Background Vow: I will keep Kara safe from this life, whatever it takes. (Epic)
Expedition:
We're starting with the Kuar Sector previously generated by Enoch, but as this is a separate solo game, it requires that I redo step #9.
STEP 9: CREATE A LOCAL CONNECTION
A connection represents an important relationship with a non-player character (NPC). You will create connections with NPCs, advance those relationships through the course of your narrative, and forge bonds to represent deeper connections. Building and nurturing these relationships will allow you to mark progress on your bonds legacy track and gain experience. Connections also offer narrative benefits appropriate to their role, and can support your actions with a mechanical bonus.
For now, you have a single connection in the starting sector. You almost certainly know other people—here and elsewhere—but you aren't truly connected to those people or they aren't a focus of your story. You can formalize other relationships by making them a connection through the course of your adventures.
MAKE THE MOVE
Take a look at the Make a Connection move, which is shown below. Instead of rolling, just assume an automatic strong hit. This connection is already established as you begin your campaign, so no roll is necessary.
MAKE A CONNECTION
When you search out a new relationship or give focus to an existing relationship (not an ally or companion), roll +heart.
On a strong hit, you create a connection. Give them a role and rank. Whenever your connection aids you on a move closely associated with their role, add +1 and take +1 momentum on a hit.
CHOOSE THE CONNECTION'S HOME: Most of the planets in Kuar sector have no life and little atmosphere, and oppressive regimes. At game-start, Kaera has left Kara to be raised by her father in the most boring/safe life she could think of. That means Burrow, the largest settlement on Keles, which at least as non-toxic atmosphere and Fair governance. It has to have some capability for growing sustenance, allowing Kaera's father to have some form of farm/ranch.
GIVE THE CONNECTION A ROLE:I want Kaera to begin from those roots (animal husbandry) but desire a path that will open to trouble - Xenobiologist. There's no appreciable life anywhere in Kuar sector, but this (pre-teen?) girl wants to go forth and explore to discover the exciting life forms of the galaxies that she can read about in holobooks (and which her mother hunts to keep people safe).
GIVE THE CONNECTION A RANK: Her vow is to keep Kara from danger, so let's set the initial rank to Dangerous, the higher of the recommended options.
DEFINE THEIR CHARACTERISTICS: Already somewhat defined earlier here.
Valhalla Starship-small.jpg (93.77 KiB) Viewed 596 times
Look: Curly-haired pre-teen
Goal: See the galaxy and tame the xenobeasts
Character Aspect: Impulsive / "wild and stormy"; Intelligent
STEP 10: INTRODUCE A SECTOR TROUBLE
This is already defined as being the Breaker pirates in the sector and also that the warlike population of Solitude looking acquisitively at the Burrow and its resources. So... everything in the sector really threatens the peace of Kara's home.
CONNECTION: Obvious for this build, the initial connection is Kara, her daughter.
Name: Kara Brazos
Location: Burrow
Role: (Daughter of Kaela; ward of her father, Colemin, the rancher)
Role: Budding xenobiologist
Rank: Dangerous
Look: Curly-haired early-teen
Goal: "Protect a Lifeform": See the galaxy and tame the xenobeasts
Character Aspect: "wild and stormy": Impulsive; Precocious; Intelligent
STEP 1: ENVISION AN INCITING INCIDENT
The most specific way to "make it personal" is to have something impactful threatening Kara. Let's see what randomization does to help with that.
Or... either of those die rolls on the Idea table results in, "Liberate prisoners at a cruel labor camp"
So, lets try that.
Make it Personal: This is something directly for Kaera, after a prologue emphasizing their diminishing bond. It is important because Kara. What's important to Kara is her animals. Perhaps they've been subject to a raid.
Make it a problem that won’t go away on its own: It isn't important enough for any other forces on Burrow to care. They're not going to war over livestock raiding.
Give it a ticking clock: Kara's livestock will be slaughtered and eaten, and she'll not forgive her mom who is supposed to solve those kinds of things.
STEP 2: SET THE SCENE
Valkyrie is almost always in the depths of space. In this case, she needs to get to the people who raid/raided Burrow. Let's start with a prologue to establish the mother/daughter relationship.
STARTING WITH A PROLOGUE
Prologue
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Floating in the void, Valhalla drifts along its route on auto-pilot. Inside, traditional music plays, filling the empty rooms and corridors with thumping rhythm and pulsing pipes of Exodus ancestors. Kaera, known as Valkyrie in her trade as a Warden of the space routes, wipes her forehead and exhales, looking up from where she is scrubbing incessantly at the massive red-green bloodstain on the floor of her cargo bay.
"Muninn, remind me next time, never slay a grundolak inside the ship," she states in frustration.
"Yes, mistress," replies the smooth tones of the automated computer. "Would you like me to engage the automated pressure wash?"
She sits on her knees, staring at the crust on the metal flooring. "No," she replies after a long moment. "I'll come back finish it. Don't worry." She tosses her scrub brush in the bucket and rises to her feet, stretching her shoulders by pulling each elbow across her chest, then heads towards the door. Need something to do, anyway.
