Jonas looked around. They were on the edge of the industrial district. To the north, where Mark seemed to be aiming as he ran, the buildings were lower. They had pitched roofs, largely, and it would be hard not to be seen scrambling across them. The network of narrow allies was promising, however. They wound, were nearly deserted, and the roofs around them would make it difficult for a pursuer to keep an eye on them from above.
"Keep running," Jonas said, "I only got one of the people following you. Get to the ground , these roofs aren't workable."
This was a bit much for Mark, but certain key words occupied his focus. Primarily 'run.' He aimed for the pitched roof to the north.
Just as he started his sprint, a blonde man with a face carved of anger pulled himself up over the roof. Jonas wound back and threw a matte black blade in one fluid motion. As the knife flew at the man's face, his skin lost its healthy tone and took on an ashy-black sheen. (Standard roll: 8 Target: 9 Result: Success)
Whatever armor the man had constructed, it rang as the knife bit into his face. Jagged cracks appeared in his skin, oozing blood. He roared, and instinctively clutched his ruined eye socket with one hand.
Jonas struck once more, targeting the hand still supporting his prey (Easy roll: 6 Target: 4 Result: Success). The knife found it's home in the main muscle bundle of the man's hand, and he fell. His body crashed down on that of his companion just as the first cop car screeched to a halt at the mouth of the alley.
Jonas turned just in time to see Mark take his leap (Easy Roll: 2 Target: 0 Result: Success). Mark landed easily on the pitched roof, and slid down into the north-south alley.
(Mark: I think you're right, that power is called alteration.
+1 xp to each of you. Total of three. Just tell me in your comments when you want to spend. We can work the kinks out as we go, so even if you only have a rough idea, it's doable.
Anywho...What do you do?)
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Prologue: Page 3
Mark climbed the fire escape to its top. He was above the roof of the building opposite him, and willing to risk putting his new-found strength to the test. He leaped (Easy roll: 9 Target: 7: Result: Success), and cleared the alley, landing lightly on his feet.
The servants disguised as an ordinary couple reached the alley just in time to see Mark soar over-head. The well-dressed woman spread her arms, and the air began to shimmer. Neither of Mark's pursuers noticed Jonas repelling down the wall with liquid grace (Standard roll: 3 Target 2 Result: Success) When Jonas crept up behind her and drove his slender stiletto into the base of her brain-stem, she was unable to mount any defense (Easy roll: 5 Target: 5 Result: Critical Success. I had Jonas go for her brain-stem, another assassin favorite, because he was behind her and the eye would have been tricky). The man accompanying reacted in a flash, moving to attack Jonas with his bare hands, but Jonas was already ducking, slashing out for his enemy's ankles (Standard roll: 4 Target: 8 Result: Failure), missing.
The man knew his stuff, his dance-like dodge made that clear. Rather than risk losing his lead to a lengthy battle, he chose to follow his quarry. He vaulted to the fire escape, scurrying up it as fast as he could (Easy roll: 2 Target: 4 Result: Success). Before his opponent could mount an attack, Jonas was on the roof, facing down a frightened Mark.
(Alright, what do you guys do? Just occurred to me Mark has no idea who Jonas is, so that could be fun. Also, Mark and Jonas each earn two experience. Let's break it down:
Experience is wracked up in a few ways. Slowly, by living and doing, anyone can get better. Every couple of pages your character will get one automatically. Dangerous situations tend to sharpen our focus, and we learn faster. During tense situations, when one's life or freedom are on the line, a character might earn an xp per page. Next, achieving goals rewards our risks. As your characters accomplish story objectives, or achieve goals that you've picked for them, they will get a nice amount of xp. Takes time to accomplish these things, but the payouts are large. Lastly, succeeding in hard+ rolls earns you one or more xp on the spot, depending on how hard it was, and what you stood to lose by failure.
Once earned, experience can be spent in a couple ways. First, a small amount can be spent for temporary boosts. By spending 2 experience points, a character can up a stat by one notch for a dramatically appropriate length of time. Mark could buy his strength up from weak to neutral, Jonas could push his agility from neutral to strong, etc.
How long it lasts is more of a story and personality thing than any set length. The way I envision it, a character is drawing on inner reserves, having been pushed every which way by their recent environment, and everything they've endured gives them an inner strength.
