Storium Basics: Card Spending And Refresh

Welcome back - today, as we continue discussing the basics of Storium, I'm going to spend a little time on the concept of Refresh.

First, though, a bit about card spending: As you play Strength and Weakness cards, you'll notice they become unavailable for selection on future plays. Even once you reach the end of a scene, you'll find you won't have the cards that you already spent available to play again.

This is how Storium manages helping you tell the ups and downs of a character's tale. As you spend Strengths and Weaknesses, they become unavailable for use. You don't get any of them back until you've spent all of them. That is, you have to spend all your Strengths and all your Weaknesses before you get any of them back.

This is another reason I've said it is best to not play Storium tactically—the system is geared towards storytelling, and in storytelling, characters have ups and downs. This is actually really cool for developing a character arc, but that's somewhat beyond the basics - for more on that, see the links below.

So, say that you've spent all your Strengths and all your Weaknesses...now, it's time to Refresh.

At the beginning of the next scene, you'll get to Refresh your cards. When you click the button to do so (which replaces your button for writing a move), you are presented with a list of all the Strengths and all the Weaknesses that you've played in the game so far. You select some of each, and those become your new hand of Strength and Weakness cards. Simple as that!

Note that the number of cards you get to refresh is determined by settings for the individual games

But though it's a simple concept, don't just rush through.

This is your opportunity to define what is important in your character's story now. That may not match up with what was important in the beginning. Refreshes are a great way to show how your character has changed, or to show what elements of your character are stable. Pick the cards you want to focus on for the next chunk of the story.

Take some time to really think it over - what is important now? What do you want to say about your character now? Who is your character now? That's what a Refresh is about - not who you've been, but who you are now. Who you are going to be as the story moves forward from this point.

So...sure, who you are now might be just who you were in the past - you might just pick your starting Strength and Weakness, maybe something closely related to them too, and call it a day. But maybe things you've revealed about yourself since then have become more important. Maybe your Toughness was central to your character at the beginning, but since then, you've become focused on Leadership and Empathy, like I mentioned last time.

This is the point where you get to show that...so take some time to think it through.

And remember: As with character creation, pick cards you want to play...not just cards you're willing to play. Just like at the start of the game, you want to pick things that excite you about using them. These cards are the things you will have in your hand, so they're the things you will have to play before you can Refresh again. So make them things that you want to play, not just things that you grudgingly put in your hand again.

For more on Refresh, see the below posts - but please be aware that since I wrote some of these, the Refresh rules did change somewhat. The philosophy still applies, but some of the mechanics will sometimes be a bit different. In particular, I believe you can now pretty easily choose to get rid of your starting Strength / Weakness in a Refresh because - if I'm recalling correctly - you can now choose any card multiple times in a Refresh. In the old days, that wasn't the case, so you'll see references here for how it will take multiple Refreshes to get a starting card out of your hand.

Similarly, these were written before custom card settings were a thing.

Still, I believe the philosophies discussed here can be helpful:

• Great Ideas: Easy Resource Management (Storium) 
• Okay, that one is just about why I love the way Storium handles card spending and Refresh.
• Establishing Character Arcs
• Character Arc vs. Game Arc
• No Card Play is "Wasted"
• Character Development Through Wild Cards
• Refreshing Cards - "What's Important Now?"
• Situational Strengths and Weaknesses
• Building Character
• Choose Cards You Want to Play
• Build Towards Something

Batman Arkham Knight

Minimum System Requirements

Processor: Intel Core i5-750, 2.67 GHz | AMD Phenom II X4 965, 3.4 GHz

Memory: 6 GB RAM

Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660

Graphics Memory: 2 GB

Hard Drive Space: 45 GB

Recommended System Requirements

Processor: Intel Core i7-3770, 3.4 GHz | AMD FX-8350, 4.0 GHz

Memory: 8 GB RAM

Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760

Graphics Memory: 3 GB

Hard Drive Space: 55 GB

Download The Game Here

Download Crack For The Game Here

HOTT 52 - Battle 5 - A Final Desperate Battle

Battle 5 was fought over the weekend. The more I play, the more that setup finishes more quickly, and I remember the combat factors a lot more now. Less referring to the sheet and rules. However, each game finds me asking questions and I have a question from this week's battle below. But first, let's get to the action!

I generated both armies randomly. Both armies would consist of mostly militia and a few regular forces.

Humans General - Sp x1 Spear (Sp) x3 Warband (Wb) x2    Shooters (Sh) x4 Knight (Kn) x2

Orcs - defending General - Wb x1 Warband (Wb) x3 Hordes (Hd) x2 Shooters (Sh) x3 Spear (Sp) x4

I thought about substituting fantasy elements (like Aerials, Magicians, Cleric, etc), but a toss of the dice said that wasn't happening.