Passing down the dull gray plasteel hallway, she drops into the padded command chair in front of the screens in her quarters, the spartan bunk made-up behind her. She picks up a handful of sheets of faded, colored paper off the console. Her face softens, eyes sad, as she looks over the inked drawings. Stick figures, mishappen animals. She cycles through the stack, careful with the fraying edges of the paper, looking at each one. I still can't tell if that's a cow or a dog. She smiles.
"Muninn, establish videolink with Burrow, home of Colemin."
"Indeed, mistress. It has been 23 Sols since your last successful connection, we should be still within range for direct protocols as long as we're still here at sub-light speed."
"I don't need you to tell me how long," she retorts, frowning. "Just try them again."
The screen beeps non-committally, two blue squares circling each other as it waits. Kaera fidgets in her chair, putting down the stack of drawings, picking them back up again. The screen comes into focus, a room appearing.
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"Kara? Kara are you there?" she asks the screen, pushing her hair back behind her ear nervously. A young teen with a mop of curly dark hair the same shade walks in from the side.
"Oh... hey mom," the girl says smiling politely. "We're busy in the barn. Mountain Quagga. Can you believe Mountain Quagga? Dad got some genetic stock and we're breeding them - they should do great in the thin air here."
"That's good honey... I'm so glad to reach you. How's school? How's..."
"Mom? Mom. They're giving birth. I mean, I can't stay now. I'm so sorry. I get to help. I'll... I'll just talk to you next time, okay?"
"Wait..." Kaera says, but the screen goes dark. "Yeah, next time," she says faintly. A lick of flame sprouts spontaneously on the edge of the colored paper of the drawing in her hand. In a moment of panic, she pats it out, blowing off the ash and then putting the whole stack of drawings safely back onto the console.
She shoves herself back from the console and storms from the room, heading across the hallway and into an empty chamber, a plain steel box with soot-limned scorch patterns on all the walls. "Muninn, close the door and enable training routine Sōwilō." She draws her katana in a smooth motion, a thumping rhythm filling the room. A recognition of the rhythm comforts her mind, as well as that of the symbiote within her, who begins scrolling historical records about the sword kata from the Etta database across her ocular implant.
The door closes and the room dims. Kaera screams at the top of her lungs, a raging inferno bursting out from her to add new scorch marks to the walls, then she begins the smooth movements of her sword forms in rhythm to the blaring music.
Background Vow: I will keep Kara safe from this life, whatever it takes. (Epic)
Relationship: Kara her daughter (Dangerous)
*
*
Iron Vow: I will recover the Quagga herd stolen from Kara on Burrow by pirates.
STEP 3: MAKE THE MOVE
Chapter 1
FIREBRAND
You wield fiery energy. When you rest and meditate to gather this energy, roll +spirit. On a strong hit, take up to +3 fire. On a weak hit, take +2. On a miss, take +2 fire but Endure Harm (-2). Your max fire is +5. When you make moves aided by this energy to attack or overcome obstacles, add +2 and suffer -1 fire.
I'm going to roll twice - once for charging at the end of the scene above and once for meditating in the new chapter. This allows a chance to begin the session with Max Fire.
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Kaera sits crosslegged and eyes closed, meditating on the floor mat in her sleeping quarters. Ripples of liquid fire form letters of the Futhark around her on the floor, glowing for a minute then winking out. The ship creaks and groans around her, nothing coming from the speakers, the only rhythmic thrumming being the engines far to the aft of the ship and their everpresent vibrations.
Two blue dots begin circling on the screen of the monitor on the wall above her, a beeping sound. Her eyes open. That's unexpected.
"Mistress," the smooth virtual tones of Muninn chime in from the console, "You have an incoming call from the home of Colemin on Burrow; it has been 12 Sols since..."
"Yes, answer it!" she interjects, hastily getting her footing. It has been more than a year, not just Sols, since she had an incoming call. Kaera drops into her command chair and tucks her hair behind both ears, staring at the screen.
"Mom? Mom, are you there?" Kara's tear-stained face fills the screen.
"I'm here, Sunshine. I'm here. What happened? What's going on?" Kaera keeps a level tone, reassuring, despite the solid rock forming in the pit of her stomach.
Kara can't contain it - she bursts into wailing sobs, trying to talk around them. "My Quagga... My... My Mountain Quagga, Mom. I... We were so proud... I posted videos. Mom... They were the first ever..." She struggles to stifle them, to regain composure. Her nose is running freely, she wipes it with the back of her hand, leaving a glistening trail.
Let's get some details for the scenario. We'll use the Oracle on page 58.
Is it Pirates (Likely, 26+) or Solitude (1-25)? Percentile [1d100]=28
Pirates.
Was Colemin injured (50+) or killed (76+) in the attack? Percentile [1d100]=63
Injured.
She composes herself, looking squarely into the vidcam through glistening eyes. "Pirates, mom. It was pirates. They stole the whole herd.
Dad... Dad's in with the surgeon now." Her voice quavers and she stops talking, her lip trembling on the screen.
"Fix it," Kara demands forcefully.
"What?" Kaera blinks. She is still processing the news and the abrupt change in her daughter takes her off-guard.
"Fix it. That's what you do up there. Fix it." A wellspring of hot anger bubbles up in the curly-haired girl, staring through the viewscreen at her mother. "They are pirates. You take your sword and you PROMISE. You get back my Quagga, and you bring them back here.
If you don't... if Dad dies... If..." she quavers again, then looks stern, fierce. "You swear it or I will never forgive you."
