Everett Kale's page

I would like to apologize for my absence! It's been a rough week for me, and I'm catching up. I promise to have a post up early in the morning. Thank you for your patience with me.

Grool and Kaph rush to their Captain's aid, but Kale, lost in bestial fury, turns on them and snaps his fangs, growling.

Grool frowns, puzzled. "Wha da fug, cap'n?", he mumbles.

"I don't think he even recognizes us," says Kaph nervously.

Kale's snarling expression holds not even the slightest hint of recognition, his crimson eyes filled with hate and rage.

One of the crabfolk inches a bit closer, still snipping away at the netting. Kale hisses and spits in fury. He throws his head back and roars, tears the ruined remnants of his coat and shirt from his body, and pounds his fists against his bone-plated chest.

Let's try Intimidating Display as a monster move and see what happens. This move would obviously come from the bone gorilla side of the potion, and is basically what a typical gorilla would do: pounding his chest and roaring to scare away lesser opponents. That's one out of three Warp spent, two points remaining.

Oh, and don't worry about the coat! Kaph, in addition to being skilled with a hammer and nails, is also a deft hand with a needle and thread. The ever-helpful cabin boy will be able to fix up Kale's coat like new, just as soon as all this battling is over.

Perhaps we'll just have to wing it on the Warp rules. We'll see what Mogthrasir advises. I'm sure we can come up with something cool. (I was tempted to suggest regeneration as a monster move, but I thought that might be going a bit too far).

And yes, the tusk is on the ice platform near you, sticking out of it like the Sword in the Stone.

Damage from Barbed Net: 1d4 ⇒ 3

The barbs rip apart the back of Kale's coat, shredding through the fine cloth and leaving bloodly lines down his back. The shredded coat reveals the poor Captain's skin is rapidly growing darker, with thick bony plates gradually erupting through his flesh.

He kicks at the dead crustacean and growls in frustration. As the other two boarding crabs begin snipping through the net, Kale turns toward them and hisses, his face distorted by blood and rage.

Meanwhile...

When the ship tilted, the cassiopian tusk actually ended up rolling back toward Kale. But during his wild fracas with the crusteacean, he kicked the sword right off the side of the ship! It sailed through the air and crashed, point first, into a hunk of ice several yards away.

This would be the 'platform' of ice mentioned by Mogthrasir above.

Damage from Crab Battling: 1d6 + 1d4 ⇒ (6) + (3) = 9

Kale screeches in a mixture of rage and pain, blood streaming down his face and into his beard. He pays little heed to his shattered nose and cracked fangs, single-mindedly focused on battling the crab in front of him, still scrabbling to climb onto its back. He doesn't even seem to notice as the barbed net falls across his shoulders. Gnashing, growling, roaring, he assaults the beast with an unreasoning tirade of brutality.

Hack and Slash +STR: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 3) + 1 = 8
Hacking Damage: 1d8 + 1d4 ⇒ (5) + (4) = 9

Soooo... am I the only Whovian here? 'Cause that was a brilliant reference. :P

I thought it was a very sharp reference, myself! I'm also a Doctor Who enthusiast. But shouldn't Quelthas be "the Oncoming Storm Mage"?

I wonder if you could run a Doctor Who game using the Dungeon World system? Would you call it DW: DW? And what if you had a crossover with Darkwing Duck? Would it be DW: DW x DW?

Oh, and a happy belated birthday to you, Mr. Greybreak! And happy early birthday to everyone else. It looks like we've got a lot of September children in this group; mine's the 15th, actually...

A Few Seconds Ago...

It was a harrowing battle, but Kale's spirits were high. His crew had faced worse, and he was confident in their ability to repel the Orcillians. The Kraken, on the other hand...well, that was still to come, and he'd face that crisis when it reared its ugly head. But at this moment in time, facing off against massive crab-taurs, the serrated tooth of a leviathan shark clutched in his hand, Kale felt good. Clear-headed. In control.

That's when things...changed.

Kale's perception slowed to a crawl. Nuemo's mad cackling echoed slowly from far away, deep and booming like a lost whale's song. The ship rolled under his feet, the sky cracked and whirled. The cassiopian tusk clattered to the deck, coming to a stop beside the railing.

"My teeth feel soft," the dazed Captain mumbled, before closing his eyes and--

NOW

--Kale throws his head back and roars. His eyes are suddenly and violently bloodshot, his mouth a savage nightmare of jagged fangs.

"RrraarrARRRRGH!"

He leaps toward the lead crustacean and scrabbles to climb onto its back. He snaps his jaws toward any soft flesh he can reach, trying to bite off a tender eyestalk or antenna.

Kale I think you missed my off-topic question due to Mog's filibuster and the thread switching pages.

If I had approached you and requested a few of your hairs for my experiments, would you have allowed it? I just have to know if I got my hairs from you with your permission or not; either way, I have some.

Whoops! I did see your question, but forgot to respond, my bad. Yes, Kale would give Nuemo his hair, though he would ask what it was for.

This plays well with Kale's current Bond with Numeo. The Captain is trying to figure out if he can trust the Alchemist, and what Nuemo does with the hair will certainly have a bearing on how that Bond resolves.

I still think the real question here is whether we think Hirelings should be up front with you, or in the back.

• If they're up front, they'll take a bit of the spotlight. They'll also be more likely to die (ironic since they're more durable. But I tend to break durable things more often then fragile things, because that's what they're made for). You also may have to pay more if you aren't careful how you use them.
  
• If they're in the back, your characters remain the sole focus with out any being shifted to them. The hirelings interact in the fiction only by aiding you. This way they're also likely to stick around longer, and there's a bit less to track (injuries, custom moves, etc.)
  

Hmm. This is a tough one, and I appreciate how much thought you've put into reflecting on it (I enjoy a good Filibuster from time to time).

