There can be only one example of each playbook in one campaignAre you sure? Based on my reading*, it's only the case that there can only be one at a time - so retiring a character or using the advance to switch playbooks would open up your old playbook to new characters or a playbook switch. It's relevant to me since I was thinking it might make sense for my character to eventually become Doomed - though of course that's contingent on the game going on long enough without other play circumstances changing those plans, and I'm in no hurry anyway.
I said it in the other thread, but I've already got a delinquent character in mind. I'll write that up properly when I have time later today, and maybe we could start thinking about session zero stuff right away, since with PbP I reckon the time that takes is longer than the time it takes us to reach the majority of our interest player population anyway?Considering that we already have enough players, yes.
Maybe I was just thinking of other PBtA games. The others make it so that when a playbook dies, no one can become them, the hole is always felt. That's only really relevant with this system with the Doomed, but I don't know. Does anyone have any opinions on this? Maybe if they die, no one can become them, but if you just change your playbook someone can become that one? Or just let people change into a playbook not currently used.QuoteThere can be only one example of each playbook in one campaignAre you sure? Based on my reading*, it's only the case that there can only be one at a time - so retiring a character or using the advance to switch playbooks would open up your old playbook to new characters or a playbook switch. It's relevant to me since I was thinking it might make sense for my character to eventually become Doomed - though of course that's contingent on the game going on long enough without other play circumstances changing those plans, and I'm in no hurry anyway.
*The description of the Change Playbooks advance says to pick a playbook that no other player is currently using. (Emphasis mine)
Somewhat interested. I'll have to find some sort of rule summary somewhere though, the playbooks seem to gloss over a great deal of actual mechanics.Did you look at the basic moves pdf? That includes much of the rules. If that does not explain it enough, I will try to myself.
I like the look of theDelinquentand the Outsider, so I'll probably work something up along those lines.
Fakeedit: Outsider it is, then.
If you pick the Beacon, don't take the Phasing ability. I don't know what they were thinking. The Beacon is all about being relatively weak, but wanting to do good regardless. Phasing is way too powerful for this purpose.
EDIT: Also just wanted to point out to everyone that there are five additional playbooks in the Halcyon City Herald Collection, which I would imagine are allowed, and three test playbooks in Masks Unbound which I reckon (as they're test playbooks) should be allowed on a case by case basis.Don't forget the two from Agents of Aegis.
I'll have to find some sort of rule summary somewhere though, the playbooks seem to gloss over a great deal of actual mechanics.If you find any for PbtA, the concepts mostly transfer, although sometimes the names change. Basically: The mechanic is 2d6+stat (and in this case, your labels are your stats) and the conditions are your health track, but death is something that only happens for narrative reasons. Time is normally freeform, and so are a lot of actions, but moves represent those where there's a reasonable chance you'll fail. The basic moves are more or less just "use this stat modifier for this kind of action" and the rest are extra - adult moves are available to adults, playbook moves are available as described in the playbook, and peripheral moves are a grab bag of things that happen which have mechanical aspects to them but don't fit the other categories. Influence is a binary relationship thingy that some moves use and some moves grant, that represents caring what a person thinks. Carrying 1 (or a +1) forward means add 1 to your next roll (or next roll that fits the conditions listed when you got that +1). That's pretty much the whole system off the top of my head, it's mostly freeform+ rather than something heavily mechanical. But feel free to ask specific questions, and if you're wanting PDFs, you can send me a PM.
I didn't forget, I didn't know about them. Looking at them now, they're very foundational concepts that maybe even should have been considered in the core list. Also, for anyone searching, it's called Secrets of AEGIS at my source.QuoteEDIT: Also just wanted to point out to everyone that there are five additional playbooks in the Halcyon City Herald Collection, which I would imagine are allowed, and three test playbooks in Masks Unbound which I reckon (as they're test playbooks) should be allowed on a case by case basis.Don't forget the two from Agents of Aegis.
Maybe I was just thinking of other PBtA games. The others make it so that when a playbook dies, no one can become them, the hole is always felt. That's only really relevant with this system with the Doomed, but I don't know. Does anyone have any opinions on this? Maybe if they die, no one can become them, but if you just change your playbook someone can become that one? Or just let people change into a playbook not currently used.That kind of dismal situation is appropriate to something like Apocalypse World, but it doesn't fit the tone of a cape campaign - at least, not the kind that's listed as inspirations for this game. And unlike, say, Monsterhearts, there's a lot of difference in what a given playbook can give you. Look at the listed examples for the different playbooks in the core book, for reference - Tim Drake is a very different character from Scott Summers, and they're both listed as Protégé, which means that the game design reason for a hard rule like that - preventing characters that are functionally clones of each other - isn't very necessary. Hell, if you put that together with the question of genre, you can even consider that there are four well known robins (plus one very brief one) that are all considered sufficiently distinct characters despite having the same playbook, the same name and superhero identity, and the same main powers with only their personalities and the emphasis of their powers being particularly different.
