Ajax scrambled to figure out how to contain what was going to become a huge problem if something didn't change quickly. He briefly considered just picking up the servitor and throwing it but if he happened to miss or worse, hit one of his allies, he might put them in a worse situation than they began with.
And so instead, the Weaponmaster slid his sword into its sheathe and wrapped his arms around the nearest glass tube, attempting to pull it off its perch and enclose what is remaining of the servitor on the floor in glass.
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for Defy Danger
Defy Danger:
2d6+210 [2d6=3, 5]
0
Options
GrogMy sword is only steelin a useful shape.Registered Userregular
edited August 2016
Whatever target was due to be fried, Koba begins working the controls to a new target- herself. Yes, powering anything with lightning may sound ridiculous, but with the right fine tuning of the array and her geistronic systems there may be a way to supercharge the Conqueror.
--
Going to tap my alignment (Use a device or machine in a way it was not meant to be used) and pray this doesn't backfire (or regular fire?).
Ajax, breaking a glass tube from its moorings and levering it over to place on top the servitor body is a herculean effort, even for you. As such, please pick from the following two options. (this is one of those cases where this is kind of custom-movey and a 12 would have done it completely perfectly)
You do it too carefully and can't quite get the glass down in time, resulting in (2d6l1-2) new servitors being created from the resulting black plumes. This has a good chance (2d6l1 = "lowest of 2d6") of being none, but it's not a sure thing.
You do it too roughly and strain yourself, taking the Weak debility (-1 to Str) until such time as you can get it tended.
Koba, this is kind of custom-movey and you did it completely perfectly. Your weapons are canonically ghost-fueled, so tell me what else on the Conqueror is powered by lightning. (This can be an existing system that will get temporarily souped up or a system you're still working on - a 2-5 advanced move that improves your suit's capabilities somehow, other than your Primary Weapon. The energy is transient and will last at most until you Make Camp again. You can also pick a part of the suit that isn't mechanically represented as a potential system and I'll come up with some benefit for it.)
Also, while for the moment you are beyond conventional escape, @Boozer has offered to join the party as a Clock Mage, and the setup move could certainly be retroactively catching up with you all. Just wanted to take a pulse on if you're all cool with that.
Right, you think you've got it down in time, but you watch the little black cloud that spreads across the floor, and one of the servitors does start staggering around a little randomly.
Apparently it has to actually reach its arms for it to start punching.
You know, like the one behind you, which is trying to knock a glass tube off its moorings the slow way, but you know what they say about slow and steady. You hear one of the mounting pins break and turn around to see that the servitor has migrated to the other side of the tube and is about to send it in your general direction. You don't have to be worried about that one knocking over the tube you just set in place - most of the black dust has already settled - but you do have to worry about it knocking you over.
The glass tube settled down around the black remains of the servitor he had sliced in half. Could he have possibly ended this threat (and without a sword use for on once? Blasphemy!)?
Unfortunately, a snap behind the Weaponmaster indicates that he was still under duress. He almost wanted to sigh as he spun around to see another glass tube about to sail his way. His legs tensed as he squatted slightly, preparing to jump to the side away from the tube and hopefully also roll towards his attacker.
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for Defy Danger (Tuck and roll!)
Defy Danger (Tuck and roll!):
2d6+29 [2d6=5, 2]
0
Options
GrogMy sword is only steelin a useful shape.Registered Userregular
With most of the motor-control wiring in the gauntlets, it's the only system that can handle that much excess power. Koba gives the suit's massive hands an experimental spin, fingers twisting and tucking for maximum penetration- perfect for subterranean travel.
--
I will go with Mobile suit- Giant Drill, since it could be handy for a shortcut down these tunnels.
The glass tube rolls up slabs and corpses and spare moorings into a rough barrier about four feet high down the center of the work area.
You have three options, Ajax.
Dodge safely to the left, where Koba and the console are, as well as the berserk servitor that just punched a tube at you.
Dodge safely to the right, where Glory and the tunnels out are, as well as the wandering servitor that can't punch things to infect them yet.
Delay your dodge to clear some random lab equipment out of the way so you can move freely around the work area (the barrier isn't created) but get clipped by the rolling tube as a result.
Etana, Glory, let's have a look back at you for a bit, shall we? Etana, you had to pick between a couple of things to focus on before the drafting table went dark - how the next-largest room in this place is laid out, or where those tunnels at 2:00 and 4:00 go. Glory, you got clouted by the heavily armored skeleton, and with their escape cut off, the unarmored skeletons were moving to surround you.
Glory, Parry is basically an alternative "engage in melee combat" move to Hack and Slash and Defend. Like, if you go into combat willing to hit and get hit it's Hack and Slash, if you go into combat looking to protect a person or place it's Defend, if you go into combat intending to acrobat around and keep people occupied it's Parry.
You can retroactively have pulled out a Parry there instead, if you're just playing for time.
---
Also, sorry to hear it @Capfalcon. Thanks for giving it a try, and if you feel like you could pick it up again I'll try to be here.
Drive: Responsibility - Use magic to directly aid another.
Bonds:
1) I depend on Koba's clarity in a crisis. (Exhausted)
2) Ajax ignores what he doesnt understand.
3) Glory will play an important role in the events to come. I have foreseen it! (Exhausted)
Load: 4/6
Equipment:
Dungeon rations (4 uses, 1 weight)
Indestructible Amulet of Green Crystal (1 weight)
Lightweave Armor (1 armor, 1 weight)
Dagger (hand, 1 weight)
3 antitoxins
Adventuring Gear (2 uses, 1 weight)
Bag of books (1 use, 0 weight)
Probability potion
Ward from undead resin bead
Bandages (8 uses, 0 weight, +4hp, slow)
52 Coin
Probability potion - A small copper phial with a little glass window in it to show that someone did a specific-gravity trick with the red and green liquids inside. Smells like cinnamon. Other discarded phials smell of other spices. Gulp the entire thing down at once and you'll hold 2-image, which you'll lose at the end of combat. Spend 1-image to erupt in a burst of neverending possibility images and reroll any one damage roll you like, either yours or an enemy's. You keep the more beneficial result in either case.
Ward from undead resin bead - Another "emergency" box, this one glass-lidded mahogany-colored wood, with two empty impressions and a third holding a green resin bead with some caltroppy bits on the ends and some sedimented material on what must have been intended to be the bottom. It smells vaguely of mint. If you spike it violently to the ground, it will burst out into a circle of light that will ward against hostile undead.
Party Treasure
Just a reminder that everyone (other 3 party members) should add 38 coin to their sheets from us selling all the smaller stuff in Ashcrowne. I mentioned this when we leveled up.
The following two big items should be added to our party treasure until we can fence it:
- A jeweled marker from Weathermist Sands, worth 130 coin to anyone who can spin a convincing story about how they totally got traded this thing by its original buyer, honest.
- A "light spinel" - Glory will recognize the rough shape and luminance from the message crystal they received from Szatotae. This one contains no secret message - it's a high-quality yellow blank. Could get 70 coin from an appropriate crafter.
Moves
Mystic Seer: You are a font of esoteric knowledge. When you Investigate or Exposit about the power cosmic or something otherwise arcane, on a 10+ the GM will also tell you a little known secret about the subject.
Cosmic channel (Int): When you channel cosmic power to help solve a problem, describe how you do it and roll +INT. This can never deal damage directly. On a 10+, you do help but choose one. On a 7-9, you do help but choose two.
