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CobiWann posted:Make a Persuasion roll.   Nat 20!
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Aug 11, 2016 00:49
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| # ? May 14, 2024 02:38 |
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Last time, in order to open the warded prison cell that may have contained the reanimated corpse of my dead mother, my Sorcerer PC made a deal with a Cleric of the god of the undead… X X X X X The door to the cell slowly opened to reveal… …our lost Paladin, Falinrae. When Stannis Grumgate shifted the prison of Catra’Zal from the Prime Material Plane to the Astral Plane, Falinrae had been scouting the Ethereal Plane to see if she could discover how and where my uncle had fled to. With her anchor point no longer in the Prime Material Plane, Falinrae was trapped in the Ethereal Plane until such time as Stannis shifted the prison back to the real world…and who knew how long THAT would take? Fate was on Falinrae’s side, however. As she took in her new surroundings, Falinrae noticed a shimmering blue figure in the distance beckoning her to come closer. It turned out to be the ghost of a middle-aged Sidhe woman…my mother, Laeryell man Laurlaethy. With Catra’Zal on the Astral Plane and her soul on the Ethereal Plane she managed to manifest herself physically in the Astral Plane and bring Falinrae with her (aka “the GM spent two days trying to figure how the HELL to get Falinrae back to the group”) into her prison cell, since the cell was warded against magic it also protected them from the localized translocation of the two metaplanes (as I said, TWO DAYS). Falinrae shakes Varis’ hand before saying “there’s someone here who wants to meet you.” My mother was a manifested ghost, attached to the prison itself due to a spell from Stannis. Cue the emotional outpouring from my Sorcerer who thought his mother died when he was an infant. When my PC asked how he could possibly free her, she responded that he couldn’t. She was bound to the prison until Stannis died, at which point she would finally be allowed to rest. “Fine,” I said, “then I’ll kill Stannis.” “You’re not a killer, Varis.” “…ok, maybe I’m not, but have you met my friend Tellisyn?” “There is no other way for Catra’Zal to be returned to Tanicus save by the wishes of Stannis. If you kill him, you will be trapped here at the mercy of the githyanki.” “…ok, so we’ll threaten him. I’d like to once again introduce you to my friend Tellisyn.” “If you threaten Stannis, he will not be swayed. He is stubborn in that regard. Remember, he bound my spirit because I would not give myself to him. He must be convinced, not coerced, into returning Catra’Zal to Tanicus. You must be the one to convince him.” After some more back and forth, she goes on to explain what happened to cause my uncle to bind her. Stannis was in love with her, having freed her from a Korvin prison and brought her into his home to recuperate. However one night he caught her with his brother…my father. He told her that she had one night to flee while overseeing my father’s execution for “race mixing,” a big no-no in Korvis. She fled to the village of Dale to raise me in the cottage of my father’s sister, but a few years later discovered that Stannis had given himself over to Catira, the Lady of Pain, Neutral Evil goddess of vengeance, pain, suffering, and torture. She blamed herself for a once-decent man becoming a pawn of a goddess and went back to Korvis to convince him to mend his ways and forgive her. Instead, he arrested her and had her brought to Catra’Zal where she was imprisoned for nearly 15 years. Why? quote:“Because he swore he would make me fall out of love with his brother and in love with him.” Yep. Stannis would make my mother fall in love with him whether she liked it or not. This went on, as I said, for 15 years, but my mother refused to budge, saying she would not forsake the love for my father to lie to Stannis. Eventually, she decided that the only way to redeem Stannis was to kill herself and make him realize his mistakes. One hunger strike later, Stannis buried her per the Sidhe tradition and let her soul rest. For 30 days. At which point he bound her soul to the prison as a ghost, in the warded cell, and continued to try to convince my mother of “her mistake.” My mother’s ghost makes me promise not to kill or even harm Stannis, as “there’s a still a good man inside of him.” With the githyanki ship nearly an hour away, Prince Dragonhall agrees to hold the morgue while the rest of us head to find my uncle. Aside from being an unescapable prison, Catra’Zal is also the high temple to Catira, and Stannis is her High Priest. Stannis, according to a guard we interrogated, was holed up in her temple on the surface of the island. So, we load up for bear, I tell my mother “see you soon,” and we head out… X X X X X In Processing for Catra’Zal is a very regimented procedure, carefully designed to ensure that new prisoners are well aware that there’s no chance of escape from Catra’Zal save for a pardon or surviving until the end of their sentence. A prisoner is brought up from the docks and directly into the processing area. There’s only one way into the courtyard (from the docks) and one way out (the processing area). Once given their prison fatigues and their prisoner number, prisoners are taken down to the cell block to begin serving their sentence. Only the priests