Oh, and Digital Hellhound, there's also the government agency A.E.G.I.S, the Advanced Expert Group for Intervention and Security.Also like the police and CIA, not necessarily good dudes whose side you'll always be on.
They are kind of like a combination police/CIA that focus on the weird stuff and supers.
Concerning the End of Session moves, should those take place at the end of arcs, or where?I'd say model it on an episode. Whenever we get a big resolution on an issue that gives us a dramatic denouement moment, the episode is over so we do End of Session. An arc is often too long to be comparable.
Cool character. His savior should be -1, though.Thanks for catching that, I think I must have just looked at the wrong line when transcribing labels.
Labels at the end of character creation should add up to 3.
Has Sam ever accidently broken something or hurt someone due to his power negation?I'm thinking maybe not. His powers only weaken rather than damage, so it's difficult to imagine this scenario, and even weakening something at an inopportune time is a bit out there since his powers are difficult to use in the first place and making them too unbound would kind of be edging into the Nova's wheelhouse. But mostly, I haven't thought of a good little story along these lines.
Does the overlay stay in place, or move with him?It stays in place. He can make and spread or intensify it, and can use it for the illusions, but it's not connected to him and he has no real control over it.
It sounds like he creates a sepia overlay, that then itself drains the area of even mundane powers.Exactly.
Does this overlay require concentration to stay, fade with time, or stay forever as a blight upon the land?It fades away over time, and everything that it drained returns. Like the creation of the overlay zone and the draining of the powers, all this takes time. Different amounts of time though, creating it is slow at the scale of time that combat happens on, and probably requires unleashing to achieve meaningful results fast enough, but for it to fade should at least be until the end of the scene. Making permanent zones like this would be more the sort of ability to become available during play than during character creation, in part simply because it's a qualitative powerup that makes sense in the context of his original powers, and in part because that's an ability which substantially alters the world, and I reckon gaining the ability to meaningfully affect the world is a big part of the transition from childhood to adulthood that is included in the theming of this game.
Don't doomed have up to three abilities, not two? Did you want just two?
The nemesis is fine. Any number of things could happen that could make it more epic, or you could be missing part of his story. Is his part of the story all true stuff your character knows?
However, you still need to deal with the Sanctuary.
Also of the backstory questions: You don't have answer them one at a time like Sepiatone, but you do have to answer them by end of character creation.
• When did you first learn of your doom? I think good enough.
• Where did you get your sanctuary? Not answered.
• Why do you oppose your nemesis? I think its good enough.
• Who, outside of the team, is crucial to defeating your nemesis? You have not said. However, I think this is likely the person who first made your armor.
• Why does the team matter to you? Also not answered.
Just to clarify, if she uses her powers without her suit, her psychic memory weapons go berserk?
Why and how is the suit painful?
How many people know Elena has powers/is Vestige?
What conditions (not the game mechanic.) does Vestige need, at least at the start of the game, in order to read/manipulate memories? About what range? Does it require line of sight? Can she manipulate multiple people's memory at the same time, one at a time, or manipulating another's removes all earlier manipulations? Is it obvious she is reading/manipulating, from glowing, smoke, whatever?
Though up some possible names for the team. The Renegades; Twilight Force; Team Nocturn. Or we could just have you still unnamed at the start of the story.
Also, some specific questions I'd like everyone to answer by end of character creation.
What family does your character have?
Do you go to school?
Do you have a secret identity?
Partial sheet. Just wanted Pikachu to know that I've been working on it. It's very unrefined, but I need to go to sleep now. I'll finish the rest tomorrow.The last two questions are not yet answered.Spoiler: Sir Samuel, The PROTÉGÉ (click to show/hide)
Partial sheet. Just wanted Pikachu to know that I've been working on it. It's very unrefined, but I need to go to sleep now. I'll finish the rest tomorrow.The last two questions are not yet answered.Spoiler: Sir Samuel, The PROTÉGÉ (click to show/hide)
"Why do you care about the team?" can be answered after the sheets are done, though.
EDIT:Also, are you sure John doesn't embody Savior? Don Quixote might not be especially good at it, but he still tries to be a knight in shining armor. At least I think so, never did read that book.
A PROTÉGÉ has one ability different from their mentor. Is yours inherited from whoever your mother is?
Did your father ever fight a villain with the ability to turn into a windmill?
mother was... well, Amy had never really been wanted. Her mother was always coolly distant, preferring to leave Amy's raising to the school system, her meals to the local supermarket's microwave meal brands, and herThis part seems to be missing. I assume the part where you get your powers you are just improving.