Kaera stares at the screen. She looks down at the scribbled drawings on the colored paper, taped now to the console, memories of a much younger child. She looks back up at the fierce demand on this girl's face. Those are her grandmother's eyes, she thinks.
Kaera unsheathes her katana, holding it flat on her palms in front of the camera. "I swear, I will retrieve what was taken from you."
SWEAR AN IRON VOW
When you swear upon iron to complete a quest, write your vow and give it a rank. Then, roll +heart. If you swear this vow to a connection, add +1; if you share a bond, add +2.
On a strong hit, you are emboldened and it is clear what you must do next. Take +2 momentum.
On a weak hit, you are determined but begin your quest with more questions than answers. Take +1 momentum, and envision what you do to find a path forward.
On a miss, you face a significant obstacle before you can make progress on your quest. Envision what stands in your way, and do what you must to overcome this obstacle.
Swearing an oath to a connection also triggers the DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP move. A relationship has a 10-box track. The relationship with Kara is Dangerous, which means an advancement is two blocks.
The camera winks out abruptly as soon as the words are spoken, Kara pressing the button on the other end. Kaera blinks at the black screen. Well, shit.
Last edited by Marullus on Sun Jun 13, 2021 11:43 am, edited 2 times in total.
Background Vow: I will keep Kara safe from this life, whatever it takes. (Epic)
Relationship: Kara her daughter (Dangerous)
*
*
Iron Vow: I will recover the Quagga herd stolen from Kara on Burrow by pirates. (Formidable)
*
*
Kaera drops into the cockpit of Valhalla, flipping switches to engage drives, scanners... then after a moment's pause, charges the weapon systems, too.
"Mistress," comes Muninn through the console, "Taking on a pirate vessel or vessels to rescue a herd of diminutive equines is a formidable endeavor, if I might advise..."
"Don't advise, Muninn." Her curt tone interrupts the mechanical voice. "Just long-range scans, please. Anyone within range but departing Keles in the last few hours. We don't know how long before she called me." The console just beeps twice in response. Kaera inhales deeply - focusing as she exhales. There's nothing like the chase.
So, this will be a Gather Information test.
GATHER INFORMATION
When you search for clues, ask questions, analyze evidence, or do research,
roll +wits.
On a strong hit, you discover something helpful and specific. The path you must
follow or action you must take to make progress is made clear. Envision what you
learn. Then, take +2 momentum.
On a weak hit, the information provides new insight, but also complicates your
quest. Envision what you discover. Then, take +1 momentum.
On a miss, your investigation unearths a dire threat or reveals an unwelcome truth
that undermines your quest. Pay the Price.
That's a roll +2 Wits, +1 Slayer for tracking a hostile creature (I'm going to assume pirates count). Action Die [1d6]=6 Challenge Dice [1d10]=4[1d10]=3
Strong Hit. The path is clear, specific and helpful information.
+2 Momentum and +1 Momentum from Slayer (Total now of +6 Momentum, updated above)
"Gaining meaningful Insight" means the REACH A MILESTONE move, so we mark progress on the quest (Formidible = 1 box)
"There." says Kaera, tapping the vidscreen with her finger.
"Mistress, I must remind you that these are not touchscreen controls..." advises Muninn.
"No, I mean THERE. Coordinates 131, 62. That's a vessel large enough for a... quagga herd." She shakes her head. "Right drive signature, just left Keres. That's our guy. I'm certain of it. Muninn, calculate trajectory of our target vessel, we're going to jump ahead of him to an intercept course. Plot the astrogation in 3... 2... 1..." She flips the switches and confirms the coordinates before engaging the eDrive...
That'll be a Secure an Advantage by getting an ambush position ahead of the vessel instead of chasing in pursuit. That ambush will be a "critical resource" for the interception, to provide another milestone enroute to direct encounter. Then the second move will be Set a Course, which is a "known route through perilous space" since she's close enough to Keles for sub-light comms and familiar with the space lanes here.
SECURE AN ADVANTAGE
When you assess a situation, make preparations, or attempt to gain
leverage, envision your action and roll. If you act...
✴ With speed, mobility, or agility: Roll +edge
✴ With resolve, command, or sociability: Roll +heart
✴ With strength, endurance, aggression: Roll +iron
✴ With deception, stealth, or trickery: Roll +shadow
✴ With expertise, focus, or observation: Roll +wits
On a strong hit, take both. On a weak hit, choose one.
✴ Take +2 momentum
✴ Add +1 on your next move (not a progress move)
On a miss, you fail or your assumptions betray you. Pay the Price.
I would love to act with resolve and command, but this isn't that. I think that setting the ambush position is expertise and observation. Roll +2 Wits +1 to Stalk the Pirates (Slayer). Action Die [1d6]=1 Challenge Dice [1d10]=1[1d10]=10
Ouch. A weak hit. I feel confident on the next roll (with +5 Supply) so lets take +2 Momentum and get a +1 Momentum from slayer (new total 9)
Still a hit, though. Progress the quest for setting the ambush. Formidable means 1 block (2 total now)
SET A COURSE
When you follow a known route through perilous space, across hazardous
terrain, or within a mysterious site, roll +supply.
On a strong hit, you reach your destination and the situation there favors you. Take
+1 momentum.
