Editing SGA 2003 Archive (section)

=Miles Christi=
; Game System
: [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Christi Miles Christi]
; Pitch
: a French RPG of Templars in the Holy Land vs. Saladin.
; Game Master
: Brian
; Players
: Laura, Wilhelm, Donald
; Characters
: Brother Lambert (Laura), Brother Marcel (Will), and Brother Guy (Donald)
; Date
: February 24, 2003
; Technical Notes
: 
; Recaps
: '''Donald:''' ''By my hand this 27th day of April, the Year of Our Lord One Thousand, One Hundred Seventy-four.''

: ''My Beloved Father:''

: ''Your loyal and loving son Guy hopes this finds you in good health. I write to apprise you of recent events here in the Holy Land, where I believe I have acquitted myself well in my first relatively independent assignment with the Knights of the Temple since taking my vows to the Order and making the long journey here from Charlac.''

: ''As you know from my previous letters, my first few weeks in Jerusalem were, not to overstate matters, most uneventful. I attended my duties, received issue of uniform and equipment, was introduced to my squire (how short a time it seems since I was squired myself!), and established myself in the routines of the Chapter house here. I had gotten to know most of the other young Templars who arrived with me during the long ship voyage from Genoa to Joppa (in between times of various of us being sick from the sea), and I was pleased to find that, when the time came, I was placed with Brother Lambert and Brother Marcel (you remember Marcel, third son of Le Comte de Chambourg, who was always into so much trouble at tournaments and festivals).''

: ''Our assignment, with much of the force of the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaler in this land concentrated on the campaign northward to Galilee (there to oppose the Saracen legions under their new Emir, Sala'adin), was to take our squires, three sergeants, and thirty turkopols to reinforce the fortress at Ashot's Ford, as well as bringing them additional pigeons. There had been a report of Saracen activity in their region, and then no more word, and it was thought that they might require assistance and perhaps have lost any remaining birds they had still homed on Jerusalem.''

: ''In the course of three days and part of a fourth we did ride from Jerusalem, past the Dead Sea and southward up the river which flows into that Sea from the end opposite that where Jordan enters, stopping one night in ruins, one with a minor encampment of Templars, and one at a Coptic monastery where, despite their heresy, we were shown all Christian courtesy, invited to share Mass, and allowed to view their holy relic, a vial of the tears of St. John the Baptist.''

: ''Before noon on the fourth day, we reached the fortress, which we found in a much reduced condition. Vultures (foul, grim visaged birds bigger than the great Alsatian eagles, they are, and eaters of carrion) circled high above the walls, good Christian soldiers gambled in plain sight without shame, and brother Templars violated their vows and took up the bow to hunt the vile avians, yet seldom ever succeeded in smiting them from the sky for that they flew nearly beyond the reach of a dart.''

: ''We had no more than called out for entry to the fortress than the Captain, Brother Anselem, came forth and bade us return to Jerusalem, lest our very souls be damned; he would not, he said, take the lives and souls of any more men upon his conscience. Still...''

: (remainder of the missive is illegible, obliterated by blood stains or washed from the parchment by water)

: The entire game structure of Miles Christi lends itself to putting the player into the mind set of a Templar -- to the point where we players found ourselves, while the GM was away from the table, still discussing our situation in character. This was the best game I've ever played in that respect; the resolution is simple and direct, and character creation isn't excessively complex (we were easily able to finish in under an hour, with none of us three players having ever seen the game before and a requirement for many repetitions of details as we worked at different rates) and it is overall very atmospheric; a few simple words on the character sheet served as perfectly adequate reminders of the vows and duties of a Templar of the late 12th century. And while I normally don't enjoy in-game religion very much, this particular take on historic Catholicism wasn't obtrusive and, beyond being a necessity to the setting, fit in very well with the general feel of the game.

: I'm very impressed indeed!

; Player Thoughts

: '''Laura:''' This game was very sucessful, in my opinion. As I said, I enjoy games that use cards. It's a different experience from dice, in some cases causing yout to use strategy as well as the chance element.  

: '''Wilhelm:''' Yes, I liked this aspect of the system as well. I especially liked the way the system was used for "Gifts", the ability of brothers to occasionally ask God for a miracle. This is done by laying down a high card for one of your regular actions, then deliberately setting it aside unused and drawning a new card to replace it in the action.  In order to build toward a possible blessing in the future, you are forced to take risks now. Very thematic in execution.

: '''Laura:''' The character creation is very conductive to really getting a grasp of the setting and your character.

: '''Wilhelm:''' Very much so. The basis of character generation is selecting three archtypes representing your characters youth, squire training, and knighthood. The archtypes are respectively animals, mythic heros, and christian heros. These archetypes influence your characters attributes, skills, and personality. For example Brother Marcel (my character) had as his archtypes the Horse, Achilles, and Gawain, leading him to be impetuous, brave, and passionate. He excelled physically, but lacked refinement.

: The advancement system is also cool, as you gain skills and traits by acting in accordance with them, and you lose points by acting against them. Your character must "confess his sins", and failure to do so causes the penalties to increase, thus leading you as a player to always be considering your behavior, which very much helps you to get into the character mindset.

: '''Laura:''' We three knights of the temple were sent as reinforcements to an outpost in the middle of nowhere. When we reached the fort the Commander told us to go back, he had not called for reinforcements as he feared to damn anyone else's soul. We saw a brother killed by vultures as we tried to save him.  

: '''Wilhelm:''' Technically it was a sargent, not a brother. One thing I noticed myself picking up on quickly was the class distinctions within the game. One aspect of play I enjoyed was that there was opportunties for the characters to operate both on their own, and also function as sort of "squad leaders". This made playing out the siege very involving and enjoyable for me.

: I'll add to the memorable moments Brother Marcel covering the retreat of his men after the Saracens broke through the ford by standing fast and giving out a miraculous shout that deafened and paniced the oncoming Saracen horse long enough for him to make his escape. As the GM said later, "I thought we were going to have a martyrdom there."

: I sincerely hope that at some future date it will be possible to publish the english version of this game. I'd certainly line up to buy it :) I'd say it falls into the category of what Ron Edwards would call a High Concept Sim, and it definately encourages and rewards the use of Actor stance.

: '''Laura:''' Some memorable moments:

: Brother Marcel riding back barely ahead of a dozen Sacarens.

: The commander refusing shelter to pilgrims and allowing Marcel to escort them to a nearby Coptic Monestary, but if he wasn't back by sunset he'd be flogged. Marcel and Guy's preperation for seige by the sacrans. The crazy old man I found behind a mill stone who told us the story of the curse on the place. Me and a small group of Turkustans capturing the Sacren's large catapult and using it on them.
 
; Additional GM Thoughts
:
 That was quite a missive! I'm really glad everyone enjoyed the game. Now I've got more motivation to try & get it published here in the States...