91
Roll To Dodge / Darkmoon RTD [Turn 24: Poison and Pain]
« on: November 27, 2011, 07:18:51 pm »Spoiler: Plot (click to show/hide)
It was a strange creature that recruited you. Shaped like a man, but wrapped head to toe in faintly bluish-hued bandages that seemed almost luminescent. Its voice had a strange echoing quality to it, but didn't sound malicious.
Wrapped in a cloak to avoid notice, it had approached you with an offer:
"Greetings, great one. I have been looking for someone of your particular talents. Heroes are needed, beyond the veil. The sky falls, and the masters grow desperate. Seek them out, and they will have task for you. Yet know that your true rewards are beyond measure, for opportunity is your birthright, great one."
Vague, but intriguing. Its instructions on how to get there were more specific but truly strange- supposedly, the only way to get there was to climb into what looked like a coffin inside a carriage and be driven. More specifically, you had to fall asleep in there.
Fortunately, falling asleep seemed easy inside the box. You suspect it was magically enchanted to put you to sleep, but if so, the enchantment was very gentle- it was easy to stay awake when you tried. There didn't seem to be much point, however, since if the rocking of the carriage and noises outside were any indication, it was simply meandering along at a leisurely pace.
Whenever you went to sleep, things felt much the same upon waking. This was quickly proven not quite true, as opening the lid and looking around revealed it to be nighttime in a region you'd never seen before.
The carriage seemed to have been leaving a dark, twisted wood you'd never seen before, crossing a brief ring of barren ground, and heading towards a circular, round city of dark grey stone. A tower of the same rose high up behind the walls. A large, bright, full moon hung in the sky nearby.
The carriage stopped shortly thereafter, having traveled only the short distance between the walls and the forest since you'd awoken. Your guide had indeed been driving the carriage, and explained that the master was waiting in the central tower.
Crossing through the gate and into the city, you found little reason to linger. The city was dark, quiet, deserted, bare, and gave you an uneasy feeling you couldn't quite place. The main road led straight from the gate to the tower, resulting in a trip that wasn't too long.
The tower itself was a different matter, however. The lowest floor seemed very open, more like a forum than a tower. It was obviously a massive structure, however, to be that tall and spacious. Upon entering, you found it well-lit, occupied, and lacking any unsettling feelings. Robed individuals shuffled around on whatever errands they possessed, or talked quietly but sometimes emphatically with each other.
In the center of the room, on a raised dais, stood a man in teal robes and with a long white beard. He smiled and nodded courteously to you upon entering, and waved you over.
"Greetings," he'd said quickly, "I'm sure you have questions, but let us wait until your companions have arrived. Barring more delays, that should be rather soon."
Wrapped in a cloak to avoid notice, it had approached you with an offer:
"Greetings, great one. I have been looking for someone of your particular talents. Heroes are needed, beyond the veil. The sky falls, and the masters grow desperate. Seek them out, and they will have task for you. Yet know that your true rewards are beyond measure, for opportunity is your birthright, great one."
Vague, but intriguing. Its instructions on how to get there were more specific but truly strange- supposedly, the only way to get there was to climb into what looked like a coffin inside a carriage and be driven. More specifically, you had to fall asleep in there.
Fortunately, falling asleep seemed easy inside the box. You suspect it was magically enchanted to put you to sleep, but if so, the enchantment was very gentle- it was easy to stay awake when you tried. There didn't seem to be much point, however, since if the rocking of the carriage and noises outside were any indication, it was simply meandering along at a leisurely pace.
Whenever you went to sleep, things felt much the same upon waking. This was quickly proven not quite true, as opening the lid and looking around revealed it to be nighttime in a region you'd never seen before.
The carriage seemed to have been leaving a dark, twisted wood you'd never seen before, crossing a brief ring of barren ground, and heading towards a circular, round city of dark grey stone. A tower of the same rose high up behind the walls. A large, bright, full moon hung in the sky nearby.
