“I'm realizing I've been playing this perhaps too much as "what should happen". I'm going to start leaning more towards "what do I want to happen". Obviously, a balance needs to be struck (it would be a bit ridiculous for the party to suddenly turn a corner and find Olwynna and Kondrack, ready and waiting). But for this scene, I want t...

“First of all, I need to ask the Oracle: was the thief acting alone? It seems super unlikely, given the value of what they stole. Probably, there was one primary infiltrator who got into the tower and took the item, but I imagine they had some help getting out of the tower, and probably folks elsewhere keeping an eye out for a tail. Is...

“Expected scene: the party arrives at the inn in Sora in the early evening, discovers a few more clues (maybe even something related to Kondrack?), and beds down. Let's see if there are any modifications, rolling d10 versus chaos factor 5: d10 = 8. No change.” Though the day had been comfortably cool, I still felt sweaty, dirty, tired,...

“Starting with this new chapter, I'm going to start using the Mythic Game Master Emulator, instead of MAGES. MAGES was interesting, and generally simple, but the oracle was a bit too unpredictable for my taste. I'm also just really curious about the Mythic GME! I'm going to start the chaos factor at 6, instead of 5, since we aren't sta...

“I've a pretty good idea of what this scene is all about; I'm not even going to roll on the scene checker. There is a chance that things may go differently than I expect, but over all I see this more as a transition scene to take us into the next chapter.” You'd think that with nothing else to do I might have been able to sleep in, but...

“Does the Tower even have a dungeon? It doesn't seem like the kind of thing an academic facility like the Tower would ever need. Oracle? "Yes, but" (2/1/1) → An NPC takes action (4/3/5). Okay, so they do have a dungeon, but...they're rarely used. Maybe just a handful of cells. The instruction to "make him comfortable" could be interest...

“With this scene, I'm upgrading to the Plot Unfolding Machine (PUM). It replaces "JV's Scene Designer". Scene: I'm picturing the forge, still. Master Ifor has arrived, with Mistriss Ysbail. A group of curious Tower members are clustered outside in the hall, gossiping. Reinold must justify his decisions and secrets to the tower, defend ...

“I probably won't use JV's Scene Designer every time, but I'm here trying out tools to see what I like, so I might as well give it another shot. • Type: 10 (Plot progress) • Challenge: 7 (Social/Charisma/Intimidation -- again!) • Factor: 5 (Relates to someone important) • Complications: target 10 (Enemy), circumstance 5 (Dead/Destroyed...

“For this scene, I envision myself walking down the hall, with the letter, heading toward my father's forge. Turning to JV'S Scene Designer, I roll a few d10's for some more ideas, and get the following: • Type: 6 (World building) • Challenge: 7 (Social/Charisma/Intimidation) • Factor: 4 (Particularly difficult) • Complications: target...

Someone was shouting and pounding on the door, but my mind was elsewhere, happily filled with formulas and images and hypotheses. Even when the hubbub finally started to break through my abstractions, I assumed it was just a messenger from the Abbot, here to berate me for (once again) blowing off my shift in the common laboratory. Then...

Reinold Fogg is an artificer, born and raised in Tinker's Tower among some of the brightest scholars, alchemists, smiths, and and tinkerers in the world. He's comfortable, well-provided with books and materials, and he's on the brink of a great discovery. Life is great. But what will he do when that life is turned upside down by a vici...