After some consideration, though, I think that the 'background' option makes the most sense for the style in which we've been playing. We've focused a lot on world-building and texture-creating, and the hirelings have grown organically out of that. I see them as being part of the setting.

I rather like the 'spotlight' hireling mode, and I would be interested in playing in a campaign that used that option as its focus. But it doesn't feel, to me, to be the best option for this campaign.

I think the hit box concept is the designer's attempt to make damage more abstract for hirelings, in theory requiring less bookkeeping. I would say that we could choose to view them more as descriptors (coming from the perspective that the fiction drives the mechanics). For instance, each hireling could be described as healthy, slightly hurt, kind of hurt, badly hurt, and dead (note that this is the same as having three 'hit boxes', just phrased differently). With that in mind, the GM could adjudicate that further sources of minor damage might not necessarily change the descriptor; an additional bunny bite wouldn't downgrade the hireling any further than 'slightly hurt'. At the same time, sources of extraordinary damage might cause the level of descriptor to skip ahead--one furious swipe from Chief Dragon might take the hireling straight to 'badly hurt'.

This way of looking at the hit box rules does require more judgement on the GM's part. But it strikes me as pretty close to how we were already doing things. Reading back over the scenes in the admiral's office as an example, we had Kaph at 'slightly hurt' and Cue Ball at 'badly hurt'.

I do agree that Loyalty seems to be tough to maintain, and some of the rules do feel a little vague to me. I'm not sure why Loyalty would automatically decrease by one at the end of each session (I can see it decreasing if you didn't pay the hireling's cost, sure, but the fact that it decreases even if you did pay seems odd to me). Also, I noticed that when a hireling reaches minimum loyalty, the GM takes control of them. But the level of 'minimum' loyalty wasn't made clear. Is it -3, or 0?

Of course, when you pay a hireling's cost, or let them follow their instinct, their Loyalty increases, and the automatic decrease in Loyalty at the end of each session would balance that out. But I'd rather the Loyalty stat itself be less susceptible to change, and things like letting the hireling follow its instinct rewarded with temporary Loyalty modifiers (for example, +1 Loyalty ongoing for the next two actions, or something similar).

As the vile Crustacean raises its shield, threatening Kale, the Captain steps back, surrendering his ground. "They're too strong for us, Mr. Numeo," Kale says with a wink toward the alchemist. "There's no use in trying to stand our ground! Pull back!"

All right, you big hunk of shellfish, Kale thinks. Take my bluff and come at me. Just a few steps closer, and you'll be right under Eli's nets...

Rather than confront the Crustacean in melee, Kale is going to step back and give it what it wants--cleared space. Of course, he's just bluffing, hoping to lure the creature forward into a trap. What sort of roll, if any, would be appropriate here?

Regarding the ominous Death Mask fungus, what about the possibility that Pird the Patcher is carrying some? After all, Pird is always gathering up exotic plants to cut with his Djo-root, searching for ways to enhance its narcotic effect. He might not be willing to part with it, though--he can be awfully protective of his stash... (requiring, perhaps, a Loyalty roll to obtain the fungus).

"Leave my alchemist alone!", Kale bellows. He takes a quick step forward and to the right, his long coat flapping, and feints at the crustacean.

Defend Nuemo: 2d6 + 0 ⇒ (4, 3) + 0 = 7

For the first few seconds, Kale does nothing but watch, eyes darting back and forth as he analyzes the merfolk's plan of attack. He smiles proudly at his crew's disciplined reaction to the assault. Well done, Mr. Greybreak, he thinks, taking note of the first mate's sharp, efficient orders.

"Keep calm, lads," Kale calls out, smiling confidently as strides toward the starboard bow. "Our bottom-dwelling friends want to intimidate us with brute force, but they're sorely lacking in brains, as you can see." He leans down, grabs one of the spear-tipped 'fishing' lines and pulls it free from the deck with a grunt, dragging it along behind him as he crosses to the port side. "What we've got, that they lack," he says, "is the ability to work together, not getting in each other's way," yanking loose another spear, this time one flung up from the opposite side of the ship. With an old sailor's skill, he lashes the two lines together, then flicks the taut line and laughs. "Ha! Tug on that a while, eh?"

"That's why we only board a ship from one side, lads," Kale says nonchalantly, as though the life-and-death matter of the assault was merely an everyday occurrence. "So you don't get tangled up with your buddy coming up the other way."

He raises his voice, his rich timbre carrying up and down the length of the ship. "The Orcillians have us stopped, my lads, but we know more about taking a ship than they'll ever learn! Keep your wits about you, and they'll not bother us for long!"

Kale leads the crew in a brief but enthusiastic war cry, raising the Cassiopian Tusk high above his head, before stalking forward to join Nuemo at the bow. Along the way, he stops next to Darya and leans in, whispering, "Did I hear you correctly--there's a damn Kraken coming up after us?" When she confirms, Kale winces. "Well, that's fine news," he mutters, "just fine! Anything you can do, madam, I'll be sorely grateful for, should we survive."

"Keep me updated on the Kraken, but let's not let the lads panic, yes? If we have to, I'll order an evacuation--they're strong swimmers, mostly, and can reach that shore---but I'd rather it not come to that."

"Oh, and on a related note, might you know of any witchery that might help a man breathe underwater?"

After listening to Darya's response, Kale quickly hustles forward to join Nuemo. He taps the alchemist on the shoulder and points up to where Eli is waiting with the nets. "Let's lure 'em back a bit, Mr. Nuemo," Kale says softly. "The lad'll be watching for our signal..."

So If I've read everything correctly, Quelthas has the following two options to chose from:

• Sanctuary! -- What's so treacherous about the water, besides the fear of drowning and the militaristic Mers of course? What are the Orcillians doing to draw/force you in, exactly where they want you? What do you have (physically, or metaphysically like a plan) to help keep crew onboard? Roll 2d6+Con
  
• Incoming! -- Most Mers can't leave the water, so what's coming up over the side? What's the best way to deal with them? What should be avoided at all costs? Roll 2d6+Str
  

And yes, we do sound pretty doomed...