• The effect won’t last long - you’ll need to hurry to take advantage of it.
• You affect either much more or much less than you wanted to.
• Your work has unforeseen side effects, and might draw unwanted attention.
• You feel drained. You take -1 ongoing to INT until you have a few minutes to clear your head. On a miss, something’s gone horribly wrong. You may well have done what you set out to do, but you will regret it.
Cosmic Focus - The Clock: Your studies are centered on a particular focus, an aspect of the metaphysical world from which you take inspiration. When you first channel cosmic power, select a Focus from the list and record it below. There is more information on Foci on the attached page. When you channel power that is Aligned to your Focus, your modifier to the roll can’t be less than +1. When you channel power that is neither Aligned nor Opposed to your Focus, take -1 to the roll. You can never channel power if it is Opposed to your focus. Focus: The Clock Look: Hourglass Pupils Aligned: Adjust the Flow of Time, Stop Aging and Movement, Erode to Dust. Opposed: Manipulate Emotions, Moving Anything Around.
Cosmic Blade (Int): When you channel cosmic power to inflict pain, choose two tags and roll +INT. If you do not pick any Range tags, the Range defaults to Hand. On a hit, deal 1d8 damage. On a 7-9, also choose 1.
• You draw unwanted attention or put someone in a spot.
• The GM removes a non-range tag of their choice, and you deal -1-damage.
• You feel drained. You take -1 ongoing to INT until you have a few minutes to clear your-head.
Tags: Reach, Near, Debilitating (-1 damage), Elemental (choose 1), Forceful, Piercing 1, Subtle, Two Targets (-1 damage)
(Elemental (Time): A time-element blade will tend to slow things down or leave them catching up to the present in fits and starts. A debilitating time attack will make things age or decay. A subtle time attack will scramble perceptions and memories.)
Cosmic Blade Savant: Add the following tags to the Cosmic Blade list: Close, Area (-2 damage), Messy (+1d4 damage), Piercing 2. In addition, selecting a Range tag for your Cosmic Blade does not count as one of your two tag choices.
Cameo - Healing Light: When you stitch cosmic light into a wound roll +INT. On a 7+ they heal 1d8 HP. On a 10+ they are filled with energy, taking +1 forward. On a 6- the light is uncooperative, they take -1 forward from the searing pain.
Heritage questions
Tell me the thing one parent most wanted to pass onto you and why.
The grit to survive. I was a frail child, and my prideful father thought he could rectify it through force of will alone. Try again, try harder. While I never grew as tough as he was, I’m probably even more stubborn.
Tell me the greatest thing another parent ever did and why only they could do it.
My mother was a great Enchanter. She was among the few to scry the inevitable doom that Dis meant for our plane. But the truth was too hard to accept, and too few could be spared. Fear turned to madness, as the people blamed the messengers for the hunger of Dis. As anger swept the land, she did the best she could to ensure I would survive. She crafted an amulet of great power, and sent me with it to the future. I arrived in Redhaven Parish 9 years ago; changed, connected to the flows of Time.
Tell me the one thing you'll always remember about the parish where you grew up.
In their time of crisis my world turned to blind faith, turning on each other as heretics unworthy of salvation.
Today, even the staunchest atheist knows all the proper signs and phrases that must be used to pass through the streets of Redhaven Parish without being thrown to the scant mercy of the Redeemers.
Heritage Moves
Pop's move is move forward implacably. It works like how it says. You move forward, and you cannot be stopped, no matter what. But, uh, you are still a real person in the world while all that is happening. You can move forward implacably through ten feet of white-hot plasma and you'll arrive as a charred skeleton, but you'll arrive. You can move forward implacably through a gauntlet of whirling blades and you'll be cut to ribbons, but you'll arrive. You can move forward implacably through a twenty-foot-thick wall of stone and you'll get about halfway through with some collapsed wall behind you. I will always tell you how far it will take you and what price you'll have to pay.
Mom's move is give a glimpse of destiny. Just, you know, keep in mind the lessons she learned from having done that. Also keep in mind that destiny can be fought. Even Dis could, in theory, be fought, but who knows what means that would take and what would survive the battle? You can try and bend this to a certain end - I'll give you a Destiny rating separate from your other moves that will tell you how successful you might be at doing that.
Your parish's move is follow dogma. In addition to the whole signs-and-phrases thing, you can also commit other things to memory and reenact them perfectly. But you have to believe in them, at least a little.
Special Moves
An-Sendol's Essential Warmth - when you Defy Danger to avoid or endure dangers represented by extreme heat or cold, you can briefly meditate to equilibrate your core temperature and roll with advantage. However, you're basically just temporarily ignoring the feedback from your extremities, so you'll take around half the original damage (least of 2 rolls) in the attempt.
It seems my skills are required once again, and I am forced to disturb the fabric to ensure things proceed favorably.
I have sat in a slowed meditative state in this place of power for a (relative) week, though to my companions I am merely missing, a common occurrence. I have fasted, contemplating the threads of destiny, and found the proper point to twist and loop the threads between Etana and myself. I try to hold in my mind the location of this place of power, but memory is fickle in the face of the infinite. I step though the golden framed mirror as it shatters behind me.
--
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for the Timeline Edit
Edit:
I'll spend my 2 hold to fix the following Paradoxes:
- Glory is copying one of Etana's tricks to contain the skeletons, but Etana was never there, so it will collapse.
- Etana was possessed by one of the Aspirants and is doomed to be compelled to act on their behalf, not hers. So are you.
Ajax had to quickly decide where to roll so that he would avoid getting hit. Rolling to the right seemed the best option. The berserk servitor was on the other end but likely had a limited amount of things it could attack any longer.
Also, there was another servitor that was probably better off being in pieces immobile on the ground. Finally, the Weaponmaster was pretty sure he saw Glory facing off with a group of skeletons and the living statue was going to need his help.
How far back does the retcon go? With no Etana, then Glory would have stayed at the projection area to try to make it work like a stage, and the red-sashes would have gone unblocked.
If it's more of a just-this-second, wait-why-am-I-here timey-wimeyness, then Glory would definitely try to parry and back away from the skeletons encircling him. Especially if the light wall is somehow still there.
Let me know if I'm missing anything.
And welcome, Xeno! I like the set of names we're working with.
Glazius has the final say if I'm interpreting this wrong, but I think the intention was more of the just-this-second, yet somehow the light wall is still there (yay time paradoxes!)
Assuming I'm right, and Glory moves out of the way, Xeno would attempt to use Cosmic blade with the tags area (-2 dmg, hits all foes in a group) (if I can hit more than two without hitting Glory) or two targets (-1 damage, two foes) and messy (+1d4 dmg).
That sounds good. Glory will be fine with not thinking the inconsistencies through too much.
@Glazius - I would like to change the Hack and Slash to a Parry, with Glory backing up a bit to avoid encirclement. He's trying to keep them from getting away, but he doesn't want it badly enough to risk that mace again.
If I keep the same roll, I'll choose to take no damage. I'm not sure if parry-thrust-dodge maneuvering gets me out of the way enough for the Cosmic Blade.
As Xeno steps into this timeline in Etana's place, he feel the fabric protest, multiple loose ends slipping through his grasp. He can only do so much, even in this slowed time.
The wall of light begins to flicker and fade, until he rethreads it's power earlier onto Glory's timeline. Another thread greedily tries to wrap itself around Xeno's neck, but the Wonderworker rips the Aspirant's compulsion away. Still, there are too many threads to account for, and Xeno's memories shift to match this timeline.
