The City Of Judas – Page 3 – Powered by the Apocalypse G+ Archives

PART 2 of my first game of COJ

As Azim & Zeno were taking possession of the shipment of opium, screams and shouts started to be heard in the vincinity. (I forgot to mention that Zeno’s gang stayed in front of the first house where the PCs met Timeus giving his speech to the crowd)

Brother Timeus and several other members of his congregation ran towards the direction of what started to appear to the PCs as a battle going on.

Azim decided that their mission came first and therefore stayed with the mule while Zeno rushed towards the battle, running through the houses now deserted. When he arrived where he left his brothers in arms he found them fighting fiercely in a shield wall formation (he chose the move at character creation) against what appeared to be a larger group of guards mostly made of Westerner fighters. Two of his men were already wounded, one of them showing a grim and bloody injury where a crossbow bolt hit him. Quickly Zeno, assessed the situation (he made a perception move in battle and asked for the best escape route which was back towards where the mule was) and then decided to block the entry of the house he was in collapsing the ceiling. He managed to gather the other raiders without more losses and to destroy a joist (face danger + steel with a 10+).

The gang then started to run back towards where Zeno left Azim who had a lot of difficulties in having the mule advancing (at least the way HE wanted). But no time was to lose as the collapsing roof wouldn’t delay the guards for too long.

NOTA : Perhaps my mistake here was that I wanted to have them face a moral dilemma having the girl from the well and/or Timeus being targeted by the guards but as Zeno succeeded his move I decided to go along.

They decided to flee through the Essenian district. (I called for a Face Danger +edge for Zeno as he had to keep it together and +steel for Azim as pulling the mule was pretty exhausting

NOTA : I thought to made a move for the mule but didn’t really have time and thought in the end that a face danger would do the trick. But anyway the mule could still be the target of some of my move : it’s kinda difficult to transport some barrels through a city like Jerusalem and its rocky countryside ‘well that is to say if they don’t have a gang helping them)

Azim managed to drag the mule (and the opium) without too much trouble but Zeno got a 7-9. So I had him to make a choice between saving one of his man who was shot by a crossbow but then all the ennemy gang will finally find them or basically leaving his man to die but he would then escape the guards. He chose the second option and then took a -1 spirit as a raider.

Then i don’t recall exactly what happened but if i remember it correctly the PCs started to argue about what course of action they should do regarding of the shipment…in a middle of a chase. So after a while (and told them that it was dangerous, that they were still chased…) I decided to go for a hard move : as they finally agreed to go on with the mission and finally got out of the Essenian district, they faced a smaller gang of guards (actually I thought that the guards splitted in two smaller gangs : one chasing, and the other one surronding them). At once Zeno and his men shot several of the opposition (thanks of another move he took from the raider’s playbook) and decided to go for the kill (he chose the option of being ready for a mêlée fight). The battle was as quick as it was bloody and the gang was (almost too quickly) dispatched.

NOTA : it was during this fight that we started to have some questions about the raider as I’ve discussed in another post.

Azim, Zeno (and the mule) finally got to the walls and one of the gate (I decided it surely was one towards the port) and as they assessed the situation (one of them successfully managed to score a 10+ on a perception check) they saw a shadowy figure leaving the guarrison followed by what appeared to be the captain visibly smiling at the mysterious emissary and poking something in his hand with content (I thought it was obvious he just received a bribe and didn’t want to make things too easier for the PCs either so I didn’t described more than that. But nevertheless, Azim and Zeno took the mule and walked directly towards the gate…

NOTA : at that moment I was thinking : “the guards captain just got a bribe to look for some sucpicious individual who will probably try to pass through the gate with a shipment of opium, and they are going right at him…” so at first I thought this was a very bad idea and wanted to make a hard move but then I realized that I wasn’t probably clear enough about the bribe thing so I decided to let them try away to see what happens.

Two guards speaking loud in frank and visibly drunk (stereotype here? maybe back then! haha) stopped them as they approached and asked them what they were carrying in those barrels. A glimpse of envy sparkled in their ox looking eyes…and Azim stated it was oliva oil. (He made a fance danger+Shadow and brilliantly scored a 10+). The guards looked at him with disgust (and a big disapointment!) and let them through.