When God Closes a Door...

The ship comes to a halt with an uncomfortable crunching and grinding noise. Kale curses and spits off the side of the bow.

"What is it, Captain?", Kaph asks nervously.

"I hope it's not what I think it is, lad," Kale mutters, leaning over the railing and peering down into the water. A jagged line of coral rises out of sea to either side of the ship. Kale curses again.

"Seven hells! We've been reefed! The ambushing cowards have brought a damn shaman with them; either a Carcharadon, or somebody familiar with their magic. I've seen this before--they've summoned up a wall of coral to hold the ship."

We can take care of the wall if we disable the shaman controlling it, Kale thinks, but it's not likely that the bastard'll show his face above the waves if'n he don't have to. Someone's going to have to go down into the water...but that's practically suicide.

"Eli? Those nets of yours you mentioned last night, are they ready to go? Good work, lad. They'll be on us soon--we have only seconds to prepare."

2d6+Int: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (4, 3) + 2 = 9

As the hours roll by...

Kale keeps his crew busy from the moment he steps foot aboard his ship, barking out orders left and right. Under his stern glare, frayed ropes are spliced, worn canvas is patched, splintered planks are sanded down. Weapons are hauled from storage, cleaned, oiled, and sharped. The crewmen gripe and grumble constantly, but the work takes their mind off the loss of Sebastion. Before long, the Eye of the Storm looks greatly refreshed, and even the most cynical of Kale's crew begins to feel a measure of pride at their successful work.

The landing crew returns to life aboard the ship quickly. Grool the Urchin remains as surly and uncooperative as ever, perhaps more so; he manages to avoid his fair share of the work while still boastfully taking credit for the renewed condition of the deck. Young Kaph, eager to be back on the ship, enthusiastically sets to work with a hammer and nails. Cue Ball spends most of his time alone, seeking out solitary jobs low in the bilge, speaking only rarely to the rest of the crew.

Kale greets Pird warmly, shaking the dwarf's hand and dragging him along toward Obed's old surgery room. "You take good care of my crew, lad," he says, with a broad fake smile, "and we'll take care of you!" The smile vanishes the second Prid is out of sight, as Kale scowls and mutters "blue-lipped bastard" under his breath.

(He makes no comment when Eli passes over the sack of coins, though his heavy sigh is tinged with disappointment.)

...and the guests arrive...

Kale turns out to be a generous host, breaking into a secret cache of Bulvarian grog to celebrate Darya's arrival (mostly for the crew's benefit, he admits to Quelthas, something warm and positive to sway them from seeing the mysterious Darya as someone to be afraid of).

"You have my thanks for your warning," Kale says. "An ambush...loses much of its sting if you know it's there in advance."

"Not to say that the Orcillian merfolk won't be a threat--but at least we've got some time to prepare. Let Mr. Greybreak know if you need anything. I've got to see to my ship, take stock of our resources." Kale touches the tip of his hat in a genteel salutle, then turns sharply and leaves the mess hall.

Duly noted regarding the experience points, Mogthrasir. Apologies for the misunderstanding. I have adjusted Kale's character sheet accordingly.

As for Kale's first impression Bond with Darya, I would like the following: "Darya represents an aspect of the ocean I haven't encountered before. I need to know more about her and her allies."

All right! Lots going on, lots to respond to, let's see here...

After the session ending, Kale received +5 experience points, which brought his total to 10. Since it takes 9 points to go from level two to three, Kale has leveled up! He has 1 experience point left over (and may possibly gain two more pending approval for his Bond resolutions, see below).

I increased the Captain's Constitution by 1 (all this adventure and excitement has left him feeling younger!) which also increases his maximum hit points to 20 (nice round number!). For his new move, I took the following: Risky Gambit: When you tell an ally to do something obviously dangerous and they are put in a spot, gain +1 Gambit.

He he he...I'm going to be using that one a lot! Get ready to be thrown into a bunch of dangerous situations, my fellow players!

Kale may be eligible for two additional experience points, depending on his Bonds.

His Bond with Nuemo was the following: "If it weren't for Numeo, my crew might have starved on that island; I owe him." I feel this Bond has been resolved; Kale has come to respect Nuemo and now considers him part of his senior crew (you can tell when Kale respects you because he will put 'Mr.' in front of your name). I propose starting this as a new Bond: "I've come to respect Nuemo. But can I trust him?" This has two possible resolutions: either Kale comes to trust Nuemo and brings the alchemist into his confidence, or he chooses to remain respectful but distant, almost like an employer/employee relationship. Only time will tell which way the story goes.

I'd also like to resolve Kale's Bond with Quelthas, which was: "Quelthas and I have sailed together for years--I want to reward him for his skill and loyalty." As mentioned in passing while being hauled across the rooftops, Kale is naming Quelthas First Mate, an ample recognition of Mr. Greybreak's contribution to the ship. I propose the following Bond to replace it: "Quelthas and I need to look to our shared past in order to determine the future of our partnership together." The idea behind this Bond is to encourage us to improvise some flashbacks showing the history between Quelthas and Kale, like the story they shared with Melisande at the end of the last chapter.

If you find those resolutions acceptable, Kale will gain +2 exp, bringing his total to 3.

I also have some comments regarding your self-reflections, Mogthrasir. I believe your writing is very solid, and your organization and attention to detail is admirable. I've been very much enjoying gaming with you! I especially like the way you make an effort to bring in and encourage each player with questions and options targeted directly to them.

As for going forward, I have an idea you might like. What about starting the next session with a big action setpiece like at the beginning of the game? It could give us a way to bring the new characters into the action and get things rolling into the session. We could have a fade to black at this point, cut to commercial, and then BAM! it's two days later, you're on the ship sailing away, and a crazy situation is taking place! What do you do?

