The Labyrinth

[Katzaniel]

((Everyone welcome. There will be dice, but the system is simple and the focus is on narrative. OOC thread can be found here.))

 

 

The labyrinth. A massive stone structure, grey brick upon grey brick upon grey brick for a thousand paces on its shorter side. It would take an hour just to walk around it. The walls are the height of three people, and polished smooth. A square tower can be seen set inside the outer wall at each of the labyrinth's corners, rising twice again that height. To the north, a sprawling forest called the Shandrican by some. To the east, the Yashair mountains loom against the sky, a single pass into this secluded area. The west harbours the Laranar Sea, its waves lapping at the base of the labyrinth. And lastly, to the south, where the plains turn to sand and eventually become the Naragon Desert. There are giant wooden gates set into the structure on both the north and south sides.

 

The maze is known to be both enchanted and dangerous, but for once every decade, legend says, the doors will open and inside you can find your fortune - if you can survive the traps, monsters, puzzles, and pure human greed.

 

There are some who have listened to the legends, and have calculated that the doors will open at dawn this day. Only time will tell which is victorious.

Edited June 24, 2013 by Katzaniel
More description

[Katzaniel]

((I am a little bit worried that I am scaring people off with the dice comment. If you are considering playing but you aren't big on stats, read this:

 

 

There will be numbers in this game, but not very many. I have tried to put a lot of information in the OOC thread in case I am not around and people don't want to wait for me, but it's not necessary to look at any of that or to roll any dice yourself. Just describe your actions as far as you can, perhaps even assume success for some of it, and I'll check the stats and roll the dice and let you know what happens (maybe you tried to knock that orc's head off, but his buddy grabbed your arm first... or maybe you opened a chest, and here's what's inside).

 

Most of the stats can be filled out as you play, too. These are the only two things I need to know right away:

• Your top 3 skills from the following list: Athletics, Burglary (anything larcenous), Deceive, Empathy, Fight, Investigate, Lore, Notice, Physique, Provoke, Rapport (includes persuasion), Shoot, Stealth, Will, Magic (Or these, probably not much use in this particular game: Contacts, Crafts, Drive (or Ride), Resources)
• A *very* brief (usually 2 words) description of your core concept, eg "Troublemaking Wizard", "Undead Knight", "Gnome on a Mission"

Aside from those, the main play concept that you need to understand is Fate Points. You will probably have 3 "Refresh". That means you start with 3 Fate Points, and every so often, if you are at less than 3, you refresh back to 3 (you don't ever refresh down, but this should still encourage you to use them often). Whenever you try something that is important to you to succeed at AND fits within any of your Aspects (more on these in the below section, because you don't have to fill them in right away, but your core concept above is an Aspect, too) then you can spend one of these Fate Points and you'll be more likely to succeed at the action. Just point out in a spoiler under your post that you are willing to spend a Fate Point on that action, and which of your Aspects you would like to invoke to do so. (You can actually point out several Aspects, each one increasing your chances of success, so do tell me exactly which Aspects and how many of them you are wanting to use.) Scenes can have aspects too, which you can invoke in exactly the same way; you'll get a better idea what I mean by this as you start to explore.

 

As we play and you begin to have a better idea of both 1) who your character is and 2) the way the game works, you will probably want to fill in a few more mechanical details. You don't have to, but you'll succeed more often if the character in your head is accurately statted out. This is the FULL list of things that can go on your character sheet:

• Which of your top 3 skills is your best
• Up to four more short phrases that describe things about you. Tips on writing good ones are in the first post in the OOC under "Aspects". One of these should be designated as your "Trouble" and that means you want it to be the main reoccurring difficulty that you face, whether internal or external.

  At least 3 "stunts". (More than 3 means cutting into your Refresh). Stunts can be:

  • A narrow area of a skill where you excel
  • A neat trick you can do (lets you sometimes use a skill in an unusual way, ex Stealth to defend if you are in shadows)
  • A magic spell
  Just describe the thing you want as best you can, and I'll translate it into rules for you. It probably won't even take much, since most of these are primarily words, anyway.
• Up to 7 other skills, 3 of them better than the other 4

That's it!

