The Tower of Makhios
”The Tower is older than memory itself - that is what we have been told. ‘The Tower came first,’ the clergy of that place say, ‘and the city after.’ I do not care old and venerable the place is, however; the shadow it casts over the soul is greater than even that cast by its awesome height. The place reeks of greed, and of sorrow, and of death. Do not be dazzled by those that return... be afear'd by those that do not, for they are doubtless far more numerous.”
-Brüder Johannes Antoninus, Abbot of Grelitz, 988In the Year 1022, the Tower of Makhios, an enigmatic monument of a past age, stands yet enduring at the mouth of the Gulf of Selenopolis, dwarfing even the tallest man-made structures of the city. It is a holy site, administered by priests of Makhios, God of Battle. Some say that the Tower is the haft of the bloodthirsty deity's spear, plunged into the land, while others say it is the first of his temples, built in the spot where he was born out of his slain father's blood.
While the Tower's origin is shrouded in mystery, its contents draw great champions and unproven warriors from all corners of the world, and tales of the riches within have spread to even the most remote hamlets. The Tower functions on a simple principle; those who enter are free to loot as they please, and those who manage to leave sometimes do so with a fabulous amount of wealth in tow. Swords and armor of the finest make, crowns and scepters beset with sparkling gemstones, and the hides of exotic beasts have all been brought triumphantly from the Tower, yet not all gifts within are material: unnatural vitality, striking beauty, and even the ability to work magic have been bestowed upon the most fortunate.
These treasures come at a cost, even to those who survive unscathed: much of one's memory of their time within the Tower is quickly taken from them should they leave its threshold. The priests say that this is a blessing of Makhios; a warrior who forgets their foes so too forgets their fears, and fear is the bane of the warrior. Sparse fragments of these memories may return, briefly beheld in dreams - or nightmares - but they are all that survive the Tower's overwhelming magic.
Name - (This is your character's name. Warriors from all corners of the world come in search of the Tower; no name is uncommon.)
Background - (Your character's origin, motivation, and what brings them to the Tower.)
Description - (Your character's appearance, habits, and other defining characteristics.)
Statistics
Skill-at-arms - (Your character's skill with weapons. Piercing, bludgeoning, hacking, and slashing - all of it is done better with a touch of finesse. Aids in attacking and defending, as well as using demanding weapons.
Brawn - (Your character's overall toughness, necessary for taking hits, enduring physical strain, and wearing heavier armor.)
Focus - (Your character's patience and intuition. A focused character will benefit from steadier aim, better time management, superior awareness, and - for those with the talent for it - a stronger connection to the arcane.)
Conviction - (Your character's self-confidence and strength of will. Unwavering conviction will aid in swaying others with words, resisting the encroachment of doubts and fears, inspiring others, and - for the faithful - communing with the divine.)
You have 5 points to distribute among these stats, each point being a +1 to the result of rolls in that stat. You must have at least 1 brawn, and no more than 3 initial points in any one stat.
Wounds - (Value representative of the severity of the injuries your character has sustained, issued in increments of at least 0.25. Your character suffers from -1 to all rolls per 1 Wound, rounded down. If your Wounds value ever exceeds your Brawn, you die. Resting can at most round the Wounds value down to the nearest integer, while medical treatment is necessary for any further reduction. For example, if your character has 2.75 Wounds, resting can reduce this to no less than 2 Wounds.)
Arcana - (Value representative of the spiritual energy expended in the use of magic. If your Arcana value ever exceeds your Focus, your character begins to suffer from -1 to all rolls per 1 Arcana over their Focus. Additionally, critical spellcasting results - be they exceptionally positive or negative - may have unintended and potentially destructive side effects as your character fails to rein in their magic.)
Your Wounds value will always start at 0. Your Arcana value starts at 0 if you are capable of spellcasting, and if not, it is -1.
