So did this challenge intimidate Cassie, Drake, and Vorian? D:
A challenge for Drake: Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to describe that moment for your character, before the choice was made, and try to decide if they would make that same choice if they had it to do over...
Let me see if the brain can work ...
"I can neither confirm nor deny that I have known your mother, Doctor Khoth."
Mahorf: Check out the Khu, in its malign ghost form. Perhaps that's what happens when a person is deprived of a piece of their being: they become a hungry ghost type of creature, always seeking that lost part and tearing it from others if necessary.
So shall we call it? Start the New Year clean, without the guilt/pressure of a dying pbp?
I'm ready and willing to hang up the whip and cane if everybody else is comfortable with it.
But even if the game dies, Vorian will live on!
Oh, I'm willing to keep going if others are, believe me. These are some great characters.
I wasn't able to get much going over the holidays, but I'd certainly like to keep going if others are still up for it.
I have plans to kind of reset us a little if everyone is still around.
I am going to story write some things about the encounter between Taraz and his sister Ulrikke before he attempts to reunite with the others.
My goal will be to introduce the city of Rome as the meeting place and essentially fast forward everyone to that place. Please feel free to throw out some ideas of what you would like to have your characters do in Morocco and anywhere else you think you would go. This is also the chance to retire any characters off-screen for a time, if you feel they need a break but can still return.
Some discussion was given for actually using the FATE system to give the characters some statistics. I am up for this as long as everyone realizes some characters will certainly seem more overpowered than others. I will not be providing maps for encounters, as that would be very anti-freeform. I may throw up an image here and there that looks mappish but not to count squares just as a frame of reference on what an area or interior will look like.
Looking forward to moving on to the next step! :D
I have a post to make for solo!Rashida before we get to Morocco.
I like the idea of shortcutting Morocco. We're trying to come up with why we would go to Rome.
You may obviously post anything you feel needs to get done before I advance the story. Just keep in mind, I feel a small time jump to get everyone back in the same space is warranted. Considering we have certainly been big with flashbacks. You are more than welcome to continue to freeform Morocco in [ quote ] form or spoilers, but the real action will be back to thwarting a new von Ryuko/Massri/Rorenson/Vorian enemy group (three!) scheme.
I am also toying with the idea of providing some very brief explanations as to what Kimefe, Andrezi, Alessandra, and Jin are doing.
OK, currently:
Meowselmom and Gahiji are en route to Egypt in Vorian's ship, Virago. They have on board three sarcophagi that Gahiji thinks are important to the 'evil contingent' of the Massri clan: Apep, Set, and another. He thinks. He's not sure who is really there, but three elaborate sarcophagi when most of the bad/neutral guys have already been found seems promising to him. Of course, the good guys have not been found, which is why the Massri avatar balance is leaning toward evil. Ma'at, though neutral, is all about balance and truth and does not want to see the elimination of the good avatars.
Meowselmom/Gahiji attacked a fuel depot in Morocco, raining destruction upon the populace and pressing the able-bodied young adults into service aboard Virago.
Our main batch of heroes is aboard the airship headed to Morocco to follow the baddies.
Taraz and Mimi are meeting with his sister.
Mahorfeus has used the last of his ichor and is afraid his lack of shadow will cripple and kill him.
We have a lot of options to get to Rome. We can go there in hopes of helping Vorian become whole-souled. Or we can go after Morocco, fleeing there for refuge after grabbing a sarcophagus. Or grab Meows' mom and hold her captive in her helmet. We need to destroy Virago's railgun because it's ridiculously OP. In fact, MM and G could have destroyed it firing it just for fun, especially with a novice crew. They may not have realized they needed cooldown time.
Maybe Cassie traps MM in a crystal/tube thingie like she did her husband. Maybe she seduces Gahiji away from MM (unlikely with the sarcophagi involved).
Maybe Virago blows up and MM hitches a ride on Gahiji, making the combination more insane. If Virago blows, will the sarcophagi be destroyed?
Vorian may also be able to use something in Rome to restore him or replace the ichor.
Who is the mysterious man that was following Rashida and the tiefling? What is he doing now that they have left? Is he related to Vorian's shadowy tormentor?
(Notes from chat)
Yep, that sounds good. I like the idea that MM & G rapid fired the rail-gun for fun - maybe even at a target (like a town) that could come to bite us all later. (Maybe mysterious robed Bedouins coming after the gang, especially if we've grabbed something/MM helmet)
Although I do agree with Treppa in chat, we need to have a few loose ends - not too many.
