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Author Topic: Naturalist Expedition ends in abrupt disaster (sorry!)  (Read 4252 times)

Trinculoisdead

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Naturalist Expedition ends in abrupt disaster (sorry!)
« on: April 16, 2019, 03:10:11 am »

"Ahh... what a glorious day on which to collect never-before-seen specimens for the Royal Museum!" You think to yourself, as you stuff a wriggling octopus into a holding tank below decks. It was a lucky thing, First Mate McKinnon rescuing this creature from the day's catch before the galley could get their irreverent hands on it. These sailors! No respect for the delights of science. You consider their lack of appreciation as you tip in some more formalin into the jar of Sumatran rat-brains you gathered while in port. Lovely variety of rodents, in Singapore... But that was two weeks ago now. The Royal Naturalist Fleet, comprised of three of the most well-equipped scientific vessels ever set forth from London, were now well on their way to their primary goal: a mysterious island somewhere south of Maluku, in the Banda Sea. Its exact location seems almost a matter of guess-work, sea-charts are unusually contradictory as concerns the island, and local sailors are even less helpful, speaking in riddles more often than not.

But soon, the whole world will learn of it! And be amazed by the exotic specimens brought back to the Royal Menagerie. The three ship's enormous open-air cages can hold any manner of beast or bird. And you, along with your various fellow naturalists, will soon fill them up.

A perpetual storm raged around the island, which helped to find it, but made it a real bugger of a time to get to.

 Three days, three attempts, but finally the fleet broke through. Before you rose steep cliffs of basalt, riddled with narrow-mouthed caverns, and beyond them dense jungles climbing into low-lying clouds. The cliffs themselves resembled nothing so much as mottled walls of titanic skulls, fused into fantastic arrangements. The captain tells you that the island must be some twenty miles across, and it takes the rest of the day to sail 'round to the south side, where a relatively calm cove is discovered. There, a base camp is set up on the dark volcanic sand, and while the sailors grunt and sweat, hoisting various instruments and gear ashore, you assemble under a large lean-to along with your fellows, to receive your orders from Sir Stillfrey, the Leader of the expedition.

"You know our goals here!" the old man, still recovering from an extended sickness at sea, wheezes. "Be thorough! Be diligent! Her Majesty expects nothing less than three ships full to the brim with new discoveries. Needless to say, a Knight-hood awaits the most successful amongst you... Polish your glasses, oil your boots, clean out your specimen cases. We begin at dawn!"
"Huzzah!" "Hear hear!" "I say, raTHER!"

The dawn comes, you step forward, gear in hand. Where to? To the east, steep cliffs riddled with caves. To the west, a broad stream flowing down through towering stands of bamboo. To the north, steep hills shrouded in mist.

You take a moment to go over your gear...

Name:
Age:
Title: Neophyte Naturalist (every 5 new species discovered = earn a better title)
Favourite Animal:
Terrain Specialty: Choose one from: Coastal, Swamp, Jungle, Plain, Mountain, Desert, or Hills (+1 to rolls made relating to that terrain)
Gear: You start with a small specimen case, and a butterfly net. Return new specimens to Sir Stillfrey to gain access to better gear. Every 5 new species gathered = new gear.
Harm: A fourth level of harm is fatal, or career-ending

And then you set out!

Spoiler: "Rules" (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: "The Dark Isle, Map" (click to show/hide)

Hall of Naturalist Fame:


Captured Creatures:
Aoi Sorasei
-Rust Sponge: A tiny red sponge, floats around in water. It is attracted to stimulation. The only one of its kind, apparently.
Nigel Fredrick
-Depressagator: a passive, man-sized moss-green alligator, seemingly depressed
Thomas Valeriso
-Crimson Clam: a reddish clam the size of your hand.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2019, 03:12:06 am by Trinculoisdead »
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King Zultan

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Re: Her Majesties Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2019, 05:16:58 am »

Name: Nigel Fredrick
Age: 54
Title: Neophyte Naturalist
Favourite Animal: Zebra
Terrain Specialty: Jungle
Gear: small specimen case, butterfly net
Logged
The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
Quote from: Leodanny
Can I have the sword when you’re done?

ziizo

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2019, 12:24:36 pm »

Name: Thomas Valeriso
Age: 33
Title: Neophyte Naturalist
Favourite Animal: Wolf
Terrain Specialty: Swamp,
Gear:  small specimen case, and a butterfly net.
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GG, Ziizo. May my spirit live on in your boobs.

TricMagic

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2019, 12:35:09 pm »

Name: Aoi Sorasei
Age: 18
Title: Neophyte Naturalist
Favourite Animal: Birds.
Terrain Specialty: Mountain.
Code: (Gear) [Select]
Small Specimen Case
Butterfly Net
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lawastooshort

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2019, 03:40:57 pm »

Oh my goodness I read naturist all the way through, that was amazing
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Trinculoisdead

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2019, 05:11:38 pm »

Oh my goodness I read naturist all the way through, that was amazing
hahaha, oh my, that's a fresh take

Trinculoisdead

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2019, 05:36:05 pm »

Alright, added some hex-exploring rules, and levels of harm. Let's begin!

