I think you have me at one too many Fate points.  I did acquire one from Stefan's animosity, but I spent it investigating the twin's room, when I found that symbol scrawled above the secret passage.  Then I spent another one on my last attack.

I would not have thrown the blackjack.  If I couldn't reach him without stepping into the circle, I would just step in it.  If that means I didn't hit him, that's fine.  It sounds as if I accomplished my goal either way, which was to stop whatever he was casting.  (What was it?)

The mighty, dusty wind sounds just tailor-made to support stealth rolls, so I'm going to assume it and you can tell me otherwise if that doesn't work.

What skill do I use to defend against the thrown knife?  We don't have a Defense skill or anything like that.  I'm totally fine if you want to say Athletics.  :-)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:11, Tue 07 July 2020.

OMFG!!!  12:15, Today: Etzagith rolled -4 using 4 Fudge dice ((-1, -1, -1, -1))  Athletics (+3)? to avoid the thrown knife.

This is getting ridiculous.  Can I make an Aspect of "The die roller hates me." so I can get a fate point for every -2 or worse roll?

Since I really don't want a six-shifts attack to hit me, I'll spend another point for a reroll.

12:18, Today: Etzagith rolled 3 using 4 Fudge dice.  Athletics (+3)? to avoid the thrown knife. reroll.
Much better.  Even if it is not Athletics I should use, that avoids anything worse than a nick.

12:22, Today: Etzagith rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice.  Stealth (+4) to eliminate a disadvantage.

So result of +4.  If we add the Zone aspect of A Mighty Dusty Wind it is +6.  I assume that eliminates the disadvantage, or just means they can't attack me at all next round.

If it also provides an advantage of I'm way up here, now., I'm ok with it if you are.  :-)

(My interpretation of that article you sent me about using Stealth in Combat basically allows me to attack only every other round but nearly always to do it at advantage, as long as I made a successful Stealth move in the previous round.  If that's not your interpretation, let's talk about it.)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:43, Tue 07 July 2020.

All I can tell you is that the dice-roller goes both ways.

Hollis would've attacked Cara if he hadn't completely botched his defense roll against her Provoke.  In fact, the only one who did any good on his roll was Daggers, and that attack wasn't particularly awesome...


I would not have thrown the blackjack.  If I couldn't reach him without stepping into the circle, I would just step in it.  If that means I didn't hit him, that's fine.  It sounds as if I accomplished my goal either way, which was to stop whatever he was casting.  (What was it?)
Hey, I went with what you wrote:


Your character has no clue what he was going for (remote activation of certain triggers for other spell-effects.  They still require a physical component, hence the "wind").  He <U>did</I> invest his personal mana in the spell-effect he was going for... which released five shifts of power--three as fallout, 2 as backlash.

Finally, Ahtletics is acceptable in this circumstance. - It simply means he dodged out of the way or jumped out of the way...  He didn't do it with blades as he's thrown the blackjack and that wouldn't have made any sense anyway.  So, you're spot-on.

Also remember that Stress isn't damage.  Etzagith can take a 6-stress hit and walk away from the scene entirely unscathed.  Not that he should want to...

I didn't take that other stunt so I should have 2 fate points.  There was talk of a fate point for but everything we has was in storage (utterly out-of-character, post 305), but I don't think we ended up going in that direction

Sure thing. Change made.

Yeah.  I didn't even realize, until you had said I threw the blackjack, that the circle was that large.  I had thought it was small enough that I could clobber him without entering it myself, and somehow didn't even consider otherwise.  I'm glad to go with whatever interpretation works for you.

I don't know if last round's +6 stealth roll was enough to avoid whatever attack would have come against me (with advantage because of the dust) AND create an advantage I can use this turn.  Of course, my plan on my next roll is to roll well enough that I don't need an advantage to take down the drunken Hollis.  (Also, he's drunk.  I'm using that one.)

Here goes:  Hah!  Finally rolled a positive number.

16:38, Today: Etzagith rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice.  Unarmed attack (+0) at Hollis.  (advantage drunk).
Result of +4.
If you decide that I do still have my blackjack, then I'll be using blades which is +1, for a result of +5.

Multiple Actions in One Combat-Exchange? - NO
I don't know if last round's +6 stealth roll was enough to avoid whatever attack would have come against me (with advantage because of the dust) AND create an advantage I can use this turn.
Last round?  Wait, you did a Stealth +6 roll last round.  You mean Combat-Exchange #2?  I missed that entirely.    I'm going to assume you mean this round... Combat-Exchange #3.

You've got a roll in the Dice roller that says:
10:22, Today: Etzagith rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice.  Stealth (+4) to eliminate a disadvantage.

I presume we're talking about Dust in His Eyes?  What you're looking for is an Overcome action.   And that's an action.   It will take an entire combat-exchange.   It also requires some sort of mention in the in-character story.

Seriously though, on it's own, it's just an Aspect.  It doesn't do anything unless it's compelled.  Sure, there is a possibility that one of the bad guys might compel Dust in His Eyes, but there's just as much chance that it doesn't get compelled.  If you decide that it's important enough to spend an entire combat-exchange on, then okay.  It's your call.

Finally, I'm not finding any reference in the books that support splitting a dice roll to allow for two actions.   Hiding, by it's very nature is Creating an Advantage.  You just can't use it in the same combat-round.  So... Etzagith is hiding (Stealth/Create Advantage) or attacking Hollis (Attack). Or he's wiping the dust from his eyes (Overcome).  He can't do all three in one combat-exchange.

Multiple Scene-Aspects on one roll? - YES!
Result of +4, using the advantage Three-Sheets to the Wind or, if I have it, the advantage I'm way up here, now.  It is allowed to use both, or are you limited to a single environmental advantage per action?
You can certainly pile on the Aspects.  Free-invokes if they're there don't cost you anything.   without the free-invokes, they cost you a fate-point...


I'm way up here, now
Where did this Aspect come from?   I have no record of this Aspect, neither in the narrative nor in the dice roller.   You did have How'd He get There, but moving from that location changed the context when you threw the blackjack...  That specific Aspect is gone, now.  If you want to create another similar advantage, you will need to make a roll to Create An Advantage.  This is an option you can definitely take if he's now hiding...  But, again... that's an Action. Is it worth the entire combat-exchange?


Do I still have my blackjack?
If you decide that I do still have my blackjack, then I'll be using blades which is +1, for a result of +5.
You threw the blackjack at the caster.   It's probably on the ground now.  I don't see any reason in the narrative why he couldn't pick it up on the way to Hollis...

Sorry.  We seem to be out of sync, I thought we were at round 4.  This is how I saw it.

Round 1, started at msg #25 of the IC thread:
 - I slipped into one aisle of freight and jumped over some barrels to arrive at another
 - Daggers shoved the barrels, too late to trap me

Round 2, starting at msg #30:
 - I came out of the other aisle and attacked the caster causing the whirlwind

Round 3, starting at msg #36:
 - Daggers threw a dagger at me.  I dove beyond Hollis to avoid it, then started climbing up the sacks of grain with a stealth roll.

Round 4, starting at the now-deleted msg #39.  I thought that was a new round starting.   So I went ahead with my next action.

Sorry if I jumped the gun.

Dagger is lowest on the iniative ranking.  He overcame the passive defense of Etzagith's hide in order to throw the dagger.  You appeared to have dodges it successfully, so I'll write that up momentarily.   However, Daggers is the last one to act in the intiative ranking.

I will continue to post an entire scene breakdown for each combat-exchange as I have done so.

We are now in Combat-Exchange 3.

The only thing that was in now-deleted message #39 was the initiative ranking to include Arui and Nathan who'd just joined the scene.   That information is redundant as it is also posted here in this OOC thread.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:56, Tue 07 July 2020.

I've taken the liberty to call out the tracking & status information to a separate closed thread so that that information does not get lost in the flow of things.

This information will be kept up to date THERE.

