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jng2058
Jul 17, 2010

We have the tools, we have the talent!





C

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Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

C

Slaan
Mar 16, 2009



ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH
A

Dr Subterfuge
Aug 31, 2005

TIME TO ROC N' ROLL
What does the tattooed man do?

Mr. Prokosch
Feb 14, 2012

Behold My Magnificence!

Dr Subterfuge posted:

What does the tattooed man do?

You ask the nearest crew member what the tatooed man does.

"Cook"

The sailor refuses to look you in the eye. He returns to tying lines like it's the most interesting thing in the world.

Azhais
Feb 5, 2007
Switchblade Switcharoo

When you have the chance to befriend Queequeg, you befriend Queequeg

Bob Tuskins
Jul 27, 2007

I couldn't imagine life without the beautiful sight of the green horde
E

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

D

Dr Subterfuge
Aug 31, 2005

TIME TO ROC N' ROLL
A We did say we were useful.

Mr. Prokosch
Feb 14, 2012

Behold My Magnificence!

You exercise alone, listen to the sea, and think.

You quickly find that you are not wholly welcome among these pirates. You feel like a wraith, invisible yet fearsome, as they give you a wide berth while at the same time pretend you don’t exist. Is it because you’re an apprentice witch? Or because you’re a refined lady? Both? Something else?

You find an out-of-the-way spot on the deck, made more-so by the sailors’ studious avoidance, and perform the body-weight musculature development routine you used to do with your personal trainer. You’re very weak, but you make sure to adjust your routines and pay careful attention so you push your limits without doing further damage. A young deckhand leaves you lunch, fresh sautéed eel and rice with a tangy sauce, and flees.

You quickly grow tired and have very little to do. You gaze out at the sea. It almost took you. It still doesn’t make sense that you survived when everyone else died, and that you drifted for so long without succumbing. As a noblewoman you were educated on magic. Not how to practice it, of course. When you joined the Suleiman court you swore an oath to protect your lands from sorcery and put its practitioners to death. In order to carry out those duties properly you needed to recognize sorcery from more acceptable forms of magic, and from pure superstition. Divine Magic comes directly from the gods, and is sacred. Deep magic comes from nature, some believe it to be yet undiscovered natural laws. Sorcery, or profane magic, imposes the greedy will of man on the world and thus corrupts it. It could have been divine magic that saved you, there were many stories of one god or another smiling on a mortal and miraculously saving their life. It would have to be a cruel god indeed to torture you for so long, but many gods were cruel.

You also, illegally, read a thing or two about initiation. Allbright wrote that all initiations share similar elements. First, there is a near death experience, an encounter with thaumatulogical energy in a way that’s harrowing enough to touch the soul. Then, the initiate needs to contact that same energy with their consciousness before the link heals. He used the example of a beastly form of magic practiced by a primitive tribe before the inquisition exterminated their shamans and re-educated the remaining tribesmen. Initiates were first thrown, naked, into a pit with a large wild animal. If they survived the mauling, they were to watch the animal for three days and three nights, kill it with a spear, and eat its heart.

It seems a bit unfair to almost die twice in a row. Allbright observed that sorcerers often mastered multiple forms of magic and only needed a single initiation. The initiation tended to be thematic with the first Art they learned, and seemed to shape precisely how they practice magic in general, but any method seemed as good as any other. He theorized that, once the Courts overcame their own primitive, ignorant hatred of another natural science, they would develop a safe and systematic way to initiate students.

The ocean has plenty of thaumatulogical energy. Perhaps you already completed the first step, and just need to take the second? You stare out at the sea. There’s something there, something that calls to you.

Do you try to Initiate yourself, using the ocean as a conduit?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Write in

You've answered enough character creation questions for a full character sheet.

quote:

Cassandra Andorai

Noble 2 - The original RPG has strict multi-classing rules. I'm ignoring them, you'll get levels in noble when you do notable noble things, levels in witch when you do witchy things, etc.