 

I'm painting those Saxons as fast as I can to complete my Human warband elements. Hopefully they'll be done for next week's game! I don't like empty stands!

The Orc Warchief, Ib'Nuzgran, lines up his troops as a solid bunch.  He details a warband to remain behind in case the sneaky humans try to send a detachment down the road to sack their stronghold! The human commander, Major Nesbin, sees an opportunity and details his Knights to head down the road and see what trouble they can cause.

 

"Goblins to the front!" Ib'Nuzgran roars! The goblins rush ahead of the whip cracks from the orc sergeants, eager to taste human blood! Nesbin, seeing an opportunity to rain missile fire on the hordes, has his Shooters fold inwards as the goblins approach. The treacherous goblins then turn towards the wings, and Nesbin regretfully moves them back to keep the line intact.

Behind the goblins, the Bestials move forwards towards the approaching Human army.

 

The Human Shooters do their job, launching a hail of arrows on the exposed hordes. Their courage melts like snow in the sun and the goblins run away, ignoring the curses of the Orc sergeants. The lines draw close and then rush to attack! The Orc Warband drives through the Human lines, pushing their opponents back and pursuing with bloodlust!

 

Meanwhile, the Knights head down the road to see if they can sack the Orc stronghold. The warband left behind to guard it takes up a position in the woods near the road. The Knights are reluctant to take their hoses into the woods, so one element attempts to distract the Orcs while the other group of Knights attempts to swing around. Unfortunately, being so far away from their commander, it is hard to keep their attack organized! The Knight's attack falters as they delay in how to best approach the stronghold. (The distance is greater than 600p to their commander and the Kn are behind an impassable hill with woods - it requires 2 PIPs to move each element, instead of 1. With the battle focus on the line, as you'll see below, this is as far as the Kn got. If only the humans had a couple of better PIP rolls...)

  

The battle's momentum swings towards the Bestials as the Human attackers are pushed back or destroyed! However, the impetuous Orc Warchief breaks off from supporting his warband to attack the nearby Human Shooters. Recoiling from the Human's counterattack, the Orc Warlord finds himself behind the other Orc Warband, out of position should the Warband be forced to recoil! Lucky for Orcs, the warband fights on.

It turns grim for the humans. Only a Blade, the Majorand his command of Spears, and two Warbands remain of the line of Human attackers! The Bestials line is mostly intact and howling for human blood!

 

Nesmith sees an opportunity, however, and orders a desperate charge! The warbands and shooters surround the Orc Warchief and press the attack. The Warchief falls! The Bestials, disorganized and demoralized, retreat from the battle and their encampment. (6v1 in favor of the humans almost always guarantees a victory, as it did in this case. The odds were good for the humans for this bound, but had it not gone well, the Orcs were looking well on the way to victory.)

Humans win versus Bestials (Orcs/Goblins) (8 - 10G)

---

The Orc General didn't have many options when his surrounding elements were defeated, leaving him exposed. It was a close battle and with the Human line as wrecked as it was, there were going to be a lot of overlap situations when the lines closed again.

So my question came about with regards to when one element moves into contact with an enemy. For those of you who don't play HOTT/DBA (Hordes of the Things game is derived from the historical wargame De Bellus Antiquitatus), how elements contact each other and then "conform" (line up so that the elements are square with each other) is a whole set of precise rules - written in what is known as "Barkerese"! For comparison, the language (and organization) of 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is similar to DBA/HOTT. 

My question came to who had to conform to whom, when a group contacts a group, and if supporting elements (elements in the 2nd rank that can add to the combat resolution of the elements in the front rank) also conformed. I ruled at the time in one way, but after a quick (and slightly embarrassing) newbie question/discussion posted to the HOTT Facebook group, I reread the rules and now I understand - when a group contacts a group, the conforming applies to the entire group, including supporting elements.

My shorthand for remember this is: Moving group conforms to standing group, single elements conform, otherwise, check the rules! It works for me... 

The other thing I (re)learned is that when moving through Bad Going, you move a group as a single column, or if you want to keep a line, those elements in Bad Going move as individual elements. It didn't come up this game, but has happened in previous games and I had forgotten that.

That's what I'm really enjoying, is this relearning and learning of little bits and elements. It feels just like AD&D/OD&D in that regards, and that just makes me happy.

On to Battle #6 next week!

We Are Back RPG - Republic Of PC Games With More Games With Installation...