Taking an item from MM & G, or maybe part of them could be fun. And I especially like the pairing of them since it reduces the factions, whilst putting them as a bit of a wild card pairing.
Thinking about it this game is a tad like a Superhero comic, with Gahiji & MM being a pairing of Joker & Riddler, then there's other villains out in the shadows like Ryuko etc.
I kind of look at the world the same way. The one thing that I will be doing is creating more allies for our motley group. So far every powerful group has been all baddies or corrupt. I would like to remove some of the hopelessness from the situation. Too much hopelessness would typically result in heroes giving up on heroism and reverting to self-preservation.
Let's face it, Taraz has no real investment to save anyone beyond himself, Rashida, and the Duchess given his bloodline. If he were to decide there is no preventing the evil of von Ryuko or the disaster of the unbalancing of the Massris or the other yet unrevealed parties threatening the world state, he really has nothing to gain by fighting his family.
Personally I would rather a more heroic end to the group's foray. The ship comes upon the Virago harassing and pillaging a village and manages to do surprise boarding action. Various villainous and heroic actions ensue.
Results:
- The physics gun is sabotaged directly due to heroic effort or clever trickery. Another fun thought is that a vital component is removed. Something like the theory of how the physics of the gun works is removed. Something intangible that is somehow tangibly manipulated. Like maybe an inscrutable formula etched on a shard of pottery that is fit into a slot. Vorian found it in Machu Picchu or something after battling the human/alien hybrid descendants of the Mayans...(was that a spoiler?)
- Virago temporarily out of commission. Most likely minor sabotage or possibly Vorian initiating some type of override. If Vorian "interfaces" with the control system directly, it could allow an opportunity for him to "battle" the MeowselsMom resulting in him discovering power that comes from his current handicap... Conversely, the Mme DuSollier could pull off some spirit engineering magic as she and Rashida battle Gahiji through the decks of the engine room
- Larcenous activity of the highest levels. Re-acquisition of Vorian's antiquities (or partial). It will be good for the heroes to have some mystical/scientific equipment. Could help provide some punch for some of our less super characters. There is also some fun in the notion that the baddies get some toys to themselves...which they will try and discover now that they are gnashing their fangs at this unexpected defeat. Those pitiful creatures came and took things from this room?? How dare they steal the sarcophagi! Yes...yes! This <insert object> is magic and will make them suffer! <queue two sets of maniacal laughter>
- Any other fun things you guys want to include.
All of this is just kind of a guideline, but I would say that my desire is to actual see you guys dream up an actual win for the home team. Everyone seems so set on increasing the drama, you forget the good guys do have to succeed once in a while. ;-)
We thwarted the nefarious von Ryuko's sinister plans on the island, remember? And I think it's only been about a week since then. *headdesk*. But yeah, they've had some time to gather their wits and resources. It would be good to go on the attack, and MM/G are the bad guys they know about right now.
Vorian starred in 'Pathways Into Darkness'? Cool!
Snagging something sarcophigal and fleeing might be a good way to get to Rome, yeah. It might be a good idea if everyone gave their characters a bit of thought on what super power to develop/discover/reveal during the process.
I suppose that could be seen as a 'win'. :P
I will say that a lot of the freeform that followed introduced ideas that suggested plans within plots and ulterior motives within those plans which makes the 'victory' a lot less certain.
We want a win, but also want to move the location to Rome to reunite the party, right?
To be perfectly frank, that is not necessarily something you all need to include. I was going to do that regardless. It's the characterization and growth I don't want to control or unduly influence. They are your characters, so I want you to make those decisions.
In fact, my upcoming fast forward doesn't make any excuses about why your characters are there. Mostly just that you are. I truly expect a lot of flashback posts or in-character posts freeforming past events ("Remember in Morocco when you punched that crony of von Ryuko's in the face when he tried to take the crystal chassis, Cassie?" "I do, he had two left eyes. I'll never forget that face.").
My main goal with this is to reunite all the characters and progress the storyline. Once you have all settled on your Moroccan adventures, I will begin asking for PMs giving me ideas of what you would like to have accomplished post-Morocco during the time arriving in Rome. Also, as each person seems to have some villain character under their control, I want suggestions for how I should use them, so I can also progress their various timelines.
If you want to get started on that early, feel free, but I imagine a lot will depend on everyone's Moroccan summaries. :D
Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Rather than us trying to come up with an amazing uber-post, whilst waiting on another person to do it too &/or not wanting to step on peoples toes with our own anrration.
