I've noticed recently that every time I restart Firefox, some windows are missing. Does Firefox not store my session properly? Is there an issue that serializing a large session as json takes too much time or something?
I'm trying to figure out what's going on here. Stuff keeps disappearing.
(Yes, my session is unreasonably large. But Firefox used to be able to handle that. Not anymore, it seems.)
I've been playing RPGs for over 40 years, and recently my youngest son (11) started bugging me about running an RPG for him and his friends. In the past I've occasionally run a game for his birthday (Hero Kids and WEG Star Wars), but I got the impression he really wanted something classic fantasy this time. He plays a lot of Terraria where he prefers mages and summoners, so good spellcasting was a requirement.
Despite having accumulated a way too large collection of RPGs over the years, I didn't really like any of them for this purpose. WFRP? Too rich, fiddly and dark. GURPS? Too complex and DIY. D&D? I wanted that feel, but I hate D&D and class/level systems in general. Savage Worlds? Maybe, but still too DIY. Dungeon World? Too freeform for kids, I think.
Then on r/rpg I came across a recommendation for Dragonbane, and it looks absolutely perfect. A simple system, but still with options. It looks great. Simple mechanics. I got the box, which comes with a complete campaign that manages to look simultaneously accessible enough for kids, and yet with surprising depth, twists, multiple factions and betrayal. I think it will blow their minds.
We played our first session yesterday. Two kids took pregenerated characters (the wizard and the wolfkin), while the other two created their own (a wolfkin blacksmith and a human fighter). We're pretty heavy on the frontliners to protect that single mage. I ran them through the first encounter, they quickly defeated the goblins, and I forgot to introduce the wolfrider on turn two, but for their very first combat, this was fine. I played very loose with the movement rules and just focused on how skill rolls, defense and damage works. We'll build it up slowly.
I had to repeat some of the clues, I wasn't sure they caught the name Leanara, but they took the statue. Went to Outskirt. They weren't sure what to do, but Hardy told them to go the inn and ask Vagnhild if they had any questions. They wanted to buy weapons and armor, realised they needed money and all wanted to find jobs instead of going adventuring. The blacksmith wanted a job with Okald and Badinor, for example, but I said they didn't need any help, and gently tried to dissuade them from looking for jobs (quite the opposite of what I say to my oldest son), and look for adventure instead.
And that's when one of the kids remembered that the dying guy mentioned a name. What was it again? I told him Leanara. They asked Vagnhild, who had no idea, but of course Annabella overheard and the whole thing got rolling. They sold her the statue piece, had money to buy a weapon or armor, learned about the Riddermound, and they're ready to go off in that direction. Next time.
The biggest problem was my own lack of prep: I'm not quite fluent in the system yet and had to look up some stuff. They don't fully understand all their abilities yet, but that will come. They're all excited. Some a bit more proactive, others a bit quieter, so I'll try to balance that out next time, partially by sitting closer to the quiet kid.
I have no idea yet where I'm going to put all the pieces of the statue, but I'm going to read all the adventures more thoroughly to get a better idea. And I really look forward to how they're going to deal with some of the upcoming twists. They're currently working for Leanara of course. Will they figure out who she really is and what she wants? I'll probably have to drop a ton of hints. They haven't spoken to Alfilia Shadowleaf yet, and I notice that another knight of that order that they could meet is rather aggressive, whereas the Orcs are surprisingly likely allies.
No idea how all of this is going to unfold, but I love the freedom with guidance that this campaign offers. The freedom to go through this non-linearly and be flexible about allegiances, but with enough guidance to nudge them in a direction instead of just dropping them in with no idea what to do. Looks like a perfect balance between railroad and full sandbox, and I look forward to seeing how this will play out.
I'm Novgorod -> Russia. A republic, so that's a new way for me to max my absolutism. I'd carefully increased my max absolutism by changing some reforms and dropping some privileges, herded my actual absolutism to above 50, and was waiting for Court and Country. Suddenly I discover that my absolutism is only 10!
And now Consolidated Power days that electing a new leader reduces my absolutism by 60, which makes it pretty useless when trying to build up absolutism, doesn't it?
But I'm almost 100% sure that it didn't say that before. I thought I'd seen that effect before, so when selecting my new reforms, I was very careful to make sure I didn't select anything that would lower my absolutism. Am I going crazy? I'm sure it didn't say this when I selected it, but now it does. Is that something that happens? Can the description of a reform change?
Best bet is that I am going crazy and that it has always said this, and I simply messed up. Destroyed my absolutism. Of course reelections will increase it again, but that's super slow now.
So I'm at a bit of a loss here. How do I repair my absolutism now?