[Chronicles of Skin] Help in November

[Rafu]

Uh, thank you for highlighting this!

A proposito, gente, vi siete accorti che Arconate è in tempo per i play-off?

[Iacopo Frigerio]

no, sono distratto da altro, scusami, di che play-off parli?

[Rafu]

La "finale" del Game Chef di quest'anno. Vince, fra i finalisti, il gioco che viene giocato più volte (nel mondo, da chiunque voglia giocarlo). C'è tempo... ancora 3 settimane, credo.

[Suna]

Hey guys! No talking in Italian here =:-|

[Mauro]

Hi, Sebastian!

Tonight we played Chronicles of Skin in four; this is our skin: http://www.eldalie.com/mrn_skin.jpg.
The English text:

Croen: Smarmy, Fear the eclipse!, It's forbidden to work during the night, Farmers.
Iho: Solemn, Leaving the mountain brings bad luck, All Iho have the right to kill non-Iho people, Divide and rule.

First scene was Croen: during a Croen feast, Iho men burst into the village, killing all the people; Croen had little defenses and was in the middle of the feast, so was able to do very little. Loot: a meteor-iron sword.

Secon scene was Iho: in a tavern some Iho men were celebrating; a woman was searching her daughter, who - in the end - was sacrificed in a ritual who killed all the Iho in the tavern. Loot: Iho begin to fear Croen's power.

Third scene was Croen: in a cave, Croen men were arguing about a new attack against the Iho, and whether they'd attack during the night, though their creed was not to work during night-time; pieces of the cave collapsed and, while trying to free some blocked Iho, the cave was filled with poison; but the Iho managed to flee.

Fourth - and last - scene was Iho: during a funeral, sneaking in mist the Croen attacked, but the Iho was able to force back them, winning the fight.

In the end, Croen won the war by 23.

Now, questions:

• It's possible to spend Votes for cards during the battle? If yes, also if I still have cards from the free play?
• If two PCs have a fight, I think it's simply a push: one will somehow say "And you lose" and the other will have to accept or trying to change the narration; what if a PC ad a NPC have a fight?
• Can a player change more than one character/Glyph of War card?

Notes:

• Enemy, during Attack, takes seven cards, no matter how many player there are; this could mean he is more powerful, with less player.
• I was thinking... and if the vote about who wins the war was made in secret? It could be something like, "Take a Vote in a your fist and show both of them; when all have decided open your fists: if the Vote is in the right one, you voted Iho; in the left, Croen" (just an idea to explain what I mean).

And (maybe) typos:

• On Chronicle Sheet, under diamond there is Law; it'd be "Rule", doesn't it? Same question for Trait, under Club: should it be "Aspect"?
• In the rules and in the Summary Skin phase order is different.

[Mauro]

By the way, an anecdote: second scene ends, we make the vote to decide the Glyph of Purpose; we open our eyes and I've won! No, wait: I'm the Enemy, I've no Glyph of Purpose...

And this remind me another doubt: the vote on the Glyph of Purpose has to be made base on the best portrait of the Glyphs, or on which was most thematically important in the story?

[Sebastian Hickey]

Hi Mauro.

Thanks for playing the game!!! I'm on holiday in the UK and I've only got two minutes, so I wanted to come here and say a quick thank you. Grazie mile! I'll come back to your points on Monday or Tuesday.

Sebastian.

[Mauro]

Enjoy your holiday and don't worry, I'll wait!

[Sebastian Hickey]

Ok, I'm back.

Jesus, it's snowy here!

Before I go into this, there is one big change I plan for v1.4 (the next draft). Taken from The Collective Endeavour:

During play, in my sessions, the Enemy has only ever contributed to the narrative when playing an Omen card. In v1.4, I'm going to codify this tabletop behaviour, strictly limiting Enemy interaction to Omens, Bribes and Pushes. The meta-roles of the Enemy are editor (closing a scene and threading in new/off-screen action), antagonist and audience, the latter role supporting the former two. That is, when the audience gets bored, he has the tools to make things interesting for himself (and, therefore, the rest of the group).