When Xeno's perceptions shift back to normal speed, he sees Glory surrounded by skeletons, his impressive bladework deftly keeping him from harm. The Mage sends out a wave of pure Entropy into the group, careful to avoid hitting the swordsman.
--
Geth roll 2d6+1 for Heritage
Geth roll 2d6+2 for Cosmic Blade
Geth roll 1d8+1d4 for Cosmic Blade damage
Adding Tags for range, messy (+1d4 damage) and area (-2 dmg) or two targets (-1 dmg) ; whatever is appropriate to hitting the most skeletons for max damage without hitting Glory. I didn't subtract the damage because I’m not sure which tags made the most sense.
If I get a 7-9 I'll choose: 'The GM removes a nonrange tag of their choice, and you deal -1 damage.'
Edit - An auspicious start! Now the trouble with spellcasters, how to justify assisting them...
GrogMy sword is only steelin a useful shape.Registered Userregular
Koba feels that twinge behind her eyeballs that can only mean Xeno has been up to something ill advised. Seeing him fling entropic energy around at the animated dead, she snarls advice across the room "They're not just bones, they're animus-imbued. Aim for the SKULLS!"
--
Xeno keeps dinging up my paint job. Time paradoxes and watching paint dry do not mix well.
Ajax, sure. You're on the side of the work area that has stairs leading up to Glory and the blue skeletons. The wandering servitor is still flailing around in here and it is still Hack and Slash to try to hit it if you want, since its random unpredictable motions are more or less the same thing as some dude flailing around with, like, drunken boxing or whatever.
And then Xeno has always been there.
---
Glory, sure thing, you dance away, using your blade and your agility and maybe a little bit of showmanship to pretend to be locked in a mortal struggle with the armored skeleton, but (nope! all a lie!) dancing backward as the other two decide to rush you.
And then Xeno has always been there.
---
Xeno, one thing, perhaps the one thing, that you can be sure of whenever you find yourself in the past spooling up a foreign set of memories is that the impossible bastard that is Currently-Paradoxed Future You volunteered you for it. You are fixing this particular moment, this moment that we're about to come to, in your mind, so that maybe that smuggo will somehow pre-remember it and not do this to you.
So, first off, you're dropped right into the middle of a combat against unclear forces for unclear stakes. Most people would just curl up and whimper but you prioritized.
And then it turns out the statue was acting, and your valiant change to save him turns into an attempt to not get run the hell over by his improvisational dance number.
Oh, and we can't forget that thread that tried to give you orders. It's still doing that. Not actually with any particular compulsion to obey but, like some harbinger of doom, it decided to make you acutely, acutely aware that a particular four tubes out of the twenty or so that have been processed at the 6-o'clock wall actually contain the bodies of the Aspirants, and you know, you just know that this is that kind of bullshit spirit-imparted knowledge that will leave you completely unable to actually articulate to anyone else which particular four tubes they are.
And then the ghost armor decides to holler at you about how to spit entropy at things like it's actually ever had to do that.
You throw up your hands.
And we arrive at this moment. The moment when you realize what throwing up your hands does when you're in the middle of the kinesthetic manipulation of the progression of time.
---
Koba, I know I've hinted at this before, but let me be clear about it now. This room was not originally intended for logographic purposes. It was back-converted after the current tenants moved in. Maybe this was some kind of fighting arena or public forum originally? Anyway, the array, the focusers and tracery, were all put in afterwards, carefully mounted to the crumbling stone ceiling.
So you're probably the first one to get really worried when Xeno pivots to tell you off and the ceiling begins to... change.
With a sound like four well-coordinated bolt-cutters, one of the focusing spires comes loose and drops to the work surface, shattering a glass tube. You're about ready to tear into Mister Paradox for dooming you all when you figure you should back up your angry rants and take a careful, possibly magnified, look at the ceiling.
It is not crumbling, as you might have expected. It's... getting newer? It lacks the kind of age-worn surface you might leverage if you were, say, carefully mounting a logographic array in a room that did not originally contain one. And it does not appear to have stopped. In fact, it's spreading.
On the plus side, there was apparently some kind of giant mural painted on the roof, so that'll probably be very pretty to look at.
On the minus side, uh. The Aspirants' souls were bound with a purpose-made logogram. If you can't manage to undo it here, you're not sure where exactly you'd find the time and power and relevant setup to undo it.
(Also on the minus side, more of those spires are going to start dropping. Within the work area at first, but there's no telling exactly which way one will fly when it pops free, and the farther out this goes the more likely some outlier is going to come crashing down on, well, any given person on the outer ring.)
Now, you are well within your rights to just say "fuck those guys" and start moving the fight to a place that isn't actively falling apart. Really as long as you can get the message to Ashcrown this job will be completed, and there never was a talk with the Aspirants with any expectation that you'd do anything for them.
It's really more a question of what kind of person you are.
---
And regardless of what kind of person Koba is, the Aspirants are doomed because someone fixed the roof countdown has begun moving from 12:00 safe. What's everybody doing?
(I'm using Apocalypse World countdown clocks here. So 12 -> 3 -> 6 -> 9 -> 10 -> 11 -> 12 again. "12:00 safe" and "12:00 doomed", savvy?)
@Grog - since Koba is likely always aware of more information than Glory is, and since Glory's strength seems more to be distracting/delaying/taxi service, it would make a lot of sense to me for them to have a dynamic of Koba shouting out arbitrary instructions, and Glory finding a heroic way to achieve them. Like "Glory, don't let the monkey in the command module!" or "Glory, paint the skeleton green!" They should probably be shouted, to add urgency and drama.
Feel free to play around with that, if it seems fun to you.
@Boozer, too - that's probably... always... will have... been... a thing with Xeno and Glory, too...?
Ajax took one look at the servitor that was still flailing on this side of the glass tube that just came down. He considered taking a swing at it, putting it down but for now it seemed there was little it could do other than destroy what the Weaponmaster had already started destroying (the work area certainly wasn't going to be is d any time soon).
And so, he charged up the stairs to Glory. Zeno was there, of course he was there, why wouldn't he be there(the thought alone sent a peculiar twitch in his eye)? Three skeletons were there as well. Glory was weaving in and out of them, dodging just as two of them charged him.
Ajax gripped his sword and pushed forward, lunging towards the nearest skeleton as it whiffed past Glory in a failed attack.
While Glory admires Ajax's energy and passion, he could use a few pointers about style. Glory tries to help Ajax focus his rage, just with a little more flair.
Moments like this were why Xeno rarely left his studies. The problem with tapping into a power which mortal minds were not meant to comprehend, is that things generally turn out one of two ways; slightly better, or catastrophically worse.
But Xeno’s Future rarely let him rest, it constantly pushed him further, despite the risks. After all, the only way to shift the odds in your favor is to get better at loading the dice. Still, why the urgency?
Xeno’s attention shifted to the glass tubes containing the Aspirants when a piece of the strange apparatus dropped, shattering a empty tube.
Once again, Xeno’s most pressing concern was to contain the damage his fumbling interference had already wrought. He spread his arms wide, grabbed, then pulled inward; trying to repair as much of the warped fabric as possible, to restore the normal flow of time.
--
@Glazius, not sure from the description if I know which 4 tubes out of 20 contain the aspirants and I just can’t tell the others, or if I only have a general idea and I’ll need a roll to figure it out.
