Turn 3A [Community Phase]So there were a
lot of ideas... I included what I could and left some stuff to be resolved later, taking into consideration what seemed to be the most popular along with what seemed to work best with everything else. This is all tentative so if you guys would like changes, big or small, do bring them up! Also I didn’t make a lot of the smaller images just yet - figured making those wouldn’t be very relevant right now, but they’ll be included in the Player update. There is a big summarizing image at the end though.
"I serve none! Have at you!"
Acquire chair leg from furniture pile; bludgeon Pseudo-Zopyrus into submission.
d20… 20. Critical success!
Attribute bonuses negated due to critical success.
Zopyrus Clone's reaction roll:
d20… 5.
The sturdy wooden chair leg feels like a majestic mace as it is pulled out of its resting place and into the hands of its new owner.
[Prince Zopyrus acquires item: Superior Chair Leg]Suddenly, the ground beneath the furniture pile begins to crumble! But with heroic sense, the prince manages to leap away just before the floor collapses along with the furniture pile into the darkness below with a loud crash. Through the gaping hole, a sub-basement level can be seen, infested with spiderwebs. Pipes seem to be running along parts of the room, as an unsavory scent wafts from below. ...A sewer system?
Turning toward his now pale-looking clone, Zopyrus paces forward and swings his new weapon in disciplinary fashion, the bludgeon landing hard against his target’s shoulder!
“OWW! OKAY, OKAY, STOP!” the clone cowers in retreat, hands covering himself as he is reduced to a quivering ball of fancy clothes. “I concede to your terms! A shared rule would be most… acceptable!”
Meanwhile, near the collapsed flooring, a swarm of ants emerges out of a nearby anthill, congregating near the triumphant Zopyrus. The mass of tiny insects seem to be dutifully lining up, as if ready to do the Prince’s bidding.
Fienna hurls wind-cutter magical attacks towards the rotting floor until it breaks open into a gap she could fit through, and then peers into it to check safety.
d20… 14.
Attribute modifier: +7 (INT)
Total Roll: 14 + 7 = 21.
Fienna’s fierce magic slashes through the rotting floorboards, which turn out to be much more durable than they appear. It’s soon evident that the boards were not damaged at all, but made to appear that way, as one of the destroyed planks reveals a text stamped on its back that reads
"ACME Fake Rotting Boards: Diverting attention from your actual structural weaknesses since 1930".Fake rotting or not, the boards eventually give way to force, and a hole is revealed extending down into a room below. The passage down is dark, as is the room itself, but certain striking peculiarities can be seen as far as the candlelight from above reaches. The familiar diagram of the occult symbol drawn on the floor of the current room can be seen in identical fashion on the floor of the room below, the hint of burnt out candles lurking around it. The rest of the room is in darkness, but as far as one can tell, it bears a disturbing resemblance to the room the group is currently in.
(There were several possibilities for where the floorboards might lead - the recursion room, a set of sewer tunnels, or simply another entrance into the sub-basement. Decided on the recursion room for now… I realize it was supposed to be connected by a door, but this sort of works, I think?... Alternatively we could have a door from the starting room lead into the recursion room (as was originally suggested), and have this area be something else. Honestly I have no idea what works best here XD)If safe:
With more wind magic, she whispers at the Fienna clone in the distance who's being verbally hurled at with conspiracy theories. "Viens ici.", meaning "come here". Then, glowing green sigils appear on her hands and she begins to float downward through the hole.
d20… 7.
Attribute modifier: +2 (CHA)
Total Roll: 7 + 2 = 9
The passageway down looks to be safe enough, as Fienna delivers her beckoning whispers to her clone. The other Fienna glances her direction, but makes no immediate move forward, seeming hesitant to comply.
Fienna soon begins her floating descent down, slowly making out more familiar shapes in the dark. From where she now stands, she can make out the same eerie outline of a different but identical pile of broken furniture in the same relative location, and a scattering of boxes much like the ones she had investigated earlier, near the far wall. In the corner, a cryptic sheet of paper rests near a familiar patch of rotted flooring, a hole already present in them, leading further down. And all about the room, eight sets of skeletal remains lie in faded disarray.
Sora attacks the foul "Fienna Clone" woman with a jumpkick.
d20… 14.
Attribute modifier: +3 (STR/AGI)
Total Roll: 14 + 3 = 17.
Fienna Clone's reaction roll:
d20… 15.
Sora’s jumpkick is swift and his aim is true, as he launches himself at the frigid mage. Fienna clone is quick to react however, dodging to the side, but not before taking a minor glancing blow to the arm. She grunts out in discomfort, retreating before examining her limb, though the damage seems trivial.