In short, the Enemy can't narrate (though he is encouraged to make sugggestions) unless he plays an Omen card (to Bribe, Push or Omen). Bearing that in mind, here are the answers to your questions.

• It's possible to spend Votes for cards during the battle? If yes, also if I still have cards from the free play? No, it is not possible to spend Votes during the battle. Good idea though. It would give players the chance to "vote now" instead of voting at the end.
• If two PCs have a fight, I think it's simply a push: one will somehow say "And you lose" and the other will have to accept or trying to change the narration; what if a PC ad a NPC have a fight? Your interpretation is correct. In the v1.4 rules (next draft), the text will say something like, "Minor characters are not Principal Characters and, therefore, cannot Push or be Pushed. Their actions can be described by the Enemy as a means to foreshadow the Glyph of War, during an Omen, or by any player as a means to affect someone else's Principal Character, during a Push. That is, minor characters should not be used during incidental narration."
• Can a player change more than one character/Glyph of War card? Sure. If he spends the Votes.
• Enemy, during Attack, takes seven cards, no matter how many player there are; this could mean he is more powerful, with less player. No. The players always have 12 Push cards between them, so the card ratio is always the same. In v1.4, however, I will probably drop the Enemy's Attack Hand down to 6 or 5 cards.
• I was thinking... and if the vote about who wins the war was made in secret? It could be something like, "Take a Vote in a your fist and show both of them; when all have decided open your fists: if the Vote is in the right one, you voted Iho; in the left, Croen" (just an idea to explain what I mean). Good idea. I think I'll use the old close-your-eyes voting system. While your eyes are closed, you must make either a "C" shape or and "I" shape with your right hand. The Scribe counts to 3 and everyone opens their eyes. If all the shapes are the same, the person with the least votes must change their shape. C corresponds to Croen, I to Iho.
• On Chronicle Sheet, under diamond there is Law; it'd be "Rule", doesn't it? Same question for Trait, under Club: should it be "Aspect"? You are correct.
• In the rules and in the Summary Skin phase order is different. I'll look into that.

THANKS SO MUCH!!!

I owe you one!

[Mauro]

[cite]Autore: Sebastian Hickey[/cite]it's snowy here

Here too! I hope this won't block my train...

[cite]Autore: Sebastian Hickey[/cite]Their actions can be described by the Enemy as a means to foreshadow the Glyph of War, during an Omen, or by any player as a means to affect someone else's Principal Character

This is interesting: the Enemy then could play NPC only if he plays an Omen card? In our game, he played all NPC, with Others suggesting.
There was a scene like this: I was looking for a PC's parents, who were NPCs; who decides if I find them? We made the Enemy - seen as some sort of "master" in this regard - choose, but now I'm not sure it's the right thing.

As for the PC/NPC conflict, so in a scene like this:

NPC: I go out.
PC: I catch him and force him inside.

There should be a player (Others or Enemy) Pushing me saying, "You (don't) manage"? And if none Pushes?

[cite]Autore: Sebastian Hickey[/cite]The players always have 12 Push cards between them, so the card ratio is always the same. In v1.4, however, I will probably drop the Enemy's Attack Hand down to 6 or 5 cards

Sure, but with more players won't change the Push/player ratio? I mean: it's only an impression, mind it, but it seems to me that, the more the players, the more likely the Pushes, the less the Push Cards during the battle.
But keep in mind that we didn't played PC/NPC conflicts like described above, so my impression is likely to be biased!
As for the seven cards, I don't know: I had the impression seven are quite too high, but four battles are really not enough to judge; if I'll play another game, I'll try with six.

[Emanuele Borio]

[cite]Autore: Mauro[/cite]Here too! I hope this won't block my train...

Last train out of Milan.

[Sebastian Hickey]

As for the PC/NPC conflict, so in a scene like this:

NPC: I go out.
PC: I catch him and force him inside.

There should be a player (Others or Enemy) Pushing me saying, "You (don't) manage"? And if none Pushes?

