Here are the bangs for last week's session that I didn't have a chance to post.
Bangs come from Ron Edwards Sorceror (itself a great source of advice on how to set up this kind of game). A bang is just something that happens. But some important facets are that:
The last point bears a little more note. Lavisihing time and attention on a bang tends to encourage you to railroad your players to make it happen. It's your 'darling'. We prefer to have the players drive play, so by making them lightweight, just a sentence or two, we worry less about dropping them. HQ is great for this as its easy to set up npcs numbers 'on the fly'.
Bangs don't even have to have all the answers. You can set up a mystery and let the best resolution emerge through play.
I tend to look for bangs for the initial session by poring over the conflicts in the setting and on the character's 100 words, or best of all between them. One simple way to write them is to stress two things the character cares about, but putting the player in opposition to npcs in pursuit of each other's goals is also a good source of material.
Bangs you provide are not the only thing that happen in play. Instead they are kind of a starting pistol you fire to get the race moving. you throw in new bangs when the action seems to slow.
Edwards talks about having a 'bandolier of bangs'. I tend to like 3-5 bangs per person.
The great part of this is that you focus your prep on the background for your game, and then the prep time for each week of play is low. Great for those of us who work, and are short of prep time. You can get away with making up bangs 'on-the-fly' and often do as part of a game. If you have an hour for prep, its always good to try and think about what might happen.
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All: The Teasirl clan arrives at Eu's Point to find the Vilawni
already in situ. The Vitalwni awoke before the Teasirl and have begun
fishing again at Eu's Point. For the last few years it has been the
Vitalwni who string the willow poles between the pilings, and make
the first salmon sacrifice. They remember how the Teasirl mocked them
for eating `scrawny fish' and are unwilling to cede their `new'
rights.
All: The Blue Point clan arrives at Ru's Point hunry and frightened,
They set up camp nearby, their leaders approach asking for food,
shelter, and perhaps a chance for some of their members to join the
Teasirl, through marriage.
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Aki: A maddened elf enters the camp, swathed in rags, ringing a
copper bell. The smell of rotting vegetation emanates from his body.
He warns people away, but seeks healing from Aki. The elves are
suffering from some sort of disease. It is a rottin disease, like
some elf version of leprosy. Perhaps, the heroes meet an elf who has
been exiled for being `unclean' ringing his bell as he traipses
through the forest. Humans can get the disease too, but it just makes
them sick, it doesn't kill them. The elves cannot find the cause, or
the cure. Black Oss has sent the `disease' spirits of darkness and
decay from the Gulper's realm, ranging ahead of his scouts.
Aki: Irja confronts Aki about his `planting'. She claims that he goes
too far, his stick wounds Mother Earth, and that he and his `wife'
must stop their planting. Irja tells everyone that Aki's actions have
broken taboos and brought misery upon the clan. `My own son' she
cries, `my own son'.
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Aki, Glendelwin: One of Glendelwin's sons goes into a killing rage,
possessed by a dakness spirit. His eyes are black and he smells of
rot and decay. He wields his tomahawk with brutal efficiency, cutting
down members of the clan. If subdued Aki can try to drive out the
possession, another one of Black Oss's spirits. Other dens are upset
about the injuries they have received from Glendelwin and demand
restitution.
Glendelwin: Glendelwin's husband goes missing. He was out hunting, alone as usual. The hunters mock him, and any calls for them to go and rescue the idiot, claiming he has become a burden on the clan like Isri and Jarri. If anyone searches for him, he is easy to track, and being tortured in a Gulper camp.
Glendelwin: Glendelwin is out gathering healing plants with another
woman when she falls sick. She has a black rach and smells of rot; it
is clear aid must come quickly or not at all. Silvermoss is a good
salve for such an illness, and should be nearby. But it is taboo for
a woman to gather it, yet there are no men nearby. Break the taboo,
or let her die?
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Rutgar: Jarri Broken-Mind, twitching and nervous, approaches Rutgar
with skanky furs and pelts. He wants to trade them for `fire-water'.
Jarri grows upset if Rutgar refuses him, flying into a rage and
promising to `take what he needs if the Moon man won't trade for it'.
Rutgar: Aila can offer favorable trading terms on pelts and furs, but she wants Lunar aid against their old enemies the Teasirl, who seem to have finally woken up at last. The theif traded it away in desperation to a Rathori tribesman called Isri. The wizard would pay handsomely to get his grimoire back.
Rutgar: A courier brings word from Riverjoin. A theif stole a
grimoire from an Arrolian magician. Hunted by the wizard's hirelings
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Hoski, Aki: Irja tells Hoski to travel to the White Bear's demesne on
the Other Side, with Aki's help. She wants him to take his place as
a White Bear warrior and hopes that he will be able to find White
Bear spirits there. Jari tells him he will not succeed. If he goes he
will find that jar's fears are correct – there are no White Bear
spirits in Rathor's demesne any more, only spirits of the Gulper.
Hoski, Isri: Heli tells Hoski and Isri that Orstakalor is preaching on the Moon Bear and that she is taking the den to listen to his words. Ortalakor tells the den how Odayla slept and woke during the winter as he needed, and that his initiates know this magic too. [The secret of the Rathori breaking the hibernation cycle is straightforward – become non-people by initiating to Moon Bear and giving up their traditional religion. This is an answer for some but not all].
Hoski: Hoski's wife tells him that she has been listenting to Orstakalor's words along with Heli. Rathor is dead and the time has come for the people to accept that spirits cannot help them any more. The future lies with the Moon Bear, and Hoski's wife tells him she intends to convert, and raise his children in the Lunar way. Hoski; Jari is kicking Juha, claiming that Hoski's dog's barking was hurting is head. Jari is hungover and mean.
Hoski: Heli tells Hoski that a tree-trunk floated down river would
ram into the Vitalwni's Salmon
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Isri: Orstalakor offers to trade bronze axe and arrowheads for the
book. He claims that all books are rare and valuable, but that the
book has no `special' value beyond that. Orstalkor recognizes that
the tome is an Arrolian grimoire, and is sure he could get something
for it.
Isri: Sonja Lodge-Builder tells Isri that she will divorce him if he
doesn't put some food on their table. The Vitalwni clan have plenty,
why doesn't he take some from them? Maybe if he could feed his
children, she would allow him back in their tent.
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One thing to pick out here is that the more the player gives you to work with, the easier it is to come up with bangs for them.
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