Basically, I see it as us deciding what happened in the interlude - then doing maybe a small post.
Good point, DSX. Overall, I think working out the major bullet points of the Moroccan escapade are good. The three I bolded above are pretty much what needs to get nailed down. Figure that out which of you were involved in each of those, and anything major that comes as a consequence. The little fun details can all be introduced or remembered later.
I feel most people have agreed the general notions I mentioned above are the desired outcome of whatever the specifics are that reach those points. If it will help, I am willing to make rulings on story events if you want to do something, but don't want to take full responsibility for the whole thing. You can float it here, and I will yea/nay it into canon, so the others have to work around it from now on.
That means the first responders here could be dictating the fate of Morocco's episode!
The general idea behind the physics/rail/coil/Gauss/whatever gun is that it used to be common in warfare, before being banned outright by the League. They didn't want nobles running around with private armies and weapons of mass destruction. Virago is an old warship that was supposed to have had all of its weapons decommissioned. For whatever reasons, all of its arms but the main cannon were disabled. (Perhaps a testament to the shady means by which Vorian obtained the ship; he didn't really intend to purchase a ship with an outlawed weapon. Maybe an attempt by a rival to ruin him?) He kept it because he liked the sense of power it gave him; for all intents and purposes, it was just another trophy. Von Ryuko's island was where he actually used it for the first time.
Meowselmom knows about the weapon's limitations, but being the psychopath that she is, she could probably be tricked into ignoring them. I think the first two bullet points could be done as one here; perhaps Meows distracts her mother, allowing for Vorian to sabotage the weapon? The misfire would certainly be significant enough to cripple the ship.
As for his handicap... I think that would maybe depend on whether Vorian's remaining crew members are still alive. Frankly getting them all out of there somehow is improbable... so I'm thinking they're dead.
Vorian's situation is yours to control entirely, Mahorfeus, so no yea/nay from me will surface.
Interesting backstory for the weapon. Almost a shame it will be out of the action and will never be of use to our group in the future when things get really hairy. Could Vorian's sabotage be the removal of something important that could later be used to reconstruct the device? Or even would you prefer a "Point it at the deck!' kind of moment (even if the literal barrel is not pointed at the deck, unblocked backflash or perhaps an unmoored barrel in full recoil would be heavily damaging to the weapon and Virago.)
It still sounds like you're uncertain, so I will defer full canon addition, but your idea has merit, and you can have a "Yea!' if you give us the overview post of the action, Mahorfeus. :)
You others still have time! It's not a full "yea!" yet!
Just so you know, Rashida's visit to the Vatican occurred during the events in Morocco. It is past tense at the point we're picking up.
Name change for gameplay and discussion thread have been requested.
Feel free to show your support.
Sorry about dropping a bunch of stuff in and botting some PC's for a scene, but nobody seemed to have much idea of what actually happened in Morocco. So Ralph did a great job as Captain and we're set up for the next part of the action! Thanks for the setup, Leo. ;)
You guys are doing great with the bits of flashback and still advancing characters on the ride to Rome. Bravo!
Oh Vorian, you rascal!
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Regarding the House of Ritter reveal:
Dun-dun-dunh!!!
It's lovely to see a nod to poor Eleanor, Duchess of Montresor. :D
Campaign tab got a major overhaul. Anyone who needs a character moved from NPC status to Active PC, let me know. It's easier to access PCs in the dropdown than NPCs.
Next change is to incorporate the wiki! Of course everyone is free to update their profiles and their NPCs profiles as the Campaign tab links to most of the character avatars.
I'm not so sure Ma'at dresses like that second one. O_O
It's anime'd up a bit, I agree, but I liked the style. It reminded me of the Avatar: Last Airbender animation, and it looked cool. Despite being nearly naked, she does look pretty badass and intimidating.
I am going to story write some things about the encounter between Taraz and his sister Ulrikke before he attempts to reunite with the others.
My goal will be to introduce the city of Rome as the meeting place and essentially fast forward everyone to that place. Please feel free to throw out some ideas of what you would like to have your characters do in Morocco and anywhere else you think you would go. This is also the chance to retire any characters off-screen for a time, if you feel they need a break but can still return.
Some discussion was given for actually using the FATE system to give the characters some statistics. I am up for this as long as everyone realizes some characters will certainly seem more overpowered than others. I will not be providing maps for encounters, as that would be very anti-freeform. I may throw up an image here and there that looks mappish but not to count squares just as a frame of reference on what an area or interior will look like.
