[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

[yhlee]

"My character is Kaistlin Kajere," Remi says, "a mage wearing red robes that he definitely does not trip over. He is deeply interested in helping the downtrodden but is uncertain of his powers, and wants to gain levels learn more about the ways of magic to further his agenda. He regards the other travelers politely but not warmly."

[Sorry not sorry. I still own Dragonlance books!]

Remi's dice are swirly marbled red. In certain lighting, they almost look black; in others, they almost look white, through a trick of Special Magical Material.

[zuhrovet]

"What is his alignment?" Ankat asks. "Or you can pass me a note, if you want to keep that information private."

[yhlee]

Remi passes Ankat a note that says

NEUTRAL GOOD--for now.

He has beautiful but slightly eccentric handwriting.

"I suppose you're going to be very strict about how you interpret the adherence-to-alignment rules and penalties, aren't you," Remi adds. "Asking for a friend."

[zuhrovet]

Ankat raises his eyebrows. "There is a penalty for changing alignment, yes. To begin with, you lose access to your prior alignment language, and are incoherent in the new one."

ahahahaha I'm just waiting for Ankat to kill Remi via cat

[yhlee]

Remi looks grim. "I'll--I mean, my friend will keep that in mind before doing anything rash. Do you give warnings, or is it zero-tolerance mode?"

we might have to race for first alignment shift

[zuhrovet]

"It depends on the egregiousness of the offense. In borderline cases, you can regain my goodwill by doing pushups. We could all stand to be in better shape."

"Fuck you," Sasha says, cheerfully.

"You can modify them," Ankat tells her.

"No, seriously, fuck you. Anyway, my character is neutral good and staying that way."

Re: we might have to race for first alignment shift

[yhlee]

Remi narrows his eyes at Ankat. "You're not...former military by any chance, are you? Because I--I mean, my friend probably doesn't want to break their fingernails." He looks like he's doing some very serious calculation.

[lleullawgyffes]

“Ri s-Atsalka Dezurma Rrseb am Fiyertarka — Rrseb is his personal name — is a paladin, although he doesn’t wear any obvious religious symbols, and he’s a little more excitable and enthusiastic than most people probably expect paladins to be,” Vrrmad says. “He’s dedicated to chen, language, which anyone who knows anything about paladins will figure out pretty fast because everything he says is accompanied by a slight echo. He takes his responsibility to capture the world in language very seriously; that’s why he’s traveling in the first place, and he keeps a detailed journal recording each day’s events. He does fundamentally mean well, although dedicates of chen can be of any alignment — I’m pretty sure he’s neutral good. He looks at the other travelers at the inn with friendly curiosity; he’s got his journal out and is taking notes on his surroundings as he eats. He — probably — won’t initiate a conversation, but his body language and the fact that he frequently looks up and around from his writing suggest that he’s open to one.” Vrrmad pauses and smiles, looking a little embarrassed. “Also, if there are any attractive men around he’s probably unsubtly checking them out.”

[since I intend to have Rrseb throw around some stuff in Virmad's low language, I'm going to be reverting — for this thread, just for consistency — to the normal romanization (as opposed to the romanization of the High Language approximation) of Virmad's name, with the -rr- representing a syllabic /r̩/.]

Re: we might have to race for first alignment shift

[zuhrovet]

"I am current security forces," Ankat says, in a tone that does not invite further discussion.

Sasha adds, "There are always knuckle pushups! Though if your friend is the moth, they don't have nails, or knuckles."

[zuhrovet]

Ankat grins. "I can't account for Rrseb's exact taste! He does notice a man sitting near the window who looks different from the rowdy farmers. The man's got thick, expressive eyebrows. He's slender, but he seems to be in very good shape. He's wearing a chocolate-brown coat. It's not new, but it's very neatly kept."

[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]

[OOC: A paladin of language is so cool. :D ]

[lleullawgyffes]

[this is a concept from a D&D setting I've been tinkering with for a while but which is on hold at the moment — no gods, only inhuman concepts, each with an accompanying incidental strangeness (e.g., dedicates of the sun don't cast shadows and fires near them incline slightly towards them as if in a light breeze). language is probably the least sinister/unsettling of the ones I've worked out any details of; most of the others would have clashed with the chill vibe Vrrmad is pursuing with Rrseb.]

[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.]

[slybrarian]

"My character is called Spark," Alaric pronounces. "This is not his birth name, which was set aside and hidden away in a secret place when he pledged himself as a cleric to the dog-shaped god of ordinary things. He enjoys long walks on the beach, preaching about the importance of collective action, and smiting threats to the common people such as undead, outsiders, and usurers. Also, he is half human and half half-elf, using the templates from Fantastic Clades and Where to Find Them."

He has a sketch of his character, who would look suspiciously like a Chris if the hexarchate had a bunch of technically-not-interchangeable actors named Chris.

[yhlee]

his character, who would look suspiciously like a Chris if the hexarchate had a bunch of technically-not-interchangeable actors named Chris.

[*dies laughing*]

Remi perks up and leans over to peer at Alaric's sketch. "That's very good," he says with a diffidence that fools no one. "Do you do other players' character portraits too? Anyway, Kaistlin says hello to Spark, and is especially interested in subscribing to his newsletter where it concerns smiting threats to the common people."

[Kujen has a taste for interchangeable Chrisses, who knew?]

[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.]

[slybrarian]

"I can certainly find the time," Alaric says. "As for the newsletter, he does in fact have several informative pamphlets. Would you like the one on labor rights, easy-to-learn sanitation cantrips, or the importance of worshiper solidarity in the face of coercion by non-good deities?"

[yhlee]

There's almost a hint of a dimple as Remi smiles at Alaric; for a second he almost seems at ease. "I'd like that. Kaistlin is especially interested in sanitation cantrips and worshiper solidarity, and would be pleased to take one of each."

[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?"