---

Okay...  Round 3 Build in progress

Initiative Roster is:

• +6 Etzagith
  
  • One of the following defined actions:
    
    • Overcome the Dust in His Eyes Aspect.
      I'll give it to you for free, but it takes up the action in this combat exchange.
    • Create Advantage - Hide.
      Already rolled: Stealth(+4)
    • Attack Hollis
      Already rolled: Unarmed(+2) + Three Sheets to the Wind(+2) free invoke)
  • It doesn't seem unreasonable to say that Etzagith picked up the blackjack while moving to attack Hollis.  I'll allow it.
  • I will give you 1 fate point for the accusation, based on the fact that Etzagith is
    Blindly Secretly in love with the Queen
• +4 Arui - As yet undefined
• +3 Nathan - As yet undefined
• +3 Caster - Defined
• +2 Cara - As yet undefined
• +2 Hollis - Defined
• +1 Daggers - Defined

This message was last edited by the GM at 00:02, Wed 08 July 2020.

@Arui
she kept her hands on her bow in case any tried to turn on her.  Nathan was a man of authority, and he seemed just.  She would wait on him for direction.

No-Action time could be used to Create an Advantage, if you wanted.

Like, perhaps roll (Notice? Physique? Athletics?) to mentally prepare for combat, thus creating an Aspect Ready for Anything?

I mean, you might as well make use of the "no action" time to drum up an Aspect that can help you down the road.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 00:07, Wed 08 July 2020.

Round 3 Action

Describe the Action:  Cara is going to draw her knives, and triggering one of the free Invokes on her Glyph of Alacrity, strike at Daggers with supernatural speed to try and catch him off guard.

Roll the Dice:  17:00, Today: Cara rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice ((-1, 1, -1, 1)).

Determine Approach:  Blades (+3), which means with the free Invoke I'm up to a total of +5 to my action.

Choose an Action:  No need to waste a 5, I'm stabbing him with an Attack action.

Nice.  If she hits, it will trigger the Mindfire Poison, too...

So  @Etz...

Cara and Arui are posting on the IC thread...  What's Etz action in this combat exchange?   I'd like to unblock your post soon...
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:26, Wed 08 July 2020.

Edit:  OK:  Updated one note and marked the other for delete, though only you can actually delete it.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:15, Wed 08 July 2020.

Thanks, again! (But really not necessary.  You should take it back for my trying so hard to mess up the combat.

Nope, this is simply how fate points work.  Play to your Aspects, earn Fate-points.

Through all of this, It's never actually been verified that the Blue Sails is holding Liam and Lucas.  Etzagith hasn't seen them.  He's heard that Hollis told someone to shut up, and it's inferred that he's hiding someone, but it was never clearly made evident that it was the boys.  It's a fair conclusion to jump to, but it's even more of a justified conclusion based on Etzagith's blind love...  so, boy, does it fit.  You played that according to you Aspects.  So the fate point fits perfectly.  You earned it.

Whether the boys are actually here or not... well, that'll be revealed a little later in the scene.

Okay, I have all the PC actions in place, rolling for the bad guys and writing up the exchange re-cap...

Mechanical details are on the Combat Tracking thread
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:13, Wed 08 July 2020.

Appreciate you rolling on my behalf, Control! Will try to remember to cast them bones next times (some GMs prefer not to until clarified)

Ok.  Rather than just bulling ahead, I'm going to ask if this can work.

For my action, I wanted just to perform a feint at Hollis, using Deceive, with the goal of creating an advantage on my defense action.  Then, when he and/or Daggers attacks me, I will apply it to my defense action with the plan of using my stunt

... giving the stress to Hollis.  Basically, with the feint I caused him to move into the line of fire between Daggers and me.  If Daggers doesn't end up attacking me, then the advantage is used against his attack on me and I get him to miss so badly that he punches the car window behind me* overextends and falls down or somehow hurts himself.  If no one attacks me, then I guess the advantage is wasted.  (Somehow I doubt that a drunken Hollis will look at little me and decide that he should stick to his plan of running to warn Barden.)

One flaw in this plan is that Hollis attacks before Daggers, so I'll have to apply my defense to his attack, I guess.

1. What do you think of this approach?  Reasonable?

2. Just in general, what is the mechanic if you are being attacked by more than one person?  (Whether or not that's happening, here, I'd still like to know.)

* reference to the original The Karate Kid, which perhaps I'm the only one here old enough to have seen in theaters when it first came out.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:52, Wed 08 July 2020.

Not sure how the action economy works, but since I wasn't acting, but ready to respond if attacked, could I do something to the guy casting spells at me, or do I just forfeit?

@Arui
That exchange has passed.

I'm not assuming that you're holding your action this round too.  So, you can certainly attack him this round.

I took the liberty of assigning a scene Aspect ( On the Lookout )  which comes with one free invoke, for you holding your action.  If you can find a way to make it fit the narrative, you can use that Aspect to your advantage.   You're not required to use it.

@Etzagith

A lot to unpack here.


The Devil's Footprints
I've got listed for Etzagith's stunts:
The Lurker Core Stunts are listed as: (Hello Darkness My Old Friend, Lurking, & Devil's Own Luck)
You purchased two additional stunts in Character Creation (Infiltrator, Reflexes)

If you wish to purchase The Devil's Footsteps it will cost you your one remaining Refresh, and it will remove one current fate point from your existing fate-pool.  You just don't get the scenario fate-point if you've spent the underlying Refresh.

Do you wish to purchase The Devil's Footsteps at this time?

Oh, rats.  I had been looking at the copy of the character sheet in my character sheet, rather than the one in the Cast thread, which I do understand is the official one.  (It's just the character sheet, in Character Details, is easier to get to.)  I know that we had that discussion and I decided to drop it, but then didn't update the one in Character Details.

Hmmm.  needs more thought.

@Etzagith

Action Vs Hollis
Narrative Feint to Create an Advantage of some sort. 
That makes sense.  If it's applied specifically to Hollis, then Hollis gets to roll in opposition.  So does anyone else you're trying to apply the Aspect to.

If Hollis Attacks, you defend as per normal  If the Defend Action is successful, you can use Devil's Footsteps to apply 2-stress hit.
Yup.  That makes sense.   Same exact process for what happens if Daggers' attacks, later in the combat-exchange.  You'll probably want to move out of the light of the leviathan's blood lanterns, though.  Seeking Shadows is all about stealth and avoiding notice...

Riposting daggers to Hurt Hollis
If Daggers' attack is successful, your use of The Devils' Footsteps is limited to inflicting the stress on the attacker, not someone uninvolved in the attack.  So... No, sorry.  No hurting Hollis by riposting Daggers attack.

I'm more than happy to spin it that way in the narrative if you attack Daggers and succeed...  AND Daggers attacks Etzagith and fails...  Then it's just a matter of the story, not the mechanics of it.


If Daggers Doesn't Attack
If Daggers doesn't end up attacking me, then<b> the effect advantage is used against his attack on me</b>
You simply cannot defend against an attack that has not been made.


Somehow I doubt that a drunken Hollis will look at little me and decide that he should stick to his plan of running to warn Barden.
Hey, you don't know anything about Hollis and his motivations!  Just 'cause the guy drinks on the job... really!

One flaw in this plan is that Hollis attacks before Daggers, so I'll have to apply my defense to his attack, I guess.
Every time you are attacked, you have a chance to defend.  Every time you defend you may invoke The Devil's Footsteps and pay the associated Seeking Shadows cost... (provided you've chosen to purchase The Devil's Footsteps).

The description for The Devil's Footsteps starts with the words "When you succeed on a defense roll..."  The Devil's Footsteps is an extension of the Defense, not a separate thing.

Finally

@EVERYONE

This is an option in the book:

Full Defense
There is also the option to do a top-level defense.  a "Full Defense" (detailed on page  159), which gives you a +2 to all defend actions in that exchange.

I'd prefer to assign an Aspect Full Defense to your character for that round, so it's easier for me to remember that it's in play.

The trade-off is that you don't get to do anything else that round but defend actions as necessary.

Cara doesn't know who Nathan is, but just saw and heard him barge his way in and shout
"Desist! In the name of the Queen!"

Correct?

Well, her action is somewhat dependent upon if Daggers stops trying to kill Etz or get away.  If he desists, she will as well.