Oh, and Digital Hellhound, maybe she's not capable of it now, but she could later learn to transmute her body into someone's appearance in a memory later?
A fortress of sorts, where you can have solitude.
It would be fitting if Vestige had her sanctuary in her head, I think. Like, in her head, but because she can manifest things, it isn't in her head. A sort of Happy Place, except instead of going to her Happy Place Vestige makes the Happy Place come to her.
Maybe then she could have it anywhere if she is given enough time and space to summon it. So if you wanted, the part of the base that is hers might just be a large empty room for her to "meditate" in.
Just so long as the sanctuary has features and downsides that make sense, I don't care too much what it is.
However only 'a meditation space' goes out too me as a feature that would make sense.
And likewisey 'difficult to acess'(very long meditation) 'Draws dangerous attention' and 'tied to your doom' go out to me as downsides that make sense.
That is an awesome character.
But I am a first-time GM, and to be honest, having five people is probably already pushing my capabilities.
But if Sirus or somebody else turns not to be able to play, I'll be sure to tag you in.
It could be limited to you own strength, so it is basically just a bit more range to your actions.
Please, everybody submit any team names you can think of. I'll put them into a poll.
Concerning "When our team first came together", only the Bull specifies that you defeated a dangerous enemy, so what you have defeated instead?
After all the characters have finished everything except Relationships, Influence and WOTFCT you are supposed to answer the WOTFCT questionin the order of Outsider, Delinquent, Doomed, Transformed, Protege. However that might not work well in PbP. What do you guys think?
Are there any house rules any of you want? I am for the moment just going with base stuff, an Infinite Powers buff, and allowing the extra playbooks.I think everything should be conditionally allowed on the principle that fun things are fun, but I don't know the system well enough to say anything specific. Since I don't know it well, I'd be inclined to stick close to RAW until/unless we find problems with it - though I don't necessarily think such a problem would need to be a big one, rules are easily mutable even after we get going.
What kind of campaign do you want this to be? With the backstories already and the Doomed its probably going to be some level of dark, but what kind?I didn't think about it that much, but it seems like the darkness is almost entirely personal or interpersonal, which means that I would think personal plots are most important and others are more like backdrops. But then, that's often the goal anyway. And it might make sense to have something not too personal just to introduce the characters and the system before we get really heavy. I think the biggest concern is going to be level. Thematically, Sepiatone is pretty street level, and if I'm reading it right, Vestige leans that way too, but while Nahullad and Sir Samuel seem reasonably level agnostic, Toba is much higher level, nearly cosmic. So that's something that's gonna need consideration and probably should have been thought about before conceptualizing our characters.
Do you particularly want anything in the setting, other than things already in your backstory?I think a common narrative structure for cape stories is to not block all the setting details out too thoroughly but just bring up new things as they become relevant, with the insinuation that they've always been true but just haven't come up before now. It works well with a modern type setting because there's so many huge areas of life that are only dealt with by specialized professions, so it's believable that there can be something that's a very big deal that was just never really relevant until it was.
Sirus, why did you think Toba might not be viable?I mean... Besides the power level, it's also very upbeat and cheerful of a story, where once everyone mutually realized that nobody meant each other harm, everything was resolved more or less just because of that. I'm not sure how that kind of optimistic narrative gels with the tone in the others. This applies as well to how the agender thing will work - Sirus showed no indication of wanting to deal with discrimination or misgendering issues (and I feel that), but that paints a much rosier picture of the world than the other characters' stories. And that detail is a lot easier to set aside than xer very different relationship with AEGIS and scientists than the one Vestige has, and xer implicitly positive relationship with authority in general. It's not an insurmountable problem, but it's definitely gonna be a lot harder to GM for than something like adding another (tonally consistent) character, especially in light of how the system and format both do a lot to mitigate the added difficulty of increased party size.
I'm thinking of having my 'You'd love to kiss ______ before your doom comes' be Sepiatone, since his power nullification no doubt appeals and provides an interesting dynamic.Yeah, our characters definitely have some things in common that could make for interesting interplay. Would you want to have done some badass crime together? I don't have anything specific in mind but that's one of my relationships.
As for romance, it's really no more different than stories about AIs or monogendered species falling in love with humans.That's pretty challenging to write though.
(Sorry for ripping you off Cruxador)All good, I ripped it off (in subsequently rearranged bits) from Giglamesh anyway.
