hmmm, why don't you suggest a way to escape and we'll discuss how feasible it is? I'm more or a "Yes, and..." than a "No" kind of GM.

We haven't exactly exhausted the obvious angles yet. Like finding out whether the driver knows how he was planning on getting back, and/or if the bomb is some sort of magical mass-Entering(/Exiting)-Darkness kind as opposed to the normal why-can't-I-hold-all-this-damage kind.

Speaking of Entering Darkness, Nobles can do it to get out of the Dark World only, so maybe it'd be possible to hack together some sort of ritual that'll take the whole bus along for the ride? Worst case scenario one or two of us can go look for help while the rest hold the fort.

That's a great idea (and a good insight despite this being spelled out to someone else in PM).

Here, have a cookie. It's worth +1 dice in one roll of your choosing.

...Which part? If you mean the bomb it's already more or less said itself that that's what it can do, we just need to make sure it's telling the truth.

...you don't want the cookie? :\

You can't be sure the bomb is telling the truth. Unless you're some sort of bomb psychologist... but the bomb might decide to say "let there be light" then. ;)

I never said that. ;)


As many dice as I can throw at this I might as well be. :P

I feel like I'm missing something with regard to the bomb conversation.

That's because it's hidden, Nina repeated the important part though.

Darnit, I kept missing that post. This is the first time I didn't accidentally skim over it.

I was actually looking through the book for ideas, but this is probably better than anything I could come up with. Would it still help to make that roll?

So remember a while back when I couldn't decide whether Zelda is more of a Persuasion 2 (3)/Socialize 1 sort of person or a Persuasion 1 (2)/Socialize 2 sort and apparently decided on the former? Well I just remembered about that myself and realized that was wrong and it should really, definitely be the latter. I hope it's alright that I went ahead and switched it, I'm very sure that this one's the right setup and will absolutely be keeping it that way and not changing my mind back again.

I did some brainstorming and, supposing that we want the hypothetical bus-saving ritual to build as much as possible off of existing mechanics and to take some measure of effort, here's how I personally think would make the most sense for it to work:

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1. Zoe and Nina bond to Inari, thereby officially becoming part of the nakama.

2. One of us stands in each inside corner of the bus and the fifth stands in the exact center.

3. We abjure the bus as a teamwork action to suppress the taint within it, with Zelda as the primary actor so she can use her Practical Magic (and probably a buff or two for good measure) to ensure that we roll an exceptional success and all temporarily become banes to the Darkness, which is needed for the next step to work.

4. We ward the bus against the Darkness as a teamwork action with Shirley as the primary actor (since she has the best pool for that).

5. We roll Entering Darkness as a teamwork action to escape the Dark World (with Zelda as the primary actor since she has the best pool for that and I can resolve Steadfast in a pinch to turn it into an auto-success), with each of us spending a Wisp to seal the deal and take the bus and everyone in it with us.

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The symbolism that the above procedure works off of is as follows:

1. By having a five-member nakama positioned as described we'd be "casting the net" of the nakama Sympathy link over the bus in such a way as to fully encompass it and everyone inside.

2. Abjuration (of which warding is a derivative) is essentially the act of imposing your own soul upon an entity or area. By using it to thoroughly exclude the Darkness from the bus we could, by extension, be said to be imparting some of our Noble-ness upon it (and on everyone inside). By doing so in unison while the bus and passengers are encompassed by our mutual Sympathy we can symbolically impart that Sympathy to them as well.

3. The above framework having been established, we exit the Dark World as one. The bus and passengers, by being brought in such close metaphysical contact with us, count as part of that "one" and come along for the ride.

4. The Wisp expenditure during the jump is mostly just a tax for the fact that we're doing something impressive and unusual, but also signifies us Lighting everything up to make absolutely sure that it's all Noble-y enough at that moment for the ritual to work.

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...Incidentally, when I say "I did some brainstorming" I mean that the whole thing suddenly just came to me in the space of a few minutes.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:26, Tue 29 Nov 2016.

I have no way of knowing if that will work or not, so let's try it!

Knowing whether it'll work (as well as coming up with it in-character in the first place) is what someone rolling Intelligence + Occult is for. ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 21:31, Tue 29 Nov 2016.

In other news, I just noticed that this game is still marked as requesting players.

Right. Give me a sec.

Sheesh. All that for one success.

I'm having a really bad week. Things should look up in a few days, I hope.

Sorry to hear that, hope you're right.

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...One thing about that ritual idea I forgot to mention, any way of getting out of here involving the Entering Darkness rules assumes we're under a tainted area right now, which if we got here by magic portal bomb in the first place might or might not be guaranteed.

Stay strong.

Hey RdMarquis, it's your turn over in Fate/ITP.

now that I actually had time to read over that, I can say that I really like your idea! The ritual sounds great, and resonates with the tropes of the setting. You might get an additional die to throw by using appropriate "tools", be they symbolic or actual, and feel free to be inspired by the basic laws of magic. e.g. using the Law of Similarity, tearing a black cloth could aid in rending the barrier between the Dark and the normal world. As long as none of the rolls fail, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
(harhar you played into my grubby paws with that one! [insert evil GM laughter here])

kidding, kidding!

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So... how's everyone doing?

holiday season is slow, especially when you have to balance family obligations and working overtime. Little horsies for my daughter= immediate cuteness meltdown.

I should have time to (finally) post tomorrow.

Kind of been offline the past few days and just popping in to say that I probably still will be for the next day or two. Turns out rushing to finish the last two assignments of your undergraduate career will do that.