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The World of Georic 1989-Present

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

#RPGaDay2019 Day 13: Mystery in Andaras

The one-word prompt for Day 13 of  #RPGaDay2019 is.... Mystery.

Multiple times, I've made mention of the 5e online game I play every Monday night.  I'll leave most of the details in the older post, but I will mention that my character, Falgor the Mighty, elf barbarian folk hero, has a quasi-meta behavior that makes mention of all the unfinished plot lines.

What started as a tag-a-long mission for the Legate has made us cross dimensions, defy even wacky magical physics, and not have a frickin' clue what's going on.

It's taken awhile, but I think I've figured out why I'm easily distracted in Jeff's game.  With his presentation, everything is laid out as a potential piece of the overall puzzle, yet I swear to you each piece looks like it's for a different puzzle.  We all know the main goal (save the multiverse), but we're then presented with an equally noble but easier goal (stop slavery in the floating city), working step by step until we get to role-playing immediate 'baby steps' (get a 500gp diamond for the ritual.) It sort of feels like the pressing matters are getting delivered plot-wise in opposite direction.

Things are presented equally important, and when we make headway, it seems like it creates more problems.

I guess the closest I get to that in my own campaigns was my Ballad of the Pigeon God, where things built up to a fever pitch with the natural disasters, spider-people dopplegangers, and the Dread Lord of Crosedes threatening to overthrow their beloved home base.

I'd drop a piece of bombshell data from time to time, but even as it was revealed that some of the PCs are the Chosen Ones for the upcoming apocalypse, the group still had plot lines to tie up.  Some lasted way past the big reveal in the finale.  Others kept select party member occupied while the members worked at resolving the bigger issues.

I guess my biggest issue is that I know the dishes have to be washed, but it's presented with the same import (for better or for worse) than paying the mortage, cutting the lawn, or calling 911 for a heart attack. 

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