On a weak hit, you arrive, but face a cost or complication. Choose one.
✴ Suffer costs en route: Make a suffer move (-2), or two suffer moves (-1).
✴ Face a complication at the destination: Envision what you encounter.
On a miss, you are waylaid by a significant threat, and must Pay the Price. If you
overcome this obstacle, you may push on safely to your destination.
What kind of pirate ship is it? Percentile [1d100]=67
Snub fighter? Roll again Percentile [1d100]=61
Reclaimer - Salvage and Rescue.
...but we'll say it has a snub fighter in its docking bay ready for use.
The drive spins up and the Valhalla streaks through subspace. Valkyrie checks all the sensors as they arrive at their destination. The pirate transport is enroute, right on schedule. She smiles to herself. My girl was right. This IS what I am made for. She powers up the cannons, letting their signatures radiate openly on the forward hull.
Background Vow: I will keep Kara safe from this life, whatever it takes. (Epic)
Relationship: Kara her daughter (Dangerous)
*
*
Iron Vow: I will recover the Quagga herd stolen from Kara on Burrow by pirates. (Formidable)
*
*
*
The large reclaimer ship closes slowly, appearing finally on the visual display. Valkyrie zooms in, looking at it closely. "That's a D-wing, in its grapples. If they're good pirates, they've got that ready to go." With the Valhalla in an advantageous position blocking their progress, there's no time like the present. She considers a moment, then presses the button to hail and open a channel.
"This is Warden Valkyrie of the Valhalla," she says in a frighteningly chipper tone. "I've got word that you just raided some valuable resources off of Keles, and, if I'm not mistaken, you're not keen on that kind of trouble, am I right? So, if you wouldn't mind preparing for docking and transmitting manifests of your recent acquisitions, I'll get that back from you." She releases the button. Sugar first. Worth the try.
COMPEL
When you try to persuade someone or make them an offer, envision your
approach. If you...
✴ Charm, pacify, encourage, or barter: Roll +heart
✴ Threaten or incite: Roll +iron
✴ Lie or swindle: Roll +shadow
On a strong hit, they’ll do what you want or agree to your conditions.
Take +1 momentum.
On a weak hit, as above, but their agreement comes with a demand or
complication. Envision their counteroffer.
On a miss, they refuse or make a demand which costs you greatly. Pay the Price.
I'm sitting on +10 momentum, though, so lets resolve this with words instead of violence. Expending the momentum resets it to +2 and gives a Strong Hit: they agree to my conditions and I take +1 Momentum (total of +3)
That success is also a Milestone, so we'll mark progress on the quest (1 block, total now of 3).
...So, it could be feasible to Fulfill the Vow here in retrieving the quagga. However, we only have 3 progress on this formidable task, even though the pirates are acquiescing. (It probably wasn't so formidable!) If I roll the Fulfillment, there's a good chance this gets a lot harder and my progress is wiped out (i.e. my princess is in another castle). So, I think we continue play and see what tricks we can have the pirates come up with after agreeing to terms. Also, getting the safely back and restored to Kara can be part of the challenges.
There is a long moment of silence, the void of space hanging between them. Then the speakers crackle. "...alright Valkyrie. You can have it back."
One other change: above I updated the header for each post with the information from that post. I think it is more confusing and will change to in-line headers. When the header changes, I'll repeat it within the post so it remains sequential.
Marullus wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 3:11 amThat success is also a Milestone, so we'll mark progress on the quest (1 block, total now of 3).
...So, it could be feasible to Fulfill the Vow here in retrieving the quagga. However, we only have 3 progress on this formidable task, even though the pirates are acquiescing. (It probably wasn't so formidable!) If I roll the Fulfillment, there's a good chance this gets a lot harder and my progress is wiped out (i.e. my princess is in another castle). So, I think we continue play and see what tricks we can have the pirates come up with after agreeing to terms. Also, getting the safely back and restored to Kara can be part of the challenges.
It took some adjusting that "difficulty" is the length/number of steps and not a modifier to the success probability of the rolls. I defined this as a formidable challenge, but didn't fail any steps and didn't imagine a long enough string of events. I have been waffling over just introducing a twist myself (because I don't want to succeed so quick) but that feels disingenuous. I want to see how the game works and use the mechanics and oracles to inspire the play.
I'm going to do the Fulfill the Vow move now because Valkryie believes she is doing so. It will almost certainly fail, and then we get a twist naturally, which I will try to drive with oracles.
FULFILL YOUR VOW
Progress Move
When you reach the end of your quest, roll the challenge dice and compare to your progress.
On a strong hit, your vow is fulfilled. Mark a reward on your quests legacy track per the vow’s rank: troublesome=1 tick; dangerous=2 ticks; formidable=1 box; extreme=2 boxes; epic=3 boxes. Any allies who shared this vow also mark the reward.
On a weak hit, as above, but there is more to be done or you realize the truth of your quest. If you Swear an Iron Vow to set things right, take your full legacy reward. Otherwise, make the reward one rank lower.
On a miss, your vow is undone through an unexpected complication or realization. Envision what happens and choose one.
✴ Give up on the quest: Forsake Your Vow.
✴ Recommit to the quest: Roll both challenge dice, take the lowest value, and clear that number of progress boxes. Then, raise the vow’s rank by one (if not already epic).