If he doesn't?

Describe the Action:  Knife Daggers

Roll the Dice:  16:55, Today: Cara rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice ((1, 0, 1, 0)).

That's a roll of +2, nice.

Determine Approach:  Blades, bringing my total to +5 again.

Choose an Action:  I'll stick with what works, straight up Attack.

I'll also tag that free Invoke on Mindfire Poison to give Daggers a -2 on his defense roll against this stab.

In reply to Control (msg # 24):

ok thanks.  That's what I figured, but I had to ask.

I don't really want to give up a refresh to get that stunt.  Sorry I brought it up.

I have another question about mechanics.  You don't do the stress track the way it was done in the other game I was in, so I want to make sure I understand.  Hollis was hit for 4 stress, and you gave him.

[X][X][X][X][+]

whereas the other game I was in, the GM would have marked his stress like this.

[-][-][-][X][+] 

That is, that GM would only mark the one point on the stress track that was hit.  The difference is that if you then hit the same person again for 3 stress, he would mark it as

[-][-][X][X][+] 

But then another hit for 3 stress would roll up (since 3 and 4 are filled) to the five slot, which would mean a consequence.

So it seems that you are using it more like hit points?  So if I hit him for only, say, 2 stress, is that going to push him into taking a consequence of some sort?  If that's the case, I'll just stand here and fight him.  If not, I'll use the dusty wind that's still blowing and stealth away to create an advantage that I can use the following round.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Thu 09 July 2020.

Hah.  Naturally, this comes up the day after I deleted the original Game-Setting Discussion thread, where we'd discussed this.

Everyone starts with five-shifts of stress.  Each level of physique adds 1 additional shift to the Physical Stress-track.  Each stress-slot absorbs one shift of stress only.

This takes the potential number of absorbed shifts before death from 22/30 to 15/23.

In a RPOL game, that's going to take bloody forever, when you're fairly evenly matched and whittling away two or three shifts at a time.  Our current combat scene has been going for 17 days.

This is more brutal.  But it's also more quick.  And it makes combat matter.  I feel that it also encourages the possibility of character concessions...

LOL.  OK, then.  In the interest of moving things along, I'll just stand there and whack him one.  I just KNOW the die roller is going to be nice to me this time.

21:00, Today: Etzagith rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice ((0, 0, 0, 0)).
Meh.

@Nathan

So, Athletics(+1) + 4dF(-2) = Fail(-1).  He didn't overcome.   But he can still succeed with a major cost.  We just need to agree on what that major cost would be.

Really, it's probably not worth taking on a major cost.Because, either way, he's no blocked from taking further action this combat-exchange.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:18, Thu 09 July 2020.

@Nathan
"Desist! In the name of the Queen!"

He does have the Air of Authority.  And it it the invocation of the Queen's Authority (which would also allow you to invoke the Game Aspect For Queen & Country for free, no less.

Pending research results and table discussion in the In-Game Mechanics thread, I think it's actually awesome....  It totally changes the nature of the scene.

Yes, I choose not to succeed with cost and because it looked cool

Happy with whatever ruling on the multiple actions makes sense

Okay... what kind of cost do you suggest?  It'll be an Aspect, even if it's only a transient one...

Arui, I need an action from you.

Attempt to overcome the Wall of Wind(+2) or take an action... Any physical action that might involve trying to move into the room in Zone 1 will need to do better than Fair(+2).  If it does, it succeeds normally (possibly with extra benefits if it succeeds with style).  if you don't do bettert han a Fair(+2) result, it doesn't succeed.

Apologies if there was confusion: I had already chosen NOT to push through with success at a cost, happy with the failure. Just waiting to understand if he can invoke Air of Authority (with the question of multiple Actions)

Please ignore my last dice roll.  I wasn't sure if I could do something after overcoming the wind.

Yeah, I'm afraid the whole wall of wind thing was clumsily done on my part.

New scene is up, looking to build teh next exchange.

However, before we can wrap this exchange up I need the following:

ETZAGITH
You inflicted a Moderate(+4) consequence on Hollis.  Do you want to define it?

Hollis feebly stabbed out at you with Blades(2).  Please roll to defend (and give a narrative description of what happened IC).

CARA
You inflicted a Moderate and Major Consequence on Daggers.  Do you wish to define them?

EVERYONE
Please roll Athletics vs Evocation(+6) to avoid the sharp stone spikes coming up from the floor...

The Evoker is pissed.   He rolled up a Evocation(+6).  He's now exhausted (to allow him to multi-attack the entire zone).  It does however mean that he probably can't do this again...  I kinda wanted to show the potential power of Evocation...  and the fall of his lover (well, whoops), well... you know how these things go...

I only got two successes vs the evocation

Which translates to 4-stress on your physical stress-track, still no lasting damage.

Really, none of you have any applied stress on your tracks.  You're not really threatened by this.

Which tells me that I need to make your opposition much more vicious in the future.  But, then this was a first run of combat to get our feet wet.

Moderate:  Cut Pretty Bad

Major:  Fractured Skull

Question.

The Tracking thread has changed, and I don't see my Aspects or Mana anymore.

I wanted to basically use some of my remaining Boon Mana to use an Evocation effect in defense.  I currently have Sight Magic as my Lesser Boon, so some sort of Divinatory premonition that assists her in dodging out of the way seems appropriate.

But I don't know how much Boon Mana I have left to burn.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:58, Fri 10 July 2020.

"%3/4" means you've got 3 Mana available.  You've only used one of the four.

19:51, Today: Etzagith rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice.  Athletics (+3) to avoid the stone spikes.
Sigh.  I guess I'll take the 4 damage rather than spend another fate point right now.


You inflicted a Moderate(+4) consequence on Hollis.  Do you want to define it?

How about, as he stumbled while trying to swing his sword behind him, he twisted an ankle and fell to the floor, right here in the middle of the stone spikes spell?  So Movement Reduced for the rest of the scene and On the Ground for one round?  Is that too much for a Moderate Consequence?

In a completely unrelated note, what are the 'friendly fire' issues on AoE spells in this magic system?

Sigh.  I guess I'll take the 4 damage rather than spend another fate point right now.
You've mentioned this once or twice and it seems that you're going to some great lengths to try to avoid taking stress.  I feel the need to be absolutely clear about this.


Stress is what happens before you take damage.  It's the excuse that says you rolled aside at just the last moment, or that the arrow hit your lucky medallion instead of piercing your chest...   Injuries are represented by Consequences/Conditions.

So, really, you aren't even close to being injured yet.  None of you are.  And I really don't expect this desperate attack to actually have much impact.

Please look over page 160 for a better look at what Stress is.  As soon as the scene ends, your stress tracks magically reset to zero.  Consequences remain, though.


--
How about, as he stumbled while trying to swing his sword behind him, he twisted an ankle and fell to the floor, right here in the middle of the stone spikes spell?  So Movement Reduced for the rest of the scene and On the Ground for one round?  Is that too much for a Moderate Consequence?
I'm looking for a short, sweet, simple Aspect to peg it on.  Not two Aspects.  One.  He's only taken One Moderate Consequence.  Daggers took two consequences, not Hollis.

This Consequence is a direct result of Etzagith hitting him--twice--with a blackjack.  So, the tripping bit... doesn't feel right for me.

I'm gong to assign Cracked Ribs instead.


In a completely unrelated note, what are the 'friendly fire' issues on AoE spells in this magic system?
It's an area-of-effect.  there isn't that fine-grained control.  I imagine with a stunt it might be so... this is not the case here.  Casters' allies will have to make their defense rolls too.   Except Daggers.  He conceded.  He's out of the fight.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:16, Fri 10 July 2020.

Excellent!

Describe the Action: Gaining a premonition of what is to come, and leaping out of the way.

Roll the Dice: 18:27, Today: Cara rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice ((-1, -1, 0, 1)).

Current total -1

Determine Approach: Base Athletics (+1), but Cara will spend 1 point of Boon Mana to Evoke a divination, granting her a +2, and bringing her total to +2

Choose an Action: Defense, so Cara takes 4 Stress.

