accomplishedThe Friday night gamers have started to play the Yggdrasill RPG, first published in French by 7ieme Cercle and in English by Cubicle 7. Yggdrasill is a historical fantasy roleplaying game set against the backdrop of the time of myth and legend from Norse mythology, in the 4th to 6th centuries.
Once the Friday night gamers showed up at my place place for the evening's events, I showed them the map of the world of Scandia, talked with the players about the game world, and answered their questions to the best of my ability for about two hours. This covered everything from basic game mechanics, matters about some parts of the game world, the culture of the Norse people, and everything in between. That part was somewhat exhausting for me, as the Norse culture is so very well detailed in the game rule book, but the players seemed content with the information I imparted to them, and then we moved on to actual character generation.
Character generation in the Ygdrasill game is a relatively straightforward affair, but there's some interesting elements to it, and it does require a good deal of thought at times and the making of choices. (You can get an idea of how character generation for the system works with the detailed example, Haldor Olavsson, that I posted up to the blog a few days ago.) That said, half the fun of the character generation system for Yggdrasill is the character generation system, notably the business with Fate. Certainly interesting enough, as the players commented to me when we were done for the night.
The characters that the Friday night players created for the Yggdrasill RPG are an interesting, somewhat eclectic mix, to say the least. Here's what the Friday night players created.
KathyB - Since there aren't really thieves in this Norse setting per sé, although she could have taken a spy charcter, Kathy opted to go with Ingrid Horoldsdottir, a hirdman (soldier, bodyguard) from the village assigned to protect the jarl's daughter (another of the player characters). The character has some interesting health problems that will be fun for Kathy to play out. :)
Nick - He created Ogir Haralfsson, a thulr (a wise man with some shamanic ability) living just outside the village, with a strong sense of Norse law and adherence to the natural balance. He'll be interesting to see the character roleplaying in this game.
Tom - Tom tends to like to play fighters, but oddly enough he didn't go that route this time. His character is Vigfur Egilsson, the son of a woodworker whose agility and physicality led him down a different route, working as a scout for his jarl. Really good with a bow.
Joanne - She enjoyed looking at the various choices of character type, and is playing Dagna Styrsdottir, a volva (sorceress or witch, depending) who is peaceful by nature but perfectly willing to fight for what she believes in. Interesting character, and she's got some interesting spells in her repertoire.
Angela - She had an easy time of it choosing what she wanted, as she felt that since KathyB's character wasn't a leader type, she would be. Sigrun Evardsdottir is the daughter of the local jarl, thus a noble, who feels that she's cursed by the gods and is now being sent by her father to learn how to be a leader of people though she won't inherit (although that's not what Fate has in store for her!). Kathy's Ingrid Horoldsdottir is her bodyguard.
David - David became enamoured of the skald character type, and took one. He's playing Amund Torkelsson, a skald with a great voice, good memory, and a chip on his shoulder, who feels slighted by his jarl for not allowing him to travel and thus add to his story repertoire. However, Fate has other plans for him as well. :)
Ellie - My goddaughter is playing Jordis Hodersdottir, a young girl with magical potential to be a volva whose mysterious origins have yet to be learned, as she was a foundling who was adopted into one of the families of the village. Now learning from Joanne's Dagna, young Jordis is an omen of things to come for the village and its surrounding lands, whether good or bad remains to be seen.
As you can see from the above, all in all a rather interesting set of characters with a lot of potential, and the players had a good deal of fun with the character creation process. They also did a good job giving their characters something in common. I was a little bit surprised that no one created a berserker type, though Tom originally considered that, I think there's a good mix to the characters.
Both the players and I are looking forward to playing the game next Friday night! :)