Background Vow: I will keep Kara safe from this life, whatever it takes. (Epic)
Relationship: Kara her daughter (Dangerous)
*
*
Iron Vow: I will recover the Quagga herd stolen from Kara on Burrow by pirates. (Extreme)
The Twist:
So, this is a Big Twist. It sets me back to zero, escalates the danger to extreme, and sets me on a long path that will only finally have the Mountain Quagga at the very end.
First - things I'd like to bring in.
This is a twist because it was a trap. They was something in my daughter's video that tipped them off and they're using her as bait, knowing I would come.
My main goal is "keep my daughter safe from this life" which means that the preferred result of any twist is going to be something that endangers my daughter.
I am very, very competent at aggro moves to directly solve situations. A few of those will be fun. I want to mix in the challenge of her weaknesses:
The only thing she will truly suck at is anything deceptive, sneaky, or non-firy/aggressive.
Magnus Duval (aka Rook)
First Look: Visibly Disabled, Disposition: Desperate, Role: Crew, Aspect: Dangerous; Goals: Protect a Lifeform, Refute a Falsehood.
...wow. That's really flavorful and not a direction I would have come up with on my own. This is a fantastic nemesis. He named himself after a potent chess piece (but still isn't the King/Queen), is crippled and emotive, and oozes danger. It is the goals that make it, though: I'm an Eidelion Warden with extended lifespan who hunts the "eidolon ghosts" in the ether and he's protecting the (or a) ghostform and trying to re-write the narrative about ghosts and Wardens (making me the villian and ghosts the benefactors). I'm probably responsible for his injury in some way, and perhaps his parents or grandparents. He's setting up a trap on the chess board and I don't even know I'm a piece on it yet. That's a lot of room for this to get more dangerous as more pieces are revealed.
Wow, that's a lot of grist to tell this story, and much more definition than I had before the Oracles.
Well... that was easy. I like easy.Valkryie thinks to herself, easy and confident. "The Reaper," she snorts as she looks over the stock manifests beaming in and onto her view screen. "If that isn't the most unoriginal name for a pirate reclaimer ship..." She shakes her head. "Lazy, unoriginal pirates. Lets get the herd and get this over with."A simple easy job, the gratitude of Kara. She smiles to herself.
The rest of the manifests get only a passing glance. "The odds of them transmitting records of the stolen property are virtually zero, ma'am," voices Muninn's electronic voice. She ignores him, instead taking the yoke and steering the Valhalla towards the illuminated docking port at the aft of the massive ship.
"Let's get on with the... 'direct negotiations' then, shall we? They're not resisting and this will be done soon. Execute docking and air lock confirmation, Muninn," Valkryie says, easing into the docking clamps as the runway lights around it flash in a blue progressive sequence to guide her in.
The air lock hisses as she steps into it, her sword prominent over her shoulder, her enhanced actuators primed. She flexes in her environmental suit, the headgear retracted, every inch of her primed for action -- she lived for these moments. "Lets go collect those mountain quagga," she says quietly to herself, then pulls the lever, closing the hatch behind her to the Valkyrie and opening the circular hatch to the Reaper.
...
The airlock hisses open and Valkryie discovers no one is there. That's odd.
Rather than a direct access point, they have docked her at the side of the dry-dock. An elevated walkway leads left around the inside of the bulkhead, empty space suitable for a courier or corvette to be hooked in and worked on within the safety of an atmosphere rather than in exposed space. Massive fabricators rest in alcoves along the walkway, capable of manufacturing the parts needed for repairs from crates of raw material.
At this juncture her overconfidence that this mission is all-but-over collapses with the failed Fulfill Your Vow role.
This is her first hint that this is all going wrong. Let's have her do a Gather Information roll for how she reacts.
GATHER INFORMATION
When you search for clues, ask questions, analyze evidence, or do research,
roll +wits.
On a strong hit, you discover something helpful and specific. The path you must
follow or action you must take to make progress is made clear. Envision what you
learn. Then, take +2 momentum.
On a weak hit, the information provides new insight, but also complicates your
quest. Envision what you discover. Then, take +1 momentum.
On a miss, your investigation unearths a dire threat or reveals an unwelcome truth
that undermines your quest. Pay the Price.
Wits +2 makes that an 8. Slayer doesn't apply, she's not using fire or direct action - no Paths help. Tie goes to the challenge dice. Weak Hit.
She recognizes something's wrong here, she here's the whirring of drones and has a chance to maneuver. Also take +1 Momentum, which raises to 4.
Momentum
Conditions
Symbiote
Valhalla
Momentum: +4 Max +10, Reset +2
Health: +5, Spirit: +5, Supply: +5
Health: +2
Integrity: +5
Damn it. They're doing this the hard way. She realizes the double-cross as she hears the whirring of the drone fan-blades launching from across the docking bay. The acoustic signatures identify them as the Hellion-class armed drones, the statistics scrolling across her ocular implant. "Well... lets not wait for that." She leaps forward, her legs pumping as she runs along the elevated walkway, and leaps to cross the gap to the control room ladder - her one opportunity to get into behind a closed door before the drones reach her.
