Shaking The Cobwebs Loose

 

I think it had been at least 3 weeks since I'd sat behind the screen.  For me, that seems like an eternity without Game Mastering...

Which, now that I think about it, makes me wonder how long it's been since I was a player.  Wow, it's been years, maybe 4 or 5 years.  That seems incredible to me.

Even though I want to GM as much as I possibly can in about 3 weeks from now... VENGER CON, baby!  I still want to play.  Would love to experience Cha'alt from the other side of the screen.  Hopefully, I'll get that opportunity.

Anyway, last night's game was fantastic (as per usual).  5 players, which is ideal for a virtual table.  This time I expanded the session to TWO WHOLE HOURS!!!  I know, your mind must be absolutely blown.  I'll wait while you scrape up the more solid bits and scoop it back into your brain-hole.

The usual pondering Kort'thalis meta-sigil occurred.  Remember this?  And I listened to this and this.  I like some dark ambient in the background, no matter if it's live or virtual.

The session was new.  I went with a technique which suits me when it's just a casual online session.  I had a bunch of notes and then just winged-it the rest of the time.  A lot of people don't like text only, but in a virtual game, I prefer it.  Since people usually think out what they want to say before typing it out, I get a minute or two before players respond to what I've said.  That extra time is all I need to come up with 3 or 4 options, and then I just pick the best and go with it.

Eventually, I'll turn all these little scenarios into bite-sized, one-shot PDFs, and then include them in book 4 of the Cha'alt trilogy.  But that won't be until the 4th quarter of 2023 (at the earliest).

Anyway, subterranean temple the PCs spotted after wading into the final moments of a pitched battle between two opposing forces.  One dressed in blue, the other orange.

I can't say anymore, except that everyone but the cleric was knocked unconscious at one point, yet no one died (which is nice).  Also, I borrowed liberally from a 1985 American scifi TV show that never made it to the finale of season one.  It's called Otherworld.

Yes, I have "bad" taste in movies and television (not really, but that's what a lot of my haters say) and I haven't aged beyond 12 or 14 when it comes to what I think is cool (Ok, that's true.  You got me there).

I will, however, post noteworthy lines from the session, along with a bit of commentary...

• "The rules are only a guideline, anyway." It's fine if players ask me, "Should I have died?" or "Don't I need to roll for that?" But don't be surprised when I let the game happen.  Flow stems from immersion, I find.  The more the game feels real, the more flexibility you have.  It's a GMing vibe I'm going to start calling PSYCHOCOSM.  Yes, I'm going to just start saying "psychocosm" in casual RPG conversations like people should know WTF I'm talking about.  Lol, hilarious!
• "Greige is chartreuse for color-phobes." 
• "Down the hatch." I don't know why, but that makes me laugh every time I read it.
• "Real adventurers don't ask, they just do." Don't worry, this wasn't about sex. One PC asked another PC if he should go topside and investigate the dead body they found several minutes ago.  And I'm like, don't ask; go do it! The player said he did that for in-game / character reasons, which is fine... nevertheless, my point still stand.
• "Baja Blast, clearly the true treasure."  You just had to be there, man.

Well, thanks for reading.  If you have any questions, just ask.  Hope to see many of you at VENGER CON.  It's so close now, I can almost taste it...

VS

p.s. If you haven't grabbed my latest Cha'alt one-shot adventure, it's available direct from me - only $3.  Details here.