and servants of Catira are allowed to leave the processing area through the secondary door, which leads to their living quarters as well as the High Temple to the Lady of Pain. And since the guards on Catra’Zal are either prisoners who act as guards for special privileges or Korvin citizens who agree to work in the prison until death in return for a generous monthly stipend paid to their families, there’s absolutely no deviating from the process. You come in, your registered, your given your clothes and number, and you’re taken to your cell in the cell block below to begin your sentence. So what happens when someone enters Catra’Zal from the cell block, trying to go through In Processing to the courtyard? Cue one very confused prison guard who has no idea what’s been going on, locked inside his windowless room, as a heavily armed group of adventurers, complete with a water elemental (note – summoned creatures do NOT like to be taken to another plane, and Bubbles was shaking like a nervous puppy, complete with occasional spraying, that Ksena had to soothe and calm down). Our Bard/Barbarian Skeever takes one good look at the guard, bares his teeth, and…introduces himself. quote:
It’s an easy walk through the prison’s outside area to the High Temple, which you can’t because of all the whips, chains, and spikes hanging from its facade. Stannis is inside with two Shadow Monks, a Warlock, and a Cleric of Catira. In order not to make him feel threatened and risk him becoming hostile, my PC goes in by himself, with the rest of the party pressed up against the door waiting to come barging in the moment things go south, because face it, you know they’re going to… The conversation between my PC and Stannis boils down to this. My uncle is a Cleric, but he has draconic blood in him, same as my father. Stannis went the divine route whereas my father choose the path of the arcane. Stannis believed my mother truly loved him, however my father somehow performed some sort of sorcery/charm spell/love spell on my mother that caused her to become infatuated with him. All Stannis was attempting to do was discover what kind of spell my father had cast upon my mother in order to dispel it so my mother can go on to her eternal rest free of the burden of false love. My response? quote:”Uncle Stannis, in my time travelling the world, I’ve fought dragons. I’ve banished demons. I’ve been savored by mind flayers. I’ve been propositioned by an evil black dragonborn. (cue a shudder from Stannis, he knows it’s the dragonborn from the conclave) This just might be the most disturbing and horrifying act I have ever witnessed.” I try to convince Stannis that love can’t be quantified, dispelled, or altered, but he kept insisting that my father charmed my mother and that I was the product of an unnatural affair. I started to press him, asking for any evidence of a lingering effect. “There is none, but only because I have yet to unravel the spell keeping it hidden from me.” “Fine. You’re a divine spellcaster, but I’m an arcane one. Allow me to search for a magical effect on my mother. If there is one, then I will turn myself over to your custody and assist you in unravelling the spell. If there isn’t one, you will free my mother from her bindings and allow my companions and I safe passage from the prison.” He agrees. His entourage and I leave the High Temple, only to find the rest of my adventuring party pressed against the temple door ready to kick Stannis’ rear end if he laid a finger on me. With my entourage and his entourage warily staring at each other, we all head back down to my mother’s cell to determine once and for all whether or not her love for my father was natural or the result of an enthrallment…
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Aug 11, 2016 13:07
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...and it turned out it was. Wow. Good instincts on that uncle.
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Aug 11, 2016 16:15
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Tunicate posted:...and it turned out it was. Wow. Good instincts on that uncle. Plot twist: she's under an enchantment, but of scorn for the uncle rather than love for the father. Her love is real, but who's to say she wouldn't have loved him just as much instead had the spell never happened? It's too late to do anything now, except lament for what might have been
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Aug 11, 2016 16:37
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His parents swapped minds due to an arcane mishap and the father didn't want to admit it to his brother/the uncle.
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Aug 11, 2016 16:46
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nimby posted:His parents swapped minds due to an arcane mishap and the father didn't want to admit it to his brother/the uncle. His parents swapped bodies due to an arcane mishap and the reason Varis' Uncle thinks Varis' Mom loves him is that she does, but like a brother, because she's actually Varis' Dad. Also the fact that he keeps staring at her boobs becomes so much creepier this way.
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Aug 11, 2016 16:59
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:His parents swapped bodies due to an arcane mishap and the reason Varis' Uncle thinks Varis' Mom loves him is that she does, but like a brother, because she's actually Varis' Dad.
