Nytmare
David Jose
For the first time in a LONG time, I was actually free on Free RPG Day and decided to dig into my bag of tricks and bring something I was figuring few if any of the people there had ever seen before. I had picked up a copy of Fall of Magic after falling in love with a different game from the same designer, that I had Kickstarted as a Christmas gift for my nieces, and then selfishly decided to keep for myself.
For those not familiar, Fall of Magic is almost more of an experience than just an RPG. The game is played on a beautiful silk screened, canvas scroll, that you slowly unfurl across the table as you explore the world. The game comes with this beautiful set of thick, metal coins that you're pushing around to represent yourself and your companions as you slowly work your way across the landscape.
"Magic is dying, and the Magus is dying with it. We travel together to the realm of Umbra where magic was born."
Character creation involves everyone choosing a name off a list, one of the listed places, and one of that place's listed titles. Everyone has to have a different name, but places and titles can be shared. In addition, players are encouraged to come up with some kind of explanation as to who we are to each other, who we are to the Magus, and what the Magus is, though much of that is teased out during play.
Mechanically, the map is littered with little scene prompts to spur you on and help paint a picture of the world that you're in and the places you are at. On your turn, if your coin is not on the map, you place it there and choose one of the prompts. Your scene can be anything you want, in whatever style of roleplay you wish. You can narrate a scene, act out a conversation, describe things cinematically. First person, third person, you can include other characters and players to act out parts. Whatever it is that you're comfortable with. On you're turn, you have final say over what it is that happens, though even then, other people have final say over their own character actions and fate.
Additionally, if your coin is already on the map, you can either choose to revisit a prompt, choose a new prompt, or decide to move the Magus on to the next location on the map. If you do so, you use the primary prompt of that new location either playing as the Magus or as a removed narrator.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
GAME ONE: THE APPRENTICE
The first group had four players. Myself, an old college buddy of mine, his 14(ish) year old son, and a random game store stranger. Our characters were a giant who had been friends with the Magus for so long he no longer remembered how long it had actually been; an iron golem servant that the Magus had crafted with his own hands; an 8 year old, newly minted apprentice; and... And Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z who was riding around on a giant battle crab looking for people to fight.
This style of game was new for pretty much everyone, but they all took to it and shined, even Piccolo. We discovered that my giant was kindly and gentle and was appalled by violence. He had a scene where he wept over an age old forgotten battlefield, because he was overwhelmed by the thought of people deciding that they had no option left but to hurt each other. It was revealed that the apprentice had faked his way through his aptitude tests and had lit his candle with a flint when no one was looking. The golem marveled over how different the outside world was from the world he knew, and the first seeds of resentment at the life of servitude that had been chosen for him were sown. Meanwhile Piccolo made a bunch of DBZ references and quotes.
We travelled through the Mistwood where my giant remembered that this was where he was originally from, that the giants had all been scattered by an ancient war, and that I had been the last of my kind that anyone had seen for generations. Piccolo, urged on by a scene prompt, chose on his own to have his battle crab disappear mysteriously, and we spent the better part of the day trying to find any sign of it.
As the sun set, we stumbled on to the Hall of the Grey Rangers, and in discussing who they were and why they were here decided that they were made up of men and women who had been cursed with lycanthropy and had removed themselves from society. Fearing for our safety the rangers locked us away in their Hall that night in an attempt to protect us. On my turn, I spotted a prompt that involved a die roll that might reasonably set me up to either take a life, be wounded, or to be changed in some drastic and dramatic way (werewolf giant?) so I opted for that. I rolled +wounded and described how the largest of the wolves eventually scented us and battered his way into the hall and charged at the child before I was able to tackle him and pin him to the ground till morning.
We described how the Magus, who would normally be able to heal my wounds without thought or effort struggled to even stem the flow blood, and talked about how sickly and weak he was getting. Realizing that he needed help, the Magus led us down into the Mouth of the Deep where we hoped to find an old friend who might be able to help sustain him, at least till we could get him to the Umbra so that he could be healed.
