What's this all about?

Paul and I like running longer games, with deeper currents than we can usually get in a four hour convention slot. However, we both love showing people really cool games and going to conventions too.

So as a compromise, we're running a longer story in modular bites. Anyone can sit in on just one of the standard four hour games and enjoy it as it is, with no strings attached and no prep work.

But some players may be interested to know more. They can come back later in the time-line and see how things develop. Because, you see, while we have an outline for these games, we certainly don't have things carved into the rock.

And some secrets will require a broader understanding to unravel...
Kagematsu starts off this particular Saga. The game was chosen because it's intensely personal, and it can lend itself to acts of desperation. The story for this first game is about a collection of women, hand picked by their villages, who are sent to an oracle in a mountain cave to plead for help. The saga opens itself upon a supernaturally bleak winter, and the players are attempting to convince the (male) priest to drive away the evil.

To honor the source material, and the original intent of Kagematsu (even if the setting has been changed) the women have to use their Innocence and Charm, and all manner of uniquely feminine assets, to elicit a Promise from the priest.

Dogs in the Vineyard was chosen next, and it represents a leap forward in time. It is being re-tasked to "Dogs in the Dungeon" by Paul, who has put a lot of effort into making the changes unnoticeable. Stories of this mountain cave have filtered down throughout time, and this story finds the people uneasy about the promises of answered prayers and granted wishes. Dogs in the Vineyard allows players to see the chain of events that have let the area into it's current state and make judgments on what they believe the appropriate actions are to set things right.

If you are noticing a theme of "taking a game for it's motif and mechanics, but altering the setting to fit the saga" then you won't be surprised as we move on. It's just what we do, and it's working pretty well so far.

Donjon is paired up with Dogs in the Vineyard deliberately for a number of reasons. The events in Donjon take place only a generation after the events in Dogs in the Vineyard. At this point in the Saga, players are playing the children or grandchildren of the brave, pious, and respectful men of the earlier game. These new players are tired of hearing all this nonsense about a cave, and are launching on an irreverent and exploitative dungeon crawl for entirely selfish reasons.

Donjon is perfect for this kind of game, and it gives Paul and I a chance to reflect on the events of the past two games, and also to build an exciting mythology to carry forward to the rest of them.





Ingenuous picks up the saga, after a span of forgetful time. Ingenuous is a Steampunk game, focusing on industry, innovation, and social pressure. Demand for energy sends the players of this game into long forgotten tunnels and indeed caves. What they discover is in large part due to what has happened earlier in the saga, but is also driven by the current players desires and their goals.

Ingenuous, by the way, was written in large part for the original Steam City Saga that Paul and I started this tradition with.






Little Fears was picked next, because we want to do a kind of soft reset for the story line. We want to focus in on children, and what better system than this? This game brings us up to modern times, and allows players to look at events through fresh eyes. That which dwells in the cave has not forgotten, and has not vanished, so the children encounter something alien to them, but in a way a product of their ancestors.

Despite all that silly philosophical stuff, this game is about what Little Fears is about. Children trying to be kids when monsters and the pressures of growing up are looming.





Usagi Yojimbo is helping us tell a story that happens along-side the events in Little Fears. Even though Usagi Yojimbo is a game centered around the anthropomorphic samurai of Stan Sakai's comic, it has an enchanting combat mechanic that lends itself to the feel of a collectible card game.

So why use it for a story set in modern times? Because it still involves kids. This story follows a group of children who play this Usagi Yojimbo game, and who find themselves in an all-too-real version of the fictional world. They still remain connected to the events in the real world, however, because the threat in this and the Little Fears game is the same. The stakes are very different. These children are getting a rare glimpse at the true nature of this cave-dwelling supernatural entity, and must judge it as only children can.