[Fun and Games] RPG RPG #2

[zuhrovet]

Ankat gathers all of the Prisons & Pangolins players, and any interested observers, to begin the first game session.

"Each of you has chosen to leave the city, in search of treasure, renown, or a moderately impressive death. You have made your way to a small, dull village at the edge of a big, scary wilderness. You find yourself at a big communal table in a dirty inn. The sign outside was the White Rat. That's definitely auspicious. Tell us who your character is, what they look like, and how they react to the other travelers!"

[A note on mechanics: Sasha and Remi are naturally inclined to bicker about the rules of Prisons & Pangolins. This does not mean that you, as a meta-player, need to know what the rules are. In fact, it doesn't even mean that rules exist! This process is still free-form and consensus-driven, and dice only matter inasmuch as some of us like writing descriptions of very pretty imaginary dice.

You are welcome, of course, to have your character wander by and observe without making a character for them.
If you want to introduce a sudden Zehun or something instead, by all means, go for it: we're not being precise about time or continuity.]

Comments

[lleullawgyffes]

“Iiiinteresting,” Vrrmad says. “Rrseb is going to take a break from journal-writing to start writing a poem about the handsome stranger on the other side of the room instead. And, of course, while he’s doing this he will be extremely unsubtly going back and forth between writing and staring. If-slash-when he catches the stranger’s eye, he’ll smile invitingly — but he’s not quite presumptuous enough to walk over and start a conversation by himself.”

[zuhrovet]

"Does Rrseb look like a professor, or an adventurer?" Ankat asks. "Is he carrying a sword, for example?"

Sasha rolls her eyes. "My character walks over to Kaistlin and asks if he can do magic. She's around two meters tall and looks like a bronze dragon, only bipedal. Her name's Arxan."

[yhlee]

Remi looks intrigued by this description. "Kaistlin's eyes soften at this question. He says yes, he can do magic, and demonstrates with a simple dancing lights cantrip. He seems impressed by Arxan's stature, and asks where she hails from."

[zuhrovet]

"That is very pretty, but I'm not sure if it's useful," Sasha says on Arxan's behalf. "Arxan's from the mountains to the south. It's been about ten thousand years since an eruption, but they're still active volcanoes. She tells Kaistlin she's interested in ruins and treasure."

[Sasha and I have different philosophies of role-playing, but apparently the same drive to follow the plot.]

[yhlee]

"Lanterns usually work better," Remi says for Kaistlin, "but it does have occasional applications in signaling in dark situations. Kaistlin is interested in wealth redistribution, but only with his fair share, of course."

[Oh dear God. I think this is socialist not!Raistlin.]

[zuhrovet]

"Huh, I bet we could work out something fun with mirrors," Sasha says. "Arxan tithes to her clan. They are basically good, if moralistic, so she's lucky. Has Kaistlin heard anything about treasure nearby?"

[yhlee]

"Kaistlin did hear some rumors in town from traders and fruit-sellers and the like," Remi says obligingly. "Something about ancient artifacts, beautifully wrought objets d'art, and possibly even inscriptions of interest to historians or magic-users."

[slybrarian]

"Spark has been told of a dragon and its hoard somewhere to the north, which may be related or may be something else entirely. Regrettably the person telling him was color-blind and unable to specify the shade or even shininess of the dragon," Alaric adds in. "Given that we are level one and I'm not sure our combined hit points reach double-digits, we should probably put that down under 'things to do later'. Assuming there even is a dragon and it's not some sort of trick."

[yhlee]

Remi raises his voice so that Ankat can hear. "Excuse me," he says, "is what our characters know about the chromatism of dragons likely to be at all accurate? Or do we have hilariously misguided notions about dragons and alignment, assuming you're using the Devious Dragons supplement as well?"

on the nature of dragons

[zuhrovet]

Ankat shrugs. "Metallic dragons like being flattered and having handsome minions, and other sorts of dragons like being feared and having terrifying minions. If you want to match that up to good and evil, well, I guess everyone likes a good fairy tale. Maybe more to the purpose, you've heard some rumors about an abandoned meditation center near this village."

Re: on the nature of dragons

[yhlee]

Remi grins wryly. "Flattery, huh? I'll have to keep that in mind. Although really, there's nothing wrong with being feared by the right people. Hypothetically speaking. Anyway, is this meditation center devoted to one of the Known Gods, or is that currently a mystery?"