Heh, yeah none of us even took more than a bruise and some nicks from this fight, nothing a good dusting off won't cure.

Hah.  Just rolled for Hollis.  Typically, he rolled poorly.  Filled up his stress-track.

He's decided that things have really gone poorly, and h has now also conceded the fight.

The only active opposition is the Caster...

Mind you, there's a group of unknown people in Zones 4 & 5 of whom we know nothing about.  Etzagith believes the Princes may be among them...

@Etzagith
Please also roll to Defend against Hollis Blades(+2) attack.  You might, actually fill up your stress-track.



@Cara

Whoops... Terminology is confusing me.  By "Evoke a divination", you're commanding elemental forces (earth/air/water/fire/"force"/ magnetisim, gravity, etc) to grant a divination?  How does that work?  I don't see the link between elemental forces and divination.  Evocation is line-of-sight and manipulation of raw-power.

I do see the link between evocation and athletics.  So boosting your jump with a point of of mana?  Sure thing!

If you recall long, long ago, rather than just the base elements, I used the list from the Fate Core High Magic SRD

https://fate-srd.com/odds-ends/high-fantasy-magic

Air - Control, and animate air
Death - Control necrotic energy and animate the dead
Earth - Control and animate stone and dirt
Energy - Control arcane energy, and animate objects
Fire - Control, create, and animate fire
Illusion - Control what is seen
Life - Control life force and begin healing process
Mind - Read minds and place thoughts in them
Nature - Control, create, and animate plants
Sight - Discern truth from deception and look in on a target
Teleport - Teleport yourself and/or others
Transform - Change the shape of yourself, others, or objects
Water - Control, create, and animate water and ice

Each time I take a Lesser Boon, I roll 1d13 and pick the type of Evocation that the person I'm taking a Boon from.

From Arcanaist Yassur, I rolled a 10 and took Sight Magic.

So, using Divination effects with Evocation's speed, to use Dresden Files terminology.

@Nathan and @Arui
So... It is my intention to have the Caster try to flee in the next combat-exchange...

With Etzagith kinda wrapped up with Hollis right now, and The Caster being higher up the initiative ladder than Cara, it means that Nathan and Arui are the ones in a position to stop him.

I'm willing to offer a fate-point to each of you to let him go.  Call it blocked by the stone spikes, or whatever you wish...

For Arui, I suggest that Because you are not familiar with the Strange Customs in this region, you simply don't want to proceed and cause more problems...

For Nathan, I suggest that Thee Mere measurement Effect comes into play, and letting the caster go right now, may allow the discovery of whatever's going on in zone4 & zone-5.  He might be able to twist it to his advantage later...

They're both kinda weak compels, but there you go.

This would bring combat to a close.

If you wish to refuse the compel, you may spend a fate-point to do so.

Point taken on stress vs. damage.


21:49, Today: Etzagith rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice.  Defense with Blades (+1)

@Cara
Then the mental gymnastics are getting to me again.

I am willing to roll with it right now, because, as I indicated, I can see it as a straight boost to athletics (force push, for instance).  Even as an Arcanist, Ellis Yassur has that ability.  He may specialize, but he is not limited to one specific type of magic only.

When I wrote up the little flashback, I was trying to leverage your borrowed Aspect for future plot directions.

Ultimately, this action doesn't matter in this scene.   Combat is pretty much done with.    But it matters because it sets a precedent...

We will need to discuss the elemental list further in your character thread.  because there's so many items on that list that I have problems with.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:14, Fri 10 July 2020.

Works for me!

Did the Caster just kill Daggers?

Either way, doesn't look like the Caster is out of the fight.

Describe the Action:  Cara is going to try and intimidate the Mage into surrendering, so

Roll the Dice:  08:59, Today: Cara rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice ((0, -1, 0, -1)).

Determine Approach:  Provoke, which brings my piddling -2 up to a total of +2

Choose an Action:  Create an Advantage, lets say Shaken

I wrote my last post, finishing with

11:39, Today: Etzagith rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice.  Deceive (+4) Imitating Hollis.
Result of 4, to create an advantage Lets his guard down

However, after writing it, I'm thinking that rather than create an advantage, this should be considered an attack on the social stress track?  It's the same skill being rolled, just a question of how to apply it.

Actually, that seems more correct to me, so I'm going to change it.  But let me know if this is the wrong direction and I'll gladly change it back (or you could).

Five points of Stress from the spikes, which seems sufficient to focus on the heirs rather than the Evoker

20:04, Today: Nathan rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice.  Athletics (+1) - Stone Spikes. - 0

Did the Caster just kill Daggers?

No.  I took the narrative angle that since daggers had conceded the fight, he's immune.    But I think perhaps Caster thinks Cara killed him.  I'm sure he'll be relieved should he discover that daggers is actually alive...

All right then.


@ARUI
roll: 16:47, Today: Arui rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice.  shoot +4.
bonuses: Faster, Stronger, Tougher +1 (-1 to Vow of Guardianship)
Action: attack the caster with shoot(+4)
-1 Fate point to refuse the compel

The Caster successfully defended (Athletics(+4) + 4dF(+1)) with Defend(+5)

So, right now you've done Shoot(+4) vs Dodge:Athletics(+5).

I'm not planning to boost his defense roll in any way.

You may invoke On the Lookout for +2 to the attack roll for free (you created that aspect earlier)  This would make it Shoot(+6) vs Defend(+5) which would give Caster 1-shift of stress.

You could also probably spend a fate-point to leverage existing Scene-Aspects for +2 each.  I think you've got 2 fate-points left. The following scene aspects seem like they might be suitable to be used to hinder Caster's movement out of the zone...

• Cramped Quarters - might hinder Casters movements
• Wine & Leviathan's Blood might cause him to slip on the way out
• The Ground Trembles might also cause him to stumble...

Caster has a 7-shift Physical Stress track and has only taken 1 stress prior to this...  So, you need to do 7-shifts of damage to actually hurt him.  The reality is... you're probably not going to hurt him, let alone bring him down.

Sorry.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:39, Fri 10 July 2020.

As Arui has refused the compel in the previous combat-exchange, we're still in combat.

Arui & Cara, you are welcome to chase the Caster into Zone-5.

Etzagith, you may also do so if you feel that it makes narrative sense.


I'd like a declaration here on what your character is intending to do.

You may:

1. pursue Caster int the depths of the warehouse (really, I'd prefer not.  I'd prefer to wrap up this combat, but if you want to pursue him... so be it, it's your story, after all).
   
2. See to the group of people that cried out in the background (Etzagith believes they're the Princes, Cara called them "the children", neither of which has been yet verified).
   
3. Reurn to the front room (there's been no word from Migram, Yvon, Brollox and Manaolama, after all)
   
4. Take some other action

Mostly, I'm just trying to figure out how to frame the next combat-sequence or determine if it's necessary to do so.

What was the compel?

Message 51, this thread.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:48, Sat 11 July 2020.

Awww... the player in me wants to chase down the Mage so I can force a concession of Indebted onto him.

But Cara will move to the group in the background, as she doesn't know who Nathan and Arui are, and wants to find the twins.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:23, Sat 11 July 2020.

I feel pretty strongly that you will meet him again...

He's probably gonna be pretty upset once he discovers that Daggers didn't actually die...

So, since you guys have Daggers... anyone wanna give him a name?

Acton Hale

Daggers is now "Acton Hale"

This is the first time I've separated combat, like this, into three separate threads... one for mostly IC, one for mostly OOC and the other for pertinent info access.

Did it work?  Was it helpful?  Or did it just cause more confusion?

I'm also toying with a different approach in the future...

I feel that people higher up in the initiative ranking should be able to see what those lower in the initiative ranking are planning, the better to react to them, and allowing you to potentially block their actions.

For the moment, I've assigned you all to Private-groups based on your notice ranks  You should be able to read This means I should be able to set up an initiative ranking like this:
Combat-Exchange 5 Build Progress:

• +6 Etzagith (Stunted) - Says "Hi"
• +4 Arui - Says "Hello too"
• +4 Some Guy -
• +3 Nathan - Gets angry
• +3 Caster -
• +2 Cara - Looks on broodingly
• +1 Some Other Guy -

Did it work?  Does it make sense?  Or is it another level of unnecessary confusion?
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:10, Sun 12 July 2020.