Inventory and Equipment
(This is where your stuff goes. The primary goal of most tower-delvers is to fill this up with valuables and get out of the Tower alive. Many items can be equipped, for various benefits or utilities. While you may only equip one item to your Right Hand, Left Hand, and Armor slots, you may wear up to 8 trinkets, adding slots as needed. You do not start with any items other than simple clothes - nothing carried into the Tower is kept.)
Right Hand -
Left Hand -
Armor -
Trinket -
(Any items not equipped can still be carried. Slotted items can only be used if equipped, while items that do not belong to a slot can be used at any time, at a limit of one item use per turn if in combat.)
Perks
(This is where your character's various talents, experiences and skills are recorded. The possible starting perks are shown below, along with their point value and required stats. You may select up to 8 points' worth of perks.)
Acrobat (1, requires at least 2 Focus or Skill-at-arms) - You are particularly adept at climbing, jumping, vaulting, and clambering. The first time in a turn a 1 is rolled for any such feat, it is instead rerolled.
Attuned (6, requires at least 2 Focus) - You are aware of the ebb and flow of the world's arcane current, and have the potential to tap into it. You may cast spells.
Caravan Hand (3) - Time spent working for a trade company has taught you a number of valuable lessons. You receive +1 to rolls when price haggling, looting, and foraging.
Devout (5, requires at least 2 Conviction) - With every crushing blow, a whispered prayer. Attacks with any weapon are rolled with Conviction rather than Skill-at-arms.
Dull (2, requires at least 2 Brawn) - Your senses are far from keen. Your increased pain threshold reduces the roll penalty from your Wounds value by 1, but also reduces your Focus by 1.
Hardy (2, requires at least 2 Brawn) - You are particularly resilient. Advantage to rolls against poisons and diseases.
Knight (6, requires at least 2 Skill-at-arms or Brawn) - Whether you are an errant knight or a non-inheriting child of a petty noble, you have received formal schooling in the knightly arts. You are literate, capable of administering medicine, and you may wear heavy armor. Additionally, either your Brawn or your Skill-at-arms is increased by 1.
Layman (4) - You have spent time as a tradesman, practicing your craft to the point of mastery. Pick your trade - it can be anything from carpenter to leather tanner to metalworker - and record it here. You have advantage to rolls while performing the related work. Additionally, your Brawn is increased by 1.
Monk (4, requires at least 2 Conviction) - During your time as a monk or a nun, you received extensive education in both ecclesiastic and lay subjects. You have advantage on Conviction rolls made out of combat. Additionally, you are literate, and may administer medicine.
Prophetic (6) - What the future holds is not entirely unknown to you. Voices, dreams, and symbols reveal glimpses of what is to come, either spontaneously or after purposeful divination.
Quick Hands (1, requires at least 2 Skill-at-arms) - You may switch your equipped Right and Left Hand items, even while in combat.
Scholar (2, requires at least 2 Focus) - You are well-versed in your field of study. Pick your domain of study - it can be anything from history to alchemy to philosophy - and record it here. You have advantage in rolls to recall knowledge of your specified field. Additionally, you are literate.
Silent (3) - The footsteps of a cat and the breathing of a mouse; in all things, you are quiet as a ghost. Enemies will never hear your movement, and have disadvantage on rolls to detect you.
Soldier (4, requires at least 1 Skill-at-arms) - You are endowed with a measure of battlefield experience. Your first roll in each combat is made with advantage if you fight with at least 1 ally in sight. Additionally, you may wear heavy armor.
Stubborn (4, requires at least 2 Brawn) - You just don't know when to quit. You do not immediately die when your Wounds value exceeds your Brawn, but rather have 1 turn during which you may act. Reducing your Wounds value below the death threshold during this turn will stop you from dying.
Surgeon (3) - You never received a formal education, but experience as a battlefield surgeon has taught you much about the human body. You may administer medicine.
Unshakeable (4, requires at least 2 Conviction) - Fear does not easily bloom in your heart. You have advantage when rolling against fear, and your reassuring presence allows allies to use your Conviction rather than their own when rolling against fear.