Okay, we're going to Secure an Advantage by strength, endurance, or aggression and roll +Iron (+2) by making this mighty leap. This is also an aggressive move, so we add +2 from the Symbiote for a total of +4. Action Die [1d6]=4 Challenge Dice [1d10]=5[1d10]=10
Total of 8, Weak Hit.
On a strong hit, take both. On a weak hit, choose one.
✴ Take +2 momentum
✴ Add +1 on your next move (not a progress move)
It is a hit, so we make the leap, but I'm not satisfied that's the end of action here and also not satisfied that this merits a full combat scene without a Twist. I'll take a +1 to my next move, and we'll roll Gain Ground as a combat move. In this case, a success means she stays in control and makes it up the ladder and flees before combat begins, a failure puts her in a bad place (i.e. didn't escape the fight) and we make it a full combat scene.
Fleeing is a Roll +Edge (+1) and not her strong suit. Leaping over the gap and grabbing the ladder gives an advantage (+1) and it is still an aggressive action choice so we'll add the Symbiot enhancing her physique. (+2) Action Die [1d6]=3 Challenge Dice [1d10]=6[1d10]=2
Whew! That's a strong hit.
On a hit, you stay in control. On a strong hit, choose two. On a weak hit, choose
one.
✴ Mark progress
✴ Take +2 momentum
✴ Add +1 on your next move (not a progress move)
I'll take the +2 Momentum (now +6) and also Mark Progress because I evaded the challenge on the first zone of this trap and am one step closer to getting back the Quagga.
This will also count as Overcoming a Critical Obstacle (the first of three trap zones), which is a second progress mark.
As this is now an Extreme Quest, that's two ticks, not one box, and we need to make up to 20 Progresses to resolve it... two progress marks is only one box.
Momentum
Conditions
Symbiote
Valhalla
Momentum: +6 Max +10, Reset +2
Health: +5, Spirit: +5, Supply: +5
Health: +2
Integrity: +5
Iron Vow: I will recover the Quagga herd stolen from Kara on Burrow by pirates. (Extreme)
*
Her symbiotic actuators churn and she throws herself off the walkway, pivoting in the air to grab the ladder on the side of the control room one-handed. She swings around and braces herself against the plasteel wall, grimacing as she pulls herself up the remaining rungs. Rolling forward through the thick airlock-rated door, she kicks it closed behind her, the drones swooping by outside the tinted glass of the window...
Iron Vow: I will recover the Quagga herd stolen from Kara on Burrow by pirates. (Extreme)
*
Background Vow: I will keep Kara safe from this life, whatever it takes. (Epic)
Relationship: Kara her daughter (Dangerous)
*
*
The eidelion warden lies, panting, on the floor of the dim control room, watching the drones pass through the tinted window. Indicator lights and view screens glow throughout the room. Her eyes dart about - The whole place is about 20' long, less than 10 feet between the control panels on either side. The sealed airlock at her feet is no longer an option, but the other end of the room has a pair of elevator doors, marked with two thick diagonal yellow stripes from top left to bottom right. Hopping to her feet, she crosses the room, keeping low to keep from being seen as the drones continue to circle. She pushes the glowing amber button for the elevator. Nothing. Perhaps too much to hope for, she thinks to herself.
A voice behind her chuckles. Valkyrie spins around, his sword coming out into her hand in one smooth motion.
"Oh, tsk tsk, Warden Valkyrie," says a smug voice, a face appearing on the central vid screen, hooked to the ceiling in front of the center window.
Jester.png (302.64 KiB) Viewed 504 times
"I'm afraid I have the elevator locked down," he smirks. "I rather hoped to see the drones dice you out in the bay, but it will be just a easy in here..."
Who in Hel is this guy? she thinks. The seals on the airlock begin to beep and turn green one at a time. Primed and straight forward, Valkerie's servos whine and she thrusts her sword straight at the electronic coupling.
Her go-to move is the straight violent one. Breaking the airlock prevents him opening it, but also prevents her from leaving that way. It may be successful, but also shortsighted. Let's treat it as a Secure an Advantage action, attempting to gain leverage against this new foe by removing his options...
On a strong hit, take both. On a weak hit, choose one.
✴ Take +2 momentum
✴ Add +1 on your next move (not a progress move)
Momentum is already 6, I choose +1 to his next move.
Her monomolecular katana sheers straight through the housing, the lights go out and sparks cascade from the airlock's control circuits. There is a hiss sound as the door fail-safes closed, now protecting the atmosphere of this control room... permanently. Crap. She curses herself inwardly as the data scrolling on her visual display reminds her that was her only real way out.
Valkyrie puts on her own confident smirk and turns to the screen. "I don't intend to make it easy," she says with the same bravado as her radio voice earlier. "Since you know me, I assume you already know how bad a mistake you have made."
The man on the screen looks surprised a moment at the speed of her movement, the blade cutting through the thick metal airlock housing like butter. He clears his throats and recomposes himself. "You can't begin to understand... this is your end, Valkyrie. He knew you'd come.
I'm blessed to be his instrument of vengeance."
A rivulet of cold apprehension runs down her spine. This isn't about mountain quagga. What in Hel is going on here?
On a weak hit, the information provides new insight, but also complicates your
quest. Envision what you discover. Then, take +1 momentum.
Momentum is +7, let's reveal some complication.