Regardless, I’ll try and use Cosmic Channel to undo the temporal damage being done to the room/logograph, or at least stop it from spreading further.
Geth roll 2d6+2 for Cosmic Channel
For 10+ I’ll choose: Unwanted attention
If I get a 7-9 I’ll add: Drained, -1 ongoing to Int
GrogMy sword is only steelin a useful shape.Registered Userregular
--
Sorry for the holdup, in the throes of a fever. Will post soon as I'm able.
0
Options
GrogMy sword is only steelin a useful shape.Registered Userregular
edited August 2016
While Koba never shared her lineage's mad ambition to conquer the underworld, she does still hold every soul's liberty to be sacred. Realising shouting at Xeno won't work (when does it ever?), she engages the Conqueror's polterkinetic drive and leaps toward the ceiling, intent on stabilising the rejected array where possible.
--
Sorry @Boozer, I would angel that roll but I've not got enough bonds with others. Instead I'll defy danger with Wis, as it seems the most appropriate question.
Koba is focusing on supporting or re-positioning the array away from Xeno's attempts at fixing things.
She really mustn't ignore her footing, lest the suit come crashing down onto more of the logographic equipment.
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for Defy Danger Wis
The melee around Glory is kind of involving, Ajax. You pick the likeliest target, which is one of the unarmored skeletons, and the blow connects as it tries to leap out of the way. It lands awkwardly but is making motions to get up, so it's not out yet.
The unarmored skeletons aren't armed either, but the surviving one seems like a much more capable grappler than that red-sashed one, from the way it carries itself, and it moves in to lock you in position and expose your unprotected back to the heavily armored skeleton.
Well, not "unprotected" as in unarmored. "Unprotected" as in there isn't really someone with a pointy bit warding it away from there.
The thing is, Glory, Ajax, you're in a melee. So somebody speak up. You can volunteer to get grappled or to get the other guy grappled, and the other of you will be free to act.
Ajax, just so you know, the heavily-armored skeleton is a pretty worthy foe.
Glory, just so you know, marking a bond with Xeno will also count somehow for your bond with Etana for purposes of getting additional charges of Anything You Can Do. Try not to think too hard about how that works.
---
The two middle-armored skeletons carefully withdraw into the mouth of the tunnel at 4:00. They seem confident in letting the last unarmored skeleton go about his errand down that way, whatever it might be.
---
Xeno, this powerleveling is getting a little bit blatant. Ask Geth to cut it back, will you?
Anyway, you do manage to briefly reverse the renewal effect in a very small area. Reverse it very strongly. A little too strongly, actually.
Two mounting bolts pull free from age, two more are cut short by youth, and one spire makes a beeline for the source of the flux.
Geth, roll 1d8 for damage ex machina (piercing 2).
Three Four more things you should know about this dynamic mishap of yours:
First, it's going to run out of gas when it hits a conceptual boundary, when "the ceiling" becomes... well, in a different geometry it would be "the wall" but in this case it's "the floor" or "the tunnel".
Second, while it's only tangentially related, yes, you don't know which specific four tubes contain the Aspirants. You know that four tubes contain them, but it's a level of detail best described as "dreamlike", that if you think about getting specifics somehow returns how you should pack your luggage or why this chariot won't stop. Someone could certainly infer from various context clues, like tattoos or surviving clothing or that particular Ditchwater tinge, that a particular four actually are the Aspirants, but that'd be some kind of exposition or investigation.
Third, using Cosmic Channel to interfere with it is certainly possible to try and, say, send a spire off course or momentarily hold back the renewal to allow someone to work, but it'll need an impressive effort -- like, a 12+ impressive effort -- to avoid the resulting resonance accelerating the timer.
Fourth, also tell Geth you don't get XP from a maximum damage roll? You manage to avoid getting pinned in place by the spire through the cunning stratagem of intercepting as much as possible of it with your flesh. ...or whatever your corporeal form is constructed from. I ain't judging.
The Aspirants are doomed because someone fixed the roof countdown has advanced to-- hold on a second.
---
Koba, some things about Angel rolls.
First, you share in all the consequences, so you're also marking an XP for the failed roll that kicked off this little emergency.
Second, after the fact they're only attemptable on a 6 or a 9. Or, I suppose, if you've propitiated the dice gods or have the hubris not to, on an 11. You can always proactively exhaust one of your bonds to help someone and that sets them up to take best two out of three. But after the fact, only on a 6, 9, or 11, unless I specifically offer exceptions. This is not one of those cases.
In unrelated news, you manage to avoid making the scenario any worse than it already is, set yourself up a workable interface to perform the proper logographic operations to free the Aspirants (though you don't know what those are yet), and all without a scratch.
Well, mostly. Pick one.
You have trouble prioritizing -- the Roof Doom countdown advances to 6:00 instead of 3:00.
You have trouble focusing on the big picture -- you'll still need to make preparations somehow to undo the logograph that's trapping the Aspirants.
You can't see a way around grabbing one of the spires that was charging up that lightning. Damage your suit.
Xeno pulled himself to his feet, trying to focus his swimming vision. He leaned onto one of the nearby glass tubes for support... wait what?
Had the spire really knocked him this far, or had the thread subconsciously drawn him stumbling over here?
No matter, best to put the issue to rest and avoid thinking about the temporal maelstrom swirling around him.
Xeno tried to remember everything he could about the Aspirants in this timeline, some way he could identify them, and compared them to the occupants of the glass tubes.
His strike was clumsy but it landed. The after effects of it were that Glory was now entangled with the skeleton, a situation which prevented the Weaponmaster from engaging further.
Instead, his attention turned to the more heavily armored skeleton. A mischievous grin broke out across his face. "I was beginning to worry there wouldn't be a challenge." Ajax steadied himself, settling in and letting his combat training overtake him. The world slowed slightly as he focus on his worthy opponent, watching carefully for the skeelton's first movement.
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for Battle Instincts
--
Not sure if I can use that as well as another actual action. If so, I'll also be defending.
Battle Instincts:
2d6+28 [2d6=5, 1]
0
Options
GrogMy sword is only steelin a useful shape.Registered Userregular
An iron fist clenched resolutely around a lightning spire, Koba grits her teeth and wrinkles her nose at the stench of ozone. With a pTANG the suit's helm goes flying, but the machinist continues unperturbed.
--
I'll take that suit damage to advanced systems (so I'm on 1 armor now).
Gluh, sorry about this. I have just kind of passed out the last two nights after getting home from work.
---
Ajax, you've got a choice to make here. You can spend that hold you just got to fend off the big skeleton's attack on Glory, try and interpose yourself to Defend Glory, or let him take a hit and use that hold you just got in another way that's probably going to lead into a Hack and Slash.
---
Xeno, yeah, you can get there fine. The skeletons at the 4:00 tunnel don't try to stop you and the others are tied up with Glory and Ajax. And you do know something interesting. You know that all Aspirants get a tattoo in a particular pattern in a particular place, as part of the possibly cultish nature of the whole company. I'll leave you to fill in what and where that is, as well as how you know. Maybe the timeless (more timeless? less timed?) nature of the Road Wardens appealed to you, maybe you had a good friend join.
Anyway, what I'm saying is that you know which of the 20 or so bodies that have been processed are Aspirants. There are 6 of them.
