Category: Stonetop

Hello, I have a blog now.

Current stage is to post links & descriptions of all my creations & projects, with Stonetop being the biggest of them all.

If you’ve been following Stonetop for a while, probably not much new there. Though there are a few links to the most current versions of a few key documents.

Stonetop

Stonetop is my “hearth fantasy” hack of Dungeon World, and my biggest ongoing project. From the introduction chapter: You are one of these, who call Stonetop home. One of a handful of notable figures who stand out-admired, respected (maybe even reviled) for one reason or another.

Tonight was the 50th session of my ongoing face-to-face Stonetop “playtest” campaign, and the last session with one of our six players. Two years of real time!

The Heavy-turned-vengeful-ghost finally got said vengeance on Marc, leader of the Red Band, the Would Be Hero’s father and cause of the Hillfolk Civil War that has embroiled the PCs for the past 20ish sessions.

The Would Be Hero, dubbed “Breaker of Chains” actually broke some chains and used them to beat-to-death one of the Heiromonks who had led her father down his dark path.

She then rode after her father, showed up at the Moot of Hillfolk leaders just as the Heavy-turned-Ghost poltergeisted her father into a crumbled heap. She took leadership of the Red Band from him, set her own newly-formed band “free,” and murdered the last remaining Heiromonk in front of all the elders… breaking the old power structures and ending the civil war.

And as dawn broke, after mopping up the dozens of quicksilver wretches that Marc had brought with him as a treacherous power-play, the Heavy wistfully asked his friends: “How do you think harvest went back in Stonetop?” and after a little bit of banter, when no one was looking at him, stepped through the Black Gate.

It was, I think, a pretty great sendoff. Both to Hobbes and her Breaker of Chains and to the Heavy, who’s player will be picking a new playbook soon.

Thanks for playing with us, Hobbes LeGault. Your ideas and contributions made this particular Stonetop the rich world was that it is, and Nolwenn’s arc is one of my favorites in almost 30 years of gaming.

Updated GM playbook for Stonetop, mostly to reflect the new agenda, principles, GM moves, etc. from the Running Stonetop chapter.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/azu69q3ofjycgnd/GM%20Playbook%20%28spreads%29.pdf?dl=0

Running Stonetop chapter posted.

This is the mandatory chapter on GMing a PbtA game: your job as GM, agenda & principles, making GM moves, etc.

I had to talk myself back from a much more elaborate, longer, encyclopedic “these are all the things you might do as you GM” chapter, and it still ended up 2-3 times longer than the Dungeon World or Apocalypse World versions.

So: I’m super interested in feedback on this, especially from the newer GMs out there.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jjqsm9yxt29tqyp/GM01%20Running%20Stonetop.pdf?dl=0

If You Were Playing a Seeker (Patriot), which would you choose?

The Seeker class starts with a choice of 3 major arcana, with the 3 options based on their background. If you choose “Patriot” then these are your choices:

● The Hec’tumel Codex: https://goo.gl/nU9htq

● The Red Scepter: https://goo.gl/yLcHSF

● The Staff of the Lidless Eye: https://goo.gl/2qUpX1

For reference, here’s the full Seeker playbook:

https://goo.gl/Sp3wAk

As my home group approaches 10th level, with many loose ends still about, I find myself thinking about the end-game, and how to wrap up a long-running campaign.

What do y’all got in terms of end-game mechanics, procedures, or just advice. What games do this well?

Bonus points for PbtA games that do end-game stuff well.

If You Were Playing a Seeker (Antiquarian), which would you choose?

The Seeker class starts with a choice of 3 major arcana, with the 3 options based on their background. If you choose “Antiquarian” then these are your choices:

https://goo.gl/iue85f

For reference, here’s the full Seeker playbook:

https://goo.gl/Sp3wAk

The Heavy gets one of these… which should it be?

BLOOD FURY

When you spill blood—yours or another’s—and give in to your boundless rage, you get +1 Armor and deal +1d4 damage as long as you keep fighting. While you rage, it requires an act of will to do anything other than lash out violently.

OR

BATTLE JOY

When you leap headlong into battle, you get +1 Armor and deal +1d4 damage as long as you keep fighting.

When the action stops, roll +CON: on a 10+, that was a rush, heal 1d4 HP; on a 7-9, you’re out of breath, but give you a minute and you’ll be fine; on a 6-, mark a debility but don’t mark XP.

EXPEDITIONS CHAPTER

Here’s the (long) chapter for how to run expeditions in Stonetop. This is basically the “overland adventures” part of the book.

In it, you’ll find:

* The PC’s preparation moves (Chart a Course, Outfit, and others)

* The GM’s exploration moves (which replace the GM’s dungeon moves from DW)

* The Struggle as One move (aka “defy danger as a group”)

* A revised Make Camp

* A forage move

* Lots and lots of examples

* A little bit of young-adult drama

Questions and feedback are, as always, greatly appreciated.

https://goo.gl/btwbPA

A new adventure starter for Stonetop.

The idea behind these starters is that, after character creation and introductions, the players will roll for Seasons Change. On a 7-9, they pick a seasonal gain (trade opportunity, unexpected bounty, etc.) but a threat rears its head. The GM can then either craft a custom first adventure that builds on the stuff from character creation, or they can use the appropriate starter.

This is the 7-9 starter for when the players choose Trade Opportunity. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

https://goo.gl/jkMBeu