Homebrew tabletop game system thread the II

[Simon_Jester]

I've seen warriors in this setting transition seamlessly into paladinhood, so it's a BIT more complicated than that...

But, yes, temporary +1 Sledgehammer of Electrocution, let's see how that works out.

[Panzersharkcat]

(OOC: I suppose. I'll need to go find some more of what ECR has written for this setting to get a better idea of things. I get the idea that Larric is probably the most powerful of the group, provided he has mana reserves.)

[Simon_Jester]

It depends on context. In this situation Larric is not really very useful because he can't get a clear shot, and I'm not sure how effective he'd be if he was outright trying to throw thunderbolts. I'll have a sense for that eventually.

Also, as a knight Sir Alfred would be a lot more formidable if he had a respectable Resist Magic score; that's what really keeps knights in business for this setting.

But check out the first RPG thread (linked from the OP) and Shadow of the Flame; that's the bulk of the material on this setting.

[Panzersharkcat]

(OOC: Thanks. Maybe halfway through the old thread. If anybody wants the link to the Shadow of the Flame, it's here. Can't really read it right now since I'm in class and C++ is kicking my ass.)

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Two spear and shield against you, two long spear, in a doorway; getting through that bottleneck is going to require heroic stupidity on somebody's part. They don't think time is on their side, so they're going to have to try.
Crouching behind their shields and jabbing wildly over them, the front two try to push in. There's not much room to fight- Alfred has to try to shove one of them back to get room to swing at the other, doesn't get the full use of the reach of the hammer- has to block with it as if it were a quarterstaff, push at one's shield and make a short jab at the other- that's when the head of it starts glowing. Bit of a surprise to everyone really, especially the spearman who just got slightly frazzled.
he wouldn't have fallen down, (one wound left to lose-six to start, less three from the hammer and two from the zap) apart from the fact that one of the long- spearmen behind sees him wobbling and pulls him out of the way. Grabbing him by the broken shoulder Alfred just gave him. He's out.

Rohal, Eliska, William?

[Kaelan]

What, and get in the way of our knights fun?

William will ensure that our prize does not get any ideas about escaping. Once that's done, he'll start to reduce the size of the spear by standing to the side of the doorway and using his axe as they come thru.

[S.L.Acker]

Bryan is going to continue using his skill with his two-handed sword to hold the attackers at bay. When he can he'll look to pin spear tips to the ground and then run his blade up the haft of the spear towards fingers. Worst case he uses his fairly long reach to keep the enemy at bay and is forced to do less trying up of enemy spears and more outright dodging. However above all his goals are, don't get hit, and don't let anybody past the door; offense is secondary. If the going gets tough he'll let his determination to hold the line keep him fighting.

OOC:

Reading that thread I'm sort of wishing I'd played a true knight along the lines of Safrac. However I'm also liking the fact that Bryan can talk fairly well, as well as the RP options his back story has.

Mechanics wise, before we actually get assigned experience, what sort of RPing would you like to see before our martial characters could get some points in resist magic? I didn't have enough points to go around into the social skills I wanted but I'd like some way of dealing with mages. My thought so far is to have him talk with Larric about how he, as a mage, would go about resisting a spell and working from there.

[Agent Sorchus]

I'm going to point the escape attempt out to Larric, and then light up our foes by causing their living tissue to produce light. That should help everyone see them better knock them about.

[Tasoth]

I am having trouble keeping up with this thread and every time something goes down, I am several posts late. So, for that reason, I bow out and leave my spot open. Sorry.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

I am having trouble keeping up with this thread and every time something goes down, I am several posts late. So, for that reason, I bow out and leave my spot open. Sorry.

Oh. Damn. Disappointed to hear that- it's rocks and shoals really, trying to keep up enough of a pace to keep interesting things happening- ideally without leaving anybody behind, and actually you're not that late if you're here.

Tasoth, you don't have to drop out, particularly as your character hasn't really come into his own yet- Fallard's place and moment in the spotlight is going to be once you get to the town, his contacts could prove invaluable there. I could just assume he's lurking in the background trying not to die until then, and bring him back in when that happens?

I seem to have drifted into the habit of being on and in game head mode from 8pm-2am- sleep, who needs it- most nights, and checking around lunchtime for things that have happened in the American darkness. (sounds much more mysterious when you say it that way, doesn't it?)