Momentum
Conditions
Symbiote
Valhalla
Momentum: +7 Max +10, Reset +2
Health: +5, Spirit: +5, Supply: +5
Health: +2
Integrity: +5
"I see... and as this is inevitable, who is it that ends me?" "I am Jester," he says smugly. "Let that remain in your mind as you die."
"....right." She continues to distract the man on the monitors, hoping to get him monologuing as she scans the panels for options.
"Oh, I'm right here... safe in Engineering. I see what you're thinking and don't intend to let you on that elevator," he says. The drones outside the glass redirect, floating over to ominously gather outside the control room windows. "I didn't expect it to be so easy to bait you, but he knows you. Perhaps knows you better than anyone. Certainly better than your daughter."
Flames sprout and flicker involuntarily around her hands at that; she pulls away before she melts the keyboard. Kara."What does she have to do with this?" she asks, trying to keep her tone cool around the stone pit in her stomach. Red arc-lights come from the hovering drones as their laser cutters begin work on the edge of the window glass. Luckily it is hardened to survive vacuum, but there's not much time before they are through.
"A pawn, to be sure. Just the Rook Pawn opening. He knows how to draw out the Queen." He smirks. "Disposable. Pawns."
This insight is significant, and counts as Reach a Milestone in understanding this challenge. We mark progress (two ticks, half a box).
Then advancing the scenario...
Engineering Zone. Control Room with access to a lift. Failing equipment requires a specific part or skill. Opportunity to restore a part or function.
She needs to restore elevator control to escape imminent harm. That'll be a test of her Wits, with no help from her symbiote actuators. So that's just a straight +2. Action Die [1d6]=6 Challenge Dice [1d10]=10[1d10]=10 Yikes! That's a straight fail.
On a miss, you fail, or a momentary success is undermined by a dire turn of events. Pay the Price.
PAY THE PRICE
When you suffer the outcome of an action, choose one.
✴ Make the most obvious negative outcome happen.
✴ Ask the Oracle for inspiration. Interpret the answer as a hardship or complication
appropriate to the current situation.
✴ Roll on the table below. If you have difficulty interpreting the result to fit the
current situation, roll again.
The most obvious negative outcome is that the glass drops and she has to fight the drones that Jester is sending to kill her and we enter a real combat scene. Also possible that she fries the control board and can't open the elevator. But rolling on the table also looks fun. Let's see what dice say. Percentile [1d100]=50
45-50 A new enemy is revealed.
Well, I think we can go with that as an "all of the above." Jester outsmarted her as she took the obvious direct approach, she ends up in a combat scene, and needs a new avenue to get out and up to Engineering where she now knows Jester is.
So, lets run an actual Combat and begin with the Enter the Fray move. We will say that this threat - intended to be a match for her and end her life - is Dangerous. She is dropping "in the thick of it at close quarters" so that will be +Iron with a +2 for aggressive moves from the Symbiote. Action Die [1d6]=1 Challenge Dice [1d10]=6[1d10]=1
5 vs 6 and 1 is a Weak Hit. She does not get the +2 momentum, but does begin the fray "in control."
HOWEVER, she rolled a 1, so she loses her bond with the Symbiote for several hours.
Disposable Pawn. The description of Kara rings in her ears and she falters at the keyboard where she was trying to restore elevator control. Her heart feels like its clogging her throat. The arc-cutters have made it halfway around the window glass. She realizes the keyboard is melted. She struggles for composure...
THUNK. Then she falls. She is plummets through the control room floor, the panel she was standing on is yanked out unexpectedly by a massive spiderlike robot clinging to the bottom of the compartment, now above her, a dozen cameras on its anterior like round glassy eyes watching as she falls, a swing and a miss with a spinning sawblade appendage.
THUD. She hits the gangway below, hard. Pain cascades through her, through her actuators, white-hot pain where actuators attach to flesh, then a leaden heaviness. "Oh no..." she whispers unintentionally. Red warnings flash in her peripheral vision, scrolling words from her Etta module that the cybernetic processor was damaged in the fall, systems offline. Then the drones came.
Iron Vow: I will recover the Quagga herd stolen from Kara on Burrow by pirates. (Extreme)
*
Background Vow: I will keep Kara safe from this life, whatever it takes. (Epic)
Relationship: Kara her daughter (Dangerous)
*
*
Combat Scene: Defeat robotic threats and get to Engineering. (Dangerous)
THUD. She hits the gangway below, hard. Pain cascades through her, through her actuators, white-hot pain where actuators attach to flesh, then a leaden heaviness. "Oh no..." she whispers unintentionally. Red warnings flash in her peripheral vision, scrolling words from her Etta module that the cybernetic processor was damaged in the fall, systems offline. Then the drones came.
Okay, this is my first real combat. Let's see how it goes. She's In Control, so we will begin with a Strike as she unleashes fury and fire at the robotic opponents.
That's going to be +Iron (+2) and +Fire (+2), which will deplete her Fire score from +5 to +4. Action Die [1d6]=1 Challenge Dice [1d10]=6[1d10]=7
...and that's a miss. Luckily, rolling the 1 doesn't cause additional impact fire Firebrand like it did with Symbiote, but she is now In a Bad Spot and has to Pay the Price.
