Well of Souls:
http://www.geocities.com/doctorpeace/well.html
This thread at the Forge, while long, tracks the evolution of Well of Souls (quick note Forge etiquette precludes re-opening old threads, so please don't try posting to Forge threads to re-activate them, start a new one):
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=6696&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
And this thread contains some actual play notes from Peter's play of Well of Souls:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?p=79101#79101
What follows is a bit of a ramble:
You will note that one of those threads quotes Ron Edwards referring to a scenario he had written for II. That scenario is Final Days at Skullpoint in Gathering Thunder.
FDaS is another example of a way to present these things, though less overtly improvised. It provides setting, conflict, relationships, and conflict all of the prep materails this kind of play requires. To get the most out of FDaS you have to allow the players define what they do in reaction to the events around them, build relations, take a moral stance upon local events.
And here to some extent lies a problem with publishing these kind of episodes. While you can present the background, crises, and important events it is more difficult to present the storylines that the heroes bring with them or spark from their goals and backgrounds.
As well as having a background book for Red Cow filled with places, people, and history I, obviously, also have a book of scenario material. But a read of my Red Cow scenario material week-by-week would produce some elements that are more linear and 'publishable' in a way that could be used by any group:
The Wolf Hunt
Setting: Wild Day, Harmony Week, Storm Season 1604. .
It is Empty Full Moon Day and the �Red Wound� hangs
like a baleful eye in the Middle Air. The King�s Wind
still blows from the northwest producing a bright
crisp morning,
Introduction: Those who will participate in the rites
today gather round Varanor the Daring. He leads the
priests and leaders of the Wolf Skinners in beginning
the rites. He tells the warriors that they will do the
myth of Little Kallarni. �This myth is powerful here,
among the hills where the Orgorvaltes lived. Little
Kallarni was a boy whose bravery allowed him to fight
off a beast brother who was plaguing his stead in the
God�s War. It is dangerous because it involves
fighting a Telmori and his wolf brother on Wild Day.
You must do the quest alone. Those that are not brave
or skilled enough should back down now, without
shame�. Some do. �This quest is sacred to Yinkin too.
This is why we are doing it now, after Lover�s Day.
You will get the help of an alynx brother. Do well and
the alynx may stay with you at the quest�s end. If you
want to join the Wolf Skinners this test is
important�. Varanor, Ivartha and Valenstor look to
their own alynx brothers.
Action: This will be a stationary quest and
heroquesters will not enter the Other Side. Jomes
Hostralos will join the heroquesters. People mutter
about this � a Lunar participating in the sacred
ceremonies � many say that those who share Orlanth�s
secrets with outsiders are nithing�s and should be
outlawed. But Jomes proves his worth by telling the
myth of Little Kallarni which his people know too.
Other leaders do not participate � they have done this
quest before or are not interested � instead they
retire to the hall to hear Babessa�s offer.
and material which relates to individuals, based off their background and earlier events
Darna Longcoat reproaches Aska
"Do not think to influence the decision of the clan in
this. You have no kin dead in the burning you cannot
know their grief; you have no children who must live
with your choices. When you have had your first child,
then you we will listen to your voice in council.�
or even as short as:
Arkell and Enothea offer Farandar a wife
which are not so useful to others (Aska and Farandar are heroes btw). These elements came from player goals and play. Aska was newly married, childless and politically ambitious. This meeting encouraged her to fall pregnant; as a healer this will mean her giving up Ernalda the Healer to join Allmother. The player is making a choice about his heroes goals. Farandar is conducting a forbidden affair with a girl from a clan the Red Cow are feuding with. The offer of marriage to a 'desirable' match, throws his love affair into question.
But this latter kind of amterial, the heart of an improvised game can be difficult to present, because the very thing that makes it unique, makes it difficult to share.
It also does not suit everyone. This is the reason I suspect that HeroQuest's published presentation has more conventional.
However looking at published material. A lot of Barbarian Adventures and OiD give you tools for this kind of play. Background and narrator resources template style episodes on cattle raids and feuds. The events of Orlanth is Dead, while metaplot, can be used as the background and events to this kind of game. (I always think the best way to handle OiD is a disaster movie. Get through the set up quickly, it is the special effects filled start of the Posiedon adventure - the heroes cannot affect it. Get to the crux of any disaster movie: the relationships among a community of people struggling to survive.) The shiprise is harder, because it seems so impersonal, but the trick, I think is to focus not on the big event but a more human scale, the conflicts among the rebels as much as those outside it. But again this is difficult to present in a published episode, because it is so dependant on what is happening in your game.
"Give the kids tools, so they can go build their own houses; not the blueprint of what the houses should be."
Tori Amos
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