The two Fraeters left the high walls of the City of Judas lit by torches and braseros behind them as they were entering into the darkness of the countryside. Will they reach the port of Ashdod in time and alive?…. Let’s see what happened to them in the last part!

Hope you’re still enjoying that but most importantly I’m opened to any feedback : regarding the way I used moves, the story, anything.

So this is a report of our last session of COJ (and the fist!).

First of all, the casting :

– we had the veteran, Azim Ben Arrabas a follower of the book of Q who fought during the crusades (against the crusaders) and stayed at Jerusalem afterwards with a wish of redeeming himself through combat for some things (which stayed a mystery for now) he’s done during the siege of the holy city. That’s why he joined the Iron Fist.

– then there was Zeno the raider, a local from Jerusalem who was, alongside with his men, a bandit and made the most of the crusades to raid and plunder the poor soulswho managed to escape the war. Then when things calmed down he had no choice but to join the brotherhood to avoid getting revenge from those he stole from (especially a noble family from whom he killed a member). NOTE : the player didn’t chose the leader move so he was considered by his gang as a founding and important member but no more. He came up with several names for other important members of his gangs and we discussed a bit about their relatioships between one another. Turned out that the former leader of the gang (Tobias) led it to a bad situation (which has to be defined) and disappeared during it. Was he left for dead? Did he run away? The gang’s opinion on that matter is divided between the two.

As suggested in the book, I chose to run a focused mission for this first game, so here it was : The characters were sent by the Magister Geoffrey (from Anglia and looking a lot alike with Liam Neeson) to bring a package (of opium) to the port of Ashdod (roughly half a day of Jerusalem) for the benefit of the Judaists. They’ll have first, to pick up the package at a Judaist priest’s place, brother Timeus located in the Essenian district. (I came up with the name after seeing an older map of Jerusalem and made it like a maze like place with many small alleys and a potential nest for thieves). The brother Timeus will then tell them on what vessel they’ll have to drop the opium.

Before dropping them into action, I presented couple more Blood Brothers (as I didn’t see another way to name them, I called them Fraeters to stick with the Magister and Caesar nomenclature (not even sure if it makes sense!). Then they were on their own…

The plot roughly was that a Venitian merchant had some connection inside of the Iron Fist’s fortress and was told about the package and therefore will try to snatch it for himself. His plan was simple : to bribe some guards (as a matter of fact christians) to get the opium shipment as soon as the players will get it and if it doesn’t work he’ll have a gang of mercenaries at the port.

Azim the veteran deicded to check if they were followed as soon as they left the fortress and as he succeeded his perception move, I oltd him that effectively they were. They tried to ambush whoever was following them when they reached the Essenian district but failed. I made a move and decided that the spies managed to avoid the ambush and to follow them again more cautiously (if they had got a 7-9 rather than a 6-, I’d probably stated that they scared the spies and that they wouldn’t have been able to be on their tail again).

By the end of the day, as darkness fell upon the city of Judas, they reached a small plaza where a priest of Judas was giving a hateful speech against the christians at a small crowd and where a young woman was giving water to the old and the weak from a nearby well. She then turned to the PCs and asked them if they were thirsty telling them that Christ gave water to Judas as Judas quenched the thirst of blood of the people of Jerusalem. (I was hoping to introduce differences between Judaists and Christians here and build up the fiction. Not really sure if it worked but well).

They finally managed to talk to the priest who was delivering his spiteful speech. They’d found brother Timeus. He led them through some houses (some of which were occupied by families who looked at him with radiant smiles and respect even if he was accompagnied by a band of bloodthirsty cutthroats. They had a little chat during which he told them the name of the vessel they were supposed to deliver the package (le Fol Ventoux from Frankia) insisting on the fact that the captain of the ship was in a hurry and if they didn’t get a hold on him by mid-day (that is to say the next day) he’ll leave and they’d have failed the mission. Time wasn’t their ally… He then showed them the package : two sturdy barrels placed on each side of a mean looking mule. He gave to Azim some carrots and a stick when screams started to be heard from nearby…

End of the first part. I apologize in advance for the grammar and vocabulary as I can’t really review it right now (I’m as well in a kind of a hurry!^^). At this point they didn’t really make lots of move and the fact that the spies were still tailing them meant that I advanced my front to one step which will lead to what happens in the next episode.