Strength - 4 Very weak
Quickness - 5 A bit slow
Reason - 8 Mentally gifted
Charisma - 7 Confident and charming
Magic - 8 Magically gifted
Heart – 6 Passionate

Fighting Styles: Apprentice Swashbuckler - A highly mobile fighting style that emphasize improvisation. Does both physical and morale damage, boost ally morale. Best for dangerous environments. Good for team combat. Bad against brutal styles in close quarters.

Inspirations:
Love of Knowledge (4) Immortality. Reduce difficulty of relevant actions by 1. Max and explode dice with relevant actions.
2 points free

Histories:
Gentleman Explorer (8) - Used for navigation and leadership
Seeker of Forbidden Knowledge (6) - Used for knowledge checks
Exotic Language: Ancient Anthenian (1) - Can read with some errors

Reputations:
Gentleman Explorer in Good Standing (6) - Recognized and liked by members and affiliates
Wildling in the Suleiman Court (-4) - Nobles will recognize you, but they mostly don't like you
Generous Patron of the Sciences (8) - Scholars love you!
Wealth Level 6 (0 available)

Organizations:
Head of House Andorai (1)- A once great house that you've driven to bankruptcy.

Mood: 2

So far all of your questions have been about creating your character. You couldn't have really failed at anything. That's no longer true. I will be rolling for most actions and you can definitely fail. You can also succeed, and big, bold actions can come with big rewards. You have 2 mood (+1 for being apprenticed, +1 for reading a new forbidden text). Put a "!" with your letter vote to spend mood on that action. Mood will maximize your roll. You won't need to spend mood when an action is about gaining or protecting knowledge, those actions get -1 to difficulty, maxed, and exploded.

You can fail, but you can't die or lose, so long as you never betray your love of knowledge.

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

A!

jng2058
Jul 17, 2010

We have the tools, we have the talent!





For Ptolemy's sake, we aren't strong enough yet! Let's show a little patience, please!

B

Bob Tuskins
Jul 27, 2007

I couldn't imagine life without the beautiful sight of the green horde
A

Double Plus Undead
Dec 24, 2010
C: Something's out there, try to communicate with it.

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

C. We can hardly murder the ocean, but our experience was certainly harrowing. How about we tie ourself to the rail of the boat and zone out watching the sea for a hit? Meditate on the waves and all that.

Dr Subterfuge
Aug 31, 2005

TIME TO ROC N' ROLL
B We should try this later, when we aren't weak.

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

B

Mr. Prokosch
Feb 14, 2012

Behold My Magnificence!

Explode?: 1d8 2
You lose 1 mood and maximize your roll

You let stare out to sea, mesmerized by the waves. You hear them crashing against the ship and recall their unceasing assault on your body. You flashback to that terrible tribulation. You are the tiniest speck on a surface greater than all the land that shelters your fragile species. The waves take you, swallow you, uncaring, for you are nothing beside it. You are carried down, down, into incomprehensible depths. You see the light disappear above you, a thin layer coating the endless, eternal abyss. Still you descend into the hungry depths. You see empires crumble and mountains fall. You see all things ending, all but the Deep.

The Sea’s power is beyond you. Your will is a mite against a hurricane. You can feel it consuming you, hollowing you out. You were arrogant indeed to try and tame this power.

You die.






You can’t die.



You die.

You can’t die.

YOU DIE!

NO!

The oldest magic, and the strongest.

You awake in your master’s cabin. Before you felt pain and weakness. Now, you feel like there are worms crawling beneath your skin. Beneath the worms you feel an endless, hungry, abyss. The source of your power. It’s alien, and uncomfortable, but there is no pain.

quote:

You have gained a level in Chosen One.

You gain the history: Herald of the Deep (6)

You have learned Apprentice Abyssal Magic. Magic is free-form, so you can try anything within the themes of Ocean, Decay, Madness, or Abomination. Some examples: You can directly control the ocean, communicate with and bind sea creatures to your service, inflict terror and madness, wield entropic powers, consume the life-force of others, and have limited transformative powers. As an Apprentice, you can only affect your immediate area.