Those setpieces are certainly a lot of fun to play around with, and do a lot to capture the feel of Dungeon World. Maybe we could make it a habit to have a big setpiece every couple of sessions or so.

That's a clever idea for a familiar, I like it!

Greetings, Kana! Darya the witch sounds like an interesting concept--I look forward to learning more about her. What kind of familiar is Dusk?

A very nifty aspect of the game is that each player's input actually helps create part of the campaign world, which gives each player a lot of freedom to craft the kind of story they want to tell. It's made for a very interesting game as all our ideas mesh together in unexpected ways.

Speaking of unexpected ways, I need to take a moment to update Kale's Bonds! As we have a new character in the party, I'm adding the following bond:

Numeo straightens up to look at the captain, curious for his answer. "After Slade, or the Eye, Cap'n?" he inquires.

"If recall correctly, the mysterious Melisande advised us that Slade has already fled. We'll need to get back to our ship in order to follow him anyway."

Kale leans forward in his chair. "But we came to the port to re-supply, so I'd reckon we'd best take care o' that tonight. Or, at least, Janders and Eli can take care of it, while the rest of us try to recover from our bruises and frostbite." He tosses the bag of coins to Eli. "Lad, I need you to head up into town. As you know, the Eye has in need of repairs for while, especially to the rigging, so get us rope, timber, nails. Check with Grool, he'll let you know if there are any other supplies we're in need of."

"There's more than enough coin left over for us to splurge a bit. Pick yourself up whatever you might need, lad, and get young Janders there something nice for all his help."

He scratches his head. "Crew's a bit light at the moment, so if you run across any likely sorts, particularly one with a reasonable knowing of medicine, feel free to make 'em an offer."

Kale turns to his senior crew. "Mr. Numeo? Need anything? Ingredients for your potions, perhaps? And what about you, Mr. Greybreak? The sky's the limit! Well, 50 gold krones is the limit, but I reckon that's close enough to the sky as we're likely to see."

So I figured this would be a good time for us to do any shopping we might need to, replenish healing potions and so forth. This can also be a character building moment, to give us a bit more insight into Numeo and Quelthas based on what sort of luxuries they might want to buy themselves.

As for Eli--each of the players got to make up one NPC crewmember at the start of the story (that's where Grool, Cue Ball, and Kaph came from). If you want to create an NPC too, I figure this would be a good time to add one in, but it's completely optional if you're not interested.

Kale notices Nuemo and Eli both carefully examining The Rogue. "Careful there, lads!" He chuckles. "You crack that bottle and we might just find ourselves in a tight situation--I'd wager this room isn't quite large enough to fit a three-master like that."

Kale runs his fingers through his beard, contemplating the offer. "'Tis a puzzler: whether to align ourselves to your Compass, and accept the direction thereof, or sail free as mercenaries, trusting to naught but chance." He gives Melisande a charming smile. "I'd wager you already know my answer, lass. I'll remain independent, thank you, but since I'm in pursuit of Slade regardless, I'll retrieve your artifacts for you, and I'm sure you'll be rightfully generous in recompense."

"No offense intended to you or your band of mad archaeologists. I'm sure you're doing fine work here with your "--he waves a hand casually toward the bottled ship--"wee ships and all." He takes a seat, sighing. "To be honest, lass, I was quite a 'joiner' in my youth. I fought for my country, and I fought for my for church, but all it got me were scars and dead friends."

He pauses for a moment, and sighs again. In the dim light, he seems terribly old, and tired. "So now I just fight for myself, you see. Maybe I'll fight for my crew on occasion, if I'm not in a bad mood that day. But I'll not fight under anyone else's banner, and I'll not join your Society. You understand?"

"I don't speak for my men on this issue--they're free to sign up with your guild if it's their wish, keeping in mind that their duties to the ship come first as long as they're sailing with me."

I enjoy all of those suggestions, Quelthas! Hemp in particular makes sense, as it is fairly easy to grow. Most every ship would use hemp rope for rigging, and canvas woven from hemp fibers for sails. I'm betting most normal clothes would be made from hemp as well. Obsidian would be fantastic for scary/creepy weapons in the hands of bloodthirsty cannibals and depraved cultists. Sounds to me like spider silk would be uncommon but very useful--what do you think about an island somewhere in the Fringe whose inhabitants breed spiders for their silk, trading it with their neighbors?

As for wood--well, we need to have a bunch of wood coming from somewhere, because all these ships we'll be sailing around in and/or robbing. Can't make sailing vessels out of rocks! (Well, maybe the dwarves can, but that's a story for another day...). I'm no wood expert, but I'm guessing heavy oaks and other thick woods would be less common in an island setting, so a 'new' growth like Ironwood would fit a needed niche.

It seems like we've got a good assortment of different materials for the world (though there's aways room for more). What happens when we start to put our materials together with what we've established about the history and cultures of this world?

What materials do each particular culture tend to favor? What do they consider 'in fashion' and what helps to symbolize them? For example: I picture the Empire as being wealthy and arrogant, using lots of metals despite the fact that all of it rusts and tarnishes so quickly. They spend huge amounts of time and effort polishing and oiling their brass fittings and chrome buckles, their fancy dress armor and elegant swords, so that everything shines and gleams despite being brittle and rusted just under the surface. This not only overtly shows us how the Empire is prideful and vain, but it also acts as a metaphor--they seem strong and noble on first impression, but corruption runs deep.

What about the other cultures of the world? What do the elves prefer to build with? It looks like the halflings, or Eli at least, prefer whalebone weapons (light enough for them to use easily, while still being sharp and deadly). What else do they use? And the islanders out in Numeo's home territory--what do they like to build and craft with?