Storium Basics: Subplots

Welcome back to Storium Basics - today, I'd like to briefly discuss the Subplot card type.

Subplots are actually my favorite card on Storium. The other cards show your character's impact on the story—a subplot shows the story's impact on your character.

Subplot cards are considered neutral, so they don't affect the Strong/Weak balance of a challenge. They do, however, push things closer to a conclusion. I like to use them to set up situations that might go either way, or to emphasize the way the challenge is currently going while moving events forward.

It takes some time to get used to writing subplots, but here's the basics: When you play a subplot, it's time to get a little introspective. Show how the subplot has been affected by the story events—how are the events of the story shaping your views of your subplot? Or, alternatively, you can show how your subplot is driving you to take the actions that you are taking. I use a mix of both. As you play subplot cards scene after scene, show how it is developing in your character's mind.

Now, that doesn't mean that your move is entirely internal! As I said above, this is still a move on a challenge, and thus it still moves the story of the challenge forward. So, this move needs to be both about your character and about the story of the challenge. It is tilted more towards your character than other moves, but the challenge's story shouldn't disappear.

A great way to do this is to tie what's going on in the challenge specifically to what's going on with your character's subplot. You can, like I suggested above, show how your subplot drove you to take the actions you're taking in the challenge. Or, you might instead decide to show how the actions you took affected your view of your subplot.

For example, if you're playing a character with the subplot Prove Yourself, reflecting his desire to have his abilities acknowledged by those around him, that subplot might be involved in a few ways. Now, these aren't the only ways you could do it, mind - but here's a couple thoughts:

• Inspiring Actions: Out of a desire to Prove Yourself, you charge headlong at the enemy, filled with ambition to win the day and be acknowledged by the other heroes.
• Reflecting on Actions: You charge headlong at the enemy, and X happens. In the moments afterwards, a thought goes through your head about how that's likely to affect your goal of proving yourself - do you think you've gotten closer, or further away?

As mentioned above, a subplot is a neutral card. That means that it doesn't tip the balance towards Strong or Weak as far as the challenge's progress towards an outcome goes. But it does progress the challenge's story.

Neutral cards can be a little hard to picture this way at first - how do you progress the story while not making things Stronger or Weaker? That's a bit of a misconception, I think.

When you play a neutral card, like a Subplot in this case, you push the story forward. This can feel like it's pushing closer to one of the endings, based on which ending the challenge was headed towards. If the challenge is already going Strong, your subplot can feel strong. If the challenge was already going Weak, your subplot can feel weak.

Why? This is because a neutral card leaves the status quo where it is, but leaves less slots to change it. So while you aren't actually making things Stronger or making things Weaker, you are progressing the story of the challenge and there is now less "time" for the challenge to turn around.

So, while a subplot play shouldn't feel exactly like a Strength or Weakness play, there's no problem with using it to emphasize the current story direction. With a neutral card, you're saying that things continue along the same path they've been continuing on...if that's a good path, that's good, if it's a bad path, that's bad.

That assumes you're playing a neutral card on its own, of course - playing multiple cards at once is an option in most Storium games, and I'll discuss that technique and its effects on moves another time.

When you play the last subplot card in your stack, it is time to move the subplot forward in a notable fashion. Show how the story's events have led the character to some kind of development point—some place where their views change, or perhaps harden and evolve to a new level.  Moves where you're finishing up your subplot stack should feel significant. Even if they're in the middle of a challenge and other things are going on, be sure to take some time to leave a sign of development of your character's story. You don't have to know precisely where it's going yet, but you should make clear that something has changed in how your character views or interacts with the issue covered by the subplot. Leave yourself some cues, some thoughts on how this might develop

It's okay - even fun - to leave the full development a bit up in the air here more solidly decide when you pick your new subplot a little later. You can ask yourself a new question the subplot inspires rather than providing an answer. This doesn't have to be a full conclusion to the subplot. It's a major development, not necessarily an ending. You are moving forward in a way, but you aren't necessarily moving forward to something totally different.

You also get a wild Strength card any time you play the last subplot card—you'll get it at the close of that scene.

At the start of the next scene after you finish your subplot, you'll also have to define a new subplot. It's pretty simple—just click the "Define a New Subplot" button that replaces your Move button, and write one like any other custom card.

What you want to do here is think a bit about what happened regarding your prior subplot. Where did your character start out regarding that issue, and where did he end up? What is he thinking about now? Is it the same issue, with some new color to it, or has he moved on to some other thing?

This is why it helps to be thinking about your subplot each time you play it, and get a little introspective each time. If you take the time to think about this along the way, you don't have to think about it all at once. And, if you use that final move of a subplot to leave yourself some thinking cues, you'll more easily find direction in writing your new plot.