Abyssal Combat: A terrifying style that draws on the power of the Sea. Inflicts morale damage and damage over time to groups of enemies. More effective when near the sea. Best against large numbers. Bad against anti-magic and holy powers.

You are Spellbound

Abyss-Bound Bonus: Spell Surges do double damage against enemies. You are personally shielded from Crisis Surges when near the sea.

---

Abigail yelled at you for a while, but she was also very interested in your new abominable powers. You don’t need much encouragement to experiment and write down your insights. You know enough to begin training in Storm Magic in earnest, but she encourages you to get a better handle on your Abyssal powers first. You’ll be ready for another magic style when you “bond a familiar.” She does warn you:

“Magic wants to follow one will or none. When two people fight over the same pot of stew, they’ll both get scaled. It’s why I like boats, it keeps me away from all the other witches so they don’t steal my stew. Covens, pah! Just being Spellbound is enough now to cause trouble. So you tell me before you do magic and stand far away so we don’t both go warty.”

You haven’t taken much interest in the crew. They continue to give you a wide berth. The tattooed man who rescued you spends his time cooking or fishing. He brings you meals personally, you think no one else has the courage to do it, but is formal and distant. The captain spends much of his time in the cabin. When you meet, he’s polite, friendly even, but he makes no effort to connect with you. Betty, who you figure is the bosun, avoids you like a plague bearer. It’s lonely.

---

You’re exercising on the deck when you hear an excited shout from the crow’s nest. As best you can tell, the ship has been trawling the Black Sea trade lanes. You’re familiar with the route, it was a mainstay of your family’s income before you re-fitted your trade ships for exploration. Suleiman glasswork, dye, spice, and reagents for Habash grain and steel. The crew scrambles to their stations, loading muskets and securing their axes and cutlasses. The captain has a brace of pistols across his chest and a finely engraved sword. It’s hard to see without a spyglass, but you think that speck is a large Suleiman trader. Your countrymen.

Abigail appears beside you, “look how excited they are! They’re acting like this isn’t a lamb to slaughter. My grandson is a fool, but I owe him my freedom, so I help him cheat with these little excursions even it takes the fun out of it.”

She makes her way to the opposite deck, where you won’t interfere with her spells, and you can feel her power catching the wind.

What do you do?

a. Help the pirates take their prize. Write how in a sentence or two.
b. Sabotage the pirates. Write how in a sentence or two.
c. Wait for your chance, then fully betray the pirates. You will probably need to assassinate Abigail to pull this off. Write how in a sentence or two.
d. Watch and don’t interfere.
e. Write-In.

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

D unless it's someone we personally care for but i doubt it.

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

A. Try to lock eyes with the enemy ship's officers and draw their minds into the abyss to break the chain of command and/or their will so that they surrender with less bloodshed.

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

malbogio posted:

A. Try to lock eyes with the enemy ship's officers and draw their minds into the abyss to break the chain of command and/or their will so that they surrender with less bloodshed.

Is the length of the ship far enough away to try anything without messing up our teacher?

Mr. Prokosch
Feb 14, 2012

Behold My Magnificence!

Toughy posted:

Is the length of the ship far enough away to try anything without messing up our teacher?

For spell surges both the origin and the destination matter. For now you're far enough away that your spell origins won't cross wires, but if you target the same general area they will. It also matters how much juice is in the spell and how far it covers.You're not a good enough judge of this to be absolutely sure if casting a spell on the enemy captain will surge with her spell to control the wind, but you think wind-control is a fairly strong and diffuse magic.

Spell surges sometimes don't happen at all, and most frequently just gently caress up the spell and cause feedback. Rarely, they're completely disastrous (called a crisis surge) but on the ocean you are shielded from those (Abigail is not).

