This and That

Approximate time to read: 1 minutes.   

The session of Symbaroum I ran over the weekend, for Free RPG Day at Fanboy 3, was unashamedly lighter and less grim that those I normally run. Not to say that it didn’t pose a threat to the characters throughout the (almost) 4-hour session, but I didn’t shy away from a chance for brief brevity and humour.

The Ordo Magica set Bartolom the onerous task of command over a ship and several soldiers on an expedition to the Sea of Thorns. When pointed out on a map, the wizard was confounded at just how long and practical an 800-km trip into the heart of Davokar might be – and then the head of the Ordo Septimus arrived.

One magic circle trip later, the thorn-breaker Korinthia voyaged out across the massed briars and brambles of the frightening Sea of Thorns.

How was the ship powered?

Well, they had a tour of the ship before departure and in the fore hull, they found out. A richly decorated chamber with a painted map of Ambria and Davokar with a pedestal at the centre made from crystal inlaid with precious metals. The claw atop the pedestal grasped a crystal orb.

When asked what the orb was called, I stumbled. I hadn’t considered giving it a name. I mean, The Hound, in A Game of Thrones, says people who name things are… um… stupid people.

So, I responded – “This?”

“It’s called This?”

“Yeah. This is This.”

So, the Stone of This was born. A unique magical artifact.

Unique? Really? Were the team not searching for a lost ship on the Sea of Thorns, the Thorn Witch?

Yes. They were.

So, what powered the Thorn Witch?

“That?”

Yes — we had This and That as the magical motive force for the two ships. And later, They stole That’s pedestal and the characters needed to rescue it for their ship’s This.

It was a moment of humour in a game that saw the group poisoned by thorns, overwhelmed by a briar wave, and lose a comrade to a heroic fall.