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Author Topic: Cabal: Wizard Open World Game  (Read 364314 times)

Devastator

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #495 on: August 11, 2017, 01:28:57 pm »

Hole up.  Next time I'll come back ready.

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piecewise

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #496 on: August 13, 2017, 06:08:09 pm »

Quote
Darwin, as quietly and subtly as possible nudges Rufus and indicates the ceiling. Rufus glances up, then back down and whispers, "Run."

Make like a tree and leave! All quiet like, also like a tree. Make the need for tree-making clear to our other two companions through silent gesturing (a bit un-tree-like, but an acceptable deviation given the circumstances).

Spoiler: Darwin Zeppeli (click to show/hide)
Join Darwin in bravely running away all quiet like, I ain't dealing with no ceiling shenanigans. Also gesture the plan to skedaddle silently to the girl, in the case she hasn't seen yet.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
[10,5 vs 2]

Everyone, very slowly, backs away from the body and returns to the rope. One by one they move with deliberate but quick motions back to the otherside of the chasm. Once safely on the other side, Rufus collapses down and rests his head against a cave wall. He's out of breath, more from the sudden release of tension than the effort of the climb. Even still, he speaks quietly.

"Bullet Shrimp." He pants, "Must have come up from the water below. They're completely translucent, except for their nervous system. They have..." He gestures a large sphere in the air, "Big bone club claws that they fire out like cannon balls. I've only seen them once; an expedition up north in the mountains. Took our guide's head clean off with one blow and dragged him down into the dark before we could do anything."

He struggles up and leans on the wall. "Well, we can either try to deal with that or just climb down.  Not really sure which I'd prefer; dropping into a river or fighting an invisible crustatean." He laughs, a single hard chuckle, "Of course we might end up having to do both..."

Right. Time to work out what I know about the ingredients.
Is it likely that anyone would ever sell black flux, or that it would be found anywhere other than the massive source?
Contained lightning: do I know what it is?
Fist-sized crystal: crystal as in molecules in a lattice, or crystal as in the stuff Seath has instead of blood plasma? I.e. Science crystals or magic crystals?
A gallon of mecury: would anyone actually have this much mercury? Say, an alchemist?
Alchemist's tools: are these tools used by an alchemist, or the sort of tools an alchemist would use? Could I buy them from a shop, or do I have to rob/bribe an alchemist?

In any case, set off towards Ulmin.


Spoiler: Moghorn (click to show/hide)

Black flux has its uses; its flammable so its major use is as a fuel. The mechanics in Fearce use it to power machines so there would no doubt be some there. There might be some in other larger cities too, but in general it won't be as common as the various other fuel oils.

Contained lighting is...if you remember right...is some form of battery. Again a Fearce thing.

You're not sure...but you should probably aim for the first and if it doesn't work, find the second. Quartz might be a good starting point.

Alchemist might. Certain industries that use it. Fearce maybe. But the most certain is the pillars of lead. They grow out of pools of the stuff.

They're the tools that alchemists start with, or at least have the option to buy.

Ulmin is the town directly after Alkahest on the River Hartshorn and as such get whatever it is that Alkahest doesn't want or whatever Alkahest wants to send away. It is also at an opprotune space on the ring road for trade with several other towns. As such, the city -which is lost in the thin woods and grasslands that follow the river- is a place almost entirely devoted to trade. They seem to do little else but buy from one group and sell to another, skimming a tidy profit of the comings and goings of everyone else. Its the kind of place where a lot of people pass through, a lot of people stay the night, deposit things from far away lands, and ask no questions of anyone else. Its about the most perfect place available to you at this point in your career as arsonist and probably murderer.

The town is entirely on the west side of the river, with a large series of bridges and piers that stab into or cross over the water. The bridges are large enough that buildings have been erected on them; some are inns, some shops, even a boarding house or two. The rest of the buildings are crammed against the river's edge, buying and selling from boats, sometimes even while the boats are in motion. There's a smell of clean water, a constant hum of human voices, and the pleasant and somewhat nostalgic expanse of wooden buildings painted all manner of bright color.

Hole up.  Next time I'll come back ready.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
You hole up for several uneventful days until, on the 3rd day around 2am, you hear something. You and the caravan are hanging out in an inn on the water front, all squished into a few rooms. You have a good view out the back window of the building, so when you hear the screaming and the scuffle, you head to the window and look out. Its dark outside, but you can make out several figures down there. It looks like a group of 5 or 6 is attacking a group of 2 or 3. You can't see much of whats going on, just dull struggling shapes and the constant grunt and scream of violence. Suddenly, without warning, a burst of flame erupts from within the throng of writhing flesh. The light of it is searing on your eyes and the harsh shadows of the men in front of it stay with your vision even as you turn away. The fire sprays out like fluid and splatters across the men, the field and the back side of the inn. Everything begins to burn.