"I admit, I've considered using you as mercenaries of sorts, as you seem capable of getting into and out of scrapes. But I can't help but wonder if you'd make good Compassmen yourselves. Do you still intend to pursue Ezren Slade?"

Kale raises an eyebrow. "Aye, I do plan to follow Slade's trail. But what's that have to do with your Compass Society, lass?"

"Sir Whisner! Wasn't that the bloke with the..."

Quelthas pauses, wiggling the fingers of his left hand near the side of his head for a moment before continuing.

"You remember, with that gods-awful hat? The guy in the painting we found on that Fringe Frigate... the portrait they were using for throwing knives practice when we snuck up on em' at dawn?"

"Gah! Wish you hadn't reminded me of that particular escapade, Mr. Greybreak." Kale groans and shakes his head. "Who the hell wakes up at daybreak for target practice? We came up on 'em and there's half the damn crew up on deck with coffee and knives."

Eli gives the Captain the slightest of bows, a crooked smile and a wink, but considering the running conversation he stands quietly by and drips on the carpet.

Kale returns Eli's bow with a brief nod of his head and an equally crooked grin. "Tired of waiting behind on the ship, eh? Well, glad to have you, lad. We can't show our faces in old Port Meridian at the moment, but the soldiers won't know you--so I may send you out for an errand or two in the city, 'fore we leave."

I have been very busy the last few days, but I'm catching up. I wanted to post a little flashback showing the meeting between Kale and Eli, and I'll post in the main thread in the morning (after some sweet, sweet sleep).

But! I wanted to post this: I was talking with my brother about the resource scarcity in this world, and what people might use if metal was scarce. I had been thinking bone, from whales and leviathans, carved and re-shaped into all sorts of tools and things. I had been imagining many of the Fringe island cultures having lots of things made from bone, artfully decorated with scrimshaw carvings.

And that's not a bad idea, and should probably be used to some degree if for no other reason than that scrimshaw is awesomely pirate-y, but what my brother said in response is what blew my mind: ceramics.

Perhaps it is lack of sleep, but that sounds perfect to me! This world would have plenty of soft clay, of course, and wood to burn. And perhaps alchemists like Nuemo have perfected mixtures that allow ceramic to be strengthened to levels close to what we see in the modern world.

I can't tell if this is an awesome idea or I'm just rambling due to drowsiness. Oh well, I guess I'll find out in the morning when I look at this post and cringe.

"I am Eli Forge, I am your stowaway, and I am entirely at your service Captain Kale." Without straightening, he whipped a rolled and crumpled parchment from his waistband, and presented it with both hands to the Captain, "I hope you'll find this a fair trade for joining your crew. You come highly recommended." His odd eyes sparkled as he smiled up at Captain Kale.

Kale slowly takes the rolled parchment, maintaining eye contact with Eli the entire time. "Highly recommended, you say?" He shakes his head. "Heh. Likely that's the same thing I'd tell a ship's captain were I caught stowing aboard."

"Hmm. Credit where credit's due, lad: you're bold." A fat man, scowling and sweating, rushes up, a handful of grumbling crewmen behind him, but Kale raises a hand. "Hold off, Grool. There'll be no violence 'gainst our guest here. Take those boys and get back to work--there's likely to be storms 'fore we reach Port Meridian, and I want everything aboard the Eye all battened down and ready." Kale waves a hand dismissively at the gathered sailors. Grool sulks away, casting suspicious glances back at Eli.

Kale watches his sailors return to work, and is silent for several moments. Finally, he turns to Eli. "A long time ago, lad, I happened across a strange story in an Empire history book." Kale tucks the parchment into his coat. "They wrote that an army of 'halflings' came out of nowhere and sank half a fleet, with no provocation whatsoever. And then there was a long, noble battle, and all the halflings were driven out or destroyed..."

He gives Eli a brief smile. "But I've always suspected that story, like much of the Empire's histories, might have been a wee bit misleading in some of its particulars. Which is to say, it was roughly equal parts whalecrap and wishful thinking."

"Now, you likely know that it's a grave offense to stow away on a man's ship. So you'll be on probation at first, lad. That means you'll not be allowed off the boat, save in emergency, 'til I come to feel I can trust you. Fair enough?"

Kale shakes Eli's hand solemnly. "Let's get you to work, lad. A nimble sailor such as you was born to be up in the rigging, I'd wager..."

My character, Everett Kale, is the captain of a pirate ship named The Eye of the Storm. He's old and grizzled, but his tough exterior hides a heart of (slightly tarnished) gold.

At one point, Kale worked for the Empire, and hated Ocean People. Somewhere in the past, that changed, and now he's openly welcoming of them (in a time when few humans are). A number of his crew are brinies, including the plucky cabin boy Kaph (a young tortisefolk).

(We still don't know what happened to make Kale change his mind about brinies--I'm exploring his past through the occasional improvised flashback, which is a lot of fun!)

You're correct, the world is mostly water, scattered with lots and lots of little islands. The technology level varies from early to late renaissance. A lot of the culture of the world is connected to sailing, since fishing, whaling, and trading appear to be the main industries for most civilized peoples.

One odd thing, however, is that the stars of this world are constantly shifting, which makes navigating by stellar alignment an impossibility. As such, all forms of travel by boat are a bit more dangerous and uncertain. Good, reliable maps are rare and valuable.

We're still discovering how everything comes together, but we have established the following about the World's cultures:

Kale confidently holds Melisande's gaze for a few seconds, then smiles and shakes his head. "Well, I'll admit to being a curious captain. I would very much like to know the secret of your canted craft." He paces back and forth, hands clasped behind his back. "But, my friend, I fear this night's not been as 'profitable' for me and mine as it's been for you and yours. Why, I've one less doctor than I started the night with!"

"Granted, the loss of the cruel old leech will no doubt be a boost to the crew's morale... ", he mutters.

