A new narrative campaign is starting at NarrativeLabs, the premier streaming channel for live narrative games of Age of Sigmar!
This will be a Path to Glory campaign where the audience can directly influence the battles live on Twitch, and contribute to the strategic decisions of their favorite force in the campaign through the private strategy channels, with their own hobby creations!
NarrativeLabs has been streaming live narrative games for more than a year, and has given us gems such as the mega-gargant Jor-Syf’s “Amazing Technicolor Dream Quest”, the deathtrap “Vaults of Nessalam”, the “Thwaki Races” chariot racing game, the cinematic “Siege of Barelia”, and many more.
Audiences have participated to decide which endless spells appear on the table, which units monsters will attack, or which unit deserves a veteran ability from Regiments of Renown.
NarrativeLabs has also been a component of the past two Animosity Campaigns, where players in this worldwide event cheered their coalition on during live games, and made life more difficult for their opponents, for the chance to score a few more points to their side.
Now, for the next two months, NarrativeLabs, in collaboration with The Great Weave, invites all Age of Sigmar gamers, Soulbound roleplayers and lore enthusiasts to join the 3 guest players who will command the Explorers’ forces in the studio, who will fight for the island of Concendia, in Ghyran.
There will be the usual live audience interactivity and worldbuilding on Discord, but this time viewers are invited to submit their own hobby creations and character lore, to interact directly with the main players and the storyline as supporting cast, via the Great Weave platform and Discord.
Here is the launch video with more details:
We chatted with the host and mastermind NEO behind NarrativeLabs, Martin Neal-Price, about what viewers can expect from it.
Q: Please summarize the event for us, and what players can expect.
A: Path to Glory discovery is an interactive narrative campaign where three explorers battle to uncover the mystery that lies at the heart of the lost Isle of Concendia. Through the battles, and submissions through the Great Weave, each explorer with their supporting inner circle are seeking clues that will help them unlock the great secret as to why the island vanished centuries ago.
Towards the end, each faction can submit their theory as to what happened, to gain bonus points in helping to determine which explorer reaches the centre first, and get an opportunity to decide what they want to do. A decision that will have repercussions for the entire island, and maybe even for the wider realm of Ghyran.
Q: For newcomers to the NarrativeLabs format, what kind of influence can they expect to have on the battle, during the live games?
A: During our live games, while fighting each other, the players will have an opportunity to explore particular features of the battlefield and live viewers can help suggest which features are worth looking at more closely, in the hope of finding a bonus clue. In addition, they may also come up against roaming monsters, wandering endless spells and other elements that in a regular game of Age of Sigmar would be controlled through behaviour tables. On the live streams however, the chat will control what direction they go in and who they attack, causing chaos and messing with the players.
Q: What Narrative innovations and special rules will you be deploying in this new campaign at NarrativeLabs? You have used live audience votes and collaborative world-building before, but this time there is a map and some audience contribution to the strategic decisions, to be made between shows, right?
A: Absolutely. It’s all about uncovering the secrets of the lost island, and ultimately being the first faction to reach the centre. Anyone who wants to get involved and can head over to Narrative Labs’ discord channel and join up with one the three explorers, becoming part of their inner circle. Players in the inner circle can help the explorers create custom quests to search for more clues, try to steal secrets off the opposing teams through making submissions via the Great Weave and ultimately help come up with that explorer’s final theory as to what lies at the heart of the island. All of these things will help earn their explorer Campaign Glory which will determine who ends up in the Finale on December 12th! The inner circles really are going to be a major part in determining the outcome of this campaign.
Q: You are part of a local community of narrative Age of Sigmar players in Cardiff, Wales, UK, right? How did you all come together to play Narrative, and how did you wrangle them into this high-production studio gaming endeavour you developed?
A: We’re very fortunate to have Firestorm Games in Cardiff, an amazing business that has just moved into an amazing new venue, providing a great gaming space and location for people to meet up. Many of us were part of one or several local clubs. In the build up to the arrival of the second edition of Age of Sigmar, the store organised some narrative play around the Malign Portents content published by Games Workshop, which drew in people from many of the clubs and lots of new people as well. We’ve become firm friends, organising lots of other events, usually with some narrative slant to them. Those who you’ve met and will meet on Narrative Labs have been really supportive in creating the channel and bringing our love of narrative gaming to a wider audience.
Q: What would you like to say to players out there, to motivate them to join in the madness of NarrativeLabs live on Sundays?
A: Narrative Labs is here to create a unique warhammer gaming experience where anyone can join in and help the story, while having fun at the player’s expense. Lots of our games have already been shaped by what the audience has decided would happen, and with our latest campaign we’re stepping that up another level. We’ve lots of plans for even more interactive campaigns next year for both the Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 worlds and we’d love to have you along for the ride!
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Thank you, Martin!
We will be participating in the games and following the event online, so please post lots of pictures on social media!
You can find the Campaign Rules page here for more details.
You can catch NarrativeLabs games of Age of Sigmar every Sunday, at 7pm BST / 2pm EST / 11am PST / 2am +1 AWST
What do you think about this event?
Do you have any questions for the NEO, and how they put together such a big group of narrative players?
Leave your comments below!
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