The carriage stopped shortly thereafter, having traveled only the short distance between the walls and the forest since you'd awoken. Your guide had indeed been driving the carriage, and explained that the master was waiting in the central tower.
Crossing through the gate and into the city, you found little reason to linger. The city was dark, quiet, deserted, bare, and gave you an uneasy feeling you couldn't quite place. The main road led straight from the gate to the tower, resulting in a trip that wasn't too long.
The tower itself was a different matter, however. The lowest floor seemed very open, more like a forum than a tower. It was obviously a massive structure, however, to be that tall and spacious. Upon entering, you found it well-lit, occupied, and lacking any unsettling feelings. Robed individuals shuffled around on whatever errands they possessed, or talked quietly but sometimes emphatically with each other.
In the center of the room, on a raised dais, stood a man in teal robes and with a long white beard. He smiled and nodded courteously to you upon entering, and waved you over.
"Greetings," he'd said quickly, "I'm sure you have questions, but let us wait until your companions have arrived. Barring more delays, that should be rather soon."
Spoiler: Setting (click to show/hide)
Mostly magic-heavy medieval-ish fantasy, though hopefully a good bit stranger than usual in places. Your particular point of origin can buck these trends slightly, and it doesn't even need to be in the same dimension as anyone else's.
Spoiler: Character Creation (click to show/hide)
Name: Obvious. Add a suffix of your preferred class name if you have one. Your "class" is just an arbitrary title based on whatever you feel relevant.
Caste: Gender, race, etc. Anything with a significant, innate impact on your physiology or abilities.
Major: Your major skill, which will start at Apprentice (+2) level.
Minor: Your minor skill, which will start at Novice (+1) level.
Equipment: You may begin with one useful item, which usually either allows something you couldn't do otherwise, or gives a +1 bonus to a specific action or subgroup of actions. You may also begin with miscellaneous other items, such as clothing, but they will generally not have an effect.
Bio: Personality, physical description, history, etc. Mostly optional, except for at least a brief physical description.
Tribe: Where you come from. More specifically, whatever you identify yourself based on, be they close friends you're just like or hated foes you're nothing like. Mostly optional, though a brief, very vague description of where you came from is mandatory. You may also expand greatly on this if you'd like, detailing factions or areas far outside your personal concern, though there's no guarantee it will ever end up in the game.
Caste: Gender, race, etc. Anything with a significant, innate impact on your physiology or abilities.
Major: Your major skill, which will start at Apprentice (+2) level.
Minor: Your minor skill, which will start at Novice (+1) level.
Equipment: You may begin with one useful item, which usually either allows something you couldn't do otherwise, or gives a +1 bonus to a specific action or subgroup of actions. You may also begin with miscellaneous other items, such as clothing, but they will generally not have an effect.
Bio: Personality, physical description, history, etc. Mostly optional, except for at least a brief physical description.
Tribe: Where you come from. More specifically, whatever you identify yourself based on, be they close friends you're just like or hated foes you're nothing like. Mostly optional, though a brief, very vague description of where you came from is mandatory. You may also expand greatly on this if you'd like, detailing factions or areas far outside your personal concern, though there's no guarantee it will ever end up in the game.
Spoiler: Skills and System (click to show/hide)
Skills can be roughly divided into three categories: Magic, Combat, and Misc. Magic skills are schools of magic, like Fire Magic or Necromancy. Combat skills are military disciplines, like Swords or Dodging. Miscellaneous skills are everything that isn't one or the other, like Diplomacy or Carpentry.
Skills provide bonuses to rolls made using them. Additionally, every time you level up a skill, you may select a perk to go with it. Perks are usually situational bonuses related to the skill in question.
Skills increase through use. More specifically, rolling higher numbers gives experience in that action. Not only does experience gain ignore modifiers, it actually adds their inverse directly to experience gained. In other words, attempting an action with a -1 penalty will always grant at least one experience point; a -2 will grant 2, etc.
Above 6 or below 1 are generally just more severe forms of their respective effects.
