Poison'd Thrones Report

I made a flurry of posts a few weeks ago about Poison'd Thrones, the game I planned to run at Go Play Brisbane. Well, the day came and I ran it. Here's how it went.

Brilliantly. 

As we were playing I could scarcely believe how well the Poison'd rules worked in the Westeros setting. The transition from pirate crew to mercenary warband was smooth. There was a common form: a group beyond the control of the authorities. There was a common individual focus: the ambitions of lawless folks for land, pardon, and revenge. With some simple re-skinning of weapons and occupations, the rules and the setting are beautifully at home with one another. 

In fact, I'm thinking of making a PDF to share my game with the world. Watch this space. 

Credit must also be given to my wonderful players. These folks knew the setting well enough that we didn't need to dwell on it. They played the themes of Game of Thrones so well. Survival, shifting alliances, betrayal, advancement, revenge, ambition… it was all there in the story. Thanks to them all for making it a great game.

One other thing to note - and this is noteworthy because it's a Vincent Baker game - the rules seemed to vanish behind the story. Every time we went to the dice, it threw us back into the story. Every time we needed the rules, they were there and then they were gone again. Like pixies at the bottom of the garden, the rules came and went without us humans ever really seeing them. But we saw the magic they left behind.

Science!

I don't know about you, but this is the epitome of Science! from Spirit of the Century.

Science! It's the best.