[net.games.frp] Bards and real poetry

krs@amdahl.UUCP (Kris Stephens) (02/19/85)

My all-time favorite character is Melchior, a Bard (now 7th Fighter, 8th
Thief,   and 8th  Bard),   but the  world  he lives  in  has offered  an
opportunity for my own growth that is,  as far as I've heard,  unique in
gaming.   The DM  believes in "Free-Flow Magic",   wherein any character
(read:  player)   can offer  an original poem  as a  one-time-only magic
spell.   These are  typically written in the heat of  game-time,  but in
special  circumstances  may  be   prepared  ahead  of  time.    Material
components aren't mandatory,  but increase the chances of success,  and,
if used,  must be appropriately selected toward the effect of the spell.
Free-Flow is read aloud by the player when it's to be cast.  Since Bards
*are* poets,  this  is a fine focus  for me in playing  Melchior,  and I
believe that players of Bards should use real poetry often.  As a result
of  playing Melchior,   my understanding  of  poetry and  my ability  to
compose it have increased dramatically.
 
   In judging Free-Flow,  the first criterion is the poetry itself (Does
it scan well?   How's the rhyme-scheme?).   The second is correctness of
anything referenced in  the poem (Did the poet say  "Wraith" when trying
to deal with a Wight?).  Were material components selected correctly and
are they at hand?   Apply these to modify a (hidden)  percentage roll to
decide success (and/or  degree of success,  like  the Maneuvers Charts).
Apply  them  as well  to  a  three-stage backlash  evaluation  (Positive
backlash; No backlash;  Negative Backlash) and if there is a backlash, a
third  percentage will  give  you the  intensity of  it  (think on  your
feet - the backlash needs  to relate  to the  caster's attempted  spell-
effect).  In any case, the effect of Free-Flow on the caster is somewhat
weakening - with the right players, you can rely on them to "play tired"
with little or no intervention on your part.
 
A couple of examples from "The Songbook of Melchior Lauritz":
 
   Situation:  The party is confronted with  a double door of Mithral
   that resists all thievish attempts as well as Chimes of Opening.
 
      Door of Mithral, Shining Steel,
       Open for my heartfelt zeal.
      Upon your hinges swing now free;
       Open wide, a passage be.
      Though you're closed now tight and fast,
       Open smoothly: let us past.
 
      Door of Mithral, Shining Steel,
       Release! Undo your closing seal.
      I summon up a Spring-like breeze,
       As would lightly rustle trees.
      Let it lightly press this door,
       And the door be closed no more.
 
   Results: Worked; no backlash.
 
   Situation:  The  party is  beleaguered by  Loki (I  know,  there's
   already been a discussion of Deities - let it slide, please),  who
   is blasting us with Prismatic Spray, has gone invisible, and looks
   to wipe out the whole party.
 
      Loki belongs to another world.
        Let him now to Valhalla be hurled.
      Undo the evil deeds he has done;
        Cancel the spite that his acts have begun.
      Strip him of all of his influence here;
        Now let the time of his reckoning near.
      Banish Loki from this plane;
        Send him to Odin to meet his shame.
 
   Results:  Worked.  Backlash,  extreme (circa  100K XP and broke my
   Lyre!).  I'm especially proud of this one - the invocation of Odin
   was the best possible solution for Loki, as Odin takes Loki out of
   circulation and  we avoid all the  hoary details of combat  with a
   deity.  My personal opinion is that the backlash was unreasonable,
   but the DM's view was that summoning  a major deity to deal with a
   major  deity would  mess up  anyone's  life;  of  course,  the  DM
   prevailed!
 
   A special magic item,  the Platinum Dragon Lyre,  gifts Melchior with
the ability to  cast any Druidic spell  in his repertoire any  number of
times per day, as long as I have a decent poem prepared.  I've got poems
for 1st through 3rd Levels and am working up 4th.  Oh, the Lyre is named
("Foran-Guillamere"),  is intelligent,  and amplifies both Free-Flow and
the  other bardic  poetry effects.    I  must be  careful,  backlash  is
amplified too!
 
   As a final note,  the standard Druidic  spells are one of two classes
of spell legally  prepared in advance.   The  other is made up  of those
spells which  it is  reasonable to  assume that  Melchior would  work on
while sitting around the campfire in the evening.  So, for instance, the
above dealing with Loki  could not be written away from  game-time if we
had broken off play  in the midst of the battle - Melchior  did not know
"last night while standing watch" that we would be facing Loki.
 
-- 
Kris Stephens     (408-746-6047)                 {whatever}!amdahl!krs
     [The opinions expressed above are mine, solely, and do not    ]
     [necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Amdahl Corp. ]

mab@druxp.UUCP (BlandMA) (02/20/85)

Those poems remind me of the spells that Elric uses to summon
elementals and demons.  The spell has to convince the elemental
that it will be worthwhile to appear on the material plane.  It
usually describes Elric's situation in such a way that the elemental
will gain something by showing up, or calls on past debts to convince
the elemental to appear, etc.

By the way, does anybody have any experience with the Stormbringer
FRP game?  I understand that the mechanics are based on RuneQuest,
but how useful and fun is the magic system?  Is Elric ever played
as a PC or NPC?  If so, is it really any fun to have a "super-hero"
in the game?  How much does the GM and/or players have to know about
the novels to play the game effectively?  Is it worth $19.95?
-- 
Alan Bland
{ihnp4, allegra}!druxp!mab
AT&T Information Systems Labs, Denver