I thought it worked OK.  I had times when I was looking for details like environmental aspects and I knew just where to look.

I think you make have the initiative group backwards.  As the highest, I would have to act before anyone else, so I would think that I don't get to see what they are planning before I have to commit to something, so I would assume that I would only see my own; you currently have me seeing all of them.  I hadn't really thought about this last turn, but since Cara happened to post before me, I reacted to what she did (just to nod agreement).  But in reality I would have left the room long before she did it.  OTOH, if I don't delay my action, everyone else would see my action before they have to do their own.

Okay, I see what you're thinking, but I think you've actually got it backwards.

As the one highest in initiative, you have the most control and impact on the scene.  If Some Other Guy (Initiative-1) is close up and intending to punch you (Initative-6), you should see it coming.  It wouldn't work the other-way around, because he's lower on the initiative scale.  Because you can see what they intend to do, you could actually set up blocks or take action to make his attack pointless.

Keep in mind that any conbat-exchange is a real-short span of time.  Mutants and masterminds defines it as 6 seconds for their combat-rounds.  Cyberpunk 2020 says it's 3.2 seconds for theirs.  We're narrative, so it's not specifically defined.  But it's still in that range.  3-5 seconds.  And if there's a lot of people involved or a lot going on, your attention just can't be everywhere.

Still, this is a fiddle-ly bit, and I'm not sold on this idea either...  might try it out next time we go into combat, see how it shakes out.

I guess I see your point, but with us rolling on initiative (I assume once per combat, not every round), you'd have to change the groups for each combat.  Plus we would all have to remember to post in the group, only, or it has no benefit.  Since you do post a clean summary after each round, we don't have the next problem I was going to point out, which is that everyone would want to be able to see all the previous round's actions.

Bottom line is that I just don't see it as being worth the trouble both for us and for you.

---

Questions about the IC thread:

1. Caster turned and ran into the rear of the warehouse.  Is that into the same room Etz just went into, or the other one at the rear.  (The map is gone again, or I would refer to zone numbers.  And maybe I'm forgetting about the arrangement and which direction is 'back.')

2. You start one note with "Pushing deeper into the warehouse, the light came from the side-door... it's boards had been carfully removed by someone, and though there wa a magical circle aglow around it, it streamed with light, a glaring contrast to the darkness within." but it isn't clear to me who is doing the pushing deeper and seeing all this.

3. Is "to load onto the Blackthorn" something that Etz knows what it means?  I know that I don't, but it could be that I missed something earlier.  If it is supposed to be mysterious to the PCs, that's fine, I just wanted to be sure I didn't miss something.

Yes initiative is once-per combat.

I am not asking you to post to the initiative groups.  Nothing changes for you..  You're a player at a table, and you can read what the other players write...

There is nothing whatsoever to stop you from reading echo others' posts and/or talking to each other to work out coordinated actions.  Just as there is nothing to stop this at a live gaming table.

I see using this only for building the scene in the locked combat-tracking thread.    It's a simple edit to remove the group-marks after-the scene is built.  At which point, all the opposing-guys actions have already been laid out and it's not a
secret nor surprise anymore.

I thought it would just be more clutter, but it was actually useful.




Make sense?

Yes.

My concern is twofold.

First, it slows down combat even more, as it makes those with high initiative reliant on those with lower initiative to post first in the OOC Combat Thread about what their intentions are.

Add to that, if you're going first then you are the one defining the battleground, because you act first.  Take the fight we just had.  Caster ran away, right?  Why would Cara acting first prevent him from running away, as she thought he was going to keep fighting, and was trying to bully him into surrendering.  Why would higher initiative give her prescient knowledge of what he was intending to do?  If she had wanted to make sure he stayed put, she should have taken some action to make sure he stays put.

1. Caster turned and ran into the rear of the warehouse.  Is that into the same room Etz just went into, or the other one at the rear.  (The map is gone again, or I would refer to zone numbers.  And maybe I'm forgetting about the arrangement and which direction is 'back.')

Yes it's the "room" Etzagith emerged from.

The front room, with Migram, Brollox, Manaolama and Yvon is considered "the front".  Everything else is "the back"

I tried to paint it in earlier mentions that the building is huge.  and filled with a veritable labyrinth of corridors of stacked materials--most of which were going to fill the holds of soon-to-be-outgoing ships.  You want specific?  Okay.  how about... roughly the size of a baseball field.  Approximately 300 feet by 220 feet.

You wanted to be familiar with the layout of the original build and I gave it to you back then for the story, but, really... the original build would have been one very very big roof on top of several sturdy posts.  It's just a rain-shelter under which the wooden structure of a ship was being built.  Now, however, it's been converted to a very big storage space.  with lots and lots of twists and turns.

2. You start one note with "Pushing deeper into the warehouse, the light came from the side-door... it's boards had been carefully removed by someone, and though there was a magical circle aglow around it, it streamed with light, a glaring contrast to the darkness within." but it isn't clear to me who is doing the pushing deeper and seeing all this. 

I'm guessing that whoever decides to actually go into the rear space of the Blue Sails Warehouse will be the ones who "push through".

See message 60 in the Combat Discussion thread where I asked you to tell me what you're doing .  You haven't defined where you're going or what you're doing yet.  So... I don't know, does that include Etzagith?  You tell me!

So far, it looks like Cara is the only one who's chosen to go through there, and is currently engaging with the crowd.



3. Is "to load onto the Blackthorn" something that Etz knows what it means?  I know that I don't, but it could be that I missed something earlier.  If it is supposed to be mysterious to the PCs, that's fine, I just wanted to be sure I didn't miss something.

You tell me.  is "to load onto the Blackthorn" something that means anything to Etzagith?  One might infer that since you're in a dockside warehouse, perhaps "the Blackthorn" is a ship?

You can always open up your browser, expand the IC thread and search for "blackthorn" to see if there's been any mention of it before.  I do this regularly to keep myself consistent with everyon's  various actions throughout the game...

I did already say that I was headed into the room that Hollis had been headed into to call to Bardan.  I'll continue that way.

First, it slows down combat even more, as it makes those with high initiative reliant on those with lower initiative to post first in the OOC Combat Thread about what their intentions are.

I don't see the reliance on high initiative-actors on low-initiative-actors posts.  I don't see how my making NPC actions visible to higher-initiative-actors doesn't change any of this.  How does this slow things down even more from how it was done in the previous combat sequences?

Mind you, player-actions will also remain visible, because you'd all written them elsewhere...


Take the fight we just had.  Caster ran away, right?  Why would Cara acting first prevent him from running away, as she thought he was going to keep fighting, and was trying to bully him into surrendering.


Huh?  Why?  if she'd gone first, Caster would have had to defend against Cara's Provoke action, and might have failed which would have led things to a different outcome.   Maybe she'd have chosen a different action if she'd felt he was about to flee.  And that feeling would have been justified by the scene-build.  She'd just need to give it the narrative front-end.

In the end,  you wrote in-character text that couldn't have happened.  And that's real suck-ass part of this kind of medium.   I twisted the narrative to make use of your in-character text, because your in-character text was cool.   However, in the mechanics, The Caster still went first.


Why would higher initiative give her prescient knowledge of what he was intending to do?

Your opponent has balled his fist, shifted his weight and his eyes flicked to your jaw. These are the kinds of things that would signal that a guy two steps down the initiative ladder is about to punch you.  It isn't prescience.  It's combat awareness.

I'm not going to write out all the precursors that might lead to an intended action for every NPC.  It's easier just to state what the action he's intending to take is, and hide the text in such a way that those lower down the initiative chain can't see it.  This set-up also allows the higher-initiative-actor to write in Mwhy he acted the way he did, writing elements of the NPCs into their story.

In our just-completed combat...  Arui was higher up the initiative ladder.   If she had seen that Caster had intended to flee, she might've been able to act before I'd written the scene out to stop him.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:13, Sun 12 July 2020.