A more detailed explanation of skill levels is as such:
Inexperienced means you have little or no technical knowledge of something, meaning you're probably not even sure where to begin. Expect to accomplish laughably crude or simple effects, if you succeed at all.
Dabbling means you understand roughly how something works, but lack technical knowledge in it. Expect to achieve very limited, specific effects.
Novice means you have some experience and deeper understanding of something, but still not enough to be very impressive. Expect to achieve useful but situational or lackluster effects.
Examples: Basic fireball, weak feint, making a simple chest
Apprentice means you understand the subject well enough to be dangerous, but you've still got a lot to learn. Expect to achieve creative or powerful effects, but probably not both.
Examples: Lighting someone on fire, feinting for a more vicious blow, making a locking chest with a hidden compartment in it
Adept means you have a good mastery of the subject, and can achieve powerful and creative effects with it. Expect to be able to do things that leave the unskilled gawking in surprise.
Examples: Roasting someone to an ashy shell, dismembering a target, making a trapped, locked puzzle chest with multiple compartments
Expert means you're incredibly skilled in a given area, able to accomplish things that probably shouldn't be possible. Expect to laugh maniacally a lot.
Examples: Creating a searing inferno around yourself, grabbing an enemy's weapon midswing and attacking them with it, creating a fiendish trap system to guard a vault
Master means you're unbelievably skilled in a given area, able to do things that definitely shouldn't be possible. Expect to go mad with power.
Examples: Wiping out most of a village in one shot, making a time lapse between when you attack someone and when they fall apart, creating a puzzle so fiendish it defeats most magical attempts to solve it
Skill levels higher than Master are theoretically possible, but even Master is a rare and dangerous feat by itself.
Skills provide bonuses to rolls made using them. Additionally, every time you level up a skill, you may select a perk to go with it. Perks are usually situational bonuses related to the skill in question.
| Name | Bonus | Experience to Next Level | Total Experience to Attain |
| Inexperienced | -1 | 2 | 0 |
| Dabbling | +0 | 4 | 2 |
| Novice | +1 | 8 | 6 |
| Apprentice | +2 | 16 | 14 |
| Adept | +3 | 32 | 30 |
| Expert | +4 | 64 | 62 |
| Master | +5 | 128 | 126 |
Skills increase through use. More specifically, rolling higher numbers gives experience in that action. Not only does experience gain ignore modifiers, it actually adds their inverse directly to experience gained. In other words, attempting an action with a -1 penalty will always grant at least one experience point; a -2 will grant 2, etc.
| Roll | Experience | Effect |
| 6 | +2 | You succeeded better than expected. May have unfortunate side effects. |
| 5 | +2 | You succeeded perfectly, or at least as perfectly as you could given the circumstances. |
| 4 | +1 | You succeeded. Note that depending on the action, this might still not be quite what you wanted. |
| 3 | +1 | You succeeded somewhat. Usually this means less of an effect than you intended, or progress made but not completion. |
| 2 | +0 | You failed. Depending on the action, this might just mean nothing happened, or it could have negative consequences. |
| 1 | +0 | You failed miserably, making the situation worse. Good luck. |
Above 6 or below 1 are generally just more severe forms of their respective effects.
A more detailed explanation of skill levels is as such:
Inexperienced means you have little or no technical knowledge of something, meaning you're probably not even sure where to begin. Expect to accomplish laughably crude or simple effects, if you succeed at all.
Dabbling means you understand roughly how something works, but lack technical knowledge in it. Expect to achieve very limited, specific effects.
Novice means you have some experience and deeper understanding of something, but still not enough to be very impressive. Expect to achieve useful but situational or lackluster effects.
Examples: Basic fireball, weak feint, making a simple chest
Apprentice means you understand the subject well enough to be dangerous, but you've still got a lot to learn. Expect to achieve creative or powerful effects, but probably not both.
Examples: Lighting someone on fire, feinting for a more vicious blow, making a locking chest with a hidden compartment in it
Adept means you have a good mastery of the subject, and can achieve powerful and creative effects with it. Expect to be able to do things that leave the unskilled gawking in surprise.
