole picture of it.  

I thought this exchange was very good but as we wrapped it up I realized that the goal that NLK brought to it "I hope this wise dwarf has a suggestion for us".  And while I wanted Mackenzie to be that wise sage in town (and of course skilled blacksmith), I didn't pick up on the need at the table for some kind of direction at the time.  Plus I was in a bind.  As a character, Mackenzie is unlikely to tell Kati directly what to do.  At the same time, the players really needed more world lore to build on.

Knock Knock Knock

Of course we can't have a session without some combat and more to the point I could tell the players needed something new to happen.  I wanted to remind the players that there was a threat out there that they had to deal with.  As long as they have the shard, the New Blades will be coming after them with greater and greater forces.  

What I was not ready for is to have the artificer declare the 7-11 a total loss because an ogre burst through a wall to attack someone by surprise.  The good news is that other players have suggested that the 7-11 is not ruined but will be rebuilt.

As to the stats on these bad guys?  Next log.

Real talk about Pacing

Every group is unique in style, temperament and story type.  One of the great things about this particular group is their ability to improv entire scenes at the table that are very real and very in character.  They really are here for these honest moments between each other and the NPC's.  

At the same time the group started to stall with a "what now?"  They had the shard, they knew that the New Blades wanted the shard and they knew that it would be bad, right now, to be headed into the Imperial City on the Straits with it.  What I was listening for was things like "I want to find someone who..." or "We need to go to..."  Where I failed was in recognizing the way that Molly and NLK asked these questions.  There were places I could say "okay, you remember hearing about a person who..." and sending them off in that direction.  There is another thing I missed but that's a big spoiler I don't want to put here.

What I had "banked" on and should not have, was the party saying "Clearly the New Blades know something here, we should head to their encampment and see what we can find."  This isn't a party that goes looking for a fight and that's something I need to factor into the story as we go.  Also being totally fair to the players, seeing a group wants to kill them can create a need to get away from said group and not think "we need to take the fight to them".  Which if I can create gap of a couple of days I think I can solve, story-wise.  That all said, the game is still actually moving along at a fair pace.

Looking forward (Possible Spoilers)

First, I really want to find a way to hide these.

So, the big NPC that one of our backers created knows exactly what to do with the convergence shard.  The problem was that I didn't feel comfortable in that moment saying "oh, go find this guy" because right now, "this guy" is keeping a low profile.  Finding him is supposed to be a surprise twist to that scene.  There was a hint about him that was bit of a throwaway.  What I really wanted to see happen is the party to set out towards the New Blades and then get caught on a "Side Quest" that is actually a "real quest".  This has been a challenge I've had with the story that I've been putting off fixing for a while.  I think it's quite likely that I need to up the ante next session to really give the party a reason to get out there and deal with the gnoll problem in the area.  And I think I know how best to do that.  Just need to get there, and maybe give the party a day or two of town time to help lay the foundations.

The last issue is the girl in the opening credits.

To be fair, I used free stock video to create the part of the opening.  I liked it, it was fun and it creates mystery.  However I still don't know who that characters is.  Is she someone living out on the fringes?  Is she a sage who has her own theories of the convergence?  Is she someone someone with knowledge of the gnolls?  Is she just a random NPC that they need to rescue?  I have, quite literally, no idea.

Conclusions

While the story is moving along, I don't feel too much like we've floundered and faltered in a major way.  The players report they're having fun; I'm having fun.  We're all moving deeper and deeper into this world of the Convergence and dealing with the questions of the day as they come up.  It is true that we're more likely to end the game after 15 sessions rather than 10 but that's okay by me.  I really don't want there to be a long gap between Season 1 and Season 2 because I'm having fun telling this story with these players.  I really can't wait to get them into Season 2 and see what happens then.

Watch the Episode here: