Stonetop RPG - Session post-mortems

[Manbearcat]

CHARACTER INTRODUCTION AND SPRING BREAKS FORTH

Stonetop is a significant hack of Dungeon World (PBtA) such that it is clearly its own game written by Jeremy Strandberg (Perilous Wilds supplement for DW which is ported significantly in this game), illustrated by Lucie Arnoux, arranged by Jason Lutes, proofread by Rob Rendell and Matt Wetherbee, published by Lampblack & Brimstone.

Its a mythical Bronze > Iron Age-esque set game about the village of Stonetop, the people in it, and its efforts to survive and thrive in a world filled with threats and opportunities over the course of years. The game is played in seasonal chunks and we've settled on about 6 adventures and then move forward to the next season (each season having a move that frames the initial play of that season and has mechanical results).

Unlike Dungeon World, it starts with its own maps (attached below) but has an elaborate PC/NPC/Homefront generation, integration, and introduction and then you make a Spring Breaks Forth move to find out the initial threats and opportunities that will frame the opening of play. The game uses:

* Dungeon World's base move and gear/tag scheme (but a bit updated) with several interesting playbooks

* Dungeon World xp paradigm but End of Session questions tailored to this game (demonstrated/struggled with Instinct, relationship/opinion change of PC/NPC/group, learn about history/mythology, defeat threats to Stonetop, improve standing with neighbors, improve Stonetop)

* Perilous Wilds Followers rules (and his Danger/Discovery stuff and mostly his Journey stuff...which I'm going to use in full because the game is not live yet so there are some things missing)

* Homefront moves and stats (Fortune, Prosperity, Population, Defenses, Surplus) so akin to Crew in Blades in the Dark

* Advantage/Disadvantage (instead of take +1/-1) where you roll 3d6 and take best/worst 2

* A new move called Burn Brightly (which, once you've got enough xp to level but haven't spent it, you can burn 2 xp AFTER you've rolled to throttle up a result (eg from 6- to 7-9 etc)

* Blades-esque loadout system

* Loop that features x Adventures > Advance Season and reflect/update Stonetop > Make Season move to frame play

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THE PCs

Dap the Lightbearer of Auspicious Birth (sort of a priest of sun-god type character) who is Driven By Hope to inspire others in the face of adversity. He serves as Stonetop's Chandler. He brings to bear his personal insight, luminous presence, and a myriad of light-themed powers bestowed upon him by Helios.

Gavin the Blessed who was Raised By Wolves and is Driven by Preservation to protect the natural world. Along with his three wolves, he serves as Stonetop's shepherd and he assists Demi with the cistern. He brings to bear his wolves, his ability to speak with the spirits and natural beasts of the wild, and his pouch of magical stock through which Danu heaps her nature-themed blessings upon him.

Cullen the Judge who was led to the ancient, haunted vault by the providence of Aratis to serve as her new Prophet and Chronicler. The line of Judges was broken long ago, but he will now take up the mantle to Seek a Path of Harmony that makes everyone happy. He serves as Stonetop's mediator and chronicler. He brings to bear his indomitable will, his symbol of divine authority (a great, black maul), armor, and the Chronicle to scribe the events of the world.

Trys the Storm-marked Heavy who was struck by lightning and lived to tell the tale. Since her brush with certain death and touched by Tor (the Rainmaker, the Thunderhead), the runic markings she now bears are a constant reminder that makes her Driven By Recklessness to protect the people who can't protect themselves. Her father Sigurd (whom she has a volatile relationship with) is the town Blacksmith and Trys serves as the Weaponsmith. She is armored to the teeth, packing heat, and swinging a sword arm steeled by years of smithing...if you wade into close combat to clash with her...well, I hope you've got your affairs in order.

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STONETOP STATS, ASSETS, AND NPCs

Fortunes - 1
Surplus - 1
Size - 0
Population - 0
Prosperity 0
Defenses - 0

A pair of hardy draft horses, followers (large, powerful, keen-nosed, hardy): HP 10 each; Damage d6+3 (hand, close, forceful); Instinct: to panic; Cost: care & grooming.
A pair of horse-drawn plows, iron
A pair of carts (plus horse harness)
A wagon (plus horse harness)

Blacksmith/Farrier - Sigard (Trys's father). Gruff. Man of more hammer swings than pleasantries. His work is more than mere technology.