Essentially I have two concerns about giving Sancho Psychic powers. The first one is that I'm afraid it might make him too strong and overshadow the others. The suit of armour is already pretty impressive. The second one is that I feel like psychic Sancho is thematically different from detective Sancho. Detective Sancho is someone who could plausibly learn to embrace his heritage and learn to follow in his father's footsteps. Psychic Sancho is definitely only going to be pushed further and further away from him. If things do turn out well for him, he's going to be a completely different person.I like the psychic thing. Going psychic works well since we already have mind oriented powers going on – Vestige is all on memories, Sepiatone has dream issues, and even Nahullad has weird ways of getting by without a head. It's not a power ranger level of overlap, but it's thematically cohesive. More importantly, I think forming his own identity is a fun narrative line to go down. Being strong isn't necessarily a problem, Superboy and Robin/Nightwing were both concurrently members of the team in Young Justice after all. Besides, the suit is kinda cool but power wise it's just "tough+strong". Telekinesis actually makes you something a bit more interesting than a bruiser, which helps avoid overlap with Nahullad. But honestly, being strong doesn't matter much in a narrative game; just don't use it to try and be the only one doing stuff in combat and it should be fine. I don't think you need to limit this in particular, although since it's supposed to be a new ability, it makes sense for it to be weak at the start.
There are definitely upsides to psychic Sancho though. The inevitable discover-the-identity-of-his-mother arc is definitely going to be more interesting for obvious reasons, and he has more tools to work with as far as fighting is concerned. It also gives him something in common with Vestige.
What do you guys think?
EDIT: As for the session zero stuff, run the game that makes the most sense for your vision of these characters. I'm sure we'll go along with whatever you choose to do. Session zero is more important in a game like DnD where the world, setting and conflict, can be vastly different depending on what the GM chooses. It also meant to prevent people from creating characters who are completely incompatible with each other. Here the setting is always Halcyon city, and it's always superheros vs supervillains. Characters haven't been a problem so far.I'm not sure I can agree with this notion. True, you don't have to worry if there's such a thing as an elf in this particular case, but I've already (in this post) mentioned concerns I have for setting and character compatibility, which are a less familiar than the more thoroughly discussed ones of D&D. D&D is both older and more widespread, but that only makes the problems harder to navigate since there's less resources accumulated on them. I'm not trying to be a downer, but the thing about problems is that the worst ones are the ones you don't know about and therefore can't anticipate, and that's especially difficult for a new GM.
However that might not work well in PbP. What do you guya think?I can't say that I know, but I think it's not going to be difficult to do no matter what method we use. At least with this method, we have a thing that saves us from infinite dickering.
Probably unintentional headless horsewoman ... GiglimeshDespair, are you sure that you want Nahullad to be your hero name?I mean, her name is just Dullahan backwards with some vowels swapped. Seems like a clean enough reference to me. That's not the first thing I would be concerned about with that character.
Cape: A superperson.That's very much not specific to Worm, it's general comic nerd lingo.
I'm...not sure if knowledge of how Toba's species reproduces is strictly necessary? ??? It's not like xe would kill or consume someone in a fit of passion.It's the sort of thing that could be interesting if you're coming at it from a "fun with fictional biology" aspect, which the blob body thing implies, but it sounds like that's not where you're coming from on the agender thing.
Unfortunately, I had Toba's concept in mind before everyone else started posting their gloomy backstories, and I don't know if I can re-write it or make a new one.I'm not saying dump your character, it's just... There are hurdles to be aware of.
I dunno, if this is going to be a serious issue maybe let scriver's character in instead. I'll save The Orange Blob Alien for a lighter-hearted game.
Since your here Cruxador, could you tell me your opinion on my new description of my psychic powers? I changed it because I wanted to weaken it, but you say that isn't necessary. I might change it back.Oh, I hadn't noticed that change. As writing, it definitely comes across as something you went and added after the fact, but as for the concept, I think it's pretty solid. I'm seeing your new version as a kind of transpositioning or astral projection type power, which is more unique than straight telekinesis, and I think there's room to build on that concept and integrate it with the other aspects of the character more than you've done so far. In this regard, I think that it's more interesting when you're considering it as a standalone power. However, the telekinesis synthesizes with the armor to make a kind of a "mage knight" aesthetic, indicating transcendence over the normal unpowered human level in both physical and mental aspects. That's a cool (and versatile) area to explore as well, even if it's a bit more well traveled. Because it's a bit broader, I reckon it gives you a bit more to work with as a player character, while the version you've got in there now is more of an extension of what you can already do (be strong and hit hard) but I don't think you're particularly hurting for thematic area as-is, because your backstory gives you so much to work with.
Actually, Nahullad is not strong. Just has Impenetrable armor and superhuman senses. However I am willing to say that your armor is heavy enough to deal lots of damage.That was in part me saying something without going back to the page to look at it. Even without super strength, the implication of the big body is high strength within the human norm, I would think. But I shouldn't have said strong, I just was thinking about the meaty front-liner role.