And, I mean, also a dozen or so non-Aspirants that have also been obtained through various means that probably didn't involve negotiating with the Last Gatesmen. Nobody actually from Ashcrown, oddly enough.
But yeah, 6 Aspirants. Narrows the selection down considerably, at least!
And I'd ask what you were planning to do now that you know there are 6 Aspirants, but really, I'm more curious what you were planning to do with all 4 of the ones you thought there were in the first place.
---
Koba, yeah, you manage to compensate for the unexpectedly-missing element of the array and get yourself set up to undo that logogram that was trapping the souls of the Aspirants.
Whatever you're planning to do there it's going to have at least three parts.
You've got to come up with an appropriate logogram to undo the one binding the Aspirants to the message.
Then you need to coax the collapsing array into producing it.
And when it's complete, somebody needs to be in position in the rough center of the room - you know, with those rampaging servitors and falling spires - in order to direct it appropriately.
Ajax's sense align with the battle and his notes the familiar posture of an attacker that the larger skeleton is taking. Both hands gripping his sword, he focuses intently on his opponent's midsection, watching carefully as it shift and turns, quickly discerning that the intended target of the attack is Glory, not himself.
The Weaponmaster stands in defense of Glory, attempting to quickly shift himself into the path of the skeleton's weapon and bring up his sword in an attempt to block or redirect the attack.
Geth, roll 2d6+1 for Defend Glory
--
Spend the hold 1 to Redirect attack from Glory to myself
Xeno’s perceptions had the tendency to shift in time and place, so he had become an expert at figuring out where and when he was at any time using contextual clues from modes of dress, architecture, and the like.
“Of course, Aspirant’s always get tattoos of open eyes on their eyelids, so that they can remain Sentinels even after Death.” Xeno mumbled to himself, before firing off an Entropic Ray from each palm at the skeletons attacking Glory and Ajax.
“Koba, I’ve got it! There are six Aspirant’s here, they all have tattoos of the Watchful Eye!” Xeno yelled triumphantly, before a follow up question slipped out.
“Ahh... do we care that there are six Aspirant’s here!?!” he asked Koba. It had seemed important a moment ago, no doubt thanks to that errant thread. It pained him to admit it, but any details of why he had been sent on this mission had been lost in the Temporal jump. Koba would never let him hear the end of it.
--
Geth roll 2d6+2 for Cosmic Blade
Geth roll 1d8+1d4-1 for Cosmic Blade damage
Adding Tags for range, messy (+1d4 damage) and two targets (-1 dmg)
If I get a 7-9 I'll choose: 'The GM removes a nonrange tag of their choice, and you deal -1 damage.'
To be specific I’m hitting the armed skeleton and the grappling skeleton harassing Glory and Ajax, not the one still on the ground.
Edit- that means I either hit both for 2 damage (4-1-1), or 1 for 6 (4+3-1) damage. If I'm only hitting one I'll hit the grappler, if I have the choice, since helping free up Glory seems more important.
Posts
And so instead, the Weaponmaster slid his sword into its sheathe and wrapped his arms around the nearest glass tube, attempting to pull it off its perch and enclose what is remaining of the servitor on the floor in glass.
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for Defy Danger
--
Going to tap my alignment (Use a device or machine in a way it was not meant to be used) and pray this doesn't backfire (or regular fire?).
Geth, roll 3d6k2+2 for Lightning Supercharge
Koba, this is kind of custom-movey and you did it completely perfectly. Your weapons are canonically ghost-fueled, so tell me what else on the Conqueror is powered by lightning. (This can be an existing system that will get temporarily souped up or a system you're still working on - a 2-5 advanced move that improves your suit's capabilities somehow, other than your Primary Weapon. The energy is transient and will last at most until you Make Camp again. You can also pick a part of the suit that isn't mechanically represented as a potential system and I'll come up with some benefit for it.)
---
tags: @AustinP0027 @Grog
---
additional tags: @wildwood @Capfalcon
Totally fine with Boozer joining in
Also, not sure the roll but I'll take the first option and risk more servitors waking up.
Geth, roll 2d6l1-2 for Don't Wake Servitors.
Right, you think you've got it down in time, but you watch the little black cloud that spreads across the floor, and one of the servitors does start staggering around a little randomly.
Apparently it has to actually reach its arms for it to start punching.
You know, like the one behind you, which is trying to knock a glass tube off its moorings the slow way, but you know what they say about slow and steady. You hear one of the mounting pins break and turn around to see that the servitor has migrated to the other side of the tube and is about to send it in your general direction. You don't have to be worried about that one knocking over the tube you just set in place - most of the black dust has already settled - but you do have to worry about it knocking you over.
---
tags: @AustinP0027
Unfortunately, a snap behind the Weaponmaster indicates that he was still under duress. He almost wanted to sigh as he spun around to see another glass tube about to sail his way. His legs tensed as he squatted slightly, preparing to jump to the side away from the tube and hopefully also roll towards his attacker.
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for Defy Danger (Tuck and roll!)
--
I will go with Mobile suit- Giant Drill, since it could be handy for a shortcut down these tunnels.
You have three options, Ajax.
Etana, Glory, let's have a look back at you for a bit, shall we? Etana, you had to pick between a couple of things to focus on before the drafting table went dark - how the next-largest room in this place is laid out, or where those tunnels at 2:00 and 4:00 go. Glory, you got clouted by the heavily armored skeleton, and with their escape cut off, the unarmored skeletons were moving to surround you.
---
tags: @Capfalcon @wildwood @AustinP0027
Twitch Stream
"I said, have at you!" With feeling this time.
--
Geth roll 2d6+2 for Hack and Slash
@Glazius - is Parry something I can use (or try to use) whenever Glory takes melee damage?
Geth roll 1d8 for damage
You can retroactively have pulled out a Parry there instead, if you're just playing for time.
---
Also, sorry to hear it @Capfalcon. Thanks for giving it a try, and if you feel like you could pick it up again I'll try to be here.
tags: @wildwood
Name : Xeno the Wonderworker
Look: Hourglass Pupils, Wild Hair, Stylish Robes, Thin Body
Level: 3
Str: 8 (-1)
Dex: 16 (+2)
Con: 12 (+0)
Int: 17 (+2)
Wis: 13 (+1)
Cha: 9 (+0)
Destiny: 0
Heritage: 3
XP: 3
Damage: d4
Armor: 1
HP: 16/16
Drive: Responsibility - Use magic to directly aid another.
Bonds:
1) I depend on Koba's clarity in a crisis. (Exhausted)
2) Ajax ignores what he doesnt understand.
3) Glory will play an important role in the events to come. I have foreseen it! (Exhausted)
Load: 4/6
Equipment:
Dungeon rations (4 uses, 1 weight)
Indestructible Amulet of Green Crystal (1 weight)
Lightweave Armor (1 armor, 1 weight)
Dagger (hand, 1 weight)
3 antitoxins
Adventuring Gear (2 uses, 1 weight)
Bag of books (1 use, 0 weight)
Probability potion
Ward from undead resin bead
Bandages (8 uses, 0 weight, +4hp, slow)
52 Coin
Ward from undead resin bead - Another "emergency" box, this one glass-lidded mahogany-colored wood, with two empty impressions and a third holding a green resin bead with some caltroppy bits on the ends and some sedimented material on what must have been intended to be the bottom. It smells vaguely of mint. If you spike it violently to the ground, it will burst out into a circle of light that will ward against hostile undead.