Heading down into Mouth involved us flipping the scroll over to reveal a "hidden" section of the map, and we found ourselves in the Hanging City. A society suspended from the cavern ceiling, built out of the discarded rags and remains from the above ground world. There, we were able to find the Magus' friend, a hunched and withered old mole-man, who provided him with a potion that restored his strength and who traded us a chest full of priceless diamonds for a colorful quilt the apprentice had been carrying with him for most of the trip.
Travelling on, across the Sea of Salt, we eventually reached the Fortress of Karst, a giant, industrial, clockwork city. Here, our golem discovered that the Magus had not created him, but had instead rescued him from being destroyed for being a golem accidentally created with free will. For his entire existence he had just assumed he had no choices and could make no decisions for himself, but he now realized he had complete control over his own destiny. While this was happening, the apprentice visited a mechanical oracle and asked it what he was supposed to do since he wasn't a magician and had no magical abilities. The player decided that, since he himself didn't know what the answer should be, that he'd pimp me into providing it, so on my turn I chose the "What nears the fortress" prompt and had the city get attacked by a giant lava monster before he could read his little fortune cookie prophecy.
The apprentice, giant, and magus ran to escape the fortress as it revealed itself to be a giant, 80 foot tall golem. Realizing that he could choose for himself, OUR golem decided to ignore our cries to run and instead stood in defense of the home that had abandoned him. Excited to finally get his chance to be in a fight, Piccolo jumped in, powered up, chanted some kind of Japaneseish battle cry, and Special Beam Cannoned the lava monster.
Growing weaker by the minute, the Magus had to be carried by his friends through the Gates of Umbra, where the other players were surprised to discover that we were supposed to flip the map back over. They had been actively trying to kill the poor guy off cause they thought it was the end of the story. We travelled through the Nameless City where my giant gave away his name so that the denizens would let us pass unharmed.
We then, just as the 5 minute warning was called for the break between sessions, arrived at the source of magic. The Magus we decided, had had to make this trip, and had known all along that he was going to die so that he could pass on the spark of magic to his new apprentice. He had brought us along not only to help him get here, but to protect the child. The apprentice, now the new Magus, who was my friend and had always been my friend for longer than I could ever remember used his magic to give me my new name. Piccolo, having fought the greatest monster this world had had to offer, and now realizing that violence was not always the solution to a problem ascended from this world to go beat people up in other dimensions. The golem, again realizing that he had a choice, decided that he would go back with us to the Magus' home, because the outside world was too big and too many choices.
For those not familiar, Fall of Magic is almost more of an experience than just an RPG. The game is played on a beautiful silk screened, canvas scroll, that you slowly unfurl across the table as you explore the world. The game comes with this beautiful set of thick, metal coins that you're pushing around to represent yourself and your companions as you slowly work your way across the landscape.
"Magic is dying, and the Magus is dying with it. We travel together to the realm of Umbra where magic was born."
Character creation involves everyone choosing a name off a list, one of the listed places, and one of that place's listed titles. Everyone has to have a different name, but places and titles can be shared. In addition, players are encouraged to come up with some kind of explanation as to who we are to each other, who we are to the Magus, and what the Magus is, though much of that is teased out during play.
Mechanically, the map is littered with little scene prompts to spur you on and help paint a picture of the world that you're in and the places you are at. On your turn, if your coin is not on the map, you place it there and choose one of the prompts. Your scene can be anything you want, in whatever style of roleplay you wish. You can narrate a scene, act out a conversation, describe things cinematically. First person, third person, you can include other characters and players to act out parts. Whatever it is that you're comfortable with. On you're turn, you have final say over what it is that happens, though even then, other people have final say over their own character actions and fate.
Additionally, if your coin is already on the map, you can either choose to revisit a prompt, choose a new prompt, or decide to move the Magus on to the next location on the map. If you do so, you use the primary prompt of that new location either playing as the Magus or as a removed narrator.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
GAME ONE: THE APPRENTICE
The first group had four players. Myself, an old college buddy of mine, his 14(ish) year old son, and a random game store stranger. Our characters were a giant who had been friends with the Magus for so long he no longer remembered how long it had actually been; an iron golem servant that the Magus had crafted with his own hands; an 8 year old, newly minted apprentice; and... And Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z who was riding around on a giant battle crab looking for people to fight.