If anyone thinks otherwise, or thinks Nuhullad should have explicit strength, then say so.
Also, concerning Toba, that situation in the backstory went all right because the leader happened to make a good decision. That does not mean all Aegis decisions are all right.Yeah, I don't know if I conveyed my meaning effectively, but by no means was I trying to say that the character can't work. It's just that right now it's optimist in a positive and high level (narratively) situation. I kind of feel like I may have shat on Sirus, but that wasn't my intent and doesn't reflect my feeling, I only was intending to point out what can be a problem. It's not something that's fundamentally unrectifiable. Unless it's the case that he only wants to play upbeat and everyone else only wants to play dark, then tonal misalignments can be adjusted for.
Concerning the rest of the positivity, really, all dark series should have an optimist, either to corrupt or contrast with.
Either Toba is a font of light in dark times, or will have the development of learning how dark the world really is.
Either way, I don't really need to do anything myself, just keep the dark tone, and watch Toba/Sirius glitter or fade.
However, I can understand if you don't want to play such a character, in which case Scrivener could play instead. But really, a Beacon is also an optimist, so it really comes down to who thinks they can play that well.
After all, an optimist is someone who thinks it can always get better, not necessarily someone who thinks it is good now.
I didn't say anything about scriver's character because the quality of the writing wasn't really relevant.
Just that you were kept out on the basis of time of submission, not quality of writing. And nobody was particularly talking about it.I didn't say anything about scriver's character because the quality of the writing wasn't really relevant.
What that supposed to mean :o :o :o
No but on a serious note I also intended for Dexai to be positive and light hearted, I don't know if I failed to tell it that way but that was the idea. I just didn't think I could go full out "everybody can be a hero no matter what as long as they do their best!" optimism because that sort of removes the core conflict of the playbook, the premise that you are just a mainly ordinary person in a world of Juggernauts, Godzillas, and Darkseids. Sure, you can punch things good for a human, but there's a whole host of superstrong supertough fighters out there and your not even Bruce Lee (probably).Sure, you made an optimistic character but your description still put him as optimistic in a situation that's very much not ideal.
Admittedly, Bruce Lee would beat the shit out of most of both DC and Marvel by sheer coolness alone. But still.He was more or less a wuxia character, his coolness is because he was actually a real person who can be compared to other real people.
GiglimeshDespair, are you sure that you want Nahullad to be your hero name?I can think of few less complimentary names to take than Cockroach. :P Things like Headcase aren't very complimentary, either, so I find it hard to imagine as a name someone would take unless they'd deliberately playing up that aspect.
Nothing like Headcase, Head Case, Cockroach(because of their being insects that supposedly can survive without a head.), or Mannequin?
Nahullad isn't a brilliant name, but can you blame Amy? Poor lass doesn't even have a brain anymore.I think it's an alright name. Not super catchy necessarily, but it has that supernatural feel to it. It's consistent with the other aspects of the character.
Oh. Scriver, I guess you're in then.
I think each person posting each week seems like a reasonable minimum but it would be good if we could move along more snappily than that, and I think since this game isn't really turn based, we should be able to avoid the situation where people have to wait a lot for someone else to post.That would make sense, except while it isn't turn based, in battle I would still have to wait for the last player to post. I think a three day minimum is more snappy, while still being reasonable.
I am not very sure what more I need to do with my character beyond the last stuff I wrote in the to do list.Does your character go to school?
Sam, are your 'illusions' strictly visual, or can they make sound? If they touch someone, do they feel anything?The dream world is entirely silent, and so are things made from it. At least at game start, it's also totally ethereal and the illusions don't have any effect. I suppose being in direct contact with them could cause a vague feeling of unease, but I don't know that it would be enough to bestow a condition or anything. It could make sense for them to do so when unleashed but that also runs the risk of stepping on Vestige's toes.
And you know what, we've waited long enough, and I think your characters are fairly fleshed out.Oh no, being first is hard! I'm not confident in it, in part because I don't want to godmod other people's characters into the story, but I also want to tie people together. So... Please provide feedback and consider this final only inasmuch as we can move forward, but still subject to refinement.
You first came together fighting Cauldron, the sorcerers from Nahullad's backstory.
Sepiatone, We totally broke some major rules to win the fight. What rules did we break? Whose rules were they?
The whole area became twisted and cursed, with buildings warping and people changing from the influx of chaotic fear energy. The changes could never be completely reversed, and the area - once known as Jackston, now often referred to as the Haunts - remains a dangerous, strange place to be. Dark magic and creatures left over from the attack still torment the inhabitants, many who were changed themselves by the magic. At night, it's said that living nightmares stalk the streets, feeding on the fears that spawned them...That's some cool worldbuilding, honestly. Maybe we can even have our base there. It relates well to your and my powers thematically and seems directly tied to what went wrong with Nahullad. Plus, if Sir Samuel was already in that area before things happened, it helps explain why we're together despite him being in rather a different social class from the rest of us.
