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Entrance room, the Tomb of Wayward Souls, the Isle of Serpents, interior, late afternoon...
Entrance room, the Tomb of Wayward Souls, the Isle of Serpents, interior, late afternoon...
The stone hallway extends a short distance, lit by eerie magically-sustained torches. Giant stone tiles have been excavated, revealing a deep, spike-filled pit.
At the other end, a huge relief of a fiendish face spans the back wall. Its black maw of a mouth remains open, and its eyes stare balefully, carved from clouded white crystal. To the right of the relief is a closed door.
Presto, then Lorne and Eric, cross the thin planks of wood laid over the pit to allow crossing.
GINGA
(blinking over to the far side)
GINGA
(blinking over to the far side)
**Bark!**
Come, friends! Come!
ERIC
(carefully balancing)
ERIC
(carefully balancing)
Show off.
PRESTO
(arriving beneath the fiendish relief, taking out the map from Laysa)
PRESTO
(arriving beneath the fiendish relief, taking out the map from Laysa)
So there must be some portal or something involved here. But how best to cross over...?
LORNE
LORNE
Or, you know, there's a door to the right.
ERIC
ERIC
What are you, new? There's going to be all kinds of traps or illusions or whatever.
PRESTO
PRESTO
I mean, that's what the map suggests.
LORNE
LORNE
Yeah, but only having three rooms isn't much of a map. Some archaeologists!
PRESTO
(handing Lorne the map, then taking out a kind of Geiger counter from his magic hat)
PRESTO
(handing Lorne the map, then taking out a kind of Geiger counter from his magic hat)
Okay, so let's run some tests, then!
ERIC
ERIC
And... I'll stand over here to the side, for no particular reason at all.
Presto's SPELLCAST (+3). Spending a STRESS to activate EXPERIENCE: Merlin trained me for day + School of Knowledge ADEPT FEATURE (+4)
Rolls a ⬙(5) ⬙(7) + 7 = 19 vs. Difficulty 17, Success with Fear !
STRANGE PATTERNS rolled a 7 : Recover one Stress
GM Fear total = 6
Presto waves the wand of the Geiger-ish device back and forth around the fiendish relief, causing the device to whir and light up.
That's when the eyes of the relief begin to GLOW with a green light of glowing intensity. As the light grows, Presto's device dims in relation.
PRESTO
PRESTO
It's... it's like absorbing the magic!
LORNE
LORNE
Nice! Keep it going!
PRESTO
(nodding grimly, then doffing his hat)
PRESTO
(nodding grimly, then doffing his hat)
“Open sesame, Open poppy seed, Open sunflower, Open … uh, hazelnuts?”
Arcane clouds of pink and glitter spew from the hat and into the fiendish relief’s open mouth, and its eyes glow ever brighter.
GM says:
GM says:
Make a SPELLCAST roll. Success and you add to its clock of 3. Fail and you add to its clock but it costs a Stress.
Presto's SPELLCAST (+3).
Rolls a ⬙(12) ⬙(10) + 3 = 25 vs. Difficulty 17, Success with Hope !
ERIC
ERIC
You mean it's actually working?!
Presto's SPELLCAST (+3).
Rolls a ⬙(4) ⬙(10) + 3 = 17 vs. Difficulty 17, Success with Fear !
GM Fear total = 7
Presto's magics grow even more intense, and the entire fiendish relief now glows, giving off heat. The room begins to shake.
PRESTO
PRESTO
Little bit more... "OPEN... COFFEE BEAN!"
Presto's SPELLCAST (+3).
Rolls a ⬙(12) ⬙(3) + 3 = 18 vs. Difficulty 17, Success with Hope !
The door to the east of the fiendish relief cracks open, as the rest of the cavern continues to shake. The eyes of the relief, as intense as they can get, send arcs of green flame through the hallway.
LORNE
(ducking as dust and bits of ceiling begin to fall)
LORNE
(ducking as dust and bits of ceiling begin to fall)
You did it! Quick! Come on!
GM says:
GM says:
Spening a FEAR token to impose a Stress. You can dash into the entrance with an AGILITY reaction roll to avoid stress, but I'm spending another FEAR to impose disadvantage.
GM Fear total = 5
Lorne's AGILITY (+1).
Rolls a ⬙(8) ⬙(5) + 1 minus d6 (2) = 12 vs. Difficulty 17, Failed reaction!
PRESTO
(pulling his hat on tight as he ducks and runs)
PRESTO
(pulling his hat on tight as he ducks and runs)
Yikes! Should have tried decaf instead!
Presto's AGILITY (+0). Spending Hope to activate EXPERIENCE: Chosen Champion of the Dungeonmaster (+3)
Rolls a ⬙(8) ⬙(11) + 3 minus d6 (1) = 21 vs. Difficulty 17, Successful reaction!
GINGA
(blinking over to the far side)
GINGA
(blinking over to the far side)
**Bark!**
Come, friends! Come!
ERIC
ERIC
Still with the showing off! Jeez!
Eric's AGILITY (+3).
Rolls a ⬙(9) ⬙(10) + 3 minus d6 (2) = 20 vs. Difficulty 17, Successful reaction!
The three heroes and Ginga tumble into the next hallway, as the sounds of rumbling and flashes of green fire begin to subside.
PRESTO
(picking himself up, laughing in spite of himself)
PRESTO
(picking himself up, laughing in spite of himself)
Ha ha! Actually, you'd think coffee beans wouldn't fit the pattern, but actually they *are* seeds, 'cause they're the pit of the fruit from the coffee plant.
LORNE
(after a beat, when both Eric and Lorne are paused)
LORNE
(after a beat, when both Eric and Lorne are paused)
What the hell are you even talking about?!
continued in 9.5. Hall of Gemstones & Acid Pit . . .
GM FOOTNOTES:
Simple chapter this week, with basic ability check type things. It seems increasingly clear that the Hope is meant to flow pretty freely, but it feels easier to spend as a PC than it is for the GM to spend Fear. For example, I'm still trying to get the hang of when the Fear can be spent simply to set the scene or to actively adjust the PCs mechanically. Like, adding a Stress is an easy consequence to a roll with Fear, but this could on average happen 50/50 each roll, which means would get repetitive and punitive. (You can see I tried to mitigate that again by asking for a reaction roll to avoid the Stress, but if everyone passes, the GM would have spent a Fear with nothing to show for it. Narratively, maybe, but not mechanically.)
My guess is that the GM should dole out Stress relatively slowly, and look to bank Fear until about 6 or so for these kinds of scenes... leading up to a battle. If the battle is meant to be a big Boss or something, then banking to 8 or maxxing out at 10 is a good progression.
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