Embedded Files
Hall of Gemstones &
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...
Lorne, Presto, and Eric right themselves, marveling at the rows and rows of colorful jewels lining the walls. At the far end, the corridor opens to a room, where stands an emerald-colored statue of a crashing wave. Ginga trots forward toward the room, seemingly dancing in the mosaic reflecting light from the gems.
GINGA
GINGA
Pretty!
LORNE
LORNE
Nice~~~! Treasure, already! I knew following you guys would be a good idea!
ERIC
ERIC
Meh. It's probably all fake illusion magic, anyway.
LORNE
LORNE
Well, that could 'em *more* valuable, couldn't it?
(moves in for a closer look)
GM says:
GM says:
Make an INSTINCT roll. This is an easy difficulty. But if you fail, you can't help but reach out.
Lorne's INSTINCT (+2).
Rolls a ⬙(8) ⬙(3) + 2 = 13 vs. Difficulty 10, Success with Hope !
LORNE
(pausing his hand before he touches the gemstones)
LORNE
(pausing his hand before he touches the gemstones)
Uhhhh, listen, you all got a mage in the group? How about he do some mage-ing?
PRESTO
PRESTO
Oh! Right! Yeah. Let's see...
(reaching in his hat, he takes out a pair of 3-D glasses and puts them over his regular glasses)
Presto's SPELLCAST (+3) to cast REVEAL.
Rolls a ⬙(3) ⬙(8) + 3 = 14 vs. Difficulty 17, Failure with Fear !
GM Fear total = 6
ERIC
ERIC
No, Presto, don't t--!
Presto, in full-investigation mode, proceeds to tap one of the gemstones with his finger before Eric can stop him.
Suddenly, the statue at the end of the corridor flashes with light, a swirling blue following the shape of the wave that blasts outward in a line of piercing freezing energy.
AGILITY reaction roll, Difficulty 17
Damage 3d8+3 (2,4,8 +3) = 17
Presto's AGILITY (+0), rolls a ⬙(6) ⬙(11) + 0 = 17, Success!
Eric's AGILITY (+3), rolls a ⬙(7) ⬙(11) + 3 = 21, Success!
Eric's momentum carries both him and Presto to the floor just as the bolt of energy crackles into the gems Presto was examining-- narrowly hitting them both.
PRESTO
PRESTO
Whoa! Sorry, Eric. Thanks.
ERIC
ERIC
Yeah. New rule-- same as the OBVIOUS OLD ONE-- "Don't. Touch. Anything."
GINGA
GINGA
And move sneaky-silent! Yes, yes!
Ginga demonstrates as they move down the hall to examine the statue of a wave; Eric advances with his Shield of the Cavalier held high. Presto tries to survey the area, not realizing he continues to sport the 3D glasses.
LORNE
(arriving at the statue, reading the base and moving around it)
LORNE
(arriving at the statue, reading the base and moving around it)
It says "This wave is green." Wait. Why was the magical blast a blue light?
GM says:
GM says:
Whoops. My bad. Creative license.
PRESTO
(pointing, peering through the 3D glasses)
PRESTO
(pointing, peering through the 3D glasses)
Look. This spot, there's a divot. Something probably goes here.
GM says:
GM says:
Make a KNOWLEDGE roll, normal difficulty.
Presto's KNOWLEDGE (+3).
Rolls a ⬙(7) ⬙(4) + 3 = 14 vs. Difficulty 15, Failure with Hope !
Activate STRANGE PATTERNS feature = Clear 1 Stress.
Lorne's KNOWLEDGE (+0). Spending Hope to activate an EXPERIENCE: I know all the best stories (+2)
Rolls a ⬙(8) ⬙(11) + 2 = 21 vs. Difficulty 15, Success with Fear !
GM Fear total = 7
LORNE
(snapping his finger)
LORNE
(snapping his finger)
Yeah! Something GREEN I bet.
(moving to examine the gems on the walls)
The stories of Sigmund featured water elementals, and green *emeralds* were key in harnessing the frigid water demons!
After a moment, Lorne straightens, pointing to a particularly divot-shaped emerald-- the only one of its kind.
ERIC
ERIC
Wow! You're amazing!
(uh..)
Uh, I mean, that's amazing.
(uh..)
I mean, that's cool.
Or mildly interesting.
At best.
PRESTO
(moving past Lorne, who doesn't want to look back at Eric, and prying out the emerald)
PRESTO
(moving past Lorne, who doesn't want to look back at Eric, and prying out the emerald)
Here, I got it.
Placing the emerald in the divot at the base, and a deep rumbling like a crashing wave makes all the heroes flinch. It's the sound of the door in the hallway sliding open.
Transition to..
Transition to..
The Acid Pit room, the Tomb of Wayward Souls, continuous...
The Acid Pit room, the Tomb of Wayward Souls, continuous...
Presto leads Ginga and his teammates through a shadowy hall. Heavy winds push agaisnt him in growing intensity, prompting him to take his hat off and to squint askance agaisnt the air.
PRESTO
PRESTO
Wow, feels like someone left the air conditioning on high. I wonder what theyre trying to keep cool?
Emerging from the hall, the heroes find themelves on a small landing that gives way to a narrow bridge.The stone arches up and away, nearly 12 meters, high above a pit of bubbling, thick green acid. The winds busrts powerfully through nozzles decorated by grotesque gargoyle faces.
PRESTO
PRESTO
Oh. I guess that.
LORNE
(tucking in his shirt, adjusting the strap of his travel bag, yellimg above the blowing wind)
LORNE
(tucking in his shirt, adjusting the strap of his travel bag, yellimg above the blowing wind)
All right, boys. Looks like we gotta batten our hatches!