 

 

))

 

((Also, I will be trying to dig up my alt later and showing off how I am expecting this to work.))

[Not-Katz]

Character Bookkeeping

 

If this were real, I could choose to put the following info here in a spoiler, or PM it to Katz, or put it in the OOC, in or out of spoiler. Whichever. Doesn't matter much. The only important thing is that if it's here, it should be in a spoiler so as not to interrupt the narrative.

I want to play a sombre, monk-ish character. Her name is Shasta and she doesn't talk much - but when she does, people sit up and listen because there is magic behind her voice. Her best skill should be Rapport and then I want her to be really good at Notice and Will. She'll have a bit of magic, too, maybe just one spell and other stunts related to convincing people of things. I want her to be good enough that she might be able to command someone not to kill her, and she could get away before they think better of it.

 

I would then write the following post:

 

 

 

Shasta stepped out warily from the shadows of the forest north of the labyrinth. Between her and it lay a wide, unbroken plain. If she could make it inside the close quarters of the labyrinth, she knew that she would have a good chance of coming out alive again. But the run from here to the walls would be perilous, for who knew how many others were waiting, with arrows or other weapons, for just such a thing? Perhaps it would be better to wait until the doors opened. She could see them from her vantage: large, wooden gates set in the stone wall. How long would they stay open? Her informants had not known. Surely long enough to get there from here. But the longer she waited, she knew, the more likely that others would arrive. Still, she didn't want to be first. And what if she had the day wrong? She would wait, she decided. She stepped back into the dark forest and arranged her green robes. Where best to position oneself? There. Yes. Just between those two trees. She would wait a little longer, and approach the gates after they opened.

 

 

OOC:

 

OK, I want to be pretty good at hiding, too.

 

[Katzaniel]

Shasta's Character Sheet

 

 

This would probably go in the OOC or PM, but I'll put it here this time.

 

High Concept: Silver-Tongued Monk+4 Rapport+3 Will, Notice+2 Magic, Stealth

 

You can't be so powerful that you can always convince people of anything, but we could give Shasta a particular area that she's even better than her +4 Rapport, such as:

 

Lay Down Your Arms [-1]: Gain +2 to Rapport rolls to temporarily cause a cessation of hostility. If you succeed against all target's Wills, you can perform one action immediately (such as making a short speech, or hightailing it out of there).

 

Also, how about the following spell?

 

You Know You Want To [-1]: Make a brief verbal declaration to your target and place upon them the temporary Aspect "Magical Command". If they don't do what you told them to, you can invoke that Aspect on your next action without spending a Fate point to do so. (The Aspect goes away after your next action). (Roll your Magic vs 4 to attempt the spell; if the target's Will is 4 or greater, then you succeed at forming the spell, but they shake it off).

 

 

Shasta's Stealth

 

If you want to go ahead and roll it, you need a 1 or greater Notice roll to see Shasta right now. Otherwise, just narrate that you're nearby and I'll tell you whether or not you notice her.

 

[Snypiuer]

He had learned of the Labyrinth from an old Dwarven drunk, ancient even for those of his Blood, in a filthy pub that even the rats avoided due to the clientel. The story seemed nothing more than fantasy, but there was something that kept itching at the back of his mind that it just might be true. He paid more coin than he had to spare filling the old sot with mead and a house brew that could have been better put to use as a floor stripper - that is, had the proprietor had even the slightest interest in discovering the true nature of that which he walked upon. In the end, the old one slumped forward and looked up at him through blurry eyes and mumbled of a secret pass through the mountains.

 

When he found the pass, he knew the Labyrinth was real.

 

The pass was dangerous and, on several occasions, nearly took him as just another fallen wanderer. As he exited the pass, he saw a wall stretching as far as the eye could see in each direction. He thought to himself, "Now that I think of it, that old bum never did say where the entrance was." Looking left and right, he pulled a coin out and flipped it high, "Swords south, Crown north. At least the walk will give me time to come up with a name and background to give anyone I run across."

 

The coin landed with a soft thunk in a clump of grass at his feet and he looked to see which direction the fates would take him.