Don't forget to consider how the game's story itself has been going, either! Subplots are about how your character and the game interact.

Subplots are, as I mentioned, how you show the game's impact on your character–and when you define a new Subplot, that's a big chance to show it. It's one of my favorite times in Storium–when I get to write a new subplot, I can definitively show everyone just what my character has gone through and what issue he's working through now as a result. Sometimes my new subplot is a development of the prior one, a furthering of that issue with a new name and new stakes. But sometimes things have gone totally sideways and unexpected things came up, or the character realized that what he was working through wasn't what he thought he was working through, leading to a subplot that's pretty drastically different.

Here's an example of one that developed over the course of "Sorrow's Shores" for my character, Brennan:

• It started out as "Learning the Basics," reflecting Brennan's unfamiliarity with the situation he was in and his desire to be able to at least help out a little and learn what he could to take care of himself. 
• From there, it moved to "I Have to Do More!" as Brennan learned to do his part but saw the group struggling and dealt with the loss of one of the group's members–he felt like he hadn't been strong enough yet and wanted to push himself. 
• Finally, it became "When it isn't enough…" as more bad things still happened, and he began to realize that sometimes no matter how hard you tried, sometimes you weren't strong enough on your own, and maybe it wasn't just him that was like that, maybe it was everyone. So he started wrestling with what that meant and learning that it was okay if he had to depend on other people.

I hope that all this has helped you gain an understanding of Subplots in Storium. If you'd like to read more, here are a few articles on this and related topics:

• Develop Those Subplots!
• Establishing Character Arcs
• Character Arc vs. Game Arc
• Subplots and Character Arcs
• Writing a Move: Neutral Cards
• Build Towards Something

My GaryCon XII / 2020 Games Approved And Scheduled!

I have four games at GaryCon XII/2020 this year! I'm so glad to be returning to one of my favorite events in the Midwest. If you get a chance, come play some games with me!

Friday - 10am

Rescue of Hommlet—A Chainmail/OD&D Game

A discrete summons has reached your ears, for the good people of Hommlet are in fear for their lives! A militia of foul brigands from Nulb have been spotted near the old Moathouse of ill reputation! What evil lurks there and beyond? Find out, brave heroes, using Chainmail (and a bit of Original D&D) as the rules of engagement as we explore this famous Greyhawk setting!

Those of you who are part of the Chgowiz Henchfolk army have seen previous postings on my models and rules for this scenario. I'm so excited!

I'm doubly-excited that GaryCon has invited me to run this game in the "Legends of Roleplaying" room as well!

Legends of Roleplaying is an ongoing series of events at Gary Con that pay special attention to the early days of roleplaying that led to the development of Dungeons & Dragons and the legacy of games created to further expand the hobby.

These nostalgic events bring Gary Con attendees the fun of classic roleplaying games that were a staple during the early days of the hobby and Gen Cons past. The original rules, vintage figures, and authentic accessories will be used during play when possible. Sometimes the events will involve individuals who played, refereed, and authored the games during this golden age of roleplaying. Most events will be taught and so all that is needed is interest to play. This gives Gary Con attendees a chance to experience what it was like to play these games at the earliest Gen Cons and even Gary Gygax's own home at 330 Center St. in Lake Geneva!

So no pressure... *gulp* 

Friday 6pm

Chaos Wars in the DUNGEON!

Go underground in dark tunnels and chambers filled with horrors or treasures! Brave Lawful allies fight against foul Bestials! Who will emerge victorious? Fight in a unique terrain setup using Chaos Wars fantasy miniature wargaming rules and all genuine Ral Partha armies!

I'm bringing fantasy wargaming underground, using my modular tile system and Ral Partha Chaos Wars wargaming rules. I've been looking forward to running this at GaryCon! Instead of a skirmish or small party, bring an army into the dungeon and see how it goes! 

Saturday 7pm

Saturday Night AD&D—The Heist of the Century

It's an easy enough job: Get into the Royal Palace, steal the King's Secretary's Seal and return with it, for a reward worth ten years' wages. But nothing is ever simple, is it? Especially when you interrupt something far, far worse, and the opportunities may be far, far bigger. Come experience the world of Etinerra, a campaign ten years going!

I'm continuing a tradition almost a decade old, of running a Saturday night AD&D game at GaryCon and having it take place in my Chronicles of Etinerra world. This year, I'm doing something different. Inspirations from Ocean's Eleven, the Lut Gholein Act of Diablo 2, my twisted imagination and a game I ran for my wife in her campaign. It should be a lot of fun!

