Nausicaä FKR Setup & Session 1

Since FKR style play is getting more attention I thought it would be a good time to pitch an open table game using my Primeval 2D6 system over on one of the Discord servers devoted to the style.

I met up with other members and pitched a few games – running a West Marches style game, an investigative horror game, an Ars Magica-alike, as well as a game set in Hayao Miyazaki’s setting where the Nausicaä manga takes place.

Almost everyone immediately expressed interest in Nausicaä being their top pick, so we started discussing the game, potential places to play, character ideas, and we landed on playing somewhere out “off the map” so to speak in our own corner of the world, making it easier for players to drop in and out without knowing the plot, as well as letting us handwave a lot of details.

I should preface this and probably every session that I am notoriously anti-canon. I want to draw on the imagery, themes, and broad-level assumptions of any source I’m using – Nausicaä included. So if something contradicts established lore – that’s the canon of our game. This is by no means to disrespect the source material, the creators, or the fans, but rather to allow our table to celebrate the world in the way that’s the most fun for us.

chargen and session follows

Barrowmaze Open Table Session 10

Summary

The party explores a number of tombs over the Barrowmaze, and take heavy losses.

Player characters

  • Donnie the Bard, played by Malley
  • Grick the Half-Orc, played by Modest Mace
  • Sky the Druid, played by Captain Caveman
  • Ulrik Ironsworn the Paladin, played by Isaiah
  • Uriel the Ranger, played by Dante

Hirelings

  • Arnd the Dwarf
  • Bran the failed magician
  • Garbash, Cleric of Crom
  • Irya the Archer
  • Manks, Cleric of Hathor
report follows

Barrowmaze Open Table Session 9

Summary

The party attends a Winter Elf play and enters into a living myth to retrieve a magical harp from a paranoid Frost Giant.

Player Characters

  • Barkface the Druid, played by EvilTables
  • Donnie the Bard, played by Malley
  • Uriel the Ranger, played by Dante

Hirelings

  • Arnd the Dwarf
  • Bran the failed magician
  • Garbash, Cleric of Crom
  • Irya the Archer
  • Manks, Cleric of Hathor
report follows

Barrowmaze Open Table Session 8

Summary

The party decides to search the immediate southern portion of the barrows, running into a variety of figures and learning a few details of the tomb.

Cast of characters

Player Characterss

  • Barkface the Druid, played by EvilTables
  • Donnie the Bard, played by Malley
  • Grick the Half-Orc, played by John
  • Groolgrod the Dwarf, played by Directsun

Hirelings

  • Arnd Cobblestone, dwarf
  • Cravos (deceased), thug turned fighter
  • Garbash, cleric of Crom
  • Irya, archer and former squire
summary follows

Barrowmaze Open Table Session 6

edit: I accidentally listed this as session 7 before, but have edited the title to the correct number, sorry if the URL stays the same and is confusing.

I am going to try more of a short summary this time around (instead of the longer form narration of events), since I’ve fallen behind updating these. This may also allow me to kind of summarize process a bit more.

If you’re reading along and you have a strong preference for one style or the other let me know.

Barrowmaze Sapphire Skeletons
summary follows

Barrowmaze Open Table Session 5

This is a tad late as I have been super busy since this session, so I may have forgotten a few things. Also my notes are complete trash – usually it will contain a bunch of numbers scrawled onto a page, unlabeled tick boxes, and phrases like “rocks fall” without context. When playing they make sense to me, but are complete gibberish outside of it. None the less, here’s my memory of our last session.

Cast of characters

  • Barkface the Druid, played by EvilTables
  • Donnie the Bard, played by Malley
  • Lothomir the Elf, played by Graytung
  • Sky the Druid, played by John/Captain Caveman
  • Uriel the Ranger, played by Dante

Along with their hirelings:

  • Arnd Cobblestone, a Dwarf they found in a pit
  • Cravos, a thug from Helix who serves as their torchbearer
  • Snookums, Cravos’ flea-bitten hound
  • Foamy, Sky’s befriended dog
session report follows