It’s the end of the road for
Katzar Ovechkin Sundqvist Grigorievich.
His country, Vlanlados, is torn apart for its uranium deposits by the nations of
Forenia and Cannala. His machinations, his spies, his plots, are all for naught. His spy network, once spanning two nations, is beaten and broken. His factories are razed to the ground. He is hated by the world over.
Even Hitler is thought above him. His people are enslaved under the yoke of a foreign power.
Those who could escape sail a failing vessel into the unknown, fleeing to the windswept, lifeless wastes of Antarctica, where no man has ever survived and where no sane man would venture. Barely a week into their journey, they are intercepted by a Forenian patrol, which
demands the Katzar in exchange for the lives of everyone on board.
With hardly any debate,
the people fork him over.
Not that he would resist, if it saved his people.
They say he’ll be given a trial, but there’s no doubt in his mind that the Forenians see it as merely an amusing prelude before the execution.
Before he leaves his countrymen rob him blind, leaving him only a poor stick to lean on. Then they disappear into the thick Antarctic fog, taking his young daughter with them to an unknown fate. Katzar Ovechkin Sundqvist Grigorievich has lost everything. His people, his country, his pride. The only thing to lose is his life.
So let’s get to losing that, too!Q&A:What is this?So this guy
Sensei started an Arms Race between us and
SpaceBattles Forums called the
Intercontinental Arms Race. This one guy
piratejoe decides to start a third party and manages to espionage out enough supplies to build a small nation, Vlanlados, with himself playing as the ruler, Katzar Ovechkin Sundqvist Grigorievich.
It promptly gets pureed from all sides. Piratejoe manages to coerce Sensei into starting a
spinoff game, Exodus from Vlanlados, describing the remains of Vlanlados escaping to Antarctica. Forenia feels like it isn’t done with Ovechkin, however, and launches a mission to arrest and detain him.
So, this is canon?Yeah, everything I say here is canon. Sensei gave me permission to run this game, and I’ll run everything important through him before nailing it down. Bear in mind that I didn’t actually play the original Arms Race and I’m not in the new Arms Race. My first exposure to this was Exodus from Vlanlados… so don’t lynch me if I get Forenia’s official military salute wrong or something.
What mechanics will you use?Well, it IS a roll to dodge, but I know better than to give +1 bonuses to people because stack 4 of those as well as overshoot protection and you’ll get solid 5s. (
Right, Glass?) So I’ll be running a D&D - style advantage and disadvantage system, where I roll multiple dice and take the highest or lowest. Advantage or disadvantage will be given via circumstances, your skills, the implausibility of your actions, etc…This will allow me to
virtually guarantee a good result, but still have a fair chance of not getting it, as well as diminishing returns for ever-higher levels.
And advantage and disadvantage DON’T cancel out, by the way. If you have
n advantage and
m disadvantage, what I’ll do is roll
n+m+1 dice, then throw out the top
m and the bottom
n. Basically, I take the m+1st dice. The effect of this is that an action with extreme advantage and disadvantage will be guaranteed to have a mediocre result - which makes sense, if both sides are ridiculously prepared that will be an even match.
Wait, so what’s your interpretation of dice rolls and skill levels and stuff?I’ve gotten some flak for this in the past, so here’s the guidelines I’m using in this game:
On rolls:1 = You did absolutely NOTHING you wanted to do, and may have done a few things you DIDN’T want to do in the process
2 = You didn’t do anything useful, but hey! It could be much worse.
3 = You did some of the things you wanted. The situation has improved in several ways
4 = You succeeded
5 = You succeeded and your action had some nice bonus effects too
6 = In the most technical terms you did what you wanted, but the outcome is not good by any stretch
Note that under my judgement, a 6 is considered about equal to a 3. For purposes of “best of” I’ll consider it better.
On circumstance:The difficulty of an action will give you either advantage or disadvantage as follows:
+3 = An everyday, simple task that most people can do in their sleep
+2 = Something that requires barely any forethought or difficulty
+1 = A safe, reliable action, where you have precautions in place to make it happen
0 = You’re taking a real risk by trying to do this
-1 = It’s uncharted territory, and attempting it reeks somewhat of desperation
-2 = There’s no logical way this will work, but maybe you can figure something out
-3 = To do this is lunacy. It’ll be a miracle if it succeeds
On skill:Your specific skills will provide an advantage to certain rolls as follows:
0 = You really didn’t prepare for this…
+1 = It’s something that you’ve been reading up on, but you’re still not confident
+2 = You’re trained to do this as part of your job
+3 = You’re a renowned expert on doing this type of thing.
If you are fighting someone, the enemy's skill will be subtracted.
What's the goal?The goal of the game is to either break the Katzar out of jail, or get his sentence reduced below death. You're ordinary Vlandosian citizens and/or especially inept spies that have gone with him to do this.
Can we do stuff other than rescuing the Katzar?Yes, absolutely. Feel free to goof around Forenia if you like. Or play on Forenia's side and sabotage everything, whatever.
So, how do we start?Well, the Katzar’s been thrown onto the Forenian ship. Several dozen of his loyal followers are allowed to accompany him to trial. Post who you are, and what you’re trying to bring onboard. I’ll decide if the Forenians let you.
Author
Topic: Roll to Dodge: Fall of Ovechkin (Read 9735 times)