Anyway hope you enjoyed it and if you want to know more about this adventure, I’ll try to post the rest of it asap. Cheers!

Some questions&answers about the Raider

Some questions&answers about the Raider

Grégory Doizi I totally understand that this could cause some confusion.

Does the Raider PC make a move for his gang in battle AND another one for himself using the regular moves? […]

When the Raider takes advantage of his own gang, and acts as a leader within its ranks, than it usually makes sense that the Raider will roll the move for the Gang and consider the single character as part of the gang action.

In other words: roll just once for example for Engage in Battle, and the Raider is acting within the ranks of the gang. See also pages 123 and 124 (especially 124 the section CHARACTERS’ GANG VS. NPCS’ GANG).

the Player asked me what are his stats relevant in combat […]

The Raider’s stats become relevant in the case he wants to act indipendently.

Now, the advantage to act indipendently is clear: roll with the Raider’s Steel (which might be a higher stat), attack the enemies from two fronts, or even do something else entirely (“while my gang keeps the enemy busy, I help the noble we’re escorting to get back on his horse and run away…”).

If we stick to battle, I usually treat things like this: for everything there’s a price.

If the Raider stays with the gang, they roll together to Engage in Battle, but the Raider is of course always in position to give orders, to get help from his companions, to direct the gang tactics. And the Raider is not outnumbered because he’s part of the gang.

If the Raider moves ‘out of the ranks’, then it depends: does he engage the same enemy? OK, but he’s outnumbered; he’s not part of the gang anymore, just a single guy fighting among a bunch of enemies and friends…

Does he want to give orders when things are getting hard for the gang? OK, but how does he do it if he stepped aside and picked targets with his bow, instead?

in our group there were a raider and a veteran and they were fighting a small gang

That sounds bad for the poor gang of NPCs 🙂

is the other character considered to be part of the gang? and if so how about his own moves

He is considered part of the gang only if he ‘gives up’ acting indipendently and stays within ranks.

If the Veteran wants to move out of the ranks and do something else (attack the enemy gang from the flank, pick them from afar with a crossbow, steal something while the enemy gang is busy with the Raider’s gang…), then he’s not in the gang anymore (and does not enjoy the protection of numbers…)

If not part of the gang or doesn’t want to be part of it, does he have to fight the gang using the Face Death move as if he were alone?

Oh, yes, absolutely. Unless he takes the Last Stand move, and then he has an option to fight a gang on equal ground.

Now, the above are important principles, but a bit of flexibility might be in order, in certain cases.

Take in consideration how many characters do you have, and how’s the situation on the battlefield, and the fiction you guys enjoy the most. What is this fight about?

If you need to overcome the enemy by brute force, then I’d stick more to the tactical side, if your Players enjoy that.

But if the fight is about getting some other NPC safely out of trouble, for example, than for sure the focus is more on threats directed to the NPC.

For example: Raider+Gang engage together the enemy, while the Veteran and the NPC run away.

On a 7-9 of the Raider, instead of hitting the gang, I let the NPC gang take the blow but say that a couple of them sneak past the Raider’s gang and are about to chase the Veteran. Raider, what do you do?

How I wrote City of Judas (part three)

How I wrote City of Judas (part three)

Again about the design process of City of Judas. I’d love to hear your opinions – as fellow game designers and as players as well.

First part: https://plus.google.com/+DavidePignedoli/posts/EzYVbYncPhT

Second part: https://plus.google.com/+DavidePignedoli/posts/iMSHo8Cjqat

Designing the Playbooks

Designing the Playbooks was very easy at the start. It’s not a coincidence that a lot of AW-hacks begin with Playbooks: they contain a great deal of the game flavor and color, they’re what you hand out to Players, they say who and what the characters (the protagonists of your story) are, they say what they can do, they contain all the Moves with their exciting options and possibilities…

Of course, after the first couple of drafts, things started to get harder: there are a lot of interactions between the Playbooks to consider, there are the various fields of expertise to define, areas where characters can overlap and others where you want to make sure they don’t; there are some things to keep in balance, and others that clearly need to be out of balance so that the game gets rolling. There are Playbooks that feel easier to design and others that feel a bit boring at the start, until you don’t find the way to turn the concept around and give it the right twist.