First up, put that ten mana into leveling Will immediately.  It's the one stat I've been able to abuse, so I'm doubling down on it.  Already made the change to my charsheet.

As for my action, start toning things down and bringing the preaching to a close.  Emphasize that there is a lot more to be said about Zaffre and its place in the world, far too much to be given and digested in one day; for now, the audience needs to consider and think on their own time.  Another sermon will be given tomorrow, after this old man has had time to rest.  Then do a little mingling before leaving--the last thing I want to do is find one of the bulkier people who were brought forward, preferably one who was really into the sermon, and quietly ask him to accompany me and talk personally.  Need to find an NPC bodyguard now that I don't have PCs for that.


Spoiler: Charsheet (click to show/hide)
You break up the sermon with promises to speak again tomorrow. It takes maybe an hour to actually bring it down thanks to constant inquiries from a small, shifting group of people that hang around afterwards.  You manage to find, among these questioners, a large and powerful looking man. He's native born, a dock worker, and of an impressive musculature. You pull him aside as you go and ask him to follow you. He hesitates a moment before accepting.

NJW2000

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #497 on: August 14, 2017, 04:01:51 am »

Travel downriver towards Mesothorium, intending to cross from there to Fearce. Take a humble berth on a transport boat. Once in Mesothorium, buy supplies sufficient to cross open country to Fearce, and a bit more besides. If anyone asks, I'm going to Terebinth. And if I see any fist sized crystals (quartz or rock salt or something) buy them.

Spoiler: Moghorn (click to show/hide)
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Devastator

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #498 on: August 14, 2017, 04:15:37 am »

Yell at people and organize a bucket brigade

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Lenglon

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #499 on: August 14, 2017, 11:18:33 am »

"Thank you for all that you've told me, but I'm afraid I must go for now to arrange lodging for myself during the wait."Go leave, and begin wandering around town for a bit, checking in case they decide to trail me. I don't need to shake them if they are, I just want to know if they're there. I want to chat with Adam unobserved for a bit when I get the chance.
Spoiler: Nina (click to show/hide)
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((I don't think heating something that is right above us to a ridiculous degree is very smart. Worst case scenario we become +metal statues+. This is a finely crafted metal statue. It is encrusted with sharkmist and HMRC. On the item is an image of HMRC and Pancaek. Pancaek is laughing. The HMRC is melting. The artwork relates to the encasing of the HMRC in metal by Pancaek during the Mission of Many People.))

Egan_BW

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #500 on: August 16, 2017, 09:52:48 pm »

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

What's that?! It's a character sheet! Half the stats! Half the items! None of the magic! Stuck in a dangerous cave with two fellas who DO have all that stuff! Ladies and Gents, it's a CHALLENGE RUN!





CHALLENGE MODE START.

Because these turns don't come very often, I'm gonna go ahead and ask a bunch of stuff. Feel free to refrain from answering all this at once, but I do want the answers to them all.

Firstly, describe the current situation I'm in.
Secondly, briefly describe how I ended up here.
Thirdly, give me a summery of who I am and my life.
Fourthly, describe the part of the world I'm in/where I come from.
Fifthly, tell me the naming conventions of this place so I can have an accurate last name. :V
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piecewise

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #501 on: August 20, 2017, 09:29:38 am »

We appear to be missing two major players.

I'll give them a few hours.

Pancaek

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #502 on: August 20, 2017, 10:00:31 am »

((sorry about that))

In whispers, ask the guy just how bad of an idea dropping into that river is. After he's answered that, ask him if he thinks our chances of surviving ambushing that shrimp are any better than our chances surviving the river. I'd think not, but I'm not the expert here.

Also ask the girl what her gut feeling is about all this.

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syvarris

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #503 on: August 20, 2017, 10:54:40 am »

((Apologies, procrastination.  Working on it now.))

Firstly, that group of people who hung around afterward--were they all natives, or were there Alkis mixed in?

Regardless of the answer, ask the man to show me around Zaffre, see the sights of this city.  If he does so, engage him in friendly conversation while being shown around, talking about his life, not that I actually care about it.  Just want to build some rapport.

Even if he doesn't guide me, I'm going to do some looking myself.  My primary interest is in the local government, and whatever law enforcement exists--though that should be disguised from my guide.  Is Zaffre directly ruled by Alkis, and protected by Mage Breakers?  Or are the officials actually locals?  Some combination?