Bob Tuskins
Jul 27, 2007

I couldn't imagine life without the beautiful sight of the green horde
D

jng2058
Jul 17, 2010

We have the tools, we have the talent!





D

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

A.. Summon some Swordfish to start jumping out of the water over their deck. Maybe someone gets skewered. Probably won't work but if it does it will be hilarious.

Cannon_Fodder
Jul 17, 2007

"Hey, where did Steve go?"
Design by Kamoc
D. Watch and learn.


Our countrymen wouldn't appreciate us with new powers.

Mr. Prokosch
Feb 14, 2012

Behold My Magnificence!

This isn’t really your problem either way. The pirates are treating you like a wraith, so you may as well act like one. Besides, you can learn a thing or two about piracy on the Black Sea by acting as an impartial observer. You’ve travelled a fair bit, but your only encounter with pirates was a long distance exchange of cannon fire before they ran off to find easier prey.

The merchant ship founders as the wind leaves its sails. Your own ship approaches at a back angle, not giving them a chance to use their cannons. Stealing their wind really was cheating.
As you get close, the crew raises the pirate flag. You can see the merchant crew scrambling on the deck.

Betty organizes the vanguard. She doesn’t bother with a gun, instead she carries a huge axe. When you get close enough to board, she shouts at the merchants, “We’re coming, we’re taking your poo poo, ain’t nothing you can do ‘bout it! Put down your arms! I see a drop of blood today, and I’ll butcher the lot of ya! Don’t be bitches about this!”

They drop boarding planks. You expected the pirates to swing dramatically from the ropes and drop on the poor merchants with a flourish, it’s what you would do, but there was no need. The merchants already had goods on deck their captain was shuffling nervously, unarmed. Betty goes first, searching for a trap. Behind her comes a wave of pirates, and then the flamboyantly dressed pirate captain. He clears his voice, and with much less force than Betty announces, “Excellent! There’s no requisite for violence in this exchange. We may part amicably. As you have sagaciously chosen the tranquil path, no harm shall come to any of your most marvelous crew. We will leave you with sustenance enough to complete your journey, but I fear we must seize any treasures that meet our standards of weight for value. Furthermore, I am compelled to seize libations, the captain’s private stores, and whatever gleaming baubles catch our eye.”

Even as he talks, his crew swarm the ship like ants on a sweet. They crack open the goods on the deck, but they don’t stop there. They go down into the hold with crowbars and axes. You nod at that, never trust a merchant’s price. As soon as they decided to surrender, they must have squirreled away their most valuable goods and put just enough to appease the pirates on the deck.

This all takes some time. You study the merchant captain and crew. These are your countrymen, but you’ve never been a real patriot. Your eyes meet with the captain…

Reputation: 1d4 1
Reason: 1d8 5

You know him! That’s Quick Jack. You once tried to hire his ship for a herbarium expedition to the wildlands. True to his reputation it took him only a moment to turn you down flat. In hindsight, that was wise of him. Poor Slow Jake. You don’t see any recognition on his face. It’s not surprising, he only met you in person once, you’re thinner than you once were and you’re missing the finery of your station. A quick look at his current goods tells you that he was on his way back to Suleiman. You could try to speak with him, maybe give him a coded message.

What do you do?
A. Try to talk with him privately. You could learn where you are and get some news.
B. Try to slip him a message, promising payment on delivery. To who, and what will you write? Some reasonable recipients: your retainers, your bank, the Gentlemen Explorers, the king.
C. Do nothing. He doesn’t recognize you, probably best to keep it that way.
D. Write-in

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

C

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

C

jng2058
Jul 17, 2010

We have the tools, we have the talent!





C

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

C. If we're going to be studying turbo-verboten magic, best we stay anonymous.

Bob Tuskins
Jul 27, 2007

I couldn't imagine life without the beautiful sight of the green horde
C

Cannon_Fodder
Jul 17, 2007

"Hey, where did Steve go?"
Design by Kamoc
C do nothing. Why? We're hunting knowledge now, not old ties.