So, if Mark is tired of running, tired of being pushed around, and just once wants to fight and rage on equal terms with the warriors, he can spend 2 xp to up his strength, and he will remain strong until the violence and anger have passed.
Skills are less broad than stats, and so cost 1 XP to boost in the exact same way.
The second way to spend xp is on permanent boosts. Buying up a weakness PERMANENTLY in a stat costs 10 xp, as does buying the first level of strength in a stat. 5 xp for skills, with the same rules.
Powers are some what different, and have to grow through the story as well as through large xp expenditures. Your first power is your birth-right as a character, and costs only 1 xp to buy at its weak level (Noted like this on your sheet Materialization (Iron) -). These powers are hard to rigidly define, and will take work with the DM to figure out what is within your reach, what isn't yet, etc. Since half the fun of abilities is using them in creative ways for huge effect, specifying the exact capabilities of any player would remove a bit of the fun. For this reason, most creative uses of a power will come with a difficult roll. Such creative uses are far from impossible, but they are tricky. A character can spend xp to buy down the difficulty on one particular power related roll. Each xp spent takes the difficulty down one category. Spending 2 xp to use your power would take that roll down from hard to easy, for instance.
Alright, I know that's a lot to take in. Questions? Comments?)
The servants disguised as an ordinary couple reached the alley just in time to see Mark soar over-head. The well-dressed woman spread her arms, and the air began to shimmer. Neither of Mark's pursuers noticed Jonas repelling down the wall with liquid grace (Standard roll: 3 Target 2 Result: Success) When Jonas crept up behind her and drove his slender stiletto into the base of her brain-stem, she was unable to mount any defense (Easy roll: 5 Target: 5 Result: Critical Success. I had Jonas go for her brain-stem, another assassin favorite, because he was behind her and the eye would have been tricky). The man accompanying reacted in a flash, moving to attack Jonas with his bare hands, but Jonas was already ducking, slashing out for his enemy's ankles (Standard roll: 4 Target: 8 Result: Failure), missing.
The man knew his stuff, his dance-like dodge made that clear. Rather than risk losing his lead to a lengthy battle, he chose to follow his quarry. He vaulted to the fire escape, scurrying up it as fast as he could (Easy roll: 2 Target: 4 Result: Success). Before his opponent could mount an attack, Jonas was on the roof, facing down a frightened Mark.
(Alright, what do you guys do? Just occurred to me Mark has no idea who Jonas is, so that could be fun. Also, Mark and Jonas each earn two experience. Let's break it down:
Experience is wracked up in a few ways. Slowly, by living and doing, anyone can get better. Every couple of pages your character will get one automatically. Dangerous situations tend to sharpen our focus, and we learn faster. During tense situations, when one's life or freedom are on the line, a character might earn an xp per page. Next, achieving goals rewards our risks. As your characters accomplish story objectives, or achieve goals that you've picked for them, they will get a nice amount of xp. Takes time to accomplish these things, but the payouts are large. Lastly, succeeding in hard+ rolls earns you one or more xp on the spot, depending on how hard it was, and what you stood to lose by failure.
Once earned, experience can be spent in a couple ways. First, a small amount can be spent for temporary boosts. By spending 2 experience points, a character can up a stat by one notch for a dramatically appropriate length of time. Mark could buy his strength up from weak to neutral, Jonas could push his agility from neutral to strong, etc.
How long it lasts is more of a story and personality thing than any set length. The way I envision it, a character is drawing on inner reserves, having been pushed every which way by their recent environment, and everything they've endured gives them an inner strength.
So, if Mark is tired of running, tired of being pushed around, and just once wants to fight and rage on equal terms with the warriors, he can spend 2 xp to up his strength, and he will remain strong until the violence and anger have passed.
Skills are less broad than stats, and so cost 1 XP to boost in the exact same way.
The second way to spend xp is on permanent boosts. Buying up a weakness PERMANENTLY in a stat costs 10 xp, as does buying the first level of strength in a stat. 5 xp for skills, with the same rules.