Spoiler: Charsheet (click to show/hide)

piecewise

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #504 on: August 20, 2017, 09:49:42 pm »

Still no Radio huh? Well, ok.

Travel downriver towards Mesothorium, intending to cross from there to Fearce. Take a humble berth on a transport boat. Once in Mesothorium, buy supplies sufficient to cross open country to Fearce, and a bit more besides. If anyone asks, I'm going to Terebinth. And if I see any fist sized crystals (quartz or rock salt or something) buy them.

Spoiler: Moghorn (click to show/hide)
You pay 2 silver to ride a supply boat down to Mesothorium, searching for crystals as you do. The best you get, however, is a chunk of salt the size of your thumb that could only loosely be described as a crystal. Oh well. Once in Mesothorium you trade all your remaining silver and 1 gold for several days of food and drink, as well as the required gear for camping such as a bed roll. According to some maps you browse in a tool shop, it will take roughly 3 days to reach Fearce, so you buy 5 days worth of supplies.

Yell at people and organize a bucket brigade

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
You yell at the rest of the caravan, shouting at them until they groggily get up and help you. You're down the stairs and into the main room of the inn when you hear a terrible sound. Its as though a hurricane wind is being pushed through the eye of a needle; a whistling roar that rises violently in pitch until it is cut off by an explosion. You see, silhouetted against the fireball, the back wall of the inn explode inward towards you. Its only an instant, burned into your eyes, and then you're in the water, blasted out into the river. You find yourself down 15 feet in  the water watching distorted flames play across the surface as a back lit arm, severed just above the shoulder, drifts down towards you trailing red haze.

"Thank you for all that you've told me, but I'm afraid I must go for now to arrange lodging for myself during the wait."Go leave, and begin wandering around town for a bit, checking in case they decide to trail me. I don't need to shake them if they are, I just want to know if they're there. I want to chat with Adam unobserved for a bit when I get the chance.
Spoiler: Nina (click to show/hide)
The priests, if thats what they'd call themselves, don't follow you. However, as you walk through town you get the feeling that every one is watching you. Not angrily but not with the sort of innocent curiosity that you would expect. Its almost as they they are expectant of something.  You feel like an actress who forgot her lines, like there's something you need to say to them.  But you also have the distinct feeling that anything you say to them will make its way back to the priests.

You slip into an alley when you get a moment of peace and start talking to Adam. he immediately whispers  "THEY SAY HE LIES BUT IT IS THEY WHO LIE!"



Spoiler (click to show/hide)

What's that?! It's a character sheet! Half the stats! Half the items! None of the magic! Stuck in a dangerous cave with two fellas who DO have all that stuff! Ladies and Gents, it's a CHALLENGE RUN!





CHALLENGE MODE START.

Because these turns don't come very often, I'm gonna go ahead and ask a bunch of stuff. Feel free to refrain from answering all this at once, but I do want the answers to them all.

Firstly, describe the current situation I'm in.
Secondly, briefly describe how I ended up here.
Thirdly, give me a summery of who I am and my life.
Fourthly, describe the part of the world I'm in/where I come from.
Fifthly, tell me the naming conventions of this place so I can have an accurate last name. :V

You are currently in a cave with three other people, two of whom are Pan and Radio. They came and hired you and the fourth guy to help them search for some tablets or something. You got here by walking followed by a climb down into a flooded cave area. You followed an underground river, squeezed down a small hole, and climbed down a break down slope. Recently you climbed across the chasm that is just ahead but quickly climbed back because a giant invisible shrimp threatened to murder you and your friends.

You are a scribe who does cave exploration in her free time. You like adventure, find danger thrilling, and the current combination of both is causing your blooming attraction to Pan to accelerate into adrenaline fueled lust. Its probably a bad decision, but you don't really care.

Currently you're living in a town that makes most of its money by fishing relics out of the eternal whirlpools that flow around it. Oh and there's caves all over the place round here. You're part of the caving guild thats in town, though they're pretty underfunded.

"Of Glucinum" will probably do. Or "the Scribe"

((sorry about that))

In whispers, ask the guy just how bad of an idea dropping into that river is. After he's answered that, ask him if he thinks our chances of surviving ambushing that shrimp are any better than our chances surviving the river. I'd think not, but I'm not the expert here.

Also ask the girl what her gut feeling is about all this.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
"I wouldn't recommend dropping" he says, "But climbing down is a fair idea. Just be aware that the chasm might end or change its nature abruptly."