Party Treasure
The following two big items should be added to our party treasure until we can fence it:
- A jeweled marker from Weathermist Sands, worth 130 coin to anyone who can spin a convincing story about how they totally got traded this thing by its original buyer, honest.
- A "light spinel" - Glory will recognize the rough shape and luminance from the message crystal they received from Szatotae. This one contains no secret message - it's a high-quality yellow blank. Could get 70 coin from an appropriate crafter.
Moves
Cosmic channel (Int): When you channel cosmic power to help solve a problem, describe how you do it and roll +INT. This can never deal damage directly. On a 10+, you do help but choose one. On a 7-9, you do help but choose two.
• The effect won’t last long - you’ll need to hurry to take advantage of it.
• You affect either much more or much less than you wanted to.
• Your work has unforeseen side effects, and might draw unwanted attention.
• You feel drained. You take -1 ongoing to INT until you have a few minutes to clear your head.
On a miss, something’s gone horribly wrong. You may well have done what you set out to do, but you will regret it.
Cosmic Focus - The Clock: Your studies are centered on a particular focus, an aspect of the metaphysical world from which you take inspiration. When you first channel cosmic power, select a Focus from the list and record it below. There is more information on Foci on the attached page.
When you channel power that is Aligned to your Focus, your modifier to the roll can’t be less than +1. When you channel power that is neither Aligned nor Opposed to your Focus, take -1 to the roll. You can never channel power if it is Opposed to your focus.
Focus: The Clock Look: Hourglass Pupils
Aligned: Adjust the Flow of Time, Stop Aging and Movement, Erode to Dust.
Opposed: Manipulate Emotions, Moving Anything Around.
Cosmic Blade (Int): When you channel cosmic power to inflict pain, choose two tags and roll +INT. If you do not pick any Range tags, the Range defaults to Hand.
On a hit, deal 1d8 damage. On a 7-9, also choose 1.
• You draw unwanted attention or put someone in a spot.
• The GM removes a non-range tag of their choice, and you deal -1-damage.
• You feel drained. You take -1 ongoing to INT until you have a few minutes to clear your-head.
Tags: Reach, Near, Debilitating (-1 damage), Elemental (choose 1), Forceful, Piercing 1, Subtle, Two Targets (-1 damage)
(Elemental (Time): A time-element blade will tend to slow things down or leave them catching up to the present in fits and starts. A debilitating time attack will make things age or decay. A subtle time attack will scramble perceptions and memories.)
Cosmic Blade Savant: Add the following tags to the Cosmic Blade list: Close, Area (-2 damage), Messy (+1d4 damage), Piercing 2. In addition, selecting a Range tag for your Cosmic Blade does not count as one of your two tag choices.
Cameo - Healing Light: When you stitch cosmic light into a wound roll +INT. On a 7+ they heal 1d8 HP. On a 10+ they are filled with energy, taking +1 forward. On a 6- the light is uncooperative, they take -1 forward from the searing pain.
Heritage questions
The grit to survive. I was a frail child, and my prideful father thought he could rectify it through force of will alone. Try again, try harder. While I never grew as tough as he was, I’m probably even more stubborn.
Tell me the greatest thing another parent ever did and why only they could do it.
My mother was a great Enchanter. She was among the few to scry the inevitable doom that Dis meant for our plane. But the truth was too hard to accept, and too few could be spared. Fear turned to madness, as the people blamed the messengers for the hunger of Dis. As anger swept the land, she did the best she could to ensure I would survive. She crafted an amulet of great power, and sent me with it to the future. I arrived in Redhaven Parish 9 years ago; changed, connected to the flows of Time.
Tell me the one thing you'll always remember about the parish where you grew up.
In their time of crisis my world turned to blind faith, turning on each other as heretics unworthy of salvation.
Today, even the staunchest atheist knows all the proper signs and phrases that must be used to pass through the streets of Redhaven Parish without being thrown to the scant mercy of the Redeemers.
Heritage Moves
Mom's move is give a glimpse of destiny. Just, you know, keep in mind the lessons she learned from having done that. Also keep in mind that destiny can be fought. Even Dis could, in theory, be fought, but who knows what means that would take and what would survive the battle? You can try and bend this to a certain end - I'll give you a Destiny rating separate from your other moves that will tell you how successful you might be at doing that.
Your parish's move is follow dogma. In addition to the whole signs-and-phrases thing, you can also commit other things to memory and reenact them perfectly. But you have to believe in them, at least a little.
Special Moves
PSN: Boozer_777
I have sat in a slowed meditative state in this place of power for a (relative) week, though to my companions I am merely missing, a common occurrence. I have fasted, contemplating the threads of destiny, and found the proper point to twist and loop the threads between Etana and myself. I try to hold in my mind the location of this place of power, but memory is fickle in the face of the infinite. I step though the golden framed mirror as it shatters behind me.
--
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for the Timeline Edit
Edit:
I'll spend my 2 hold to fix the following Paradoxes:
- Glory is copying one of Etana's tricks to contain the skeletons, but Etana was never there, so it will collapse.
- Etana was possessed by one of the Aspirants and is doomed to be compelled to act on their behalf, not hers. So are you.
PSN: Boozer_777
Also, there was another servitor that was probably better off being in pieces immobile on the ground. Finally, the Weaponmaster was pretty sure he saw Glory facing off with a group of skeletons and the living statue was going to need his help.
How far back does the retcon go? With no Etana, then Glory would have stayed at the projection area to try to make it work like a stage, and the red-sashes would have gone unblocked.
If it's more of a just-this-second, wait-why-am-I-here timey-wimeyness, then Glory would definitely try to parry and back away from the skeletons encircling him. Especially if the light wall is somehow still there.
Let me know if I'm missing anything.
And welcome, Xeno! I like the set of names we're working with.
Glazius has the final say if I'm interpreting this wrong, but I think the intention was more of the just-this-second, yet somehow the light wall is still there (yay time paradoxes!)
Assuming I'm right, and Glory moves out of the way, Xeno would attempt to use Cosmic blade with the tags area (-2 dmg, hits all foes in a group) (if I can hit more than two without hitting Glory) or two targets (-1 damage, two foes) and messy (+1d4 dmg).
PSN: Boozer_777
That sounds good. Glory will be fine with not thinking the inconsistencies through too much.
@Glazius - I would like to change the Hack and Slash to a Parry, with Glory backing up a bit to avoid encirclement. He's trying to keep them from getting away, but he doesn't want it badly enough to risk that mace again.
If I keep the same roll, I'll choose to take no damage. I'm not sure if parry-thrust-dodge maneuvering gets me out of the way enough for the Cosmic Blade.
The wall of light begins to flicker and fade, until he rethreads it's power earlier onto Glory's timeline. Another thread greedily tries to wrap itself around Xeno's neck, but the Wonderworker rips the Aspirant's compulsion away. Still, there are too many threads to account for, and Xeno's memories shift to match this timeline.
When Xeno's perceptions shift back to normal speed, he sees Glory surrounded by skeletons, his impressive bladework deftly keeping him from harm. The Mage sends out a wave of pure Entropy into the group, careful to avoid hitting the swordsman.
--
Geth roll 2d6+1 for Heritage
Geth roll 2d6+2 for Cosmic Blade
Geth roll 1d8+1d4 for Cosmic Blade damage
Adding Tags for range, messy (+1d4 damage) and area (-2 dmg) or two targets (-1 dmg) ; whatever is appropriate to hitting the most skeletons for max damage without hitting Glory. I didn't subtract the damage because I’m not sure which tags made the most sense.