At this stage, I still thought: alternative playbooks, alternative combat system, but this game is still going to be running as basic Dungeon World. Or perhaps as a Dark Age spin-off, or maybe under AW. It didn’t go exactly that way.

The Counters & their Moves

I liked so much the Health Counter used in the combat system, that I made more Counters.

There was a counter for Gold (how much money the character had), for Equipment (did the character have all the necessary gear?), for Rings (that were the ranking system of the mercenary company of the Iron Fist), for Taint (how much the character’s soul was dark). Some of them were a different take on classic RPG stuff like money and equipment, and others were tied to the setting (the Rings and the Taint).

I was initially afraid to move to so many Counters (and in the end, I simplified this part in my latest design) but the feedback on the SG forum was that indeed this was an interesting feature. All of those Counters had Peripheral Moves associated with it. This lead to a high number of Moves (which is a painful topic I will discuss further in a dedicated paragraph).

The idea behind this, was to avoid tracking static numbers (how many Rings you have, how much money, which exact equipment you have), and instead make all those components to work basically like Stats.

And now, for two totally unrelated questions:

What is your favorite City of Judas playbook? (if you didn’t play it yet, we don’t mind, just tell us which one looks cooler!!)

Have you played and used the Health, Equipment and Spirit counters? Did they make book-keeping easier?

How I wrote City of Judas (part two)

How I wrote City of Judas (part two)

Back to the design process of City of Judas. Again, I’d love to hear your opinions – as fellow game designers and as players as well. So feel free to comment, ask questions, present your own experiences!

How it started

As I wrote in the introduction to the manual, I was lucky enough to put my hands on the Dark Age beta version from Vincent Baker. It was an inspiring game, and the sessions I’ve ran, at the table or in forums, where always really good.

Now that I designed my own game, I fully understand why Vincent needed to take his time between the various releases of the different versions of his Dark Age game. But back then, after playing the first beta, and while waiting for the next, I grew very impatient.

I didn’t design any AW-hack before, and I thought: “Well, if he doesn’t put out a new version soon, I will”.

And I thought also: “How hard could it be?”

It turned out to be of course harder than I expected, and way more exciting and rewarding, a great and interesting experience. And frustrating at times, tiring. But most of all, it became clear that it was necessarily a slow process. It took me a year from the first public beta to the manual now published, and I had the luck of having a lot of time on my hands to work on it.

Where did I start

Honestly, I don’t remember exactly but there were two things: the Harm Moves (which were inspired by Paul Taliesin), and the Playbooks, and especially the Barber.

While I was still undecided about how I was going to approach the subject (doing my own AW-hack or not, work perhaps with DW instead, or FATE…), I drafted an alternative combat system for Dungeon World. That system was never really tested and I believe it never made it to any real game at the table, but it stuck with me. It felt rough, harsh, and with a flavor to it, something that made it different from AW or DW harm for example.

It felt exactly like the things I would have liked in a slightly crunchy fantasy RPG with bloody, risky combat. And it had no Hit Points, but a Health Counter, from +3 to -3 like a Stat.

Then there was the Barber. Later on I think I’ve read somewhere that Vincent – if I recall correctly, I might be wrong actually – designed the Angel as the first of the AW playbooks. If that’s true, it was a nice coincidence that I got to design the Barber as the first playbook of my own AW-hack (the Barber is the medieval surgeon, and the “healer” in the City of Judas game).

And then I started to play around with some ideas for this dark, medieval setting, and one by one the other Playbooks followed.

And what about you guys; does anyone what to share how did they start to write their game?

Where did the inspiration come from?

First part here:

https://plus.google.com/+DavidePignedoli/posts/EzYVbYncPhT

How I wrote City of Judas (part one)

How I wrote City of Judas (part one)

A short break from the play reports: this is going to be a series of very brief discussions about the design process of the game. I’d love to hear your opinions – as fellow game designers and as players as well. So feel free to comment, ask questions, present your own experiences!

