Name a game that had an impact on you in the last year

I played Fall of Magic at a mini-convention and it was a sublime game.

Games, especially con games, have people rush through things or dally and not reach the end of the story. The minicon in question, CabinCon, had previous games of Fate go incredibly awry before.

The group I played Fall of Magic with felt like a master class in role-playing, even with some opening uncertainty. The group cycled possibly a few too many times through the first location, but each scene told a small story. I played a kid who was a short aspiring squire. He would attack his reflection in the river with a stick, pretending it was a mighty sword. The group set forth and suddenly everything clicked into place. We were journeying in quiet moments, little scenes between the moments you’d normally see in an RPG. Wandering through old leaves, picking through the ruins of an ancient battlefield. It was very calm and very interesting. Our master, The Last Magus, was doing all of the quest relevant actions and we only helped when we had to.

Eventually, we reached the town where two of the group came from, where they were both still hunted. There was drama and tension, but it bypassed anything which slowed the story itself down. We wandered through the world, finding moments of sadness, drama and wonder.

We realised that time was almost done and we weren’t going to get to cross the sea, so everyone folded up their story in the location we were at, including my character’s confusion at seeing something as massive as the sea. The Magus’ skin was cracking throughout the game, with a pulsing blue light underneath. My character saw nothing beyond the sea, but with the clouds above, it started to look like it was pulsing along with what was under the Magus’ skin.

“What is it?” My character asked.

“Magic,” The Magus answered, bursting into blue light and flying over the sea. In this story, this was our destination, our quest. Sure, it was kind of corny, but in that moment it was perfect. It felt like it used a really tiny rule set and an extravagant scroll to make what had felt like if Studio Ghibli made a fantasy quest story.

I had to be quiet for a bit after that adventure. I think it had been one of the more lovely adventures that I’ve had. I could also see how you could go through that journey again, changing up who you are and how you react to the events on the scroll.