Re: on the nature of dragons

[zuhrovet]

"Good question!" Ankat says. "You're not a bard--do you have some other relevant skill? If not, you'll have to ask one of the locals."

Re: on the nature of dragons

[yhlee]

"No, nothing of the sort, I'm afraid," Remi says. He's probably figured out that trying to rules-lawyer Ankat is a losing game. "Kaistlin turns to Spark and Arxan and excuses himself, then casts his eyes around for a friendly-looking local to ask. Since Kaistlin doesn't have high charisma, he's going to settle for offering to buy someone a drink in exchange for information."

Re: on the nature of dragons

[zuhrovet]

Ankat says, "You notice another adventurer talking to a man who seems very friendly! You also notice a woman near the hearth who's been nursing her drink like she's trying to make it last."

Re: on the nature of dragons

[yhlee]

Remi says, "Kaistlin only needs to eavesdrop on the other adventurer and the friendly man for a few moments to realize that any interruption would probably be, ah, cockblocking, and he'd rather not antagonize either unnecessarily. He makes his way to the woman near the hearth, says rather forthrightly that he could use some information, and offers to buy her a drink." Remi peruses his inventory. "Assuming he can afford a drink in this place."

Re: on the nature of dragons

[zuhrovet]

"You never know, the men might be willing to share," Ankat says, drily. "Anyway, the ale here is inexpensive, and you can certainly afford a couple of drinks." He fiddles with his tablet for a moment and adds, "The woman's got a broad mouth and wrinkles around her eyes from too much sun. She grins and asks whether you're looking to buy land."

Re: on the nature of dragons

[yhlee]

Remi blinks. "Kaistlin asks what kind of land she's selling, and how the drainage and soil quality are. And if it's any good for raising geese."

Re: on the nature of dragons

[zuhrovet]

Ankat, who has seen a couple of documentaries about Jedao, looks suspiciously at Remi for a moment, then shrugs. "The woman says, 'Oh, I'm not personally selling, unless you can talk my sibs into giving up their shares too. There just isn't a lot around here except land. And the odd ghost story, I suppose.'"

[zuhrovet]

Sasha turns her character sheet so Alaric can see it. Her hit points are definitely two-digit.

[lleullawgyffes]

“Rrseb uses a medozjrr veshaj, a...” He fumbles for a second for the translation. “...‘grain sword’, I guess? Which is sort of like a cross between a scimitar and a sickle,” Vrrmad says. “I backwards-converted the stats from a later edition — I meant to run them by you in advance but forgot; sorry. If they don’t work for you, I’m fine with treating it as just a scimitar. I doubt I’ll be using the tripping mechanics very often, anyway; it’s mostly about the flavor. He’s dressed more like an adventurer than a professor, although unlike more militant paladins he only wears leather, no plate or mail. He prefers to avoid or talk his way out of trouble if he can — not that he can’t hold his own in a fight if necessary. Assuming he hasn’t literally just arrived at the White Rat, he’s probably left his traveling gear and armor in his room and is just wearing a comfortable casual shirt and trousers now.”

[zuhrovet]

"If tripping actually comes up, we'll sort it out then," Ankat says. "The man smiles at you sardonically, then heads toward the hearth and has a quiet conversation with a member of the inn's staff. A few minutes later, he reappears at your side, holding a goblet in each hand. He offers you one--it looks like red wine--and asks what you're writing."

[lleullawgyffes]

“‘Oh, nothing much,’ Rrseb says. ‘Just a poem about a handsome stranger who caught my eye.’ He’ll graciously accept the offered wine with his winningest smile,” Vrrmad says.

[zuhrovet]

"The man observes, 'It's a thick notebook! You must have many admirers.'"

Sasha rolls her eyes at Ankat and Virmad both.

Ankat continues, "The man takes a seat across from you. If you taste the wine, you'll notice it's both strong and surprisingly decent. Not up to what you'd find in town, of course, but probably close to what passes for top-shelf here."

[lleullawgyffes]

“‘I’m more the admirer than the admired, usually,’ Rrseb says, ‘although I suppose I’ve had my fair share.’” Vrrmad is doing an extremely mediocre job keeping a straight face as he says this. “‘Surely a handsome man such as yourself has some of his own, too.’ He’ll take a sip of the wine, too.”

[zuhrovet]

Ankat's grinning, but he says quite seriously on behalf of his NPC, "I don't know if you've noticed, but this isn't exactly a bustling metropolis. What brings you to the area?"