Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Read a book, go insane
I've spent the better part of some background threads today listening to the WFRP session that we recorded on June 7.
It's actually pretty good. Unfortunately, maybe too raw for release. There were some interruptions that would have to be edited out and the flow might become choppy.
Otherwise, the development of the story by the players, especially where the Sigmar priest (recently licensed to perform exorcisms yet without experience to do so) negotiates with priests and others of the Cult of Verena for a book about daemons.
The description of the book was made up on the fly during the session, and another player began filling in blanks with an overactive imagination (wholly based on reading collectable GW source material and the Tome of Corruption). It added humor, but with the player on an extended absence, I recently set before him a choice regarding the knowledge contained in the book. It goes a little something like this:
The book is a first hand account of an exorcism recorded by a priest of Verena. It is written in Bretonnian. The account is so detailed, after you fumble with the translation, and accounting for what appear to be many pages stained of blood, vomit, or urine (maybe all three), you begin to realize that the aura of foreboding and dread that seems to draw energy to the book, is how the priest captured the nature of the exorcism in such detail.
You may gain the knowledge of daemonology in reading the book for 400XP. However, you may trade XP for Insanity for greater knowledge as follows:
- For 400XP, you get only the Academic Knowledge (Daemonology).
- If you want Speak Arcane Language (Daemonology), the book possesses a smattering of enough words, enough to earn you the skill for 1 insanity point + 300XP, but now the words burn your mind.
- The detail in the journal of the spell used by the Exorcist will get you the Lesser Magic (Exorcism) talent, but only by trading 3 Insanity Points for XP (3 IP + 100XP).
- You get all of the above for the 4 Insanity Point trade and you don't have to spend XP.
I think it is a fair game and character developing trade. And tempting. What say you?