"But my men, fine sailors though they are, have long been accident prone. We need a reliable sawbones more than I need to sate my curiosity. And since the jingle of coin is ever pleasing to a physician's ear, the reward you've offered will go a long way toward persuading some good doctor to take up the call o' the sea."

He glances over to Numeo and Quelthas. "That is, unless my senior crew have any thoughts to share?"

He hefts the surplus bottled ship, grimacing at the poorly constructed vessel within. "Hrumph. I've seen uglier. Hell, I've captained ships that make this one look like Ardencraft." He examines the miniature craft a few seconds more, then shrugs. "I suppose it'll make a decent souvenir. Take care of this for me, would you, lad?" He passes the ship to Kaph with a wink.

After taking a moment to catch his breath and down a cup of water, Kale removes the two bottled ships from his coat and passes them to Melisande. "At the time, I reckoned that I'd grab 'em both, along with a bit of general looting, so as to make it less obvious what we were there for. 'Course, that was before their man Kersin decided to tear the damn building to pieces, which rendered my careful forethought all but moot."

"As for the missing Mr. Marsh...well, he's being chased 'round Meridian by some sort of lobster demon, last I knew. I've no care, any longer, for what happens to ol' Obed, but you might want to warn your folk to stay off the streets after dark--I've no idea how long his summoning might last, and that chitinous beast looked damn hungry, if I'm any judge."

"So, 'Melisande'." Kale stretches, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. "Do you want to tell us why that bottled ship's worth all the trouble? Or are you sticking to your story about it being naught more than a trinket?"

So what, exactly, do pirates steal?

Hello, everyone! Just popping in to apologize for taking so long to post. I got carried away by the world-building assignment and wrote a ton of stuff! Also, work has been nuts, which has been severely cutting into my writing time. I thank you for your patience, and I hope you like what I've put together.

Oh, and I really like Quelthas' post about the elves and their bureaucratic methods. Very interesting stuff--we've got quite a world coming together!

"Well met, lad," Kale says, raising his hand to clap Janders on the shoulder and quickly changing his mind. He turns instead to help his men onto the ladder, taking care to make sure both Nuemo and Cue Ball are steady enough to make it on their own.

As Grool scrambles down the ladder, Kale pauses at the edge of the rampart, looking out over the rough dockside shacks. None of these places were build to be permanent. And why bother, anyway, when there's no way to tell if the next storm to pass through will be the one to tear everything down.

Shouts and commands echo from the courtyard behind him, audible reminders that the crew hadn't reached safety just yet. Kale slips the bottled ship from his coat and examines it closely. And what makes you so special, eh?

Kale lingers for several moments more, waiting until his crew has reached the ground, watching the empty, dark streets.

Kale leans on the side of the rampart and glances over at Numeo, wrinkling his nose from the smell of the fumes. "Might want to cut back on self-administering your potions, Mr. Nuemo. Still, damn good job."

"Everyone in one piece? Good! Now, if all had gone according to plan, we'd be hauling that plank back in at about this point, and using it to make our way to the city rooftops on the other side."

He sighs. "I hate it when a plan doesn't come together. But there's no sense in crying over shattered planks, lads. Check your weapons, get ready to defend yourself."

Kale leans out over the side of the ramparts, looking out across the city.

What's the neighborhood like next to us?

Kale sputters, eyes wide with surprise. "Salty bastard?!? Mr. Greybreak, I'll have you know that your crass insubordination is hurting your chances of being named first mate of the Ey-aaaaah!" His retort turns into a scream as the slender navigator hauls the captain up by one arm and out the side of the building.

"Daaaamn your hiiiiide!" Kale stuggles to hold on to his hat with one hand, clutching tight to Quelthas with the other. The shears fall, clattering to the courtyard somewhere below. The landing on the far side rattles his teeth, and he tumbles prone across the narrow rampart, just short of knocking Kaph down.

Damn building is falling apart around us, Kale thinks, halfheartedly rifling through his pockets, and while I can put on a brave face the men, I have to admit to myself that this looks like this is the end of the road for...

Kale's line of thought is interrupted as his hand brushes against something cold and metallic in the side lining of his coat. The shears I stole from Melisandre's den! He looks down at Admiral Blackwater's floor rug. "Well," he mutters, "if it'll work for a table, why not for a rug?"

He immediately rushes over to the rug and begins cutting at it, struggling to use the rusted shears the cut the thick rug into strips. "I'm going to tie this into a crude rope, Mr. Greybreak. See if you can find me something heavy to tie onto the end. We'll toss it to Nuemo on the ramparts, and you can use it to swing across."

That'll get Quelthas out of here, Kale thinks, assuming I can tie this damn thing together in time. But how am I going to get my own self out of here? Think, Kale, think! Even as he works furiously to create his makeshift rope, Kale's eyes dart around the room, his mind frantically striving to cobble together a plan.

Kale winces as he hears the board snap. "Well, Mr. Greybreak, reckon I didn't quite manage to fly us all out of here." He looks over at his navigator and sighs. "Not much ever goes quite according to plan for us, does it?"

He glances back down toward the stairs. "I don't think they'll try to come back up for us, at least. Building's collapsing--they can either wait for us to come down, or just pick our carcass out of the rubble. They don't have to take any risks..."

He glares over at Quelthas, scowling. "And just what the duece is going on with this storm, Mr. Greybreak? First it's pouring fit to burst, then it's quiet as anything. I was hoping for the cover of rain to help us slip away from those soldiers--but it's like the weather's being obstinate on purpose."

"I count on you to be my man with an eye for storms, Mr. Greybreak. Tell me what in the seven hells is going on up there!"

Kale staggers a bit as the building shakes, the floor now sloping at a noticeable incline. "Damnit, there must be something we can use to get our hides out of here!" Kale begins frantically checking the pockets of his coat, hunting for anything that might be of use.