If I get a 7-9 I'll choose: 'The GM removes a nonrange tag of their choice, and you deal -1 damage.'
Edit - An auspicious start! Now the trouble with spellcasters, how to justify assisting them...
PSN: Boozer_777
--
Xeno keeps dinging up my paint job. Time paradoxes and watching paint dry do not mix well.
Geth, roll 1d6 for Angel.
Welcome to the party Xeno!
And then Xeno has always been there.
---
Glory, sure thing, you dance away, using your blade and your agility and maybe a little bit of showmanship to pretend to be locked in a mortal struggle with the armored skeleton, but (nope! all a lie!) dancing backward as the other two decide to rush you.
And then Xeno has always been there.
---
Xeno, one thing, perhaps the one thing, that you can be sure of whenever you find yourself in the past spooling up a foreign set of memories is that the impossible bastard that is Currently-Paradoxed Future You volunteered you for it. You are fixing this particular moment, this moment that we're about to come to, in your mind, so that maybe that smuggo will somehow pre-remember it and not do this to you.
So, first off, you're dropped right into the middle of a combat against unclear forces for unclear stakes. Most people would just curl up and whimper but you prioritized.
And then it turns out the statue was acting, and your valiant change to save him turns into an attempt to not get run the hell over by his improvisational dance number.
Oh, and we can't forget that thread that tried to give you orders. It's still doing that. Not actually with any particular compulsion to obey but, like some harbinger of doom, it decided to make you acutely, acutely aware that a particular four tubes out of the twenty or so that have been processed at the 6-o'clock wall actually contain the bodies of the Aspirants, and you know, you just know that this is that kind of bullshit spirit-imparted knowledge that will leave you completely unable to actually articulate to anyone else which particular four tubes they are.
And then the ghost armor decides to holler at you about how to spit entropy at things like it's actually ever had to do that.
You throw up your hands.
And we arrive at this moment. The moment when you realize what throwing up your hands does when you're in the middle of the kinesthetic manipulation of the progression of time.
---
Koba, I know I've hinted at this before, but let me be clear about it now. This room was not originally intended for logographic purposes. It was back-converted after the current tenants moved in. Maybe this was some kind of fighting arena or public forum originally? Anyway, the array, the focusers and tracery, were all put in afterwards, carefully mounted to the crumbling stone ceiling.
So you're probably the first one to get really worried when Xeno pivots to tell you off and the ceiling begins to... change.
With a sound like four well-coordinated bolt-cutters, one of the focusing spires comes loose and drops to the work surface, shattering a glass tube. You're about ready to tear into Mister Paradox for dooming you all when you figure you should back up your angry rants and take a careful, possibly magnified, look at the ceiling.
It is not crumbling, as you might have expected. It's... getting newer? It lacks the kind of age-worn surface you might leverage if you were, say, carefully mounting a logographic array in a room that did not originally contain one. And it does not appear to have stopped. In fact, it's spreading.
On the plus side, there was apparently some kind of giant mural painted on the roof, so that'll probably be very pretty to look at.
On the minus side, uh. The Aspirants' souls were bound with a purpose-made logogram. If you can't manage to undo it here, you're not sure where exactly you'd find the time and power and relevant setup to undo it.
(Also on the minus side, more of those spires are going to start dropping. Within the work area at first, but there's no telling exactly which way one will fly when it pops free, and the farther out this goes the more likely some outlier is going to come crashing down on, well, any given person on the outer ring.)
Now, you are well within your rights to just say "fuck those guys" and start moving the fight to a place that isn't actively falling apart. Really as long as you can get the message to Ashcrown this job will be completed, and there never was a talk with the Aspirants with any expectation that you'd do anything for them.
It's really more a question of what kind of person you are.
---
And regardless of what kind of person Koba is, the Aspirants are doomed because someone fixed the roof countdown has begun moving from 12:00 safe. What's everybody doing?
(I'm using Apocalypse World countdown clocks here. So 12 -> 3 -> 6 -> 9 -> 10 -> 11 -> 12 again. "12:00 safe" and "12:00 doomed", savvy?)
tags: @AustinP0027 @wildwood @Boozer @Grog
@Grog - since Koba is likely always aware of more information than Glory is, and since Glory's strength seems more to be distracting/delaying/taxi service, it would make a lot of sense to me for them to have a dynamic of Koba shouting out arbitrary instructions, and Glory finding a heroic way to achieve them. Like "Glory, don't let the monkey in the command module!" or "Glory, paint the skeleton green!" They should probably be shouted, to add urgency and drama.
Feel free to play around with that, if it seems fun to you.
@Boozer, too - that's probably... always... will have... been... a thing with Xeno and Glory, too...?
Also, if/when Xeno gets a countdown clock, I'm hoping that each step will consume half the remaining time...?
And so, he charged up the stairs to Glory. Zeno was there, of course he was there, why wouldn't he be there(the thought alone sent a peculiar twitch in his eye)? Three skeletons were there as well. Glory was weaving in and out of them, dodging just as two of them charged him.
Ajax gripped his sword and pushed forward, lunging towards the nearest skeleton as it whiffed past Glory in a failed attack.
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for Hack and Slash
--
Bond: Ajax needs to work on his appearance.
Geth roll 1d6 for Angel
tags: @AustinP0027
Geth, roll 1d10+1 for Damage
But Xeno’s Future rarely let him rest, it constantly pushed him further, despite the risks. After all, the only way to shift the odds in your favor is to get better at loading the dice. Still, why the urgency?
Xeno’s attention shifted to the glass tubes containing the Aspirants when a piece of the strange apparatus dropped, shattering a empty tube.
Once again, Xeno’s most pressing concern was to contain the damage his fumbling interference had already wrought. He spread his arms wide, grabbed, then pulled inward; trying to repair as much of the warped fabric as possible, to restore the normal flow of time.
--
@Glazius, not sure from the description if I know which 4 tubes out of 20 contain the aspirants and I just can’t tell the others, or if I only have a general idea and I’ll need a roll to figure it out.
Regardless, I’ll try and use Cosmic Channel to undo the temporal damage being done to the room/logograph, or at least stop it from spreading further.
Geth roll 2d6+2 for Cosmic Channel
For 10+ I’ll choose: Unwanted attention
If I get a 7-9 I’ll add: Drained, -1 ongoing to Int
Edit - *flips table*
PSN: Boozer_777
Sorry for the holdup, in the throes of a fever. Will post soon as I'm able.
--
Sorry @Boozer, I would angel that roll but I've not got enough bonds with others. Instead I'll defy danger with Wis, as it seems the most appropriate question.
Koba is focusing on supporting or re-positioning the array away from Xeno's attempts at fixing things.
She really mustn't ignore her footing, lest the suit come crashing down onto more of the logographic equipment.
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for Defy Danger Wis
The unarmored skeletons aren't armed either, but the surviving one seems like a much more capable grappler than that red-sashed one, from the way it carries itself, and it moves in to lock you in position and expose your unprotected back to the heavily armored skeleton.
Well, not "unprotected" as in unarmored. "Unprotected" as in there isn't really someone with a pointy bit warding it away from there.
The thing is, Glory, Ajax, you're in a melee. So somebody speak up. You can volunteer to get grappled or to get the other guy grappled, and the other of you will be free to act.
Ajax, just so you know, the heavily-armored skeleton is a pretty worthy foe.