Sunday 10am

Chaos Wars in the DUNGEON!

Same as Friday 6pm game. I like closing out GaryCon with a miniatures game. Sometimes Sunday morning games are very low key and lightly attended, so we'll see how it goes. 

I hope to get some playing time on Thursday and on Saturday. Plus check out the vendor room and drool over the things I'm not going to be able to buy. Ha!

Are you going to GaryCon? What are you looking forward to playing or running? 

UCLan’s cJAM Media Event, Friday 22 November

The games design course was excited to take part in cJAM: Media last week!
The event that enables our talented students to meet face-to-face with senior industry professionals, to share ideas, make connections and pitch for opportunities.
cJAM events are hosted by the Faculty of Culture and the Creative Industries and the objective is to give our students the opportunity to win placements that will help launch their careers.

The day included:
FREE breakfast and lunch

Giant speed pitching session

Chance to win industry placements

Industry guest speakers

Industry Q&A panel

Networking throughout.

We were so proud to welcome our Alumni, Saija Wintersun, now Senior Environment Artist at Rebellion, Oxford.
Saija spent much of the day reviewing student portfolios and offering her expert advice.

The Creative Innovation Zone in UCLan's Media Factory was buzzing with conversation as hundreds of students queued for 'speed dating' style interviews with their industry heroes and mentors.

See details of the programme HERE.

Tania Callagher, UCLan Resources Co-ordinator and Richard Albiston, Creative Producer of The Great Northern Creative Expo, must be given utmost credit for arranging this inspiring and exhuberent event which led to 88 placements being awarded to Media students.

Brave Browser the Best privacy-focused Browser of 2020

Out of all the privacy-focused products and apps available on the market, Brave has been voted the best. Other winners of Product Hunt's Golden Kitty awards showed that there was a huge interest in privacy-enhancing products and apps such as chats, maps, and other collaboration tools.

An extremely productive year for Brave

Last year has been a pivotal one for the crypto industry, but few companies managed to see the kind of success Brave did. Almost every day of the year has been packed witch action, as the company managed to officially launch its browser, get its Basic Attention Token out, and onboard hundreds of thousands of verified publishers on its rewards platform.

Luckily, the effort Brave has been putting into its product hasn't gone unnoticed.

The company's revolutionary browser has been voted the best privacy-focused product of 2019, for which it received a Golden Kitty award. The awards, hosted by Product Hunt, were given to the most popular products across 23 different product categories.

Ryan Hoover, the founder of Product Hunt said:

"Our annual Golden Kitty awards celebrate all the great products that makers have launched throughout the year"

Brave's win is important for the company—with this year seeing the most user votes ever, it's a clear indicator of the browser's rapidly rising popularity.

Privacy and blockchain are the strongest forces in tech right now

If reaching 10 million monthly active users in December was Brave's crown achievement, then the Product Hunt award was the cherry on top.

The recognition Brave got from Product Hunt users shows that a market for privacy-focused apps is thriving. All of the apps and products that got a Golden Kitty award from Product Hunt users focused heavily on data protection. Everything from automatic investment apps and remote collaboration tools to smart home products emphasized their privacy.

AI and machine learning rose as another note-worthy trend, but blockchain seemed to be the most dominating force in app development. Blockchain-based messaging apps and maps were hugely popular with Product Hunt users, who seem to value innovation and security.

For those users, Brave is a perfect platform. The company's research and development team has recently debuted its privacy-preserving distributed VPN, which could potentially bring even more security to the user than its already existing Tor extension.

Brave's effort to revolutionize the advertising industry has also been recognized by some of the biggest names in publishing—major publications such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, NDTV, NPR, and Qz have all joined the platform. Some of the highest-ranking websites in the world, including Wikipedia, WikiHow, Vimeo, Internet Archive, and DuckDuckGo, are also among Brave's 390,000 verified publishers.

Earn Basic Attention Token (BAT) with Brave Web Browser

Try Brave Browser

Get $5 in free BAT to donate to the websites of your choice.

<> unique domains links <>

Hello

When you get 1000 unique domains you get links from only unique domains
with unique ips
https://www.creative-digital.co/product/unique-domains-links/







Unsubscribe:
https://mgdots.co/unsubscribe/

<> SEO Max to improve ranks in 30 days <>

Hi!

Get a powerful SEO Boost with our all in one SEO MAX Package and beat your
competition within just 1 month

Whitehat SEO plan, check out more details here
https://www.creative-digital.co/product/seo-max-package/




thanks and regards
Creative Digital







Unsubscribe:
https://mgdots.co/unsubscribe/