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Aug 11, 2016 17:39
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The ghost of his mother is actually Varis from the future after getting hit with a belt of gender reversal.
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Aug 11, 2016 21:48
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Stannis and his brother switched minds, the mother didn't know but DID love the uncle. This drove Varis' father mad, to the point where he didn't remember who he was but DID remember betrayal, hurt and a thirst for vengeance, and just post rationalised everything. Alternate theory: Varis' mum DOES love Stannis, but is just super into hosed-up kinky mindgames and soul bondage
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Aug 11, 2016 21:59
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The uncle is actually under a charm placed by the mother to make the father jealous.
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Aug 11, 2016 22:08
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Both the father and the uncle placed charms on the mother. Family situation worthy of D&D Maury.
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Aug 11, 2016 22:36
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Shady Amish Terror posted:Both the father and the uncle placed charms on the mother. Family situation worthy of D&D Maury. You are not the warlock! (Uncle moonwalks around the prison in celebration)
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Aug 11, 2016 22:39
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Turns out Stannis is under the effects of a Zone of Friendship.
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Aug 11, 2016 23:55
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There is a charm on the mother, but it turns out that the charm's magical energies are really what the uncle is attracted to.
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Aug 11, 2016 23:59
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You guys should team up and start writing a D&D soap opera.
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Aug 12, 2016 01:21
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Yawgmoth posted:You guys should team up and start writing a D&D soap opera. Nah, D&D reality shows. Secret Wizard: A wizard has to exist without magic, working alongside the mere mortals he ignores in his daily life. In the end, he reveals that he is an arcane master of all reality and fixes the problems besetting the people he likes 19 Orcs and Counting: An adventuring party takes on the orphaned orcs after murdering their parents, trying to raise them while maintaining an adventuring life Faces Off: A team of magic users competes against a team of dopplegangers to create the most impressive costumes, disguises and special effects Guards: Follow some ordinary town guardsmen around on patrol as they deal with the crazy bullshit that happens in adventuring towns Chopped: Four promising barbarians must artfully carve their way through three surprise gauntlets of monsters, traps and obstacles
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Aug 12, 2016 01:59
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Not only is this loving amazing, I could see it having its own rules and setting with fluff about managing ratings and dealing with who's taking care of catering that week. That sounds...surprisingly amusing, in fact.
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Aug 12, 2016 02:13
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I love this thread so much. 
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Aug 12, 2016 02:56
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What kind of shows would you get to see on networks like Necromancers' Broadcasting Circle?
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Aug 12, 2016 03:12
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Anticheese posted:What kind of shows would you get to see on networks like Necromancers' Broadcasting Circle? Canceled ones, of course.
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Aug 12, 2016 03:20
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Anticheese posted:What kind of shows would you get to see on networks like Necromancers' Broadcasting Circle? It's poorly run so there's a lot of dead air
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Aug 12, 2016 03:26
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Anticheese posted:What kind of shows would you get to see on networks like Necromancers' Broadcasting Circle? The lineup's pretty bare bones to be honest, but it's got a cult following
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Aug 12, 2016 07:09
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On the plus side, it's got music programs hosted by Elvis, Bowie and Prince.
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Aug 12, 2016 07:36
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Anticheese posted:What kind of shows would you get to see on networks like Necromancers' Broadcasting Circle? Soul Train.
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Aug 12, 2016 09:59
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nimby posted:On the plus side, it's got music programs hosted by Elvis, Bowie and Prince. Except that Elvis isn't dead, Bowie is an Outsider and can't be raised via normal means, and Prince's name-change incident made his soul accidentally untouchable
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Aug 12, 2016 16:34
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Kaza42 posted:Except that Elvis isn't dead, Bowie is an Outsider and can't be raised via normal means, and Prince's name-change incident made his soul accidentally untouchable That just leaves... oh god. Lemmy.
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Aug 12, 2016 18:26
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Lemmy liked a pretty good range of stuff.