Results:
- The physics gun is sabotaged directly due to heroic effort or clever trickery. Another fun thought is that a vital component is removed. Something like the theory of how the physics of the gun works is removed. Something intangible that is somehow tangibly manipulated. Like maybe an inscrutable formula etched on a shard of pottery that is fit into a slot. Vorian found it in Machu Picchu or something after battling the human/alien hybrid descendants of the Mayans...(was that a spoiler?)
- Virago temporarily out of commission. Most likely minor sabotage or possibly Vorian initiating some type of override. If Vorian "interfaces" with the control system directly, it could allow an opportunity for him to "battle" the MeowselsMom resulting in him discovering power that comes from his current handicap... Conversely, the Mme DuSollier could pull off some spirit engineering magic as she and Rashida battle Gahiji through the decks of the engine room
- Larcenous activity of the highest levels. Re-acquisition of Vorian's antiquities (or partial). It will be good for the heroes to have some mystical/scientific equipment. Could help provide some punch for some of our less super characters. There is also some fun in the notion that the baddies get some toys to themselves...which they will try and discover now that they are gnashing their fangs at this unexpected defeat. Those pitiful creatures came and took things from this room?? How dare they steal the sarcophagi! Yes...yes! This <insert object> is magic and will make them suffer! <queue two sets of maniacal laughter>
My main goal with this is to reunite all the characters and progress the storyline. Once you have all settled on your Moroccan adventures, I will begin asking for PMs giving me ideas of what you would like to have accomplished post-Morocco during the time arriving in Rome. Also, as each person seems to have some villain character under their control, I want suggestions for how I should use them, so I can also progress their various timelines.
If you want to get started on that early, feel free, but I imagine a lot will depend on everyone's Moroccan summaries. :D
As always, I am available for any questions, or if you feel you need to talk things out to help the creative process. :-D
Oooh I like the idea's of heading under the catacombs of Rome. Perhaps to inter/replace a spiritual artifact that we found. Especially since there is/should be a small connection between Cassie and on of the dead anti-Popes
Definitely PM me or post some more info on that here. And I am assuming you don't mean "anti-Pope" as in some kind of opposite of an actual pope, but just the "undead" spirit energy of the popes. That would just get confusing otherwise.
Also that idea could cross over very interestingly given the current Pope and his origins...
The Vatican Necropolis is certainly a thing. Spirits everywhere, and seeing as a chunk of the group have something to do with death (literally), stuff could happen.
Rome is a bad place for Vorian to be. He has angered the church in the past, and depending on how angry they are, they might want him outright dead. Even worse if they find out about his shadow, which is more or less a demon in its own right. I am going to go ahead and guess that it does not respond well to "holiness," whether that is a thing or not. I figure The Almighty is fundamentally different from say, Maat (i.e., not an alien from another planet). So Vorian's very existence is basically blasphemy.
He doesn't have the Grail with him, but brownie points to anyone who actually does...
Edit: I was kind of excited about utilizing the FATE rules for this, but after having a brief taste of them in practice, I think my mind has changed a little. It is a fun system that seems thematically appropriate, but I feel like even with its openness, AWWE would lose a lot of the freedom it has as a freeform game. Because rules always constrain things.
I'm kind of inclined to agree, Vorian regarding FATE.
Also, don't assume too much holiness abounds in the Holy City. If we're supposing such a thing exists as what Vorian is facing...this is surely not the first time it has happened. I would say Vorian may discover there is still plenty of non-threatening people and places in Rome. Would I suggest he make himself public and announce his condition? well...let's just say that could be complicated.
Incidentally, the serv-bot and hotel locale was just a plot device to get you guys started. I'm not planning on doing anything specific with that. Freeform away!
AWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ISSSS BAAAAAAAAACK!
Lol, wow, I just realized Rashibot has her own avatar and picture. I read that post a while back and never noticed!
Who art thou, stranger?
Rashibot is much more chill and cool.
Alrighty, so the DSXungeonCrawl. Well after a bit of a talk in chat.... we were possibly thinking of the evening of the 26th of Dec
I've all week off afterwards, so I'm easy.
The module is Fangwood Keep, so a keep in the borderlands between 2 countries currently engaged in a cold war after a period of heated activity.
The PC's will be a team that knows each other, generally good aligned, level 4.
Sweet! We Skyping? Using an online mapping/roller (Roll20 or whatever)?
What's our point buy, HP, and gold? Any house rules?
20 point buy, roll for HP but minimum 1/2+1, standard WBL.
Are you... talking to yourself? O.O