The actions of an NPC should never be described, except as part of an Enemy's Omen or during a Push. In other words, play should look like this:

Scribe: Describes location. "It's a castle, with lightning storms and rain, etc."
Player X: "My character does X, Y and Z."
Enemy: Silent.
Player B: "My character does A and B."
Enemy: Silent.
Player X: "I'm going to Push character... Character B is dragged over to the bed by the handmaidens (NPCs)."
Player B: "Not way! I reject that Push, etc."

and maybe, at some point:

Enemy: Plays an Omen. "There is a crack of lightning. Outside the tower of the castle, we see shapes climbing up the walls using long, sharpened claws."

To summarise, NPCs (or minor characters in the text) are to be used like colour. They are not described at all during the game except as a means to foreshadow the Glyph of War (during an Omen or a Bribe), or as a means to affect another player's PC (during a Push). If a player interacts with a minor character, it should be in reaction to one of these events. In this case, the minor character should be played by the player who introduced the NPC and only for as long as it takes to resolve the Omen, Bribe or Push. After that, the minor character should fade into the background.

Sure, but with more players won't change the Push/player ratio? I mean: it's only an impression, mind it, but it seems to me that, the more the players, the more likely the Pushes, the less the Push Cards during the battle.

You are right, but that is fine. The more the Pushes, the more Votes are earned, and the more easy it should be for the Enemy to win his battle. If players Push for their themes, they sacrifice their chance of success. In this way, boring scenes can be tied up early and still everyone can earn Votes.

[Mauro]

The NPC going out indeed was a reaction to the Omen; to bring another example, in the second scene there was an NPC woman who asked about her daughter: she wasn't able to find her and so was asking everyone - at last, including PCs - if they've seen her. Glyph of War was Occult, the missing girl was my first Omen and I decided Croen kidnapped her (I described the Omen as the woman looking for the missing girl) to have a sacrifice for a ritual: Iho blood used to kill all Iho blood people in the tavern and surroundings. I continued to describe her action and to play it also outside Omen narration.
This is right, isn't it?

Anyway: so I'd simply have stated something like "I found PC's parents" (who were NPCs), and if someone didn't like the idea'd have pushed me ("No, you don't")? If yes, I'd stress this in the rules: by reading them, Pushing seemed to me more an active, than a reactive, action (I mean, something like "You do this" "No I don't", instead of "I do this" "No you don't").

[cite]Autore: Sebastian Hickey[/cite]If players Push for their themes, they sacrifice their chance of success

This bring to me a still unanswered doubt: the vote on the Glyph of Purpose has to be made based on the best portrait of the Glyphs (that is, which player brings it best in the story), or on which was most thematically important in the story?
During first scene I was the player whose Glyph of Purpose was better portrayed through the characters, but due to Glyph of War being Destruction the most thematically prominent one was Swords/Destruction (mainly our destruction, really...).

[Sebastian Hickey]

I continued to describe her action and to play it also outside Omen narration.
This is right, isn't it?

Yes and no.

Yes, it is right to include an NPC to foreshadow the Glyph of War. However, try not to make the NPC the star of the show. I will probably indicate something like this in the text for the next version:

"When introducing minor characters into the scene by way of a Bribe or an Omen, be careful to remember that the Principal Characters are the stars of the show. Minor characters introduced in this way should only be used to foreshadow and inform—by their speech, actions or reactions—and should never be used to challenge the other characters in the scene. If you want to challenge another character, use a Push."

Additionally, I would add:

"After a minor character has been introduced into a scene by a Push, Bribe or Omen, that minor character becomes invisible. Principal Characters may not interact with minor characters. Interaction in Free Play should always be between Principal Characters. The only way to force an interaction between a minor character and a Principal Character is to use another Push or another Bribe."

This bring to me a still unanswered doubt: the vote on the Glyph of Purpose has to be made based on the best portrait of the Glyphs (that is, which player brings it best in the story), or on which was most thematically important in the story?

Good question. The answer is a mixture of those two. I'll include something like this in the next version:

"When choosing the theme of the scene, nominate the Glyph of Purpose that was thematically most important before the atrocity. That is, choose the theme that was represented most appropriately during free play."

[Sebastian Hickey]

I've posted up some errata for the 1.3 version here.