This style of game was new for pretty much everyone, but they all took to it and shined, even Piccolo. We discovered that my giant was kindly and gentle and was appalled by violence. He had a scene where he wept over an age old forgotten battlefield, because he was overwhelmed by the thought of people deciding that they had no option left but to hurt each other. It was revealed that the apprentice had faked his way through his aptitude tests and had lit his candle with a flint when no one was looking. The golem marveled over how different the outside world was from the world he knew, and the first seeds of resentment at the life of servitude that had been chosen for him were sown. Meanwhile Piccolo made a bunch of DBZ references and quotes.
We travelled through the Mistwood where my giant remembered that this was where he was originally from, that the giants had all been scattered by an ancient war, and that I had been the last of my kind that anyone had seen for generations. Piccolo, urged on by a scene prompt, chose on his own to have his battle crab disappear mysteriously, and we spent the better part of the day trying to find any sign of it.
As the sun set, we stumbled on to the Hall of the Grey Rangers, and in discussing who they were and why they were here decided that they were made up of men and women who had been cursed with lycanthropy and had removed themselves from society. Fearing for our safety the rangers locked us away in their Hall that night in an attempt to protect us. On my turn, I spotted a prompt that involved a die roll that might reasonably set me up to either take a life, be wounded, or to be changed in some drastic and dramatic way (werewolf giant?) so I opted for that. I rolled +wounded and described how the largest of the wolves eventually scented us and battered his way into the hall and charged at the child before I was able to tackle him and pin him to the ground till morning.
We described how the Magus, who would normally be able to heal my wounds without thought or effort struggled to even stem the flow blood, and talked about how sickly and weak he was getting. Realizing that he needed help, the Magus led us down into the Mouth of the Deep where we hoped to find an old friend who might be able to help sustain him, at least till we could get him to the Umbra so that he could be healed.
Heading down into Mouth involved us flipping the scroll over to reveal a "hidden" section of the map, and we found ourselves in the Hanging City. A society suspended from the cavern ceiling, built out of the discarded rags and remains from the above ground world. There, we were able to find the Magus' friend, a hunched and withered old mole-man, who provided him with a potion that restored his strength and who traded us a chest full of priceless diamonds for a colorful quilt the apprentice had been carrying with him for most of the trip.
Travelling on, across the Sea of Salt, we eventually reached the Fortress of Karst, a giant, industrial, clockwork city. Here, our golem discovered that the Magus had not created him, but had instead rescued him from being destroyed for being a golem accidentally created with free will. For his entire existence he had just assumed he had no choices and could make no decisions for himself, but he now realized he had complete control over his own destiny. While this was happening, the apprentice visited a mechanical oracle and asked it what he was supposed to do since he wasn't a magician and had no magical abilities. The player decided that, since he himself didn't know what the answer should be, that he'd pimp me into providing it, so on my turn I chose the "What nears the fortress" prompt and had the city get attacked by a giant lava monster before he could read his little fortune cookie prophecy.
The apprentice, giant, and magus ran to escape the fortress as it revealed itself to be a giant, 80 foot tall golem. Realizing that he could choose for himself, OUR golem decided to ignore our cries to run and instead stood in defense of the home that had abandoned him. Excited to finally get his chance to be in a fight, Piccolo jumped in, powered up, chanted some kind of Japaneseish battle cry, and Special Beam Cannoned the lava monster.
Growing weaker by the minute, the Magus had to be carried by his friends through the Gates of Umbra, where the other players were surprised to discover that we were supposed to flip the map back over. They had been actively trying to kill the poor guy off cause they thought it was the end of the story. We travelled through the Nameless City where my giant gave away his name so that the denizens would let us pass unharmed.
We then, just as the 5 minute warning was called for the break between sessions, arrived at the source of magic. The Magus we decided, had had to make this trip, and had known all along that he was going to die so that he could pass on the spark of magic to his new apprentice. He had brought us along not only to help him get here, but to protect the child. The apprentice, now the new Magus, who was my friend and had always been my friend for longer than I could ever remember used his magic to give me my new name. Piccolo, having fought the greatest monster this world had had to offer, and now realizing that violence was not always the solution to a problem ascended from this world to go beat people up in other dimensions. The golem, again realizing that he had a choice, decided that he would go back with us to the Magus' home, because the outside world was too big and too many choices.