Oh, the fighting bit- this is all very cautious and sensible, I must say. Everybody's being rational and defensive. It does, indeed, make sense, and it's good tactics.
The biggest spanner in the works is the man you're trying to keep prisoner. Radulf doesn't have time to cut his bonds on the spearhead- he sits up, goes into a crouch and springs at Eliska, trying to rugby- tackle her and bear her to the ground.

She tries to get out of the way, but she's watching where she's going and trying to do magic and he has the advantage of not giving a damn; he succeeds. They're both on the ground.
She finishes the magic, and tries to use it against him, but this time he does resist- she shoved her hand in his face, if his own eyeballs are glowing he can't see, now can he; it works before he shakes it off- still has a glowing handprint on his face, and the five spearmen are now easier targets-
one of them panics, one of the two handed spearmen. Glowing slightly is almost always the prelude to something bad. He screams 'get it off me'- and his mate shoves him forwards into Bryan so that he explodes closer to you than to them.

Not that he's actually going to, but he doesn't know that. The frightened spearman and bryan are both inside the sweep of each other's weapons, practically chest to chest- Bryan pushes him back a bit but not far enough to get a good swing. Bashing the spearman in the face with the hilt of the sword works, enough to daze him a little but not enough to drop him.

William clouts Radulf with the back edge of his axe; I think this is consistent with what his actions were stated to be? enough to stun, but he obviously has a remarkably hard head, not enough to knock him out.

From the top?

[Simon_Jester]

I'm a little unclear on where Larric is in the decision loop- the garritroopers have gotten two rounds of actions in, so have most of the party with the possible exception of Rohal...

...On which note, I submit that it's fair to assume Rohal takes another shot with his bow. That was the last stated action Feralgnoll gave us, we know he's not going to be available 100% of the time, and there's no obvious reason why he should switch policies in the second round of combat...

...Anyway. Basically, assuming Larric's third action is now in question, he's going to keep up the enhancement magic- what he was doing with Alfred and the plasma hammer, since that worked pretty well last time.

He views Radulf's actions with alarm, but figures that between them Eliska and William have enough concentrated mean-spiritedness to keep an unarmed prisoner under control, even if the bastard does have the constitution of an ox.

[S.L.Acker]

Bryan is going to shift his hands so that he's griping his sword with one hand right at the hilt and the other up the ricasso. This should shorten things up and leave him with enough room and control over his weapon to take a stab at the man sent stumbling from his pommel strike. If it's looking like going for that attack is going to get him full of holes, he'll step back again and continue trapping spear points and generally tying things up at the door.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Rohal- I was assuming he's actually outside, and can see what else is going on; and he does catch a vague impression, out of the corner of eye and nostril, of a vaguely lemon and ginger scented, pointy eared chap in green and grey, leaning against one of the towers of the wall. Blink and he's not there any more.

There's some fighting and a lot of yelling among the garrison; a lot of them look like they just aren't sure what the hell's going on, and a couple of small brawls have broken out from simple fear.


Bryan's lucky, or the spearman's bad luck doomed him, one or the other. The spearman, instead of trying to fight at such close range, tries to step back and stumbles- has to disentangle his own feet. That gives Bryan room and time to bring the greatsword down on his head.

Leaving the spearman without much of a face. Freshly bioluminescent (Eliska's cast) blood splashes everywhere, a few splinters of bone, and the spearman drops- not instantly terminal, but he'll die of it without urgent treatment, and even if the bleeding's stopped he'll never look much like a human being again.

The other two, one of them screams and turns to run, the other one keeps his nerve better, but realises he's alone and makes the rational decision to run.

And I think that is everything from round two tidied up- Bryan held an action waiting to see then acted- and now we are properly on to round three. Larric has a plan, so far.

Oh, yes. Rohal's action- a shot, probably. At one of the two running men- draws back and looses, but the split second before the arrow hits, a faintly glittering, grey- fletched shaft speeds past his and takes the running spearman in the gut. He collapses, and from the extremities inwards starts to dissolve away in luminous mist...

actions?

[S.L.Acker]

Bryan has never enjoyed the killing aspect of his chosen profession, it's partially why he knows mostly defensive and counter attacking forms with his weapon of choice, and also why he's a bodyguard and not a shock troop. This is why, after maiming, the one enemy and driving some more off at the sight of it all, he tries to get a read on the enemy. If they seem like they're shaken enough for it to have a chance he'll try to intimidate them.

His line of choice will be shouted as he shifts from his defensive posture to a more aggressive stance, "Who's next in line to get their head on my sword?"