With gritted teeth she growls, the hostility in her eyes growing fiery. “Agh! You
bully! You're just like the rest of them!” She points at the other clones, her glare shifting briefly towards them, before darting back to Sora, arms raising in preparation to defend herself.
Meanwhile, Sora clone smiles in satisfaction, joining the real Sora at his side. "Yes, good! Let us teach this
demon a lesson!"
I go up to the brawling Zopyrodes, make a thoughtful face, point to where the demon witch is trying to escape through the floor, and say, "A true royal like yourself would always be the first to lead the rest of us into a potentially dangerous situation like that, right?"
d20… 15.
Attribute modifier: +4 (CHA)
Total Roll: 15 + 4 = 19.
The cowering Zopyrus hears the suggestion, nodding emphatically as he takes the opportunity to retreat away from his counterpart. “Y-yes! W-what a sound idea! I shall lead us into the unknown, then!...” he stammers, more than eager to disengage from the beating he was taking. “...Err–I’ll just be over there then, leading the charge, heh!…” He shoots a nervous glance at his club-wielding twin before hurrying towards the hole in the corner.
Peering down into the darkness where Fienna is exploring, the clone prince carefully makes his way down, grumbling irritably to himself. Soon he is down in the room along with Fienna, looking around in the dark. “Uhh… so what is this place, anyway…” he ponders idly, before seeing the sets of bones clattered all about the ground. “AGH! What the hell!? T-this is too freaky!” he shrieks, taking cover behind Fienna, his head jerking around anxiously.
(Slightly unsure what the imps’ reaction to the recursion room should be)
Meanwhile, near Mephi, a fly is buzzing about, whizzing past his ear every so often and being a mild nuisance. The ground soon shakes again to the periodic tremors of unknown origin.
(Decided to have the fly follow Mephi since he seems to be the least occupied character atm)
(Will organize this as we go along, should help to keep track of everything. Let me know if I miss anything! Stuff with question marks at the end are undecided / uncertain / pending more community feedback)
Clones
* The clones are actually evil imps, disguised as humans. They will act friendly at first while looking for a chance to betray the group.
* One of the clones (Fienna's) is unfriendly at first, but also genuinely altruistic. (Lore reason: because it is the one who gets bullied and picked on by the other imps constantly. The wimpy dork of the group, so to speak.)
* Sora's clone has been befriended by the real Sora. He is still very much looking to betray the rest of the party, but as for Sora himself, the devious clone may have hopes to turn him into an ally.
* Gunther and Mephi’s clones were too late to transform into the two remaining party members. They will be entering the room this turn? (Not sure if what the players did counts as progress or not)
* Can shoot firebolts, but doing so would immediately make them drop their disguise form.
* Can also use “minor” trick type magic- relatively small illusions, light telekinesis.
* Can copy the abilities of whomever they are pretending to be [at a disadvantage, because they aren’t actually that person]. Can only copy abilities that they’ve seen someone use. Abilities used by PCs so far: Object movement (Fienna), Wind-cutter (Fienna), Jumpkick (Sora).
Sub-Basement
* Infested with spiders. Has at least one door.
* Is a sewer, or leads to a sewer?
* Is a tunnel?
* Ceiling isn’t even tall enough to allow a character to stand up?
Recursive Hell Room
* The same room but as though they'd been sealed in it for several years, 8 skeletons in various states of disassembly, a burnt out fire in one corner, the remains of the emergency supplies that supposedly should've been in the previous room- and sticking out from under the *next* secret [exit] over is a sheet of paper, upon it a partial report describing a fictional descent into madness involving 4 pairs of clones locked into a recursive maze, that goes into horrific detail before cutting off just before the first fictional betrayal.
Hidden Doors
* There are hidden doors in the walls. If someone brings a candle or other light source towards them, they're easily visible. Otherwise they'll need to closely examine the walls to find them.
* One of the hidden doors should lead to a small room with a toilet and a sink, the only loot in the room should be a partial roll of toilet paper and a plunger.
Misc
* If the boxes are searched a second time, one of them will contain a big jar of pickles that somehow wasn't noticed the first time.
* Every so often the ground should tremble as if from the footsteps of something very big. The thing that’s causing this is very dangerous and is somewhere outside of the room (but not in the sub basement or sewer).
* At random intervals, say every 1d3 turns spent inside the room. 1 candle gets snuffed out. unlit candles may be relit by still burning ones. Candles remaining: 8. Next candle to be snuffed out in: 1 turn.
* A fly is buzzing around Mephi. It’s just a normal fly that is mildly annoying.
* A colony of ants has befriended Zopyrus, following him around and doing his verbally expressed bidding.
Author
Topic: Escape from Motel Hell 3 [Community Thread: Turn 3B] (Read 3080 times)