It looks like I am running another session of Primeval Bastionland tonight. Since I have a little time this morning, I’m going to look back on my report from the last session as a refresher on how I’d like to go into this one. I’ll start with a few notes on that report, and then go over what I’ve done to prep this week and how I might use it. Potential players for this session are advised to hold off reading this post until after the game.

Thoughts on Last Session

Last week generated a LOT of rumours and new information. I suspect this was a lot for players to process, and I doubt much of it sunk in. This week, I’m going to try and reinforce and solidify as much of that existing information as possible, rather than dump even more in.

I feel like a sibling to last week’s info density issue is the fact that I spent a lot of time talking. Lots of describing and playing out NPC interactions especially. I don’t know if the players disliked this, but I don’t think it was great practice either way. I was looking back at the playtest PDF after the game and noted this little bit of guidance:

PRIMACY OF ACTION

Even when using the rules for travel, exploration, and combat, remember this, the most important thing.

No rule or system within the game should override the Actions the players take.

Remember the core of giving information, honouring their choices, and describing the impact of their actions.

I did not remember these things last session, and I suspect it underlied some of the rudderlessness the players experienced.

This Week’s Prep

I wrote up a little adventure area for what lay beyond the old man’s trapdoor using the Detailed Sites guidelines (pg. 11). I felt the result a small for my tastes, but maybe I won’t think so once I’ve put it into use.

I also created a GM screen in Google Slides to help with some referencing difficulties I encountered in the last session. The screen focuses on three cognitive gaps:

  1. Rules that differ significantly from their implementation in Into the Odd and/or Electric Bastionland.
  2. Rules, procedures, and reference materials, that are likely to arise unexpectedly and to require referencing (eg. Scars table, equipment list, travel procedures.)
  3. Solid guidance I want to remember.

I printed off the screen and glued it to some cardboard and it is serviceable if ugly.

The screen is also already outdated, as Chris has once again revised the playtest document. Nope already updated it. For my purposes, two changes are of direct consequence:

  1. Glory (XP) is alloted at the end of a Season, not a session.
  2. A nice little pacing mechanism:

At the end of each session, the group decides how much time will reasonably pass before the next:

  • Hours or Days - The season continues.
  • Weeks - The season turns.
  • Years - The age turns.

I’ll ask about this retroactively of the players who were present at the last session. Given the situation they were in when we called it, I’ll offer “no time at all” as an option, too. Hopefully, I’ll have some time to reflect these changes on the GM screen before the session. I also want to get the Primacy of Action stuff on there. For today, sticking them on post-its might have to suffice… And I did.