I am absolutely not an authority on game design, so I’m sharing these with the hope the discussion can actually help me to improve!

Inspiration

While I designed the City of Judas, I looked at multiple sources of inspiration. I hope I mentioned all the important ones in the Credits, but I might have forgotten someone. I apologize for that; if you notice something in my game that resembles the elements of another game, or a concept that was mentioned in some article, blog or forum, feel free to notify me. I will be glad to give the proper credit to those who influenced me.

I did not mention every single source of inspiration, both because some I forgot, and others because the list would have become too long. RPG design is an extremely interesting field, and quickly evolving, as far I can see: it’s really great to see so many committed people, which are also usually very nice in person and kind when you ask for advice.

So if you’re a designer, pick your contacts, ask advice from your favorite authors and don’t be afraid: always look also at other people’s work for inspiration.

If you’ve ever designed a game (who didn’t?), what were your main sources of inspiration? Have you ever reached out to other authors and asked their help? How did it go?

As a Player, what’s your feeling towards game that somehow “recycle” known mechanics, or tune or tinker with them a little? Did you ever encounter an hack which did something in a way that felt “just right” and perhaps suited your personal taste even better than the original?

Here is another short report; this is about a sorcerer and the Hunting Demons (see the preview image).

http://www.daimongames.com/judas/images/preview5.jpg

Hunting demons are relatively weak monsters, although I wouldn’t underestimate them unless I was playing a seriously martial playbook like the Veteran or the Sellsword (or the Raider, with my gang covering my ass). The annoying thing about Hunting demons: they can be raised from corpses, even random pieces of dead meat assembling together and coming to life fueled by the dark force of sorcery. Sometimes, they appear as an animated statue or an empty armor. So, basically, they can appear almost anywhere, without notice.

They are evoked by the GM by spending points on the Taint Tracker; which is increased by characters taking ~~1 to Spirit. For a brief comment about Spirit, see~~ Michael Sands ~~quick and cool review of today:~~

https://plus.google.com/+MichaelSands/posts/FrzXLoUcu64

When you invoke with the Taint Tracker, as GM, you act as the Hell Prince himself: you know how to find your targets (including the character!). This is really a pain in the ass for my players (in a good way).

~~One of my best players (say hello to Tom, everybody) plays a Sorcerer.~~

His first encounter with a Hunting demon (in the form of an empty armor coming to life) was within a tower, while he was sleeping. He had no time to prepare a spell, so he just went for his mace (he’s got quite an attitude, combining spells and furious mace swings). He made it out of the room, while the Raider and his gang came to his aid, blocking the demon inside the room while the sorcerer ran out.

~~Then the Barber stepped in, got hurt, and the Sorcerer got mad. They finally burned the bastard after breaking the armor into pieces.~~

The next time, in the desert, the Sorcerer (I have a soft spot for him, I know…) was on duty watching the camp, and was attacked by another Hunting demon (this time a collection of pieces of – mostly – human corpses, with dogs heads instead of hands). He had a big fire next to him, and managed to use his elementals powers to get rid of the beast.

~~Now, after a third encounter with a Hunting demon, our Sorcerer is gaining a strange reputation among the ranks of the Iron Fist.~~

He’s already quite a peculiar subject, with a nasty attitude (and dresses like a scarecrow basically). Add to that, that now he demands to have always a big fire lit in his room at night (remember, we’re in quite a warm climate), or several buckets of water always at his disposal (he likes to use water to confuse enemies and then strike with the mace). He needs the fire or the water to cast his spells fast enough to be able to fight the next Hunting demon.

~~I am inclined to let the mercenaries of the Iron Fist think he’s a paranoid, crazy bastard. And then to bring up a Hunting demon just so that he can go all smug on them with his “I told you so”.~~

~~What’d you think? :~~)

Russell Hoyle stay tuned for more (hopefully tomorrow, we’re playing tonight)

http://www.daimongames.com/judas/images/preview5.jpg

During our playtesting, I played a few sessions with only a couple of characters, and the game went well.

During our playtesting, I played a few sessions with only a couple of characters, and the game went well. Having only two characters of course leaves less room for possible conflicts between them; but the game holds.