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Aug 12, 2016 18:29
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It’s a stand-off between the adventuring party and Stannis’ entourage as Stannis and my PC step foot inside the jail cell containing my mother’s ghost. For about five minutes, the conversation goes like this… quote:Varis: Stannis, I can’t detect any arcane energy. Pause. quote:
My mother smiles sadly at Stannis. quote:
So I’m in shock. The other players are in shock. The two customers behind us who came into the store during this scene are in shock. Stannis takes one look at me, a good, HARD look from the GM that actually made me want to go stand in the corner. quote:
He turns and stalks out of the cell. My mother looks at me, still giving a sad smile. quote:
At that point, the prison is plane shifted back to the Prime Material Plane. My mother’s ghost disappears, and Varis walks out of the cell. He looks at the group…gets a hug from Ksena…and says quietly… quote:
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Aug 12, 2016 18:30
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Amazing payoff. Holy poo poo.
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Aug 12, 2016 21:15
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Maury! Maury! Maury!
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Aug 12, 2016 21:31
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CobiWann posted:So I’m in shock. The other players are in shock. The two customers behind us who came into the store during this scene are in shock. That's all well and good, but did anyone clap, was someone secretly Albert Einstein, and did anyone get married?  Details man, details.
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Aug 12, 2016 22:14
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Oh snap. That's the one thing I wasn't expecting
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Aug 12, 2016 22:56
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the_steve posted:
It would be a well-placed Zaphod Beeblebrox Time Paradox. (i.e. Varis is Stan&Dan's father)
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Aug 13, 2016 02:56
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That's the one thing I wasn't expecting
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Duun duun duun duuundundun duuundundun... Though with the coinflip thing it's less Luke Skywalker and more Sterling Archer.
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Aug 13, 2016 06:38
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Finished a campaign of Urban Shadows set in Honolulu. So the session before last, the demon-emissary Tainted made sure to let everyone know: they could call in a favor from him to get him to teleport to them, no questions asked. The Vampire had pissed everyone off, sacrificing the Oracle in a huge ritual that would save the island. We needed to sacrifice two people to stop a portal from opening to hell. Everyone was at the Punchbowl Crater, trying to get this ritual to happen. My character, a mortal, showed up and blasted the Vamp with a shotgun, blowing his fangs off and leaving him disfigured. He tried to drag the Vamp up the mountain. The Tainted came in and teleported the Vampire to safety. The Wizard calls in a debt to the Tainted, bringing him back. The Tainted calls on his demonic patron and escapes in with a flaming motorcycle, running over my character (who nearly dies.) All seems lost. Then the Veteran, who's at the top of the crater, calls in a debt. Goodbye, Tainted!
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Aug 16, 2016 15:57
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Thank you all for the great replies to the broadcasting network question. I really needed a laugh.  And holy moley that orphan story!
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Aug 16, 2016 20:52
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Sorry I haven't posted lately - been busy at work and home. I have a story involving demons, ice storms, Androsphinxes, beholders, kuo-tao, an ice devil, a rickety wooden bridge, and a Monk vs. Monk showdown over whose elemental mastery was better. As a taste of things to come... quote:"Wait. You're telling me that while I was asleep you went out and got my Sorcerer corporate sponsorship?!? 
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Aug 22, 2016 12:08
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Since we started playing Earthdawn several sessions ago, our group managed to piss off a servant of a great dragon, the former mentor of our Archer (and a tremendous psychopath), an entire aropagoi of t'skrang, the most lauded captain of said aropagoi and some Blood Elves whose allegiance we currently don't know. Yet our most dedicated enemy, someone who follows us everywhere and literally has nothing to do except trying to gently caress as over, we made during the first hour of the first session. Our characters were visiting a village in the middle of nowhere to explore a haunted tower. Iyo, the human Weaponsmith from Scavia, was played by the most experienced player in the group, who played with this GM for years (but often refused to give others advice that could prevent us from making a bad decisions when she felt her character shouldn't know that). I know the system, but never actually played it before - and went with Itkul, an ork nomad turned Nethermancer. The last player who doesn't know the setting at all, played Jousi, an elven Archer from the city of Urupa. After getting themselves known, our adventurers started to explore the village. In the tavern, they met Savash the Fencer, a t'skrang claiming to be a Swordmaster (and his groupies whose only role was to hold his cloak to prevent it from getting dirty). He was bullshitting everyone, hoping to impress some yokels and maybe get some free drinks. Our characters were suspicious, but ultimately chose to believe him at least for some time and test his skills. There were a rumor that someone saw a giant spider in the nearby cave, so they invited him to tag along. There were no signs of a giant spider outside the cave, so we went inside. We found a passage with a circle made of golden dust drawn on the floor. It was a warding, but Itkul failed the test and didn't recognize it. Iyo's player knew, but didn't say anything. Not knowing if it was a portal or something else, the characters were afraid to check what's beyond, especially that none of them was particularly great at fighting. But hey, a Swordmaster should know how to fight, right? He was reluctant at first, but Jousi touched his pride and Itkul asked him to bind himself with a rope. If anything happened, he would just pull him in! T'skrang agreed and went into the pasage. Seconds later, some great force pulled the rope, which was too much for a scrawny Nethermancer to hold. He panicked and let it go, rather than let himself getting drawn in. After peeking inside, he saw a giant jehutra eating what was left of Savash. There were little consequences, even though one of female t'skrangs accused the adventurers of murder. The party went to the haunted tower and actually managed to get back. After finding the village overrun by Blood Elves, they fought valiantly. The truly bad thing happend when Itkul charged two of their soldiers and got peppered with arrows. The GM described to me death of my Nethermancer, his soul passing to the astral plane. The first thing he saw after getting there was Savash, laughing maniacally. His soul was bound to Itkul's with an astral rope. The t'skrąg grinned sadistically, gloated a bit and brought another rope, tying both ghosts to Jousi''s pattern. Since then, the party is constantly followed by a sullen orc and malevolent t'skrang in the astral plane. None one knows that yet. According to the GM, Savash will learn to influence the material world. He may learn how to speak or even move things around. A lot of fun ahead of us.