All right. I've taken your comments into consideration.

We'll go back to the previous way of doing it...

You won't be able to see any of the NPC action/intentions in a combat-exchange.

Does Cara still see Etz, or has he disappeared?

Here is a roll if it is needed.

14:22, Today: Cara rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice.

Notice is +2, so that's a total of +0

Narrator:
Just outside the doors, there were a dozen people, all of them cloaked...

Etzagith:
Etzagith continued deeper into the warehouse, looking for Barden, the boys, or whatever is going on in the back.  As always when feeling confused and out of place, the rogue kept to the shadows and moved as silently as a cat. 

Cara:
Cara barked something out the the harsh language of her people, striding into the room with blades drawn and her Mantle almost visibly pulsating with power.


So, from this, I'm getting the following:

The group of cloaked people are out in an open space at the side of the Blue Sails Warehouse--outside the door they'd just emerged from.   Arui is now out there, too, as is Garland.

Cara is, apparently, not outside with the group, but in the room, on the inside of the door?  Is she steading on or in the lit-up magical circle?   It is probably disabled now, and the man with the fried face may have something to do with that.

Etzagith chose to leave Hollis and chase after the Caster, so he's somewhere in the Blue sails.

Given all that, I'm not sure that Etzagith is even in Cara's sight range.

Okay.  I'll post a map shortly.

• The Blue Circle is where most of you are now:
  Garland, the cloaked group
  I am assuming that if you're interacting with the cloaked group, you are also in this area.  (Cara, Arui, Nathan)
• The Red oval
  Is deeper in the Blue Sails Warehouse (the blue building).  The Caster fled there.   Etzagith left Hollis to follow him.
• The Purple Oval is the Harpy's Last Note
• The Green circle is the Healer's cluster, where Arui took Mikel...

Cara - please calrify... as you've itneracted with the cloaked group who were listed as standing outside the side doors, where does that put Cara?  inside? outside?

@Cara
Cara knelt down beside the man whom she had felled, looking to the wounds she had inflicted.  She kept her left knife pointed squarely at his chest, but sheathed the right and moved to open the man's shirt.

Man, I just don't feel like I'm communicating well or understanding anything right now.

I am really really confused.

Please tell me where Cara is.  This will tell me where I can place Nathan.

I'd thought you were in Zone 3, on the north side of the building, just inside the north side door, addressing the cloaked group and Arui.

Did Cara go back to zone-1 to triage daggers?



I'm afraid I've lost all sense of continuity here.

And now I've had to draw up three maps today (one for another game).  BLARGH!
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:04, Mon 13 July 2020.

In reply to Control (msg # 80):

I had followed Arui in, and I thought that was where Cara was too

In reply to Nathan (msg # 82):


Yeah, I got that from the exchange the three of you had with the cloaked figures who had already left the building...   But we're apparently not all on the same page.  So, we need to hold up until we are.

I'm gonna put Nathan back there.  You wanna be inside (Zone 3) or outside (Zone 5)?





It's not a combat situation.  Unless one of the PCs make it so... So, my use of "zones" is simply for ease of understanding.

Also--VERY IMPORTANT--This map is not to scale.  In fact, even the dimensions are way off.  The main warehouse room should be much much longer.

The length of the entire warehouse room, from West side (front) to East side (rear) is about the size of a little-league field... so about 200 feet from end to end.  The front room where Migram usually is is extra.

That means that from Hollis to Bardan is maybe thirty or forty feet...  I didn't think it really mattered, but now, I'm not so sure.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:26, Mon 13 July 2020.

Where you've placed him is fine, in Zone 3

It was Bardan whom I was interested in.  Cara had said that she was dealing with Caster, and running him off was more than enough.  (Just to make sure) It was Bardan whom Hollis told to "get the boys out of here," right?  That's whom I was hoping to deceive and then, when I didn't hear a reploy, to sneak up on.

So I guess it was I, among others, who saw the group outside.  (That was why I asked.)  A crowd like that would drive Etz even more cautiously into shadows.

Cara would have spoken to Nathan and Arui, asked them to keep everyone in one place, and then gone back to attend to Acton Hale (Daggers).

She doesn't want him dying.

I can edit the post to make this more clear once you un-invisible it.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:11, Mon 13 July 2020.

@Etzagith
I'm not sure how I got that he was going after the Caster.

Okay. deleted those associated posts.

I suppose this his what comes from working on three games at once...

Bardan--according to one of the cloaked children--is teh unconscious man at the doorway.  It looks like he triggered the magical circle you'd avoided triggering earlier.

So I guess it was I, among others, who saw the group outside.  (That was why I asked.)  A crowd like that would drive Etz even more cautiously into shadows.

So, Etz is still hiding.  Okay.

Is Bardan still alive? (edit)Ok, I guess he's alive

and if so, is he in immediate danger from his wounds?
This message was last edited by the player at 22:33, Mon 13 July 2020.

Edited and fixed.

@Cara

<Purple>Cara would have spoken to Nathan and Arui, asked them to keep everyone in one place, and then gone back to attend to Acton Hale (Daggers).</Purple>

Heh.  I'm sure that'll go over well with Nathan...  a Khunic diplomat giving orders to a Sigiled Fist after that Khunic diplomat was accused of trespassing...

If only there was some way to figure out you're on the same side...  without opening it up to everyone!

She doesn't want him dying.
He's conceded.  So, mechanically, he's not going to die, but granted, your character doesn't know that.


I can edit the post to make this more clear once you un-invisible it.
The post was made invisible by making it a privae message to you.  You are well within your rights to edit it as you see fit, including removing the private-message attribution.

Please advise if, for some reason, that message is locked.  I don't think rpol does that unless you're a moderator on a public forum...  But I've been wrong before, obviously.


Damn, you guys are so close!...

So the cultists outside, did they go out from inside, or did they arrive here from somewhere else.  (Or maybe I don't know.)

Did Etz hear anything when Bardan triggered the magical circle?

Etz is still convinced that Bardan had the twins with him, and he was attempting to take them somewhere.  If I know that the people outside arrived from somewhere else, he will search inside for them.  If those people were inside and went out, or even if he just doesn't know, then his first priority will be to get a good look at all the children that are a part of that group.  The assumption is that if they are still inside, then there will still be time to find them.

How solid are the walls of the warehouse?  If they have lots of knotholes or cracks, then he'll use those to investigate.  Otherwise either he'll have to find a different way out that doesn't involve going all the way around, or he'll have to come out into the open.

@Etzagith

So the cultists outside, did they go out from inside, or did they arrive here from somewhere else.  (Or maybe I don't know.) 
From what the little girl said, she (and therefore the cloaked figures) witnessed Bardan attempting to disable the circle before opening the doors.  I suggest that, yes, that positions them inside before the doors opened.

Did Etz hear anything when Bardan triggered the magical circle?
You heard the wind whistling around the front (West end) of the warehouse.  You heard the ground shaking and things crashing from off the shelves.   You heard Cara and Nathan and Hollis... and even people shouting, you heard people crying out:





How solid are the walls of the warehouse?  If they have lots of knotholes or cracks, then he'll use those to investigate. 
I haven't defined it.  You're welcome to roll Notice to define this narrative feature.  Though I'm not clear how investigating the cracks and knotholes in the walls of the warehouse will make any difference, so my responses may not actually help at all.  so I'd need you to make it very clear in your investigation nararative how you think this will help meet your objective, should you choose to go there.


Otherwise either he'll have to find a different way out that doesn't involve going all the way around, or he'll have to come out into the open.
As the one with all the answers that Cara and the others have been asking, it is vaguely ironic that Etzagith has skipped out on them and is unavailable.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:17, Tue 14 July 2020.

Bedtime here, but plenty to respond to in my morning

Sorry!

They are in the zone.  It is my understanding that everybody is in zone 3 right now.

I still can't place them until I know where in the zone they are.

The only one I felt comfortable placing is Arui, based on her tending to Bardan.

Give me a grid-reference, please.


Etzagith just pointed at Hollis and Bardan.