In this specific adventure, we decided to explore some political conflicts between the Church of Christ and the Cult of Judas. The Iron Fist worked to convince the two sides to negotiate a truce, and finally both Christians and Judaists sent a couple of negotiators to the location designated for the talks. The characters, a Veteran and a Priest (which in the game is a follower of the Cult of Judas), were in charge of the security of the meeting, which was held in a small fortress half a day out of Jerusalem.

While the four prelates began the negotiations, which lasted for several days, the characters collected evidence of someone trying to sabotage the meeting. In one case, a messenger sent by one of the negotiators was killed while carrying a truce proposal to Jerusalem for approval from the high clergy of the Church of Christ.

Seeking a final proof of the talks being sabotaged, the Priest broke into the rooms of the two negotiators from the cult of Judas. In one trunk, he found ciphered documents but managed to get a sense of what was going on: someone inside the Cult of Judas was subtracting money from the cult, and using it to hire mercenaries. In a previous adventure, in fact, the characters have retrieved a shipment of opium that someone stole from the Church of Judas ‘ and apparently it was an inside job, orchestrated from the same man.

With this final proof in their hands, they confronted the two prelates from the Cult of Judas. They managed to obtain a confession from the guilty one, but not before he managed to poison both the emissaries of the Church of Christ. While the Priest worked to save the lives of the Christians priests and avoided what could have triggered an armed conflict between the two religions, the Veteran managed to stop the traitor from escaping.

We ended the session with the militia of the Cult of Judas escorting away the traitor, while he threatened the members of his own cult of their mistake. And in the next session, those mercenaries indeed could have proved handy when the Book of Q. moved a little army to raid along the southern borders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem… but that’s another story.

So, this was for Joseph Le May who asked for another session report. I chose this one because, in contrast to the first that presented the giant demon, the characters basically had almost no need to resort to violence for the entire session – and it was a great session even for the Veteran which is in theory a ‘tank’ playbook.

This time, our preview image is text-only: it should give you an idea of the basic instincts and GM moves for threats like the Church of Christ and the cult of Judas – http://www.daimongames.com/judas/images/preview4.jpg

And for those who’re wondering: yes, the little boxes are clickable in the pdf of the manual. I think the entire manual is quite easy to navigate.

If you’re interested in the game, check it out here: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150754/City-of-Judas

http://www.daimongames.com/judas/images/preview4.jpg

In our last session of City of Judas, my players faced a Giant…

Originally shared by Davide Pignedoli

In our last session of City of Judas, my players faced a Giant Demon: http://www.daimongames.com/judas/images/preview3.jpg

They’ve been hired by the Christian church to investigate an obscure cult – apparently christian as well – that is raiding villages north of Jerusalem and killing priests. It turned out that the cult is searching for three little girls, born in the same day, and all three named Pax (Peace, in Latin). The girls, as our Sorcerer established, have some kind of significance in a ritual the cult is trying to complete.

The characters (a Barber, a Raider and a Sorcerer) kidnapped the girls to bring them to Jerusalem and protect them, but the demon managed to track them. They refused to let the demon take one of the girls and faced it in combat instead.

The fight was real fun: the Raider (known in our group for refusing to use anything but his own, cursed dice that roll 6- embarrassingly often) finally stepped up and his gang proved decisive in protecting the girls. The Barber, although not best equipped for the fight, did her share. The Sorcerer had a somehow clumsy start, but recovered and contributed to the final victory.

But the fight wasn’t easy: both the Barber and the Sorcerer ended up taking a Debility to survive. The Barber is now limping, and the Sorcerer horribly burned by his own magical fire, which the demon spit back at him.

We’re now on hiatus for some weeks, but the players really enjoyed the session and the final “boss-fight”. They felt all the time like they were facing a possible horrible death – which they did – but finally managed to prevail. We’ll be back in Jerusalem next.

I wonder why the church will now demand that the Iron Fist mercenaries will hand over the little girls to them, and what the characters will do [evil grin]

If you’re interested in the game, check it out here: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150754/City-of-Judas

http://www.daimongames.com/judas/images/preview3.jpg