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Aug 24, 2016 17:15
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loving jehuthra. That was one of the biggest drawbacks of Earthdawn for me: determining appropriate antagonists for parties of any given Circle.
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Aug 24, 2016 17:35
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| # ? May 14, 2024 02:38 |
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We did character gen yesterday for an Unknown Armies campaign, using the playtest rules for the new edition. It was quite a long character gen process (about 3 hours), but really fun and it definitely sparked off a lot of potential game hooks. The character gen process encourages having a corkboard/whiteboard/similar, to which the players add various NPCs/locations/other interesting things and link them up. We went with a corkboard and some red string, plus a big stack of interesting and evocative photos. The end result is a pleasingly confusing conspiracy board that definitely feels very UA:  The group of PCs is an interestingly dysfunctional bunch, as to be expected from a game where routes to magical power and cosmic englightenment include self-harm and alcoholism. We have: Hudson: A recent arrival in New Orleans, Hudson works as a stuntwoman on various film productions, has a weird hosed up family of some kind, and is a motumancer - a school of magic that's all about constantly pushing your own limits and rejecting the status quo. Dr. Karima Requiem: A surgeon who moonlights treating injuries for people who would really rather not have their injuries brought to the attention of the police. Dr. Requiem saw some bad stuff during Katrina. She's also an epideromancer, cutting herself to experience the same rush of life as the patients she saves from traumatic injury. Lennox Cross: A roadie who washed up in town a year or so ago after a tour ended. She occasionally wonders whether she's really who she thinks she is, or if she's actually living the life her twin - who died at birth - was meant to live. She's a cameraturge, obsessed with defining people's identities by pinning them down in film. Laura Crawford: Reclusive hacker who really wants to learn to be more socially capable but isn't much good at it yet. A user of GNOMON, a website that sometimes alters reality for you in exchange for doing it favours. GNOMON might be a demon, or a rogue NSA project, or the sentient will of the internet itself. (The player is building a website to use as a GNOMON prop). Lynn Marshall: A camera technician, coworker of Hudson. Moved to New Orleans from Canada to avoid some legal trouble back home, and is now despearately trying to fit in somewhere. A sociomancer, the school of magic that's all about joining subcultures, conforming to them hardcore, then moving on to a new one when they lose their buzz. (Interestingly, we had a pile of 70 odd photos to use as potential PC portraits. 4 of the 5 players immediately chose very androgynous photos, and we've now got a party where none of the characters identify as male - Lynn uses they/them, and the rest are all she/her. I've not seen that sort of party composition before.) We didn't have time to actually play after character genning, but everyone seems pretty keen to get started after spending those hours building up their characters and the world around them in such a visual-heavy way. What we do know, when we get round to properly starting, is that the PCs have all just taken ownership of a dive bar with ties to the occult community (previously owned by a friend of theirs who killed himself, or was killed), and that the previous owner left them a big book of notes on the occult underground. I've made a phys rep for that - a 200 page notebook of handwritten plot hooks, occult research, rituals, things to look into, etc. It's pretty much a big pile of potential things to do, for the PCs to look through and decide what interests them, then go poke that thing.
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Aug 25, 2016 09:38
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