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Staying Alive - Page 3

The Game Master says...

Handling Encounters

In all RPGs there are three kinds of encounters - friendly, neutral and combative. Keep in mind that although your character's nature is to fight and conquer not everyone in the World of Medieval thinks that way. Most people, especially those in the Village and its' borders are reasonably peaceful and friendly.

Friendly Encounters

When you meet people within a friendly area it most likely that they are provided for you to gain information. Use them in a friendly manner and you may find yourself more knowledgable than before. Sometimes a shiny gold piece can get anyone to talk, but the accuracy of the information they give you is left to be considered by the receiver. Examples of friendly folk: Tavern Bar Tender, Bar Maids, Village Soldier, Market Sellers, etc.

Neutral Encounters

Sometimes the GM may give you information about people around your current position, this does not mean that they necessarily have any information or purpose to you, but they must be there in order for their to be 'reality' in the game. Examples of neutral folk: Passers by, People buying in the Market, etc. Note: Animals doing things that nature directs for them to do can also be considered a neutral encounter.

Combative Encounter

You usually know when an encounter will be combative as some type of hostility is shown, BUT keep in mind not all victories are had by simply fighting in hand to hand combat - this is a big mistake for most players - they try to win by fighting face to face. Make sure to be inventive and think of other ways to conquer your enemy. Also, because an encounter is combative does not mean that they (the enemy) wishes to necessarily attack you physically, but at the same time they will not help you and may even try to lead you astray.

Other Notes

Your character's reaction to the above Encounters can cause differences in the way non-player characters in turn react to you. For instance a friendly Bar Maid can become combative if you insult her. Keep this in mind when you move and act especially flashing your weapons.

Additionally if your character has low soul it gives the GM more freedom to decide the true nature of your character and acceptance by others. For instance: you may decide that you want your character wants to say 'Hello' to a Bar Maid, but because he/she has such low soul the GM can turn that into, "Hello, frog face" - thus what should be a friendly or neutral encounter now becomes combative.

Lastly, now as you come across persons in the storyline it will be up to you to decide which persons need more emphasis and which ones do not so that your time may not unnecessarily be taken up with Neutral characters as a for instance.

Alive Staying

The Game Master says...

Water Skins

Usually with one gold piece you can buy two water skins that holds about a gallon (four liters) each. The skin is made out of either a cheap leather, the stomach of a large animal or other dried material. Now consider the following:

* A skin could last 3-4 days depending on usage if you are not active
* Very active movement means a skin needs to be refilled every other day
* When you buy a skin you buy just the skin and not water too, it is then necessary for you to fill it via a well or spring.
* Consider that liquid is heavy and often spoils momentum and swiftness

Staying Alive RPG PBP Medieval World

The Game Master says...

Making Enemies of Your Friends

One of the saddest and most digressive things a player can do to their Character within Medieval is try to undermine the inhabitants of the Village through trying to skull (trick) them into doing things that are underhanded or contentious. Of course if your Character's Soul is already low then you would have already created an automatic trap for yourself.

The Village is there as your backbone, your safe haven as it were, so you would do best to use it advantageously by making a good reputation for yourself, in this way you can get information and things easier than the Village scoundrels would after mugging a passerby. This would obviously mean that when you do create a Character you do not make him/her so desperately lacking in Soul that you are on the brink of being banished from the Village. Now, it is realistic that some players will sacrifice Soul for the sake of Mind or Body, but in doing so you will find that you will be sent away when dealing with the public.

The ways around this are in the following:

1. Create a Character with a reasonable amount of Soul and Mind

2. Use Characters with higher Soul in public conversations and keep those with lower Soul far away from them. This is also natural since it is likely that a wise person will not want to congregate with a more foolish one.

3. Treat all in the Village with respect and courtesy. Mistrust only those who seem to either not be part of the actual Village or shady in their mannerism.

4. Do good deeds to build up your reputation.