OOC Discussion (Session 3)

[Marullus]

Bellowing threats and imprecations into the darkness, Allric neither sees nor hears the thing that gets him. He only feels something like a wet rag made of sweaty meat slapping into him and wrapping tightly around his head, neck and shoulders! Then the chewing begins.

Well, shit.

[Ludanto]

Indeed! To be clear, you're not dead or anything, but things aren't looking good.

[Marullus]

So, if it is totally immune to social tests and morale, is that a sign it is mindless undead subject to Berry?

[Ludanto]

Or could be deaf. Or an animal. Or foreign. Or just really badass.

[Marullus]

No, all of those would set the Obstacle, not deny a test entirely.

[Marullus]

Unfortunately, Aoife doesn't have anything to light a torch with, and time is of the essence!

Okay, so let's brainstorm. What do we want to do?

When in darkness you may only engage in social conflict or flee - we are not permitted to fight, here.

Social conflicts (even intimidation) are ruled impossible and auto-fail. (Per Allric)

We are unable to add light sources. (Per Aiofe)

So, either Rabon fights off all the creatures alone and without Help, or we Flee and give up.

I am inclined towards the latter. Since nobody is allowed to Fight in the darkness and Allric is being eaten, just leave him behind if it comes to it. If Thag struggles with the decision and modifies his belief he can at least get a Persona for it.

I can't see anything else here. There are literally NO tests we can do, except try to see if we can Flee, right? Sacrificing Allric should at least satisfy a Compromise to save the others...

[BillTheGalacticHero]

Well, two of us could fight, the lantern provide full light for 1 and dim for another. Could we sever just the tentacle holding Allric and then pull him out of the room?

[Ludanto]

First, I would suggest not thinking in terms of the game rules. You're limiting yourself.

Second, the thing is wrapped onto Allric's head and chest pretty throughly, but it's not connected to anything else and only about the size of a dog.

Third, yes, Aoife (and others) can light their sources with the lamp.

Fourth, while all this is happening, Allric is having his face eaten off.

[BillTheGalacticHero]

Can we grab Allric, or the thing, and drag them both out into the light?

[Ludanto]

All you can do is try. That will take time, though, and there's still the other critter coming.

But you can (barely) see the door from here, so there are no obvious obstacles to dragging him. It's just a matter of doing it in time.

[BillTheGalacticHero]

I assume I'm close since I was the one who failed the Scout test, and Rabon is near with the lantern.

Making a big assumption here, if the thing holding Allric is about the size of a dog, we should be able to pull him out of the room, probably with it still attached. Then we can work on dislodging it.

While Rabon and I do that, Berry and Aoife can prepare for the other thing, or slam the doors shut once we get Allric through them. i'm willing to sacrifice Rabon's pole if we can use it to wedge the door shut - slide it through the handles (assuming it has that type of handle).

Once we get Allric out, but before we shut the door, should we throw the lantern in? Maybe fire might work?

Allric, you don't have a vote in this. Does everyone else agree to pulling Allric out? It's up to Rabon alone to throw the lantern, although I will be yelling for him to do it. Aoife slams the doors and Berry can grab the pole and wedge the doors.

[BillTheGalacticHero]

Whether or not anyone else agrees, I'm going to try to save Allric, it's my belief, I have to do it. He's a skinny guy, and the thing isn't too big, so I should be able to pick him up, or at least grab him by the foot and drag him out into the hallway. An Injury is better than a Dead, and we can always go into town and heal up, we've gotten the 'shrooms so we've fulfilled some of our mission.

Would that be a Health test? I've already used by Grim-Visaged trait this session, but I will use my Early Riser trait, so think clearly and act quickly. Would Allric be able to help by trying to pry it off his head? this would be two testsd?

Once I get him into the hallway I will use my sword, slide it under the thing along side Allric's face, hopefully not slicing Allric's ear or nose, and use it as a level to pry it off. At least enough so he can breathe.

So, I think this would be two tests? One of pull him out, and one to pry the thing off.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Ludanto, it seems odd that Allric want given a chance to avoid something that will result in death so easily. No health test to dodge, or something. But what's done is done, so we can figure it out from here. But I can't not think in terms of the rules. What we don't want is to is split up, so how can we work all this into one action?

Aoife could have had her torch lit by now, so Ludanto can decide about that. Aoife is now running across the room, but it wasn't necessary.

Thag's goal is to destroy the evil in this place, not saving a skinny mage. And his belief is that he is here's to protect mankind, not a man. And he is the best fighter in the group.

Berry's belief is "The disciples of the Lords can help all people." And he has the defender trait. Seems like a natural for for him to get Allric to safety.

Rabon will not destroy our only light source. He will stand and fight.

More later.

[jhrrsn]

I just didn’t want to stay in the dark, where I can’t do... anything? Ha.

[Marullus]

I'm less irritable in the morning. Let's press on.

I am, however, really bothered when players are denied the ability to test, especially when there are consequences involved. Players should be presented with challenges, test against them, and fail. Otherwise we aren't part of the story at all.

[Ludanto]

I'm trying here.

The GM doesn't provide Tests, he provides obstacles. What you do determines if there is a test and what kind.

The obstacle was "there's a thing coming at you in the dark". Now it's "you have a thing on your head".

As for being denied a Test, consider if your response to the threat had been, "I seduce it!". That's not a high Obstacle Test. That's just not going to work. That's what happened here. You might call it the "Bad Idea" rule.

[Ludanto]

Allric needs to make a Health Test vs his opponent's 3 dice. +1D for the dagger, though.

[Ludanto]

Aoife needs to make a Dungeoneering Test, Ob3.

[Ludanto]

Marullus used Thoughtful against himself for a check, which suggests that he didn't think he was going to succeed anyway.

I think that he (like everyone else, including me, usually) forgot about the other option: +2D to the enemy to earn 2 Checks!

So I rolled 5 dice for the enemy, and Allric's dropped die...

...and it made no difference at all! (Except earning a second check).

Face-thing: [1d6] = 5,[1d6] = 6,[1d6] = 2,[1d6] = 1,[1d6] = 1

Allric's missing Health die: [1d6] = 2

(I suppose technically there was a Darkness penalty, too, but it obviously didn't matter.)

[Ludanto]

To be clear, Allric is now Injured.