Edit: post your stats with your action
« Last Edit: April 16, 2019, 06:07:28 pm by Trinculoisdead »
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TricMagic

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2019, 06:05:16 pm »

"I explore __9,11__ hex"
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King Zultan

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2019, 11:52:26 pm »

I'm gonna explore Hex 8.10.

Name: Nigel Fredrick
Age: 54
Title: Neophyte Naturalist
Favourite Animal: Zebra
Terrain Specialty: Jungle
Gear: small specimen case, butterfly net
Harm: 0
Logged
The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
Quote from: Leodanny
Can I have the sword when you’re done?

Trinculoisdead

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #9 on: April 17, 2019, 03:12:37 am »

(Heads up, I've been working on random tables for creatures with metrics like "size" and "behaviour", and I've realized that if, say, an earthworm is both tiny and "passive", then it should be captured automatically by whomever discovers it. Rule-change, I'm saying.)

I'm gonna explore Hex 8.10.

Name: Nigel Fredrick
Age: 54
Title: Neophyte Naturalist
Favourite Animal: Zebra
Terrain Specialty: Jungle
Gear: small specimen case, butterfly net
Harm: 0

1+1: 8.10 consists of steep hillsides shrouded in fog. Enormous ferns jut out here and there from rocky out-croppings, and gurgling brooks trickle down past the occasional tree. The flora is all well and good, but you don't catch sight of so much as a gnat! You are surrounded by jungle now, and a lush mountain looms to the North-east.

I'm gonna explore 9.11.

Name: Aoi Sorasei
Age: 18
Title: Neophyte Naturalist
Favourite Animal: Birds.
Terrain Specialty: Mountain.
Code: (Gear) [Select]
Small Specimen Case
Butterfly Net
Harm: 0.
Discoveries, Captures: 4, 1

5+1: Your hike quickly turns into a climb. The land rises into treacherous, jagged spires here, with precipitous cliffs jutting out above the sea. You can see grass-covered hills to the north-east, as well as a criss-crossing network of deep ravines to the east.

You find a variety of new life forms, each more interesting than the one before!
You find...
A mottled grey and purple beetle as big as your hand. It skitters away from your presence with nervous energy. It seems unusually intelligent.
A tiny red sponge, floating in a small pool. It seems attracted to your instruments when you poke it with them. As far as you can tell, this is the only one of its kind.
A metallic-orange gelatinous thing the size of your palm. It seems oblivious to your presence, but naturally camouflages itself amongst the lichens.
A rusty orange sea-bird about the size of a dog. It appears to be in the midst of mating season, and acts very shy, flying far out of reach before you can get closer to it.

You are able to capture the sponge easily enough, but when you go to retrieve the gelatinous creature in your case, the force of your touch causes it to splatter into pieces! Egads!
Meanwhile, the other two species will take more effort to recover.
+4 creatures discovered, +1 specimens procured. Name the four species you've discovered!



Spoiler: Map and Key (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: April 17, 2019, 04:10:14 am by Trinculoisdead »
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TricMagic

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2019, 10:02:10 am »

V Beetle
Rust Sponge
Sponge-Moss{Name Pending to Change}
Sunset Novas

Return to Camp with the Rust Sponge for now. I'll need a better tool to capture the Sponge-Moss
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Trinculoisdead

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #11 on: April 17, 2019, 12:06:17 pm »

(The reason it splattered is because you rolled a 6 and over-shot.)

You're contribution is accepted by Sir Stillfrey, expedition leader, but he wants more! "Yes, Neophyte Sorasei, it's a start. But your specimen case is otherwise empty. Quantity and quality, that's the example I want set by my senior naturalists!"

There are three categories of gear: minor, useful, and major. For every four specimens you return, we'll roll once on the useful table. Collect four bolded creatures to roll once on the Major table. Otherwise, if you return to camp with less than four new specimens, you get a single roll on the minor table. Returning to camp takes up a turn.

Minor Item, d20: 5. You're granted five of her Majesty's Loyal-Strike Brand matches!
« Last Edit: April 17, 2019, 12:15:27 pm by Trinculoisdead »
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ziizo

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #12 on: April 17, 2019, 07:13:19 pm »

explore 07.11
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GG, Ziizo. May my spirit live on in your boobs.

TricMagic

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2019, 07:17:05 pm »

Return to Exploration of 9,11.
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King Zultan

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Re: Her Majesty's Royal Naturalist Expedition meets... The Dark Isle
« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2019, 03:39:00 am »

I'm gonna explore Hex 8.10 again and see if I can find anything this time.

Name: Nigel Fredrick
Age: 54
Title: Neophyte Naturalist
Favourite Animal: Zebra
Terrain Specialty: Jungle
Gear: small specimen case, butterfly net
Harm: 0
Logged
The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
Quote from: Leodanny
Can I have the sword when you’re done?
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