Examples: Roasting someone to an ashy shell, dismembering a target, making a trapped, locked puzzle chest with multiple compartments
Expert means you're incredibly skilled in a given area, able to accomplish things that probably shouldn't be possible. Expect to laugh maniacally a lot.
Examples: Creating a searing inferno around yourself, grabbing an enemy's weapon midswing and attacking them with it, creating a fiendish trap system to guard a vault
Master means you're unbelievably skilled in a given area, able to do things that definitely shouldn't be possible. Expect to go mad with power.
Examples: Wiping out most of a village in one shot, making a time lapse between when you attack someone and when they fall apart, creating a puzzle so fiendish it defeats most magical attempts to solve it
Skill levels higher than Master are theoretically possible, but even Master is a rare and dangerous feat by itself.
Spoiler: Magic (click to show/hide)
Magic is powerful but dangerous. A low roll using magic can have very unpleasant effects on the caster; rolling a 0 or lower has a very good chance of maiming the caster in some fashion.
Magic can be used freeform, but incurs a -1 penalty for doing so. Rolling well on freeform magic, especially multiple times, may allow you to master it as a spell, which has no such penalty. All spells incur a penalty equal to their level, however, meaning a Master-level spell may be cast by a Master-level mage with no modifiers, or by someone of lesser skill at increasing penalties. Spells may also be taught or found under certain circumstances.
Magic (as well as other skills) may be combined for more useful and powerful effects.
The following is a list of known schools. Players may invent their own schools if desired, subject to GM approval.
Fire Magic is the creation and manipulation of fire. It's quite possibly the most obvious and well-known offensive school known, but can also achieve interesting effects with more subtle uses of flame.
Ice Magic is the creation and manipulation of ice. While less well-known than fire, it's nonetheless an obvious school with a variety of offensive, defensive, and practical applications.
Lightning Magic is the creation and manipulation of lightning. It has few practical applications, but is an extremely flexible offensive school.
Necromancy is the hostile manipulation of the living and dead. It's an extremely versatile school, albeit one that's often rather unsavory and dangerous.
Restoration is the benign manipulation of the living and the dead. While it's best known for healing, it has a wide range of applications concerning the body.
Conjuration is the summoning of otherworldly forces, objects, and creatures. It tends to be rather difficult to use, but has some obvious variety.
Magic can be used freeform, but incurs a -1 penalty for doing so. Rolling well on freeform magic, especially multiple times, may allow you to master it as a spell, which has no such penalty. All spells incur a penalty equal to their level, however, meaning a Master-level spell may be cast by a Master-level mage with no modifiers, or by someone of lesser skill at increasing penalties. Spells may also be taught or found under certain circumstances.
Magic (as well as other skills) may be combined for more useful and powerful effects.
The following is a list of known schools. Players may invent their own schools if desired, subject to GM approval.
Fire Magic is the creation and manipulation of fire. It's quite possibly the most obvious and well-known offensive school known, but can also achieve interesting effects with more subtle uses of flame.
Ice Magic is the creation and manipulation of ice. While less well-known than fire, it's nonetheless an obvious school with a variety of offensive, defensive, and practical applications.
Lightning Magic is the creation and manipulation of lightning. It has few practical applications, but is an extremely flexible offensive school.
Necromancy is the hostile manipulation of the living and dead. It's an extremely versatile school, albeit one that's often rather unsavory and dangerous.
Restoration is the benign manipulation of the living and the dead. While it's best known for healing, it has a wide range of applications concerning the body.
Conjuration is the summoning of otherworldly forces, objects, and creatures. It tends to be rather difficult to use, but has some obvious variety.
More coming later, but I want this up in the meantime. If you have any specific questions or requests, let me know. I recommend making a mage, as they tend to be quite a bit more fun, but I do intend to try to accommodate warriors and such doing nifty things (disarming, throwing people off bridges, etc). Also note that you're probably more likely to die from your or someone else's spells backfiring than the work of an enemy.
