Category: Sagas of the Icelanders

Has anyone made a nice, printable version of the common moves that takes up the front and back of a single piece of…

Has anyone made a nice, printable version of the common moves that takes up the front and back of a single piece of…

Has anyone made a nice, printable version of the common moves that takes up the front and back of a single piece of paper?  Jason Morningstar, I’m looking your way.  I remember your awesome character sheets from the beta version (did you ever update them?)

So the Man playbook doesn’t work as written for our group’s current game- we’re playing across generations rather…

So the Man playbook doesn’t work as written for our group’s current game- we’re playing across generations rather…

So the Man playbook doesn’t work as written for our group’s current game- we’re playing across generations rather than seasons or years, and the scope of managing the farmstead just doesn’t click. 

Does anyone have ideas for an alternative version of the Man moves? I’m looking for something that captures the essence of it in moves that focus more on in-session interactions. The only thing that comes to mind is a beginning-of-session move to determine the success of the farm, similar to the Woman’s “Running the House” move.

You know things are about to get awesome when a player explains “…yeah, the Monster is the son of my maternal…

You know things are about to get awesome when a player explains “…yeah, the Monster is the son of my maternal…

You know things are about to get awesome when a player explains “…yeah, the Monster is the son of my maternal grandfather and great aunt.”

I ran Sagas of the Icelanders twice at Big Bad Con this past weekend.

I ran Sagas of the Icelanders twice at Big Bad Con this past weekend.

I ran Sagas of the Icelanders twice at Big Bad Con this past weekend. It is a lovely convention game for me – it breaks down to an hour for orientation and making characters, an hour to build a fraught situation, and two hours to resolve it somehow. here are a couple of nice moments from my games at BBC.

Game one: There’s a beautiful moment between the Seiðkona and the Matriarch as they realize the Norwegian woman is moments away from giving birth to a child that will strengthen her husband’s legal claim to their land.

That moment has a name, and the name is “infanticide”.

This game ended with all the men in the family killed and the strong women left struggling to pick up the pieces, the future uncertain.

Game two: In the aftermath of a bloody battle, the wounded Huscarl comforts his older sister over the death of their father.  “I must go tell Gisli,” she says, and her brother’s gaze shifts, and suddenly she knows.

This game featured the arranged marriage of the Huscarl and a Shield Maiden who were good friends but completely uninterested in each other as mates. In the end, after the Huscarl became Goði upon the murder of his father, they married anyway for the sake of political unity.

#soti

So, I’ve just purchased the Pdf…and it is amazing!

So, I’ve just purchased the Pdf…and it is amazing!

So, I’ve just purchased the Pdf…and it is amazing!

It is a fascinating and dense game, that will for sure give life to unforgettable stories.

Now, some minor speculations..

While reading the book I was thinking about the comic Northlanders and, oh It appears in the mediography!

I think Sven (from the book one) could easily fit the Wanderer playbook, and Enna could be played as the Monster.

The overall concept of the saga reminds me of Northlanders – the icelandic trilogy, where we see how the action of Ulf Hauksson, as a child, influenced the life of the future generations.

Can’t wait to play it!

Hey Gregor Vuga, any idea when the physical books from the Indiegogo will be shipping out?

Hey Gregor Vuga, any idea when the physical books from the Indiegogo will be shipping out?

Hey Gregor Vuga, any idea when the physical books from the Indiegogo will be shipping out?  Running a campaign soon and I vastly prefer referring to paper materials (yeah, I know that’s backwards).

After having played SotI at GenCon, last saturday I ran my first game of SotI.

After having played SotI at GenCon, last saturday I ran my first game of SotI.

After having played SotI at GenCon, last saturday I ran my first game of SotI. I’m completely blown away, especially by the way the moves link into each other. On several occasions all I did was introducing one greedy NPC into a static situation, and two or three  snowballed dice rolls later nothing was stable anymore. It was really wonderful.

Still, a couple questions came up which I do not yet have good answers for. I would be grateful for your views.

1) At several occasions my players missed manipulation-moves. This is especially valid for male characters, who seem to have no way to 

a) impress women

b) impose their “natural authority” on others

But the problem is basically the same when women deal with each other – all moves we found to be relevant were female moves aimed at male characters.

2) Our Goði had an interesting move going for him: His player chose “Forbidden seiðr”, allowing him to take any female move.

He decided to take “When you lie with a man to conceive a child…”

How would you handle that?