Mr. Prokosch
Feb 14, 2012

Behold My Magnificence!
You feel no desire to contact Fast Jack. You’re exactly where you want to be, forbidden knowledge at your fingertips. You won’t risk that for anything, certainly not your near-defunct House.

The pirates finish their looting without incident. They only take a few crates of steel and leave the grain. Silk, wine, and spice are seized, hard-tack and water doesn’t get a glance. They systematically seize firearms, but they’re more haphazard about blades and tools. You hear the sound of triumphant laughter and axes crashing into hardwood, then an ecstatic pirate emerges with a small chest over his head. The ship’s profits in silver and gold. You see Fast Jack’s face fall, but he doesn’t make a move. If he’d managed to slip that past the pirates, he may have still made a profit on the trip as a whole.

You decided not to help, so you technically don’t have the right to the spoils. On the other hand, the crew are terrified of you and Abigail, so you doubt they’ll try to stop you. You lost everything but the rags on your back in the shipwreck. Right now you’re wearing a loaned dress from Abigail, it smells of thyme and mold.

Do you loot the ship?
A. Yes
B. No

True to his word, the captain leaves Fast Jack with his ship and his life. The pirates have a riotous party to celebrate their latest conquest. The spoils are divided along traditional lines: 1/3 for the captain, 1/3 for the ship, 1/3 for the crew, split again according to their rank. You don’t get anything, but Abigail is treated as a mate. Spirits are very high, this is a good opportunity to get to know them, if you’re inclined.

Who do you celebrate with?

C. The Captain has thrown a feast with the senior officers, including Betty and Abigail. Your teacher is happy to bring you.
D. There’s a more boisterous party below deck, there’s music, heavy drinking, and games of chance with the new ill-gotten gains
E. A skeleton crew still needs to manage the ship. They drew the short straws, but they’re still glowing in recent success.
F. No one. I spend this time exercising or meditating on the sea as before.

Time passes. You have been eating well and dutifully following a solid rehabilitation program, +1 Strength.

Abigail is able to help you somewhat with your new abilities, guiding you through the universals of magic. She is unable to help you master them, however. “You’ll need to write the book on this one!” she cackles. It isn’t long before you hit a bottleneck. You can swirl a bowl of water, erode a block of steel, and spook the poo poo out of a “volunteer” just by meeting his eyes. A pod of dolphins followed your ship for bit, very good luck, that, and you could feel their joy. That faded as soon as they were out of sight. There is a vast power in the sea, but you feel like only the surface responds to your will, the depths resist you. You can’t seem to do anything nearly as grand as Abigail taking the wind out of distant sails.

“You have a channel now, but you need to widen it. The witch way is to bond a familiar. Loosens up the soul, to share it with another being,” the lizard she hides in her blouse picks out at the mention and tastes the air. “Like all things in magic, there’s more than one path. I can try and knock your soul loose with a potion, let you contact your Source again. But wouldn’t you rather have a fun animal friend?”

What do you do?
G. Drink the soul knocking potion

The remaining votes are to bond a familiar instead. What type?
H. A bird (Can aerial scout)
I. A sea creature (Can scout the water, can fight with you in the water)
J. A small mammal (+1 Quickness)
K. A small reptile (+1 Body. Makes you tougher)
L. A large mammal (Can fight with you)

Mr. Prokosch fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jun 11, 2020

jng2058
Jul 17, 2010

We have the tools, we have the talent!





Loot!
A
C
H

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

A
C
G

Bob Tuskins
Jul 27, 2007

I couldn't imagine life without the beautiful sight of the green horde
A
C
I

Double Plus Undead
Dec 24, 2010
A
E
H

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

A
C
J

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Azhais
Feb 5, 2007
Switchblade Switcharoo
A
E
H


Loot just to find ourselves some clothes of our own, let's not antagonize the crew more than necessary if they're already not fans

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