If his estimation of their courage shows that those left are mentally tougher than that he'll continue with his block, trap, and counter attack style of fighting. It's something that he's comfortable with, even if he would feel vastly more comfortable doing it in his armor.

OOC:

Is there any way that he can take some sort of defensive style specialization with the two-handed sword? It might even dove tail into him slowly gaining some form of magic resistance. He talks about the nature of how magic is resisted, and starts to discover that simply having the right will and mindset makes it happen. He's already tuned to the defensive end of things so it might end up taking.

[Simon_Jester]

Dude, they're already screaming and running away.

[S.L.Acker]

OOC:

Teach me to skim things while trying to post on my way out the door. Ignore the IC portion of the post.

IC:

Glad that the combat is over Bryan drops from his combat stance into a more relaxed posture. They have two options now, stay with Radulf and keep safe, or try to help restore order in the fort. Bryan isn't yet sure which he favors so he decides to pose the question to the group.

"So, we have two options now. We can stay here in this room and let those outside do what they will, or we can try to restore order. I'm torn between the two so I'll leave this one to the group."

[Panzersharkcat]

"Secure Radulf the prisoner first. Then we go out and restore order." Much of it is face-saving. He did kind of appoint himself temporary commander and all.

[Simon_Jester]

ECR, with your permission, since this seems to be a good time for a Fault to crop up...


Alfred was born, or at least raised, a noble. He's giving orders by reflex. Larric was born a peasant. He's content to take those orders, or at least try and interpret them intelligently. "I'll look out and see what's- oh gods..."

As he begins to walk out the door, the alchemist gets his first good look at the guardsman Bryan sliced in the head, and more or less loses control of himself. Heedless momentum carries him staggering forward, out of the room, lurching to a stop, face pale and eyes wild. He's not paying much attention to his surroundings.

[Panzersharkcat]

Alfred grabs him and pulls him away from the guy with no face. (If he was a pirate, he'd get a peg face.) "Eliska, do what you can for that man." If Larric still wants to leave the room, Alfred will just cover his eyes and nose until he's out of sight of blood.

[Simon_Jester]

Ah, clarification, Panzer did you check that last sentence?

Maybe what I wrote isn't credible, but Larric doesn't just stop in his tracks- he sort of stumbles forward on autopilot. Alfred would have to leave the room himself and go out in the open to intercept him, unless he reacts very quickly and doesn't mind that they'll literally be standing over the body when he catches up.

OOC EDIT:
I know this is somewhat inconvenient and invites Shit Happening to an extent, but I figure it drives plot a bit more than just having Alfred shake sense into him while the party is still holed up in an isolated room.

[S.L.Acker]

Seeing Alfred move for the door to go after their wayward magic user Bryan says, "It happened because of a wound I made, I'll deal with it."

With that he steps out, carefully picking his way past the gruesome sight of the man who's face he badly gashed. He'd much rather have just driven the man off, or had them take his offer of honest pay for simple work. Killing was the worst aspect of his career, that's part of why he'd become a bodyguard instead of a leader of blocks of men. It's also part of why he knows mainly defensive and counter attacking forms with his main weapon.

Once out of sight of the gory scene he jogs to within a few paces of Larric and asks, "You okay?"

[Panzersharkcat]

He accepts and lets Bryan go for it. Stepping over the man, he goes down and tries to get somebody to clean up the blood and generic order-maintaining commands.

[Simon_Jester]

Larric is bent over slightly, leaning against a wall quite fairly close to the doorway, looking away and struggling not to throw up; he's got enough willpower that this time he seems to be winning.

"I just..." words stumble over each other, he says nothing for a moment. "I wasn't born for this sort of thing. Or maybe... oh, Maker" He lets out a shuddering sigh. "Born in times like this, maybe I was."

He draws himself to his feet. "I'll, I'll manage."


OOC:
He's functional...ish.

[S.L.Acker]

Bryan keeps a slight distance to avoid potential vomit splatters and listens to Larric speak as the shaken man tries to pull himself together, then he says, "It might not look like it with my big sword and all, but I don't much like killing. I enjoy the challenge of a fight, and the sword forms are calming to practice, but I choose to be a battlefield guard to avoid having to do that kind of thing. So, if this isn't just some gut reaction to that gore feel free to talk to me."

With that he leaves Larric be and goes looking for where Alfred wandered off to.

[Simon_Jester]

Larric shivers a bit, then starts following, looking around rather nervously.