So a question just occurred to me.

So a question just occurred to me. Shawn Tomkin suggested having one historical long term vow/journey and a more current, maybe, story driven vow/journey. So, how does one incorporate progress of the long term vow through play in the short term vow, or is progress only achieved in the long term vow if it is directly addressed?

I only ask because I have an idea for my character's long term vow, but I haven't gotten a chance to address it before the the fate of the oracles dispatched me on a different, more pressing, matter. I think it would be neat to have some link within the current journey I am on that may produce some form of progress on the epic journey.

How would/could one see this happening?

Comments

  1. Shawn TomkinDecember 17, 2017 at 10:35 PM

    Hey, John Risus. To be frustratingly vague, it sorta' depends on the vow. Can you share some info about what you are thinking for your long term vow and we can dig into specifics a bit?

    Some background vows will be something you can chip away at in-between dealing with more pressing matters. Other times, there's a cool synergy that happens because the vows are related. Big vows can even be containers for small vows, if you know what I mean. Successfully fulfilling a short-term vow can serve as a milestone for that bigger vow.

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  2. John RisusDecember 18, 2017 at 12:43 AM

    Shawn Tomkin for a long term vow, since I set my game up 20+/- years in the future after the time line of HZD, I was thinking of something along the lines of finding out what happened to Aloy, the primary character in the game. In my world she disappears after the ending of the game. I see the grave of her father figure 'Rost', also an outcast, now as a sacred site. I always envisioned her going there and getting a clue to Aloy's whereabouts. But finding the Ironsworn mechanics have a mind of their own, LOL, in a good way!

    So, now Nikkel is chasing clues on why Scrappers are moving North. Even if I could tie those two things together, which seems like a long shot, how mechanically would completing one vow improve the Progress of the larger Epic vow?

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  3. Alex PerucchiniDecember 18, 2017 at 2:56 AM

    📌

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  4. Shawn TomkinDecember 18, 2017 at 5:41 AM

    Hi, John Risus. Short answer is that the quests don't have to relate, and completing your quest to solve the mystery of the Scrappers will probably not influence your background vow (in the fiction or mechanically). That's OK. Here's the dirty secret of the background vow: you may never get around to it. Primarily, I encourage players to add it because it gives their character and world a bit of texture, knowing that other vows may keep them busy.

    That said, it doesn't mean your vows won't end up intersecting. An oracle prompt might trigger something for you. It's cool when that happens, especially when it feels like it happened organically.

    I would envision trying to find out what happened to Aloy might also be something you chip away at. Is her father's grave somewhere you can visit as you pursue the other mystery? Does she ask around when she visits a settlement? Perhaps you come upon a character from the game who knew her. Don't be shy about taking authorial control if you see an opportunity to create some synergy between your vows. You might end up exploring a tangent that allows you to make progress on her background quest in the midst of this more pressing matter.

    You can also have what I call nested quests. Let's say I have sworn a vow and I encounter some situation related to my quest that also causes me to Swear an Iron Vow. Now, I've got two related quests, with the latest quest probably of lower rank than the parent quest. When I complete that sub-quest, I get experience, but it can also serve as a milestone (Reach a Milestone) for the original quest if it allows me to move the narrative forward.

    I hope that all makes some sort of sense.

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  5. John RisusDecember 18, 2017 at 7:18 AM

    Shawn Tomkin, It does! Hadn't thought of the larger quest as a ... motivator for the character. Guess that would help where I am at now in my story.

    The nested quests make more sense now, and I hadn't lined up the Reach A Milestone Move with Fulfill Your Vow, and how the are not mutually exclusive. It seems obvious now, but I just missed it.

    Tempted to see if I can create a Move Flowchart. The number of options my be daunting though.

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