I suppose I'd better go ahead and attempt that aid roll. Let's see here: Aid +1 Bond, +1 Nuemo: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 4) + 2 = 8

Bottles of grog in hand, Cue Ball staggers his way toward the window, ready to escape, but Kale places a gentle hand on the bleeding man's chest. "Lad, you're too unsteady on your feet," Kale says sadly. "You're in no condition to balance across that beam by yourself, and two of us at once will snap that thing 'fore we make it across." The building rumbles and shifts again, underscoring Kale's grim words.

Cue Ball looks up at his captain, but Kale just shakes his head. "I'm not going to leave you behind, lad. But I'm about to try something risky, and I'm going to need you to trust me, okay?" Without waiting for Cue Ball to answer, Kale pushes the crewman toward the window.

"Get up on that board, lad. Good. Now sit down." Cue Ball looks at Kale, confusion evident on his face. "Sit down, you fool! We've no time for this!"

Cue Ball sits, tucking the grog into the pockets of his coat. "Good lad. Hold on to the sides, okay? Might get a splinter or two..."

Kale stands behind Cue Ball, grabs the end of the board, and lifts it up, grunting. Using the windowsill to brace himself, he lifts his end of the board up over his head, turning it from a plank into an inclined plane. Cue Ball, staggered, slides slowly down, to where Kaph, Numeo, and Grool wait on the rampart wall.

Please advise if this plan is possible, and if any rolls are needed (perhaps something Strength-related to hold the board?)

Sorry for the delay!

Kale watches as Nuemo and Kaph cross the plank. He narrows his eyes, noticing the plank weakening in the middle. May not be enough to get us all across, he muses. Ah, well. No one lives forever, after all.

He steps forward and grabs Quelthas by one hand, pulling the navigator to his feet. "I'm not sure we have the authority to order any hangings here, Mr. Greybreak, even if we knew who the engineer was. Though I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt--it's damn hard to design for things like angry water elements and suspiciously directed lightning strikes."

He turns to look around, spearing Cue Ball and Grool with fierce glares. "There's entirely too damn many of my crew still in this room," he bellows. "Get the hell across that bridge on the double! That blast may have surprised our little damp friend, but he's sure the hell not going to stand there like a lump all night, now is he?"

"That means you too, Mr. Greybreak," he says, clapping Quelthas on the shoulder. "Captain's last out of a sinking ship, you know that."

"Oh, and don't you think I didn't spot you snatching up those coins, Grool! You can turn 'em over to me later. Don't worry, you'll get your share. Now get your bloated carcasses moving!"

Cool! Then Kale takes two damage, leaving him with two hit points.

For ease of play, I'm going to assume Kale gets knocked back either way (there's a lot of ice and water and exploding going on, so a little knockback seems reasonable). We will still need to figure out how much damage he takes, but I believe that whichever way we go, he should still have at least 1 hit point left.

Kale flies back into the bookcase, smashing the shelves and scattering a pile of ledgers. "Gettin' real tired of that," he grumbles, pulling himself up yet again.

He glances over at Quelthas. "I think even my bruises have bruises, Mr. Greybreak." He shakes his head. "Damn good job with that cold snap. It may not hold for too long, so let's get a move on, eh?"

He pats Kaph on the shoulder and smiles. "In the nick of time, lad! Knew I could rely on you." Kale then lifts the Admiral's desk chair, grunts, and hurls it out the window. The heavy padded chair shatters against the courtyard below, followed by dozens of shards of glass.

"Give me a hand with this, lads." With Grool and Kaph's help, Kale gets the boarding plank out the window, laying it across the gap between the admiral's office and the ramparts.

"If I've gauged it right, boys, this plank should be just long enough for us to cross over to the wall."

"If I haven't gauged it right, well," he shrugs, "at least I won't have to listen to your complaints for very long."

To clarify, are both Kale and Quelthas taking damage, or just Quelthas? If possible, I'd like to have Kale take damage instead of Quelthas (via use of Kale's advanced tactic: 'leap in front of it'). Either way, Kale will use his Intelligent Defense special ability: when you’re using Defensive Tactics, you can always spend 1 Gambit to halve an attack's effect or damage directed at you or something you Defend. Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3 So one of us will take half damage, 1.5. (Should we round down or up? I'm not sure). Also, this maneuver will leave Kale with 0 Gambits.

Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6 Kale gains one Gambit from the damage, bringing his total to two. (But he'll spend one before this post is over).

Kale flies into the side of the desk with the force of a ramming ship. His head slams into the floor with a nasty crack, his vision blurs, and his teeth snap together, tearing his tongue. Pain shoots down his spine.

For a moment, Kale forgets entirely where he is at and what is going on. A part of him feels a deep urgency that the rest of him just can't get a handle on--wasn't I doing something?---but fortunately the sight of loyal young Kaph hammering away causes something in Kale's mind to fall back into place.

He pulls himself up onto his elbows, spits out a gob of blood and saliva that mostly hits the floor, the remainder staining his beard. He glares at Kersin. "Not bad, water boy," Kale says, shakily. "Not bad at all. And I've been backhanded by some of the best, so I know what I'm talking about."

Using the broken desk for support, Kale pulls himself to his feet. He glances at the Admiral's stash of grog, knowing a quick swallow would help with the pain. Can't afford it---need to keep my head clear. Another hit like that, though, and I won't be getting back up again...

He glances over toward Quelthas, winks. "Say, Mr. Greybreak? Maybe it's the blow to the head, but for some odd reason this whole situation reminds me of last winter, when the ship got caught in that freak ice storm up north of Foxholm. We couldn't move for nearly a week, remember that? The whole crew thanked their lucky stars when your weather magic got us out of there." Kale winks at Quelthas and tilts his head toward Kersin.

Kale's subtle advice is subtle! He's spending one Gambit to give Quelthas a +1 on his next spellcasting roll.

