(via Story Games) David Berg has created this wonderful pace dial for players to signal their preferred pace of events during a role-playing game session. I don't think I've experienced many difficulties related to negotiating desired pace in face-to-face sessions, but in online play this could come in handy.

On the other hand it would need an application that would keep all the players dials updated on every screen. OpenRPG's map view (or Vassal's game board) would do, but what if you needed that for something else? I think the preferred way would be to collect all kinds of semi-passive signaling devices into a one application andd use them together.

With semi-passive signaling I mean that you don't have to interrupt anyone who's currently active, but still can leave a notice that anyone sees. And everyone should see everyone else's status at one glance (here, distracted, will arrive at 8 pm, wants to up the pace, is going to go to sleep in half an hour, is interested in this and this plot element and this and this npc, has had too much spotlight etc.). This would be to cover for the non-existent non-verbal communication in online play.

So last Sunday we began our In a Wicked Age game. We drew an Oracle from The Nest of Vipers. And so it started... 

• The ghost of a suicide, a person overcome by guilt and shame, who finds in death no release.

• A warehouse on the docks, full of stolen silk and fine stuff.
• A young widower, raging, whose beautiful wife was murdered by sorcery by a romantic rival.
• A court dandy, casually cruel, exiled from the presence of the prince for a petty slight.

From that point on we identified characters in the Oracle and went from there. We actually listed a number of characters and elaborated on how they were connected to each other and the Oracles. After the game we noted that that part of prep overlapped the later establishment of best interests and could maybe be left out. On the other hand we had easier time the rest of the prep when we had done that. So I guess both approaches would work.

We ended up combining the prince and the young widower. The beautiful wife was combined with the ghost and the romantic rival ended up being a playboy wizard. We had a bit more trouble with the docks oracle, but then we established the court dandy as the loser of royal silk and a thief gang which had stolen it from both the prince and the thieves' guild (who were in cahoots).