Glory, just so you know, marking a bond with Xeno will also count somehow for your bond with Etana for purposes of getting additional charges of Anything You Can Do. Try not to think too hard about how that works.
---
The two middle-armored skeletons carefully withdraw into the mouth of the tunnel at 4:00. They seem confident in letting the last unarmored skeleton go about his errand down that way, whatever it might be.
---
Xeno, this powerleveling is getting a little bit blatant. Ask Geth to cut it back, will you?
Anyway, you do manage to briefly reverse the renewal effect in a very small area. Reverse it very strongly. A little too strongly, actually.
Two mounting bolts pull free from age, two more are cut short by youth, and one spire makes a beeline for the source of the flux.
Geth, roll 1d8 for damage ex machina (piercing 2).
Three Four more things you should know about this dynamic mishap of yours:
First, it's going to run out of gas when it hits a conceptual boundary, when "the ceiling" becomes... well, in a different geometry it would be "the wall" but in this case it's "the floor" or "the tunnel".
Second, while it's only tangentially related, yes, you don't know which specific four tubes contain the Aspirants. You know that four tubes contain them, but it's a level of detail best described as "dreamlike", that if you think about getting specifics somehow returns how you should pack your luggage or why this chariot won't stop. Someone could certainly infer from various context clues, like tattoos or surviving clothing or that particular Ditchwater tinge, that a particular four actually are the Aspirants, but that'd be some kind of exposition or investigation.
Third, using Cosmic Channel to interfere with it is certainly possible to try and, say, send a spire off course or momentarily hold back the renewal to allow someone to work, but it'll need an impressive effort -- like, a 12+ impressive effort -- to avoid the resulting resonance accelerating the timer.
Fourth, also tell Geth you don't get XP from a maximum damage roll? You manage to avoid getting pinned in place by the spire through the cunning stratagem of intercepting as much as possible of it with your flesh. ...or whatever your corporeal form is constructed from. I ain't judging.
The Aspirants are doomed because someone fixed the roof countdown has advanced to-- hold on a second.
---
Koba, some things about Angel rolls.
First, you share in all the consequences, so you're also marking an XP for the failed roll that kicked off this little emergency.
Second, after the fact they're only attemptable on a 6 or a 9. Or, I suppose, if you've propitiated the dice gods or have the hubris not to, on an 11. You can always proactively exhaust one of your bonds to help someone and that sets them up to take best two out of three. But after the fact, only on a 6, 9, or 11, unless I specifically offer exceptions. This is not one of those cases.
In unrelated news, you manage to avoid making the scenario any worse than it already is, set yourself up a workable interface to perform the proper logographic operations to free the Aspirants (though you don't know what those are yet), and all without a scratch.
Well, mostly. Pick one.
---
tags: @AustinP0027 @wildwood @Boozer @Grog
@wildwood you ok to be grappled? Ajax has a worthy foe in his sights and I'd hate to have him leave before I get a chance to cut him down
Xeno pulled himself to his feet, trying to focus his swimming vision. He leaned onto one of the nearby glass tubes for support... wait what?
Had the spire really knocked him this far, or had the thread subconsciously drawn him stumbling over here?
No matter, best to put the issue to rest and avoid thinking about the temporal maelstrom swirling around him.
Xeno tried to remember everything he could about the Aspirants in this timeline, some way he could identify them, and compared them to the occupants of the glass tubes.
--
Geth roll 2d6+2 for Exposit
PSN: Boozer_777
"You want to dance, foul creature? Then let's dance!"
Instead, his attention turned to the more heavily armored skeleton. A mischievous grin broke out across his face. "I was beginning to worry there wouldn't be a challenge." Ajax steadied himself, settling in and letting his combat training overtake him. The world slowed slightly as he focus on his worthy opponent, watching carefully for the skeelton's first movement.
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for Battle Instincts
--
Not sure if I can use that as well as another actual action. If so, I'll also be defending.
--
I'll take that suit damage to advanced systems (so I'm on 1 armor now).
---
Ajax, you've got a choice to make here. You can spend that hold you just got to fend off the big skeleton's attack on Glory, try and interpose yourself to Defend Glory, or let him take a hit and use that hold you just got in another way that's probably going to lead into a Hack and Slash.
---
Xeno, yeah, you can get there fine. The skeletons at the 4:00 tunnel don't try to stop you and the others are tied up with Glory and Ajax. And you do know something interesting. You know that all Aspirants get a tattoo in a particular pattern in a particular place, as part of the possibly cultish nature of the whole company. I'll leave you to fill in what and where that is, as well as how you know. Maybe the timeless (more timeless? less timed?) nature of the Road Wardens appealed to you, maybe you had a good friend join.
Anyway, what I'm saying is that you know which of the 20 or so bodies that have been processed are Aspirants. There are 6 of them.
And, I mean, also a dozen or so non-Aspirants that have also been obtained through various means that probably didn't involve negotiating with the Last Gatesmen. Nobody actually from Ashcrown, oddly enough.
But yeah, 6 Aspirants. Narrows the selection down considerably, at least!
And I'd ask what you were planning to do now that you know there are 6 Aspirants, but really, I'm more curious what you were planning to do with all 4 of the ones you thought there were in the first place.
---
Koba, yeah, you manage to compensate for the unexpectedly-missing element of the array and get yourself set up to undo that logogram that was trapping the souls of the Aspirants.
Whatever you're planning to do there it's going to have at least three parts.
- You've got to come up with an appropriate logogram to undo the one binding the Aspirants to the message.
- Then you need to coax the collapsing array into producing it.
- And when it's complete, somebody needs to be in position in the rough center of the room - you know, with those rampaging servitors and falling spires - in order to direct it appropriately.
Your call what needs to happen first.---
tags: @AustinP0027 @Boozer @Grog
The Weaponmaster stands in defense of Glory, attempting to quickly shift himself into the path of the skeleton's weapon and bring up his sword in an attempt to block or redirect the attack.
Geth, roll 2d6+1 for Defend Glory
--
Spend the hold 1 to Redirect attack from Glory to myself
“Of course, Aspirant’s always get tattoos of open eyes on their eyelids, so that they can remain Sentinels even after Death.” Xeno mumbled to himself, before firing off an Entropic Ray from each palm at the skeletons attacking Glory and Ajax.
“Koba, I’ve got it! There are six Aspirant’s here, they all have tattoos of the Watchful Eye!” Xeno yelled triumphantly, before a follow up question slipped out.
“Ahh... do we care that there are six Aspirant’s here!?!” he asked Koba. It had seemed important a moment ago, no doubt thanks to that errant thread. It pained him to admit it, but any details of why he had been sent on this mission had been lost in the Temporal jump. Koba would never let him hear the end of it.
--
Geth roll 2d6+2 for Cosmic Blade
Geth roll 1d8+1d4-1 for Cosmic Blade damage
Adding Tags for range, messy (+1d4 damage) and two targets (-1 dmg)
If I get a 7-9 I'll choose: 'The GM removes a nonrange tag of their choice, and you deal -1 damage.'
To be specific I’m hitting the armed skeleton and the grappling skeleton harassing Glory and Ajax, not the one still on the ground.
Edit- that means I either hit both for 2 damage (4-1-1), or 1 for 6 (4+3-1) damage. If I'm only hitting one I'll hit the grappler, if I have the choice, since helping free up Glory seems more important.
PSN: Boozer_777