Splatbook*

KEEP COMPANY

When you spend a stretch of time together, ask the others if they want to Keep Company. If they do, take turns asking a PC or NPC one of the following.

  • What do you do that's annoying/ endearing?
  • What do I do that you find annoying/endearing?
  • Who or what seems to be on your mind?
  • What do we find ourselves talking about?
  • How do you/we pass the time?
  • What new thing do you reveal about yourself?

This move helps to develop characters, build camaraderie, reveal intraparty tensions, and so forth. Good, juicy stuff.

Watch for opportunities to invoke this move, but don't overdo it. You or any player can decline, usually because you've Kept Company recently or there's something more interesting that you or they want to get to. Check with the group and see if they want to Keep Company when…

  • … they Make Camp;
  • … there's a stretch of uneventful travel;
  • … they Struggle as One, and everyone gets a 7+;
  • … some of the party split off to go do something, and you jump back to the others who are waiting around;
  • … two or more characters share a watch; or...
  • … the party spends time doing some boring task (like Foraging or chopping timber up in the foothills).

It's particularly good to Keep Company on the way home from an adventure, as it gives everyone a chance to reflect on how the recent events have affected them.

Once you've decided to Keep Company, prompt the players to start asking questions. Pick someone to go first (it can be you if you want). Have them pick a question, a character to ask about, and go. They can ask about other PCs or NPCs who are present; you, of course, should ask about PCs.

Just to be clear: the characters aren't sitting around, actually asking each other these questions. You—the real-life players and GM—are asking each other questions about each others' characters.

If there's a question or an answer that piques your interest or that seems a bit vague, ask follow-up questions (and encourage the other players to do the same). "Oh, you're thinking about Morwenna? How can we tell? Blodwen, what do you do when you see that?"

Sometimes these questions will lead to little scenes. That's great! Players might even trigger moves (like Persuade or Seek Insight) before the next player asks their question. All good.

Vahid, Caradoc, Blodwen, and Rhianna make camp near Titan Bones. They've got Andras with them, but left the rest of Rhianna's crew behind. After handling the logistics, I propose that we Keep Company and everyone agrees. "Okay, who wants to ask the first question?"

Rhianna goes first. "Andras, what do you do that's endearing?" Andras is a follower, so it's my job to answer. "I think, mostly, he's just being competent and helpful and doesn't need to be told to do anything. He's come a long way since you first took him under your wing. And maybe, too, the way he's mooning over Blodwen. It's pretty cute."

That makes me wonder how Blodwen will react, so I take my turn. "Blodwen, what is Andras doing that you find annoying or endearing?" (Notice how I didn't choose one or the other; I'm genuinely curious how she feels about him.) She thinks about it a bit and says that she keeps catching him looking at her, then pretending he isn't. He's been doing it most of the trip." "Is that annoying?" I ask, "Or endearing?"

"Annoying," she says. "Even though I'm doing the same thing to Caradoc." Oh? Oh!

I ask Blodwen to go next. "Caradoc, who or what do you seem to be thinking about?" As if she needs to ask. "Morwenna," he says. "Definitely Morwenna." I ask how we can tell and he's like "Oh, I'm just sitting here moping, the cloak she made for me pulled tight. I'm kind of fingering the hem and staring off into space." He gives a longing sigh.

I ask Blodwen how she reacts. She goes over and gives him a bowl of porridge. "Want to talk about it?" she asks.

"No," he sighs. But then he blurts out "I mean, what am I supposed to do? Just stay home and do nothing when there's danger afoot? Let other people take care of it? Like, Rhianna? Or, like, like you? Gods, I thought women wanted someone brave and tough and all that. But no, not Morwenna. She just wants me to stay home and dig in the dirt."

"Ain't nothing wrong with staying home and tilling the earth," Rhianna says under her breath. (I shoot her player a little grin.)

The scene plays out, with Andras looking a bit sullen. Rhianna uses Take the Measure to ask if she can trust him to keep things professional, and I'm like "For now, yeah."

Vahid hasn't asked a question, so he goes. "I sit down next to Rhianna and offer her a smoke. What new thing do you reveal about yourself? I'm interested in that comment, about staying home and tilling the earth."

Rhianna's always cagey about her past, and I half-expect her to cop out and say something like "Nothing. I tell everyone to shut up and get some sleep." But out here, without most of her crew around, she opens up a bit. "I was betrothed, once," she says. "To a boy named… Urien. He was a farmer's son. Worthless with a spear, but gentle and good with animals. You'd have liked him, Blodwen." Vahid asks what happened and she sighs and shakes her head. "Got sick. Caught the fever in late autumn, was dead by winter." She gives a little smile. "Life sucks, then you die. Grab onto the ones you got." And then she's like, "I'm looking straight at Caradoc when I say this."

"What?" he says, acting like he doesn't get it.