The Goblin Common Tales

Our heroes took part in the Common Tales with the goblins of the corn maze.

It got a little ridiculous, as things are want to do when goblins are involved. They burned the head of the giant, and it burned quickly, but gave off an awful smell. There were two factions of goblins: older ones that seemed to disapprove of the celebration over the giant's defeat, and those that were very happy about it. The most extremely happy were those that, for all seeming, worshiped the dragon of Boston, Mezzenextria.

After some small investigation into goblin magic, the expedition traveled on to St. Johnsbury, and that is where we leave our tale for now.

I've come to an interesting point in the mechanics of the game.

First, the mechanics work very well, but I think they are geared more for a game in which the GM is the guide, not the storyteller. And that's fine ... except I have a clearer and clearer story to tell.

The sticking point is mainly centered on how the characters' skills work. They are VERY broad, so much so that it is hard to say one character is better at a particular thing than another. There are distinctions, but they are vague.

This is fine for a game in which the players are happy to narrate their characters' strengths and weaknesses without necessarily having them specified on paper and through the game mechanics. And I have some players that are just so. I also have some players that are feeling a little detached, though, because they have less of a sense of their characters' limitations.

What it boils down to, I think, is I need to decide on the nature of the game. Do I act as a guide, always asking, "and what comes next?" or do I provide a more structured world. If I go with the latter, I think I may need to get use a different mechanic.