So, I feel like I didn’t give enough last session to the player who rolled 10+ while opening up his character’s…

So, I feel like I didn’t give enough last session to the player who rolled 10+ while opening up his character’s…

So, I feel like I didn’t give enough last session to the player who rolled 10+ while opening up his character’s brain. His topic was the “coming battle,” and since I don’t know yet when and where and how that battle will take place, I didn’t think I had a lot to give.

Here’s more detail about their situation. The PCs have been hired to protect an isolated community, who fears they’ll be next on the list of people hit hard by very well-armed and disciplined raiders. My gunlugger’s player suspects (and is correct) that these raiders are actually her family, whom she parted ways with many years ago.

So what I actually did: The brainer saw the gunlugger emerge from smoke, covered in blood and with a look of regret on her face. Above the roiling smoke, the brainer could sense a pair of eyes looking down from the maelstrom, watching over the battle. He then sensed another pair on the battlefield itself, looking up and locking eyes with the ones above.

What’s all that mean? I tend to be symbolic with the maelstrom, especially when people are trying to divine the future. At the same time, I don’t consider these premonitions to be set in stone (hell, there may not even be a battle, much less a regretful gunlugger). The eyes up above belong to an NPC they worked for a while back, someone they don’t realize is a Warlord. He has an agent in town, who’ll report back to him on how things go.

As for the vision of the gunlugger, the driver already saw something like this in the previous session, when they were heading to the area just to sell a cache of weapons. He didn’t tell anyone else about it, though. So, it’s new to the brainer, but not his player. As far as the Warlord and his agent go, I could have probably revealed who one or both of them were (if this were a 7 to 9 result, I’d feel better about it). But while I thought this was interesting information, it felt a bit tangential.

I’ll note that the player seemed quite happy with what he got; the idea that there are greater forces at work here is grist for his character. One thing I’ve been thinking about is, once the battle is engaged, giving him some more information or some other benefit. I don’t want to proscribe too much beforehand, but I still worry that he didn’t get enough. I’ve also thought that I could say something like he hears a voice telling him, “Watch for the crows. They will know when it is time.” The crows, anticipating the bloodshed, follow the raiders and presage their arrival. (The brainer already hangs out with crows back home he has a thing about birds in general.)

Reflecting this morning on my first session of tremulus, it suddenly occurs to me that there’s nothing in the…

Reflecting this morning on my first session of tremulus, it suddenly occurs to me that there’s nothing in the…

Reflecting this morning on my first session of tremulus, it suddenly occurs to me that there’s nothing in the rulebook about creating custom moves. Now, of course, I’m familiar with this powerful and fun tool from other PbtA games, so I can and will use it (my main villain needs something more than an Extra tag).

It seems like the Let the Dice Decide Keeper Move (roll+luck) stands in for it to an extent, though that’s ostensibly for matters of seemingly little import.