Since it seems to matter...  Each grid space is a 5 foot by 5 foot measure.  The door is a 10-foot across door (the better to get crap in and out when necessary).

Therefore, Hollis' body is approximately 60 feet away from Arui & Bardan.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:13, Wed 15 July 2020.

E5?

Everyone is in the same zone right now (unless you tell me otherwise).

The only one I felt comfortable placing is Arui, based on her tending to Bardan.

Give me a grid-reference, please.  (thanks Nathan).



Etzagith just pointed at Hollis and Bardan.

Since it seems to matter...  Each grid space is a 5 foot by 5 foot measure.  The door is a 10-foot across door (the better to get crap in and out when necessary).

Therefore, Hollis' body is approximately 60 feet away from Arui & Bardan.

If everyone is in Zone-3, then they're all inside.  All the cloaked figures are outside.   Some are already starting to wander off...
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:11, Wed 15 July 2020.

@Control, I can't see any of Nathan's early posts so could you remind me of how much Nathan knows beyond that the kids are missing? I know I needed to link up with Arui, from the earlier fouled raid

Huh?  What's going on with Nathan's early posts?  You've all got Group assignments 01A.  So, I can't understand why you can't see them.  All groups are 0 (publicly visible), A (not-publicly visible) or U (GM only).   This is very disturbing.  Or, was it simply possible that we didn't discuss the details?

The princes, Liam and Lucas, are 10-years old, being schooled in the way of Nobility.  They were apparently taken from their chambers after archery practice, though there was no signs of a struggle.  Etzagith discovered a secret passage-way with some sort of image scratched into the stone above the entrance to the chambers.

One of the Queen's mages, Indigo, indicated that he believed the boy's "fate-lines" had been cut, which prevents them from being tracked magically.   Indigo targeted three potential locations.   Nathan participated in a raid on one, which failed to produce any results.  This was the second location where such a breaking ritual could have been performed.

@Control.

Could I roll Provoke to represent my reputation?

An Oathsworn within Druvir for a few years would draw some stories.  If I roll high enough we could say Nathan has heard an Aspect.  Something like the Queen's Pet Khundari Monster?

In reply to Control (msg # 100):

Right, found them.. the thread had been renamed so I hadn't checked it

Going to tweak my last post since Cara's story matches his own briefing

@Control.
Could I roll Provoke to represent my reputation?

An Oathsworn within Druvir for a few years would draw some stories.  If I roll high enough we could say Nathan has heard an Aspect.  Something like the Queen's Pet Khundari Monster?

I'm not sure I see how Provoke works into this... it's intended to illicit a negative emotional response via actions or words...

Reputation is another matter entirely...

As a Blue-Coat he'd definitely be aware of the Oathsworn and the potential threat they'd pose to Kumlar.   As a Sigiled Fist, perhaps even more so.  But this is more about Cara's reputation than the reputation of the Oathsworn...

You could offer Nathan a fate-point to compel one of his aspects...
Grandfather's Blue Cloak Mother's Sigiled Fist, and Curiosity Lures Him From a Gilded Cage would both fit the bill...

Alternately, I'm okay if you and Nathan work out an agreement OOC about what he's heard, as I don't see that this drama adds to the scene in a constructive manner right now...
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:28, Wed 15 July 2020.

Happy to have heard of Cara's reputation, was simply flagging the non-reciprocal nature of introductions. Latest post tweaked somewhat to account for his prior knowledge anyway

@Cara & @Etzagith

So... third time's the charm.   Where are you in Zone-3?  Can you please provide me with a grid reference.



I need to know how much visibility you've got and in what direction.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:32, Wed 15 July 2020.

She would have had to move to the doorway to scan the crowd, so where you have her is perfect.

Thank-you.

Followed Cara, then (just posted) moved to Bardan to pretend to check on him, but really checking all the children.  (I mean, if there's anything I know to do to help the man, I'll do it, but I probably don't.)

I'm waiting to post to find out if I saw the twins among the children.

I'm waiting to post to find out if I saw the twins among the children. 
He turned and strode towards the crowd with an air of confidence...
[then] Squatting by the man,

From this, I'm getting that Etzagith isn't actually walking among the hooded, and peaking under their hoods.   He's keeping his distance and trying to pick up details without getting too close.

I'm sure that with enough time he'll be able to get a glimpse of everyone's face, but he'd need to be patient and attentive.    Right now, the little girl and her male guardian figure (Robert) are the only ones who's face he gets a good view of.

All the figures--all of them--are robed and cowled in basic linen robes and hoods.

Ok.  I'll have to go make more of an effort to see all their faces.  I'm going to assume that someone with magic powerful enough to break the Fate lines of the twins (or whatever phrase we used), would also be powerful enough to brainwash them into thinking that they are slaves, not princes.  So I will have to check.

I want to make sure Etz doesn't frighten anyone off.  I don't know if it is enough just to role-play it, or if you want me to make a roll of some sort, in which case I don't know what to roll.  Empathy?  I guess that the rule about making rolls applies:  what does a good or bad roll mean, and what are you rolling against?  I think I'm rolling against their fears, and a bad enough roll would mean I scare them into fleeing.

So let me know if you want me to roll, and what to roll.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:30, Thu 16 July 2020.

I'm good with the roleplaying.  No dice-rolls necessary.

This group does like to roll the dice, though...  I just remind you that should you roll the dice, I'll need you to act by it.

I think the format of pbp leads to more preemptive dice rolling than you'd at a table.

*raises hand*

Guilty.

I tend to be a dice heavy player, I like it because it gives the DM a really easy metric to go off of when determining how effective I am.

Ha, was not expecting them to just be here, and mysteriously altered as well.

I'll be curious to see what Arui and Nathan do in response.

I agree that on RPoL, I'm usually more inclined to roll the dice, and then the GM can ignore it or not, if he wouldn't have asked for a roll.  (That's what I ask for in the game I GM.)  Since I've already been chastised for that here, I didn't this time.  I'm on multiple times a day, anyway, so it's not like I will be holding the game up.

I was about to post a response to Cara, but then I realized that I want a response to the two questions I've posted, first.
1.  Was there any recognition from Prince Liam when I whispered his name?
2.  Did I spot anyone among either the cultists or people hovering nearby who was looking particularly concerned that I'm whispering and paying so much attention to the princes.

("Princes" is the answer to one of my many word trivia questions:  What plural word can you add an 'S' at the end of to make it a singular word?  There are actually a few answers, though that's the common one.  Some others are castles, suckles, and my favorite, titles.)
This message was last edited by the player at 20:51, Fri 17 July 2020.

Aiming to post in the next few hours but my son is refusing to go to bed. Again

... and I'm disinclined to roll unless asked (and even then, happy for the boss to roll for me given timezones)

Hmmm.  I had a post ready to go, saying that I did just what you assumed (that is, grab the other twin's hand and lead them away from the group) but I was waiting to hear from Control what I saw in both the princes' reaction and the crowd's reaction.  I do appreciate that you made it clear you want to get them back to the queen.  Etz doesn't know you and was worried that you might be the larger threat.

Was there any recognition from Prince Liam when I whispered his name?
It appears to be polite recognition...  in the form of someone saying your name, and you waiting for more...


Did I spot anyone among either the cultists or people hovering nearby who was looking particularly concerned that I'm whispering and paying so much attention to the princes.
A stranger, apparently high-born, walking among a group of people who'd just fled a building beset by tremors.  It might seem suspicious in general, but, like the Cyrenni woman who looked on as he approached Liam, the group shows concern but not paranoia.    They appear to accept what he's doing at face value.  They appear cautiously approving, even.

Okay,   if you feel that your character would have familiarity with a variety of drugs for medicine, vice or otherwise, please give me a roll that might be associated with the identification of such thing.

Magic isn't always the answer, after all.     Familiarity with alchemy, botany or even vices in general would justify it.  You tell me if it suits your character.  I can see angles of that knowledge for each one of you.

Target is Fair(+2).

If you succeed, I'll lead the narrative in the appropriate direction.  if you fail... meh, it's a what-do-you-know roll.  Fail means you think it's something it isn't.  Tie means you succeed bu perhaps leap to worst-case-scenario what-if conclusions...

