Luis wrinkled his nose at Perry's question, but held his tongue, though his face tightened slightly. He remained quite silent as each new expedition member arrived, eyes narrowing at the space at the center of the table.
Augustus, however, smiled at the newcomer, though his lips were dry and moved only slightly as he spoke. "Ah, you're all flooding in at once. That's good. You must be - judging by appearances - Mr. Astor, I presume? The Canuck?" The smile thinned a little. Under the harsh overhead light, Perry would see how white and clammy Augustus' skin was. "And how was the journey from Bolivia, my
friend?" The final word was slightly flimsy. It was not that Augustus was unfriendly. Perhaps the opposite: he gave the impression of trying to play nice. But there was something strained about his manners.
Jesse, still standing, turned away from Johan. A broad smile on his face, he seemed to be taking the explorer in. "Why - Bolivia, eh? Fantastic country. What were you doing out there, if you don't mind me asking?" His eyes seemed to drink Perry in, seeing him as a font of possible knowledge.
Just then, the waiter arrived, a thin man with a finely-waxed moustache, and a slightly wincing expression on his face. He politely bowed, and asked if anyone wanted to order a drink. "Or a top-up to the gentleman if he would like," he offered, indicating Perry's glass.
Jesse chuckled. "If you haven't tried one, gentlemen, the Pisco Sours are something else. The Hotel Maury has them too, but the bartender here has a real flourish."
Luis looked like he might finally break his self-imposed vow of silence to say something here, but continued to hold his tongue. His wild hair hung slightly over one eye. He made a small sound, "hmph." Jesse seemed to notice but didn't engage.
quote:
OOC: If you backgrounds do not specify something (much), of course feel free to make stuff up!
Also, as you each arrive at the table, you can roll your choice (pick one) of Medicine OR Psychology. These will offer different sources of information. I will PM you this information, however, so be aware that you will not necessarily learn what other people pick up!
If you are new to the system, here's how Skill checks like this work. You roll a d100 using the Dice Roller built into RPOL. Low numbers are better. Check this against the relevant skill. If you rolled your skill number or lower, you pass. Otherwise, you fail. If you succeed, put an 'X' in the [ ] space next to that skill. That will matter later.
If you fail, you sometimes can push a roll. I'll let you know when you can do that. For the present roll, you can only push the Psychology roll. Pushing lets you reroll the d100 again. If you fail the pushed roll too, something bad will happen. Sometimes I'll forewarn you about what, sometimes I won't. Here I will. If you fail the pushed Psychology roll, you'll anger de Mendoza.
Normally you have to justify pushing by explaining what you are doing differently. In this instance, I won't ask for that.
Finally, if you are close to the number you need (say you have Psychology 20 and you roll 22) you can spend Luck points to make up the difference. You can do this for most stuff except for Sanity rolls. However, spent Luck means you have less Luck for other later rolls. Also, you sometimes have to make Luck rolls (e.g., to see if you remembered to bring a flashlight that you didn't mention) and you'll roll with whatever your present level is. So spend carefully! You can NOT spend Luck on a Pushed roll.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:10, Thu 28 July 2022.