I'm sorry, I just sent this message to pikachu but I wanted the rest of you to know as well, so I'm copying it for you.It's a bummer, but good on you for recognizing the situation and making the choice. Hopefully things get sorted out without too much hardship; good luck with whatever you've got going on.
I'm sorry for being a bother, but I don't think I will be able to participate. I'm not in a good space in real life and I know that when I'm like this I will cease to post as soon as the actual game starts.
I apologise.
So, should we go forward with four players?I think we've got four. Sirus' reason didn't relate to the number of players, and I doubt he would happen to want a character someone else designed, considering he didn't want a different form of the one he had.
If not, I could just ask Sirus if he wants to play Yellow Jacket Boy instead.
Uh, I think his reason might have been him wanting to not design an additional character, nor keep an off-topic one.So, should we go forward with four players?I think we've got four. Sirus' reason didn't relate to the number of players, and I doubt he would happen to want a character someone else designed, considering he didn't want a different form of the one he had.
If not, I could just ask Sirus if he wants to play Yellow Jacket Boy instead.
Well that's not the impression I got, but I suppose there's no harm in offering.Uh, I think his reason might have been him wanting to not design an additional character, nor keep an off-topic one.So, should we go forward with four players?I think we've got four. Sirus' reason didn't relate to the number of players, and I doubt he would happen to want a character someone else designed, considering he didn't want a different form of the one he had.
If not, I could just ask Sirus if he wants to play Yellow Jacket Boy instead.
But, I suppose he might not want to play such a character at all.
Additional questions:My sheet is done, minus the relations.
Amy, your first Who were you before? paragraph is still missing an end.
Is there a reason your neck degrades objects placed on your neck other than "Powers, so there!"?
Also please finish the questions already there.
When our team first came together...
We drew attention and ire from plenty during the fight. One important person in particular now hates and fears us. Who is it?
Sancho, We stuck together after all was said and done. Why? How’d we keep in contact?
I imagine that Sepiatone did some awesome but illegal weapons testing on Nahullad. Maybe with a flamethrower?Where would we get a flamethrower though? Maybe if we're going that route, it would make more sense to make pipe bombs or even just molotovs.
I support the idea of John Quixote creating a flamethrower.There we go then.
I do not support the idea of playing out the cauldron incident. It’s a tad too high stakes to start off with. I think a good starting scenario might be a patrol in the haunts or maybe even a fight against a generic monster of the week super villain. It’ll give us an idea of how our group dynamic works.Standard patrol is a solid start, but I love me some in medias res.
My Character has no influence so that’s technically done. All that’s left for me is to answer the question of “Who did I team up with a few times before the team got together”Sepiatone would have been interested in doing that, especially if it started out coincidental. A baddy in the same area, that kind of thing.
Cruxador, while your IC post is cool, what is Sam going to do at the scene? Is he going to get there and then look over the situation a bit? Is he going to immediately try to set up a zone? Distract the villain? Or do you want him to arrive in a later post?It's written as to arrive later; I used your suggestion of transparent text to say something to that effect. I was thinking set up a zone once someone else has distracted the villain.
Also, just thought of/remembered it, should we post the individual instances of your PCs, whether in this thread, or the OC thread, so people reading it later will now how our characters were at the time?You mean copies of the sheet? I don't think it's worth the mild inconvenience, but I don't know how likely it is that anybody else will come through wanting to read this.
May we spoiler the actions instead? Easier to read when you don't need to quote everything.You know you can just hit ctrl+a to select everything and make transparent text visible, right? If you still prefer spoilers I suppose we can do that instead.
Sir Samuel got a 9 on his Pierce the Mask roll. If anyone else would like to spend the team you get at the beginning of a session to raise that to a 10, post in the IC thread how you help his questioning, along with your own actions.May we spoiler the actions instead? Easier to read when you don't need to quote everything.You know you can just hit ctrl+a to select everything and make transparent text visible, right? If you still prefer spoilers I suppose we can do that instead.
Sorry for taking so long to post. My health was rather poor this week, so I didn't have the energy for a long-ass post. Thankfully this turned out to be easier than expected. I made my actual action transparent. I hope I'm using the colours properly.I mean, you're not the slowest. And I'm sure we'll all be slow at various points. Lord knows my energy varies.