Midwife - Joelle. Negative by nature. She thinks Dap is a snakeoil salesman. When Dap was born, the people were in awe of the nature of the birth and this left her with a lasting case of deep resentment.

Stonemason - Llewelyn (Cullen' Uncle). Meticulous, precise, exacting. Shows his love and dedication due to his level of investment.

Mediator - Cullen.

Chandler - Dap.

Cobbler - Maldwyn. Surrogate mother to Trys. Sweet old lady who has no lucky with proteges.

Goatherder - Gavin (Wolves are Finn + Thorin + Leda).

Town Elders - Gwynn (ancient, infirm, visionary). Sawyl and Siana (Scooby Doo Man, respected, humorlous).

Tanner - Valwyn (Dap's father, good heart and likes to eat exotic things or challenges).

Cistern Manager - Demi (engineer). Gavin helps her out.

Weaponsmith - Trys.

Public House O/O - Innkeeps - Father Pryce

Publicans - Sawyl and Siana (also Elders)

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SPRING BREAKS FORTH

When spring bursts forth upon the land, whoever is the most hopeful rolls +Fortunes:

On a 10+, choose 1 option from the Gains list; on a 7-9, choose 1 Gain, but a threat to the steading makes itself known or gets worse; on a 6-, threats abound (and don’t mark XP).

Dap was most hopeful. He rolled a 7-9. His player chose Opportunity and I establish a threat to the steading.

Opportunity - The neighboring steading of Marshedge recently drove out their horsebreeder and his family due to the claim of his daughters practicing witchcraft and cavorting with dangerous supernatural forces. They were headed west along the road to Stonetop with their family belongings and their Herd of Horses. Marshedge is 8 days travel to Stonetop via the roads...their exodus was 10 days ago...

Threat - Last evening was storm-filled. It was no different at the forge of Sigurd and Trys. When Sigurd's ill temper and frustration at a struggling project turned toward the young bellows pumper who assists the smiths, Trys interceded. It always gets heated between father and daughter but this time it got physical. He actually struck her...and then fled through the gates of Stonetop...out into the dangerous Great Wood that abuts the northern section of the wall. Morning has come but Sigurd has not come with it...

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Anyhoo...

I'll update this thread with post-mortems as we play (and we play tonight).

 

[darkbard]

Excellent stuff! Looking forward to your insights on how ST differs in certain ways from DW (beyond those already outlined, and with specific examples). It's easy to see how the game's Playbooks are inputs to and tailored to the setting and premise in a way DW's more generic-D&D-genre-fantasy Playbooks simply cannot be, except as specific outputs of the First Session world creation process; and, even then, ST's process produces richer, more embedded PCs, in my opinion.

What has been the player reaction to the PC creation process? Do they feel the Playbooks lead to sufficiently "heroic" archetypes, despite the "hearth" and community-oriented aspect of the game (not that these are inherently adversarial in any way, but that often seems to be the case in fantasy tropes, particularly the idea of "transcending" one's humble origins, rather than committing fully to them)? Do you feel like the First Session questions-and-answers have led to a plethora of possible pressure points for when it came time for Spring to Break Forth? How did you settle on six "adventures" between Seasons, and how are you defining "adventure" here? (I've read parts of the Stonetop playtest rules but had been holding off on devouring everything until the hard copy was released; with the unfortunate delay, I'm rethinking that strategy!)

 

[BookTenTiger]

How cool, I love reading this! I've always wanted to run a stoneage game. Please keep updating!

 

[darkbard]

How cool, I love reading this! I've always wanted to run a stoneage game. Please keep updating!

Technically late bronze age. But the name is a tad obfuscating...

 

[Ovinomancer]

Excellent stuff! Looking forward to your insights on how ST differs in certain ways from DW (beyond those already outlined, and with specific examples). It's easy to see how the game's Playbooks are inputs to and tailored to the setting and premise in a way DW's more generic-D&D-genre-fantasy Playbooks simply cannot be, except as specific outputs of the First Session world creation process; and, even then, ST's process produces richer, more embedded PCs, in my opinion.