GM asks:
GM asks:
Hmm. Do they have mountaineering gear? ERIC seems to have inventory, and perhaps they discussed it when the prepped inbetween scenes. Let's make a PREPAREDNESS roll, with HARD difficulty. And only one roll allowed, so let's make it Presto's.
Presto's INSTINCT (+2). Spending Hope to activate an EXPERIENCE: Chosen Champion of the Dungeonmaster (+3)
Rolls a ⬙(12) ⬙(4) + 2 + 3 = 21, Success with Hope !
PRESTO
(spooling some mountaineering rope from his hat)
PRESTO
(spooling some mountaineering rope from his hat)
Good thing we met a bunch of archeologists outside! They have the best rope.
Cut to..
Cut to..
Tethered to others with the rope, Eric, swathed with mountaineering gear, army-crawls across the bridge. He takes out a piton and starts to pound it into the bridge with the broad area of his shield.
ERIC
(yelling into the wind)
ERIC
(yelling into the wind)
Tell me again why *I'm* the one doing this?!
PRESTO
(yelling back)
PRESTO
(yelling back)
Well, you keep saying youre the strongest among us!
LORNE
(also yelling back)
LORNE
(also yelling back)
Yeah, a meathead's gotta do what a meathead's gotta do!
ERIC
(muttering to himself)
ERIC
(muttering to himself)
rassum frassum I'll show him meathead mrassum...
GM asks:
GM asks:
Make a STRENGTH roll against the wind.
Eric's STRENGTH (+4). Spending Hope to activate an EXPERIENCE: My parents made me do Yacht Club every summer (+2)
Rolls a ⬙(1) ⬙(11) + 4 + 2 = 18 vs. Difficulty 17, Success with Fear !
GM Fear total = 8
Eric almost slips against the buffeting wind, but finishes his crawl to the other side. Ginga happily blinks next to him, yapping encouragement. The bridge now sports several pitons threaded with rope.
One by one, the others follow Eric's lead, keeping to a crawl and hoizontally scaling the bridge, using the threaded ropes.
GM asks:
GM asks:
Make STRENGTH rolls against the wind, with advantage now thanks to the equipment.
Presto's STRENGTH (+0). Spending Hope to activate an EXPERIENCE: People always underestimate what I can do (+2)
Rolls a ⬙(11) ⬙(3) + 0 + 2 +d6(1) = 17 vs. Difficulty 17, Success with Hope ! Barely !
Lorne's STRENGTH (+0). Spending Hope to activate an EXPERIENCE: Wilderness Survival (+3)
Rolls a ⬙(3) ⬙(1) + 0 + 3 +d6(1) = 8 vs. Difficulty 17, Failure with Hope ! Most definitely !
Following Presto's example, Lorne grits his resolve and tries to carefully crawl across the bridge, but the winds prove too much.
ERIC
(calling out)
ERIC
(calling out)
Lorne! Ya bum! Get a grip! Literally!
LORNE
(mumbling under his breath)
LORNE
(mumbling under his breath)
Ah, I'd like to grip YOU, you sunofa-- Wait! I mean, uh...!
Lorne fumbles, and is gusted over the stones. The rope around his waist tightens all slack, straining against the pitons Eric had set. Eric and Presto immediately brace, holding on to their ends and rapidly pulling upward.
Lorne swings, and despite his scrambling his body splashies against the acid even as his momentume carries him aloft.
GM says:
GM says:
Damage for Tier 3 Enviorment 3d10 +1.
Damage 3d10+1 (4,10,7 +1) = 22, MAJOR threshold for -2HP
Lorne spends 1 ARMOR for -1 HP
LORNE
(slapping at his feet and sides, sending off flakes of acid, tattered clothing, and wisps of smoke)
LORNE
(slapping at his feet and sides, sending off flakes of acid, tattered clothing, and wisps of smoke)
Ah!!! Ah!!!
GM says:
GM says:
Spending 1 FEAR to deplete your resources.
The pitons, stressed by the sudden fall, come loose, and the rope, sloughs off the bridge and into the acid pit, disappearing into goo.
PRESTO
PRESTO
Ah, jeez. Well, easy come, easy go.
LORNE
LORNE
Don't worry. I'm fine,
ERIC
ERIC
Well, stop being so fine. That kind of fine gives some people heart attacks.
LORNE
LORNE
. . .
(looks at Eric quizzickly, who seems oblivious. Lorne gathers himself up as they all head into the next room)
continued in 9.6 Chamber of the Jade Serpent Guardian . . .
GM FOOTNOTES:
GM Final Fear total = 7
Ok, review time.
So, first-- understand that I really enjoyed Dragonbane's advantage/disadvantage systems, and the fact that they stacked really helped give me the GM some easy tools.(Edit = I've come to learn on a re-read that they don't stack! You take the best result of the multiple dice.)
Next-- understand that I really enjoyed the roll-under system of Dragonbane-- because the DM never had to set difficulty numbers. 13th Age was similar, in the sense that there was a set difficulty that was meant pretty much to never change.
Thus-- I find Daggerheart to be more wishy-washy about this. It's weird that the GM is encouraged to both SET the difficulty AND allow situational modifiers/advantage & disadvantage. They even acknowledge this in the rules, but the advice they offer is more or less "yeah, that is weird, isn't it." I wish they would just pick one way to build their approach around.
Case in point -- Eric is carefully crawling along the bridge to set the pitons. I kept the difficulty 17 as that's the expectation for the tier, even though "normal" difficulty is 15 by default and I have freedom to make things whatever I want anyway. Should I allow Eric an advantage because of how he described his approach? Should I allow Presto and Lorne double advantage if they similarly crawl AND use the mountaineering gear? Should I make the difficulty easier, instead? Or should I BOTH lower the difficulty and give advantage -- ? I think there are much more simple ways to give GM advice than what Daggerheart offers.
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