These robots are deliberately trying to kill her. The most obvious price is Endure Harm. I think it has to be Major Harm (undiminished robot horde trying to cause death and designed to beat her), which is -3 Health. She chooses to resist the harm, so we roll +5 Health as higher than her Iron... Action Die [1d6]=1 Challenge Dice [1d10]=9[1d10]=7
...again a miss.
On a miss, it’s worse than you thought. Suffer an additional -1 health or Lose
Momentum (-2). If your health is 0, you must also mark wounded or permanently
harmed, or roll on the table below.
So a total of -4 Health, from +5 to +1.
Valkyrie hops back to here feet, the drones descending fast. Instinctively, the pulsing rhythm of her kata begins in her ears. The robotic spider drops first. Easily fifteen feet across, its limbs spread wide to try and pin her as it drops from the control chamber above, saw-blades spinning.
"Whaaaaaaaaaauuuuuugh!" she screams as a wave of flame bursts out from her in a red-orange sheet, enveloping the spidery thing. The flames roll over it's metallic surface without leaving a mark. She tries to dodge, but with her slowed reflexes the saw blades catch her, slicing through her vacc-suit, flesh, and grinding on bone. She is flung backwards against the bulkhead.
Edge
Heart
Iron
Shadow
Wits
Fire
+1
+3
+2
+1
+2
+4
Momentum
Conditions
Symbiote
Valhalla
Momentum: +6 Max +10, Reset +2
Health: +1, Spirit: +5, Supply: +5
Health: +2 (Disabled)
Integrity: +5
She is now In a Bad Spot so will choose the Clash move, with Strike unavailable to her. Even without the symbiote, it is her personality to go head-to-head and she needs to shut this spider-thing down hard and fast. She is still at close quarters so that's +2 Iron and she'll again deplete her Fire (from +4 to +3) to get a +2 on the roll. Action Die [1d6]=5 Challenge Dice [1d10]=6[1d10]=5
Whew! That's a 9 v 6 and 5. A Strong Hit this time.
On a strong hit, mark progress twice. You overwhelm your foe and are in control.
For a dangerous threat, marking progress is 2 boxes, so marking it twice is 4.
Valkyrie leans a moment against the bulkhead, giving her suit a moment to respond to the savage wounds, sealing to hold her innards still inside.
The spider construct leaps with its powerful rear hydraulic actuators, coming down on with its bloodied sawblade mandibles splattering. She steels herself, eyes narrowing as it leaps.
As the construct lands, Valkyrie ducks to the inside, coming up flat against its abdomen, her uninjured arm grabbing the armature of the sawblade mandible firmly and locking its mouthlike aperture open. Her other hand thrusts forward, shooting a focused jet of searing white-hot flame down her forearm and into the robot. The smell of melting plastic and copper is acrid as the robot flails, then the lights go out and it collapses to the catwalk with a loud clang.
Edge
Heart
Iron
Shadow
Wits
Fire
+1
+3
+2
+1
+2
+3
Combat Scene: Defeat robotic threats and get to Engineering. (Dangerous)
Iron Vow: I will recover the Quagga herd stolen from Kara on Burrow by pirates. (Extreme)
*
Background Vow: I will keep Kara safe from this life, whatever it takes. (Epic)
Relationship: Kara her daughter (Dangerous)
*
*
Combat Scene: Defeat robotic threats and get to Engineering. (Dangerous)
*
*
*
*
With the spider overcome, she needs to "study the situation" and get a new path forward to Engineering. We'll do a Gain Ground to Study the Situation with +wits (+2).
Also, I'm deciding that the spider was a close-combat threat, but the Drones hover and shoot lasers so have no incentive to get into her melee range. She's going to have to escape them or overcome them with +Edge (a weakness).
Action Die [1d6]=1 Challenge Dice [1d10]=5[1d10]=7
So. Many. Ones.
That's again a miss.
...I could use Momentum on one of these, but really I want to save that for the showdown with Jester if I can. We'll keep rolling with some punches. I don't think I can spend it now and regain it by then.
On a miss, your foe gains the upper hand, the fight moves to a new location, or you
encounter a new peril. You are in a bad spot and must Pay the Price.
39-44 The environment or terrain introduces a new hazard
Her cochlear implants thrumming with ancestral music, Vaklyrie jumps aside from the hulk of the spider-construct's wreckage as the the thrumming rotors of the drones bring them sweeping down. A half-dozen of them now, each shooting bolts of plasma as she ducks and rolls down the catwalk. She grabs up her katana and shoves it into its scabbard on her back, realizing it is useless against the flying foes. Running along the catwalk under the control room, she scans fervently, hoping her Etta analysis module will identify an egress into the elevator shaft and get her to engineering - to Jester - who dared threaten Kara.
She dodges a volley of plasma bolts, each of which sears through the metal grating and support cables around her. The catwalk creaks and her heart plummets first, knowing what's coming. The entire catwalk snaps, pivoting downward before her, a several story drop in the artificial gravity to the decking below.
She's now in A Bad Spot and so the new hazard will be presented as a on obstacle that she must overcome with React Under Fire. I really want to say that she faces the terror of this with +Heart, but really she is fleeing, dodging, and taking cover with +Edge (+1) to escape the fall. Action Die [1d6]=4 Challenge Dice [1d10]=2[1d10]=5
On a weak hit, you succeed, but face a troublesome cost. Make a suffer move (-1).
You stay in a bad spot.