18:06, Today: Cara rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice ((0, 1, -1, 0)).

Empathy +2, so Cara knows he thinks he is telling the truth.

21:23, Today: Etzagith rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice.  Empathy +2 to see if Robert is telling the truth.

So easily succeeded.  (The one time I wanted to fail.  LOL.)  Of course, just because he believes he's telling the truth doesn't mean he is.

00:33, Today: Etzagith rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice.  Knowledge +0
So no knowledge of the drugs or whatever.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:34, Sun 19 July 2020.

06:19, Today: Nathan rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice.  Empathy +0 - Lying => Tied, playing it as Hesitantly Sure
06:19, Today: Nathan rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice.  Knowledge +3 - Drugs => Success vs Fair +2

Still concerned about what could happen if these cultists are turned violent, Etz kept a tight hold on the boys and walked them through the warehouse towards the office.  He did not avoid the two new strangers who seemed to be aiding, but he wasn't going to hand the boys over to them, either.


Sorry, Etz,

You will not be able to do this unchallenged.

Robert isn't looking for violence.  None of the group is armed or armored.  But you are still taking away children from their guardian.  Eithout any discussion with their guardian and without recompense.

Hm,, actually...  Nathan, you mention the broach as a sign of office...   Is he wearing any kind of livery to identify him as a blue coat.  I was assuming so, but , I don't think it was ever explicitly said.

I presumed he was wearing his blue cloak and that it was a signature item, so a clasp with the city heraldry or similar

@Nathan
Works for me.


@Cara
So... a Mediocre(+0) result to sense magic.

The problem with that... is that proving a negative with absolute certainty is way way harder than proving a positive.  In other words, just because she can't sense it, doesn't mean it isn't there...

When I introduced the bracelets it was just color and detail,  perhaps a group identifier at best...      If you want to make them more important and make them key to something, you're welcome to create an Aspect for them, but I didn't have anything planned.

I'm actually far more fascinated by the moral wranglings of you four removing the children from their guardians, and it's far more interesting to me if the cloaked-group believes they are being wronged by you authority types.  Damned nobles, just think they can do whatever they want because we're commoners...

@Nathan

Dreamweed
I've just started up playing "Blackguards", which is where my time has gone these past couple of days...  And they make reference to a drug of the same name...

Dreamweed is a euphoric and sedative.
It has three methods of application:

• Ground up and chewed raw (it tasted horrible, but it acts as a local anaesthetic (sort of like cloves)
• Boiled and clarified, it can be made into a tea which serves as a mild euphoric and sedative.  Higher does show the symptoms the boys (and most of the adults too) are showing...  pliability, docility.  Some healers use it to allow their patient to provide feedback on what's going on while the healer is mucking with their insides).
• Smoked, it's a stronger euphoric but has been known to cause  social disengagement, as the people who partake too much simply stop caring about, well, anything...  (so, opium?)

I'm not rolling if Robert is lying.  Arui is more concerned with returning the children to their mother.  She's not strong on social skills, and she probably couldn't convince them anyway.

@Etzagith

With that speech, I think that definitely calls for a roll...   Roll Provoke to command Robert.  He rolled Will(+2) so that's you're target.

This definitely plays to the Minor Son Aspect...

And I can see so many ways to derive lasting drama from this, no matter how it goes...

Choose an Action:  Would that be an Attack or an Cvercome?  He's conceeded, so I'm not sure.


The terms of Hollis' (and Daggers') concession(s) were never negotiated.   I am assuming that they are to be taken prisoner and probably thrown in a blue-coat cell to await the King's justice.

As a side note, I rolled to have Hollis slip away (which is why I was pushing so much for placements--to see who might have a POV to notice).  But sicne you've written him back in, I'll go with the concession to allow him to be there...

But getting him to talk?  That's a different matter entirely.   If you choose to kill him for what follows, that's entirely your perogative.

@Cars's Provoke/Command/Intimidation roll on Hollis
Cara rolled 0 + Provoke(+4) to attack (command)
Hollis rolled 3 + Will(+3)

Hollis succeeded by 2-shifts.  Is it worth the fate-point to invoke an Aspect?

I admit that I've lost track of the fate-point pools right now.  At the end of this situation wrap-up, we'll call it the end of a session, and refresh..

Sadly I'm out, he beat me fair and square.

There isn't a free aspect of He has already conceded that you can apply?

Roll Provoke, eh?  rats.  If I were lying I could use Deceive.  Darned truthiness.  :-)  Well, here goes.

07:57, Today: Etzagith rolled -3 using 4 Fudge dice.  Provoke +0 with speech

Sigh.  Fails even if I had used Deceive.

Edit:  I had started to write an IC note, based on his being a lot more conciliatory, but maybe this changes things?
This message was last edited by the player at 13:54, Mon 20 July 2020.

Well, we just don't have a "Command" skill... a social action that cares not whether the target has good or bad feelings about them...  it simply wants compliance.  I suppose the provocation comes from the threat of consequences of non-compliance.

Hoping everyone is alright.

Hi Cara and everyone!

Getting caught up.

Had three photo-shoots this past week, all of them in the bush...   Picked up an infection (probably a mild case of poison oak).  and then apparently ,slept for two days.   Swelling and fever have gone down.   Will move forward this afternoon/evening.

In reply to Control (msg # 138):

I hope you feel better.

Hello Arui!

@Control, that sounds awful. Get well soon.

Doesn't look like I know what the Fel Mondain is, does it?

Describe the Action:  Have read an obscure bit of lore.

Roll the Dice:  20:06, Today: Cara rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice ((0, -1, 0, -1)).

Determine Approach:  Lore, brings my Total to +2

Choose an Action:  Overcome

@Cara
<Check out the first two or three paragraphs in the The World in General.

It's common enough knowledge--though largely considered mythology by most.


@Etzagith
You've mentioned Robert's need to go before a Magistrate a few times now.  Is there something you wanted from this that you're not getting?


Once Robert and Hollis have had a round or two with a Black Hood, I'm sure they'll tell all sorts of stories...

Woo lore!

*starts writing notes*

No.  Just that kidnapping the crown princes is generally considered to be high treason.  Pretty much everybody involved should see the inside of a courtroom, and that would be in a particularly enlightened monarchy.  More likely, they all would be handed over to royal sadists inquisitors and would die horribly without any sort of trial, and only after a having signed full confessions.

While there is a legal branch, most matters that will go before an Arbitrar (think of the traveling judge in the wild west).  Very serious crimes (yes, like the kidnapping of a monarch's heirs) will go before a Magistrate.

But it's not the courtroom as we know it today.   I suppose I need to rework and clarify the specifics of the nature of Kumlar's political governance.  Because it is a monarchy, but the monarchy typically plays a pretty hands-off approach leaving the governance of the various holdings to their fealty-sworn lords.  I want to paint the crown--Dorian and Jia, as enlightened monarchs who actually care about the people and do what they think is best for their kingdom.

Robert and Hollis will probably see both--the Black Hood (tortures, executioners) and a Magistrate.  But it won't be a public trial.  That just doesn't happen.

Fair enough.  I was just using the term 'magistrate' to represent whatever passed for a court/trial system.  Etz would certainly know, as he's probably had a minor brush or two with the law and had to extract himself, so the mistaken nomenclature is on me, the player, not the character.

@Cara

Woah, that changes everything!

But, given of everything's that's just happened...  Hollis isn't just going to talk.  So, let's go to the dice for this one.

Roll Deceive or Rapport vs  Target (+2) as appropriate.  if Another skill roll is appropriate, walk me through the logic of it.

Cause both Hollis' Empathy Defense and Will Defense came out to +2.

--
10:51, Today: Control rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice.  Hollis Will(+3).
10:51, Today: Control rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice.  Hollis Empathy(+2).

Describe the Action: Slip past his guard and make him think I'm honestly interested in helping him, especially as I plan to segue into having him help me find Caster.

Roll the Dice: 16:23, Today: Cara rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice.

Determine Approach:  Deceive, which brings my total to +3

Choose an Action:  Overcome