"Oh." he says glancing into the darkness back towards the shrimp, " And keep in mind that that thing came up from there so there might be other nasty creatures waiting. If you see something strange, leave it be."

The girl has a look of utter and complete confusion on her face, as though she was suddenly dropped into this place with no memory of literally anything that came before it.

((Apologies, procrastination.  Working on it now.))

Firstly, that group of people who hung around afterward--were they all natives, or were there Alkis mixed in?

Regardless of the answer, ask the man to show me around Zaffre, see the sights of this city.  If he does so, engage him in friendly conversation while being shown around, talking about his life, not that I actually care about it.  Just want to build some rapport.

Even if he doesn't guide me, I'm going to do some looking myself.  My primary interest is in the local government, and whatever law enforcement exists--though that should be disguised from my guide.  Is Zaffre directly ruled by Alkis, and protected by Mage Breakers?  Or are the officials actually locals?  Some combination?


Spoiler: Charsheet (click to show/hide)
All natives as far as you could see.

The sights are hopelessly provincial and nothing you've not seen in your own travels around the town of course. However, your would be body guard seems to warm up to you a good deal with very little effort on your part. Given the opportunity to show off his town, he does so with gusto and mixes in personal stories about some places. You keep them in mind, for future manipulation.

The current government is a rag tag thing, mostly just a group of local "wise men" -really nothing more than respected old men with the most social standing- who are bossed  around by the local Alki "lord", or rather his men. Really the place seems almost leaderless, with the wise men just settling disputes and wielding the power of local tradition. If there's a police force or any sort of law enforcement, its not immediately obvious. The men from the local lord are the closest thing but they really don't care as long as things don't influence their lord's ability to make money off the town.  The locals seem to govern themselves via sort of impromptu mobs that dispense "justice" as they see fit.  Of course, if things were to get unstable here, it might attract more meaningful attention. The mage breakers, however, could probably be avoided so long as no one used magic.

Devastator

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #505 on: August 20, 2017, 09:57:25 pm »

Swim for the surface, some part that isn't on fire.

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« Last Edit: August 20, 2017, 10:16:12 pm by Devastator »
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Egan_BW

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #506 on: August 20, 2017, 10:13:47 pm »

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"I'm thinking," Behiar whispers, "-that I'm on the side of not messing with that shrimp."

Looks like we're climbing down that chasm, now. That's probably fine.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2017, 03:16:25 pm by Egan_BW »
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NJW2000

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #507 on: August 21, 2017, 03:14:57 am »

Go to Fearce, look at the prices of Black Flux, buy a contained lightning battery if I can afford and carry one. Also look for a fist-sized crystal and Alchemist's tools.
Spoiler: Moghorn (click to show/hide)
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Lenglon

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #508 on: August 21, 2017, 05:29:02 am »

"So he speaks truly and the priests are the ones who lie? okay. What about the regular townsfolk? anything I should know about them?"
Spoiler: Nina (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: August 23, 2017, 12:46:15 pm by Lenglon »
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((I don't think heating something that is right above us to a ridiculous degree is very smart. Worst case scenario we become +metal statues+. This is a finely crafted metal statue. It is encrusted with sharkmist and HMRC. On the item is an image of HMRC and Pancaek. Pancaek is laughing. The HMRC is melting. The artwork relates to the encasing of the HMRC in metal by Pancaek during the Mission of Many People.))

Radio Controlled

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Re: Cabal: The Death of Magic
« Reply #509 on: August 21, 2017, 03:08:22 pm »

Quote
Still no Radio huh? Well, ok.

((Sorry Guv, been away from my computer for a while, and you know how it goes, by the time you get back it's all '13 unread emails' this and '4 new facebook messages' that, '2 new contracts to review' or 'the league of shadow assassins awaits a new target my lord'. The ratrace of modern life, ya know?))

Quote
What's that?! It's a character sheet! Half the stats! Half the items! None of the magic! Stuck in a dangerous cave with two fellas who DO have all that stuff! Ladies and Gents, it's a CHALLENGE RUN!

((Fresh meat, excellent. Welcome to the club. And just in time for tragedy drama to unfold! Lucky you.))



Unless anyone objects, I'd say we follow Rufus' advice and Behairs example, and try to sneaky sneaks past the shrimp. I'll go first and go very slowly, using my well developed senses to try and spot any lurking nasties so we can avoid them.

All of this to an appropriate soundtrack, of course.



Spoiler: Darwin Zeppeli (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: August 21, 2017, 03:11:40 pm by Radio Controlled »
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