But before Quelthas has a chance to respond, Kersin attacks with a split wave. Despite his own pain, Kale leaps in front of his navigator. Can't lose Mr. Greybreak now; we'll need his magic to have a prayer here. Defend +Int: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (4, 2) + 2 = 8 Attempting to defend the mage so he can get a spell off.

"Heh. Never was too great at fighting with two blades." He looks at Kersin and shrugs. "But you don't even have a sword at all, friend. Don't want to come unarmed to a duel, do you?"

Kale tosses the saber underhanded toward the watery creature. "Here, borrow my extra." The stolen sword flies through the air in a slow, graceful arc--and Kale is right behind it, swinging the Tusk with a heavy two-handed grip.

"I've always known that the sea will be the death of me. But it sure the hell won't be today!" Hack and Slash +1 Weapon: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 2) + 1 = 5

Way to de-rail a dramatic attack, dice! Sigh. I'll mark the exp...

The elf shrugs and tosses the coin back in the bag. Pulling the blade from the floor, he tenderly hands the weapon off to Kale.

"I'm rubbish with one of these... here."

Kale's mind still focused on his wounded crewman, he takes the blade from Quelthas without really looking at it--and then does a double take. "I'll be damned," he mutters. Spout Lore +INT +1 War Knowledge: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (1, 5) + 3 = 9 "I've seen one of these before, many years ago."

"Had a run-in with a nasty tribe of sharkfolk off the coast of Cassiopia. Their leader was a horrendous brute, twice the size of our executioner friend, naked except for a half-dozen necklaces strung together from human fingerbones. He carried one of these--and he knew how to use it, damn his hide." Kale absent-mindedly touches the scar on his neck again.

"Here's the thing, Sir. I've been sensing our buddy the Paradox Beast for a bit now. But the damned thing should be ripping this building apart, not skipping up the stairs to our doom. For one, the size doesn't make sense... that thing was huge... so maybe it changed forms. Secondly, it doesn't seem to be at war with the guards. So umm... if you had an escape plan for us and our loot... now would be the time."

"I do, in fact, have a plan, Mr. Greybreak. But I need a bit more time," Kale says absently, staring down into the Admiral's stash. No healing potions there...which makes sense, if I think about it. Why keep 'em somewhere he'd have to move his desk to get at? No, he'd want them somewhere closer to hand. Kale looks over toward the Admiral's desk.

"And as for the paradox beast," Kale says, rifling though the desk drawers, "intuition tells me it's more of a passenger and parasite. For example, I think that crocodile already lived in the sewers, and old Mr. Paradox just made it bigger and stranger. And like a tick, it's latched on to something else--this 'Kersin' the guards have mentioned, I'd wager."

He cocks his head to the side for a moment. "Did you hear that noise on the stairs? Like the surf against coral? I think that's 'Kersin'. Furthermore, I think there's likely some connection between him (or it!) and what we found in the lab on the second floor."

One of the drawers sticks when Kale tries to pull it out. "Locked!" Kale grimaces. If there's a chance for Cue Ball, it might be be in this damn drawer. He puts one boot on the edge of the desk and rips at the drawer, tearing through the wood. He dumps the drawer's contents out on the table and begins pawing through them. Loot Roll +WIS: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 1) + 1 = 7

"But captain, it's all moot if we don't escape now! Which way do we go, sir?"

Kale chuckles grimly. "Now? We go to meet Kersin. We need to stall for time." He steps across the room to where Grool has torn apart the table. "Good work there, lad. Kaph? Still got that hammer and nails? Good. Remember when I had you fixing up our boarding planks? I need you to do the same thing here, take these four strips and nail 'em together into one long one. I need it done fast, but sturdy as you can--it's going to have to hold our weight."

"Grool? Take this." Kale passes over the object he took from the Admiral's desk. "Give it to Cue Ball, see if that'll get him back on his feet."

Kale then steps into the office's doorway, filling the frame. He holds the Admiral's long blade in one hand, and his cutlass (stolen so many hours ago) in the other. "Mr. Greybreak? Mr. Nuemo? I'll hold 'em here. Help buy me some time." He pulls his two blades together into a guarded fighting stance.

Rolling a preemptive defense against whatever attack might be coming at him next. Using Intelligent Defense (When you use your knowledge and training to decide the best defense, you can use the Defend move with INT instead of CON). Defend +INT: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (1, 1) + 2 = 4

Oh, Mogthrasir did actually mention a Witch Doctor playbook! He described it like this:

The Witch Doctor, who guides spirits by devouring their corpses.

When Mogthrasir is on the board next (he checks in pretty regularly) see if he can let you know more about it.

We also have a unique race in this setting: Brinies, which are basically mutant hybrids of human and ocean creature. They can come in a lot of different forms: we've met one that was very jellyfish-like, another that was more like a lamprey, and our cabin boy is very tortoise-ish.

One note, though: Brinies are often discriminated against--many humans don't like them. That isn't a problem in our party (the crew includes a number of Brinies), but it is something to consider when creating your background.

Welcome, Mac! As Nuemo said, you can hit up Mogthrasir for additional character playbooks. He put a list in this post. But what worked best for me was to coming up with a concept for the type of character I wanted to play first (in my case, a grouchy old sea captain), and then finding the right class afterwards (Mogthasir had helpful suggestions).

There's a ton of room for possible characters, and Dungeon World is a nicely flexible system. What sort of pirate would you like to be?

I think that's certainly worth considering. I was sort of thinking that when we made it back to the Eye of the Storm might be a good time to recruit (with the in-story justification of 'meeting up with the rest of our crew back on the ship').

On the other hand, it seems like setting and story in Dungeon World is tied into the players and how they craft their characters. Our world is one of Brineys and nunships because that was the way we shaped it when the game started, and a new player coming in the middle might lose out on that initial world building.

I'm not sure what the best course of action might be. Thoughts?