Heroine- Violet, a 12 year old girl from a poorer but fairly close family whose father had gone to fight in World War II. (The seed chosen was "A girl rocks her baby sister asleep, watching for her father while her mother sits dazed in the next room." ) Her Gift was perseverance which transformed into faith and her Flaw was Anger which transformed into courage. (Alex)

Nemesis- a massive iron dragon who had watched all of its kin be destroyed; it was determined to protect and prove its strength. (The seed chosen was "A creature of pure stone, residing in a lonely place and nursing an ancient hunger.") Its first Power was its mechanical castle which transformed into the engine of war and its second Power was Terror and Suspicion which transformed into the death of hope. (Martin)

Companion- Aeryn, a genderless spirit of the air that had some command of the wind. Most of its kindred had been destroyed or fled. (The seed chosen was "A mercurial spirit of the elements, fiercely guarding its sacred domain.") Aeryn’s transformation was being unafraid to sacrifice. (Dani)

The story began at school while Violet was at lunch when a wealthy girl whose father had been able to stay for business concerns began to taunt her at lunch. That evening after school she witnessed her house sinking into the ground! She tumbled into the hole and found herself in the world of Faerie, where she encountered a giant metal dragon.

Further down the road she met an air spirit that decided to help her. They made their way to the city nearby where they were able to obtain a unicorn, armor, and a sword. Their journey to the dragon’s mechanical and moving (and totally awesome) castle was of course fraught with peril as they traversed a mostly desolate land. They bluffed their way into the dragon’s presence and her companion ended up being the unlikely hero after they were trapped in its belly. Violet was able to rescue her family and return home, a stronger and wiser person.

It was a tough choice between Kingdom or The Dreaming Crucible. I had never played this game before. I enjoyed it. Set-up isn’t very complicated and there is guidance for how things should start. Having a couple scenes in the “real” world is important for a lot of reasons. The book says that the Light and Dark Faerie should be introducing different kinds of elements and I tried hard not to step on Martin’s toes with the bits of color I added. (In retrospect, I could have used Aeryn for more exposition. I limited myself in my role more than necessary but I had fun anyway.)

There are parts of the mechanics I like. Transformation makes you think more about these characters and their relationships and elements more deeply but also transformation means that those elements are no longer in play. In some cases that makes sense, in others it seems to make the character weaker as those elements can’t be used in Peril. Conflict resolution is an either/or thing when it doesn’t need to be. There is an element of resource management and faint gamey-ness to what parts of your character you want to draw on and where you want to put the stone you’ve drawn.

Thanks to Alex and Martin for being willing to play this and for a good night around the table.

- Dani, aka Aeryn

P.S. I think we should get some sort of award for fastest Kingdom game ever too... Because that happened.