Spells
(This is where your character’s learned spells are recorded. Spells are like items, in the sense that they cannot be brought in from the outside world. All spells must be learned)
RTD d6 system. Plenty of modifiers, positive and negative, beget additional results from rolls below 1 and above 6.
0 and below - Abject failure. This is as bad as it gets.
1 - Critical failure. Anything that can go wrong, does. The more mundane the activity, the less severe the backfire.
2 - Normal failure. You may not accomplish your goal, but at least nothing goes wrong.
3 - Slight failure. A glancing blow, a second too slow, an inch off the mark - this is the territory of a very near miss.
4 - Partial success. You accomplish your goal, yet there is room for improvement.
5 - Success. Your effort is rewarded with an ideal outcome.
6 - Critical success. All things that could go right, do. Perhaps you are more successful than even you anticipated, bringing an unintended effect to your action.
7 and above - Absolute success. It gets no better than this - yet the potential for unwarranted consequences lurks in even the greatest of triumphs.
Rolling with advantage entails rolling twice and using the higher result, and rolling with disadvantage entails the opposite. If advantage would be granted multiple times, it does not stack - however, disadvantage does, with each additional disadvantage incurring another roll. Advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out.
Some rolls are made against something, rather than for it. For instance, when trying to attack an enemy, you are (usually) rolling your Skill-at-arms against their Armor, meaning that your Skill-at-arms is added to the result of your roll, while their Armor value is subtracted.
Simple actions that can reasonably be succeeded at without fail are not rolled for. Conversely, actions with an abnormally low chance of success and a very high degree of specificity are rolled for with disadvantage.
There are no maps or exact positions, but when in battle or travelling through the tower, everyone must either be in the
front or
back of their party. The effects are few and relatively straight-forward.
- Making attacks with ranged spells or weapons with the ranged property can be done from either the frontline or the backline, and can target either the enemy frontline or backline.
- Making attacks with standard melee weapons is usually done from the frontline, against the enemy frontline. It can be done from the backline or against the enemy backline, but this normally confers disadvantage.
- Melee fighters can attack the enemy backline without disadvantage if there are more enemies in the backline than the frontline.
- Melee fighters can attack from their own backline without disadvantage when using a weapon with the reach property.
- Anyone can move to either position at any time, even during combat, but be careful! Having more members of your group in the backline than in the frontline will render the backline vulnerable.
- These positions do not correlate to an exact physical space during combat, but a more general line of battle - moving around and interacting with the environment do not necessitate a change in position, but some actions, such as looting a fallen enemy during combat or rushing past a foe, can logically only be done from a frontline position.
The goal of most tower-delvers is to turn a profit. Gather as many of the Tower’s treasures as you can before making your escape or try to unravel its many secrets - the choice is yours.
Generally, a “successful” run constitutes a run in which your character gathers at least 10,000 crowns worth of treasure and escapes the Tower alive. Doing so will confer an additional starting perk point and add any perks your character gained in the Tower to the starting perks for all subsequently created characters, even those of other players.
While it would be ideal to allow everyone to participate at once, I am forced to limit us to having no more than 8 active characters at a time. New characters will enter the tower in groups of at least 2 as space opens up through the death or escape of previous characters. Waitlisting will be an option if necessary, and if I find it possible for myself to manage, I may remove the player cap after I get the hang of things.
The first group of characters will start once we have 4 or more players.
Mu (crazyabe)
Meleria (Lenglon)
Siegrid (Horizon)
Xing Xing (TricMagic)
Shanks the Monsters (Fluffe9911)
Arek the Butcher (Knightwing64)
Isolde (Egan_BW)
Vaolu (BlackPaladin99)
Waitlist
Talsa (Maxine)
Feel free to ask questions if anything at all is unclear - this is my first RTD since I lost my account's password about 4 years ago!
Author
Topic: Tower of Makhios - I Lost Count of the Turns (8/8, waitlist open) (Read 11565 times)