What has been the player reaction to the PC creation process?

The GM made a complete hash of this. Luckily, the players were great and we managed to overcome.

On a more serious note, the PC creation process is interesting. There's quite a lot that can be done prior to session, and I'd recommend doing work before the session -- there are a number of questions you can answer and you can build the mechanical bits of your character prior. This saves time in session because there's a lot to do for character creation. We had 4 players, and we took 2 1/2 hours going around. As always, make sure you hold on lightly to anything you do prior to the session.

The process does a great job of grounding the PCs into the steading and setting and to each other. Multiple pressure points are created, and relationships are established both between PCs and the steaders, both positive and negative. Good stuff here, really makes everything come up around the PCs and provide ample room for pushing and pulling them.

Do they feel the Playbooks lead to sufficiently "heroic" archetypes, despite the "hearth" and community-oriented aspect of the game (not that these are inherently adversarial in any way, but that often seems to be the case in fantasy tropes, particularly the idea of "transcending" one's humble origins, rather than committing fully to them)?

I wouldn't say that the playbooks really establish hero tropes. They're a bit more along the lines of creating troubled characters in a tight spot. If you look at the playbook moves, for every clear hero-trope move there's one that cuts against or is orthogonal to that. It's kinda like how in Blades you aren't playing heroes but criminals? You aren't playing tropey fantasy heroes, but rather people that have had things happen that push them into positions of having to do something. I'm struggling to adequately explain it.

Take my character -- I'm not from humble origins at all. My background is literally auspicious birth! The Stormblessed was struck by lightning, and is an important personage in town outside of that (one of the smiths). So, not really the hero's journey kinda stuff. More like Blades in that we're going to try to get our little town up and running and do things the PCs want to do but the game/GM/setting is going to be throwing things at us that attack these goals. I see opportunity for heroics and villainy.

Do you feel like the First Session questions-and-answers have led to a plethora of possible pressure points for when it came time for Spring to Break Forth?

100%

How did you settle on six "adventures" between Seasons, and how are you defining "adventure" here? (I've read parts of the Stonetop playtest rules but had been holding off on devouring everything until the hard copy was released; with the unfortunate delay, I'm rethinking that strategy!)

So, this is @Manbearcat's thinking, and we've kinda talked about it. I'm not sure this is the way to go, but it's a reasonable place to start and adjust.

 

[Ovinomancer]

How cool, I love reading this! I've always wanted to run a stoneage game. Please keep updating!

Heh, this is actually something about the game setting that didn't even factor in my desire to play it. It's neat, and I've no issue with it, but I did not agree to or get excited about Stonetop because of the time-period.

 

[chaochou]

Its a mythical Bronze Age-esque set game about the village of Stonetop, the people in it, and its efforts to survive and thrive in a world filled with threats and opportunities over the course of years. The game is played in seasonal chunks and we've settled on about 6 adventures and then move forward to the next season (each season having a move that frames the initial play of that season and has mechanical results).

The whole introduction reminds me very much of Glorantha, especially the way Sartar is portrayed as isolated villages and steads all looking to survive in a world of unknown strangeness. I think it would be easy (and lazy) to say "well, they're both bronze age settings..." - actually the feeling has very little to do with the bronze age, and much more to do with the 'mythical'.

I like the sound of this game a lot, especially in that it looks like it codifies progress through the seasons in ways which weren't mechanically supported in HeroWars. The structure reminds me of the (excellent) Glorantha-based PC game King of Dragon Pass.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I haven't started playing yet, but I don't think it's possible to read the playbooks and not want to play.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I haven't started playing yet, but I don't think it's possible to read the playbooks and not want to play.

Yes, they are incredibly thematic things. And different choices make for very different characters, even within the same playbook.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Just had our first play session after character creation. Loved it. We split the party right off the bat, with the two martial characters heading off on a 3 day trek to find some missing immigrants to the village while the shaman and the priest went into the woods to find one of the martial character's father (in a great moment, she said she was done with his foolishness and left finding him up to the other characters, great moment, really clarified that relationship). Hijinx ensued.