When Sancho arrives, what does he see? What is Sepiatone's involvemnt in the incident?Uh, man, I dunno. Perhaps he encounters Sepiatone in a physical altercation (that is, fighting directly) with a vagabond in a cheap costume. Beetle-themed, perhaps. I was gonna write it more in-fiction but I've already delayed it a bit so I'll avoid holding things up more.
Sorry, didn't mean to cut you off. But I don't think it's a problem to both assess the situation, it just means we both have access to a +1.There is right now 1 team in the pool, and someone can spend that 1 team to give someone a +1 on their roll, but your character has to be doing something to help them. That second person does not get to roll.
Yours to finish things quick and maybe to deal with the biggest threat, mine to deal with the biggest threat and maybe protect whatever's in danger. The possibility of an overlap in the answers to our questions is a redundancy, but I don't think that level of inefficiency is going to be much of a problem in this case.There is no possibility of an overlap. Sepiatone got a 9, Vestige a 6. Someone could use the team to raise that, respectively, to a 10 or a 7.
I meant the conditional +1 granted by the assess action, not any modifier to the assess roll itself. I'm fine with the result of this die roll without modification – I'm not sure spending Team is necessary, although I suppose since it's very likely we'll soon use the "enter battle against a dangerous foe as a team" move we can probably afford it. Although that reminds me, we don't officially have a leader, do we? Sir Samuel seems the most leader-like in terms of how he's written so far.Sorry, didn't mean to cut you off. But I don't think it's a problem to both assess the situation, it just means we both have access to a +1.There is right now 1 team in the pool, and someone can spend that 1 team to give someone a +1 on their roll, but your character has to be doing something to help them. That second person does not get to roll.
QuoteWhen Sancho arrives, what does he see? What is Sepiatone's involvemnt in the incident?Uh, man, I dunno. Perhaps he encounters Sepiatone in a physical altercation (that is, fighting directly) with a vagabond in a cheap costume. Beetle-themed, perhaps. I was gonna write it more in-fiction but I've already delayed it a bit so I'll avoid holding things up more.
I think is time for enter battle against a dangerous foe as a team.I am going to need the answers to each of these, not necessarily in the IC thread. When they are answered, I may or may not post a scene based on that, then either way you then each get an action again.
Who should be the leader? Probably not Sancho, as he is in a bit of mushroom samba right now.
What is your purpose in the fight?
Do you mistrust the leader or the team?
Do you think the team is ill-prepared or off-balance?
While we wait for Giglamesh, I’ll write the next Sancho Sepiatone improve thing.Sepiatone only stops for a moment, before turning away. "Nothing to do with you." There's no point in addressing the assumptions of some rich kid anyway, he hasn't got the perspective to understand anything. This moment of distraction was enough for the beetle-themed villain to pull away, though, and he takes off, darting into an alley with a phone he yanked out of someone's grip down the street now apparent in his hand. Sepiatone takes off after him, eyes darkening as the color begins to fade from the alley and a something like a broken watch with long mannequin legs appears deeper between the buildings, but the beetle villain pushes past it.QuoteWhen Sancho arrives, what does he see? What is Sepiatone's involvemnt in the incident?Uh, man, I dunno. Perhaps he encounters Sepiatone in a physical altercation (that is, fighting directly) with a vagabond in a cheap costume. Beetle-themed, perhaps. I was gonna write it more in-fiction but I've already delayed it a bit so I'll avoid holding things up more.
Really? Two homeless people are causing this racket? Is everyone trying to be a superhero nowadays? Sancho seemed to be quite pissed that he had to get involved.
The two men briefly stopped fighting to look at the literal knight in shining armour. Sancho may not realized it, but his own getup was quite absurd for superhero standards. Like where’s the latex?
*clears throat*
”So good citizens, what seems to be the problem? If a can of beans is the centrepiece of your conflict, then fret not! There is plenty to go around. Halcyon is a wonderful city of wealth and opportunity!
“If you follow me, I can guide you to magical place filled with endless supplies of food and limitless variety. Yes good sirs, if you follow me around the corner to the supermarket, you will have all the cans you will ever need!”
Can you believe this guy? Speeches like those are what make we want to clobber those self-righteous bastards. What’s the real source of your conflict?
Who should be the leader? Probably not Sancho, as he is in a bit of mushroom sambal right now.Sepiatone is following his own orders only, and intends to pull the thing he saw enough into reality that it can be fought properly. He doesn't fully trust anyone, and considering everyone arrived separately it's hard to say that the team is well prepared.
What is your purpose in the fight?
Do you mistrust the leader or the team?
Do you think the team is ill-prepared or off-balance?
Sepiatone only stops for a moment, before turning away. "Nothing to do with you." There's no point in addressing the assumptions of some rich kid anyway, he hasn't got the perspective to understand anything. This moment of distraction was enough for the beetle-themed villain to pull away, though, and he takes off, darting into an alley with a phone he yanked out of someone's grip down the street now apparent in his hand. Sepiatone takes off after him, eyes darkening as the color begins to fade from the alley and a something like a broken watch with long mannequin legs appears deeper between the buildings, but the beetle villain pushes past it.
