Having neither the time nor energy to write a new freeform myself, I have bought a copy of The Fallen Fane. I would welcome any advice that anyone can give me about running this game.
I am fully familiar with organising and running freeforms generally (although I have never run one that was written by someone else before), so I don't need that sort of sdvice. What I need to know is if there are any pitfalls in the planning or execution of this particular game. Are there any play-relevant omissions (I note, for instance that the Code, as written in the general background, is faulty and incomplete), or any plot holes? Does any of the player information need to be altered, padded out or presented with greater detail? Is there enough, as written, for a full evening's play?
There are several parts of the player backgrounds that seem too sketchy or of doubtful relevance/utility. For example
SPOILER WARNING
in Umaldi's background it says "You want to keep your research quiet because you think that you have learned the resting place of a major cache of magic. If you're right, you don't want to share it, because it will greatly increase your power." How is this useful in terms of actual play? It does not, so far as I can tell, link to anyone else's plot; there is no way for any other character to find out about this, if Umaldi decides to keep it a secret; there is no way for Umaldi to use it as a bargaining chip, because there is no way for him to prove the truth of any claim he might make about it; there is no way for other characters to determine the whether Umaldi is telling the truth about it; no details are given about it, so there is no way to discover that it does, or does not, form part of any other ongoing plot. There seems to be no in-game advantage or disadvantage to Umaldi in keeping this information quiet, or of revealing it - and there appears to be nothing in it that will further plot or play. Or am I missing something?
Similarly, the two disputed vis sources are not named or described in any way: how are characters supposed to discuss them at Tribunal, if they cannot identify or distinguish them?
I would like to run this game, and so any help or advice, from those who have already run or played it will be greatly appreciated.
The Seekers will, for the most part, talk about their research. Umaldi, the Tytalus, will be evasive, dodging the questions, and thus making people wonder what he's up to. If people get really curious or suspicious, though, it might be sensible for the character to come clean. He's not actually hiding a dark secret. Well, not about