Doesn't matter in this case. You got a 5. Sepiatone, you want to help her roll?That would use our only Team, right? Since she's attacking a target I'm not as concerned about, nah.
Aye, this is just a slow paced group. :PTaking into account also the posts before the start of the game proper, it seems slow but steady. As long as that stays true, we're doing fine. But pikachu's occasional prodding to make sure we're all in the rhythm of the game is still probably wise to help it avoid fizzling in the early stages.
Sepiatone only shifts out of the way to avoid scattered debris as Sir Samuel breaks the door down. Seeing the scene inside, he steps further back, letting the idealist take point, as his eyes shifted to their duller hue again – though nothing else made it obvious that he was doing anything. It would take a keen eye to notice that the beetles were losing color, between their constant movement and relatively staid original hues.Sepiatone only stops for a moment, before turning away. "Nothing to do with you." There's no point in addressing the assumptions of some rich kid anyway, he hasn't got the perspective to understand anything. This moment of distraction was enough for the beetle-themed villain to pull away, though, and he takes off, darting into an alley with a phone he yanked out of someone's grip down the street now apparent in his hand. Sepiatone takes off after him, eyes darkening as the color begins to fade from the alley and a something like a broken watch with long mannequin legs appears deeper between the buildings, but the beetle villain pushes past it.
"Stop foul villain! Beans are one thing, but a cell phone is valuable property!"
Sir Samuel the Second chases the villain as well, but freezes when he sees the monster in the alleyway. Sancho and beetleman don't seem to mind though.
"Wait, it's dangerous!"
But his pleas were ignored. Not wanting to be left behind, he steeled his courage and followed them into the alley.
The beetleman at this point had climbed a fire escape and entered one of the apartments. Sepiatone was trying to get through the door, but was having no luck. Clearly, this seemed like a problem for the heroic Sir Samuel.
"Allow me."
With a single augmented punch, the door was broken open and passage was once again possible. Sepiatone though, did not seem to appreciate the gesture.
Upon entering the dwelling, the first thing one noticed was the mess. It's like the person who lived here never heard of a garbage can, or any kind of storage really. Food seemed to be dropped wherever the person finished eating and the floor was covered with piles of dirty clothes. The stench could be compared to the inside of a sewer.
Suddenly, insect larva started to emerge from the rotten food. At first there were just a few, but more kept coming and soon the entire thing was covered. Everything seemed to shudder due to their grotesque writhing but thankfully it seemed to slow down until it finally stopped. And then then the newly formed cocoons hatched.
A multi-colored swarm of various beetles were now upon the heroes. Some flew, while others crawled along the ground, but either way there were too many to just punch your way through.
"You broke the door to my home! Now prepare to pay!"
Are you asking Nahullad to do an unleash your powers roll to get our from under the tree, or was that targetted at Vestige?You can do it next turn, or Vestige. Or anyone.
Sir Samuel rolled a five. The only one who can help him is Sepiatone. I understand that your job will probably prevent you from being able to create an in-character reasoning on short notice, so I'll be happy to let you just post how you help destructively, criminally or rule-breakingly, perhaps by weakening the tree with one of your fields, and I'll write what exactly happens for you.Sorry for the delay and thanks for bearing with me, I've averaged above 11 hours a day this week and it's added up. On the plus side, only one more week of this before I have some time off and then on to a more normal schedule.
I hope the time you've already gotten has allowed you to write your regular action, which is the only one left in the turn.
If you will not help using Team, please write no in the poll.
Sepiatone, do you mean to reveal the creature to the party, or find out its motivations and intentions?It's meant to be the latter - my primary intent is to figure out why it's here, what it is, and how to get rid of it. If the rest of the party became aware of it through my actions, that would be a nice bonus, but Sepiatone is relying on himself first of all.
If the former, it is Unleashing Your Powers.
If the latter, it is Pierce the Mask.
Personally, the method used sounds more like the former than the latter, but either way could work.
Am I still affected by the happiness effect? Also, why did I gain Doom? Did that count as 'injuring an innocent' or 'frightening a loved one'? Or did I just get it as a result of the failure?I don't think you've taken a turn since the happiness effected you. I'd like you to at least be effected one turn, one way or another. But if you just wait it'll go away on its own.
Are we obligated to do actions every time, or can we just RP freely too?
I think I'll go with Insecure for that second condition. Vestige is not having a good day.I think I'm not really needed to post the results of that, as written. You're just summoning a bunch of nondescript constructs.