Powers are some what different, and have to grow through the story as well as through large xp expenditures. Your first power is your birth-right as a character, and costs only 1 xp to buy at its weak level (Noted like this on your sheet Materialization (Iron) -). These powers are hard to rigidly define, and will take work with the DM to figure out what is within your reach, what isn't yet, etc. Since half the fun of abilities is using them in creative ways for huge effect, specifying the exact capabilities of any player would remove a bit of the fun. For this reason, most creative uses of a power will come with a difficult roll. Such creative uses are far from impossible, but they are tricky. A character can spend xp to buy down the difficulty on one particular power related roll. Each xp spent takes the difficulty down one category. Spending 2 xp to use your power would take that roll down from hard to easy, for instance.
Alright, I know that's a lot to take in. Questions? Comments?)
Friday, September 26, 2014
Prologue: Page 2
(OOC: A brief note on inventory. It would behoove a player to determine a few things they'd like to make part of their standard equipment, but it is not vital. Most people will have everyday objects, and equipment determined by their skills. Mark the hacker likely has a jail-broken smart phone. Jonas probably has a grapnel and poisons, etc. If it becomes vital to determine what bit your character owns or has on them, a simple roll can help to determine quickly. That said, noting that your character carries a few things one might not expect him to can be a good move.)
Mark saw that the thugs were afraid, nearly unmanned by his resurrection. He decided to take advantage, to strike swiftly. The thug nearest him was scarred, and built like a line-backer, but cowered like a child as Mark advanced on him, screaming. Mark pushed with all his might, quite surprised with how much that was (Mark has been empowered by his reaper, and his strength is now neutral rather than weak. Standard roll: 4 Target: 1 Result: Failure).
The thug didn't budge, merely stared at Mark's blood soaked hands, and where they had left vivid prints on the thug's shirt. His eyes were as empty as glass. Mark wasted no time in dodging past him and leaped at the wall (Easy Roll: 7 Target: 5 Result: Success). His sure hands were able to find purchase quickly, and his uncanny strength pulled him toward the fire escape.
Once he was on his feet, there was a shot. Mark flinched as a bullet crashed into the wall, close enough to scour his face with the jagged dust. He crouched and looked through the metal, but the shot had been a last desperate attempt, and the men were fleeing as fast as their complete lack of dignity would allow.
Sirens sounded in the near distance, and got closer quite quickly.
(Mark aka Reshi: The park is about fifteen blocks away, to the north, left out of the alley. Bad news is that the park is surrounded by municipal buildings, including the police station from which the cars are presumably coming. What do you do?)
Mark saw that the thugs were afraid, nearly unmanned by his resurrection. He decided to take advantage, to strike swiftly. The thug nearest him was scarred, and built like a line-backer, but cowered like a child as Mark advanced on him, screaming. Mark pushed with all his might, quite surprised with how much that was (Mark has been empowered by his reaper, and his strength is now neutral rather than weak. Standard roll: 4 Target: 1 Result: Failure).
The thug didn't budge, merely stared at Mark's blood soaked hands, and where they had left vivid prints on the thug's shirt. His eyes were as empty as glass. Mark wasted no time in dodging past him and leaped at the wall (Easy Roll: 7 Target: 5 Result: Success). His sure hands were able to find purchase quickly, and his uncanny strength pulled him toward the fire escape.
Once he was on his feet, there was a shot. Mark flinched as a bullet crashed into the wall, close enough to scour his face with the jagged dust. He crouched and looked through the metal, but the shot had been a last desperate attempt, and the men were fleeing as fast as their complete lack of dignity would allow.
Sirens sounded in the near distance, and got closer quite quickly.
(Mark aka Reshi: The park is about fifteen blocks away, to the north, left out of the alley. Bad news is that the park is surrounded by municipal buildings, including the police station from which the cars are presumably coming. What do you do?)
...Meanwhile...
Jonas was enjoying his afterlife much more than he'd thought he would, and quite a bit more than an assassin had any right to expect. Death had barely been an interruption, thanks to some quick decisive action. He was free to live his life as he always had, with the added bonus that this time, it need never end.
Sure, Orux could be a bit of a paranoid old coot, but in Jonas's experience paranoia was a perfectly sensible precaution. Orux didn't even ask for much, just wanted to be protected. Sometimes, of course, a prudent person needed to be proactive when it came to protection, and so it was with Jonas's current mission.
He was on a roof, trying to tail a reaper named Novac. A reaper was a surprisingly difficult thing to spot, let alone follow. Having height and a wide field of vision was a must. Novac was looking into some very nasty reapers, and had some serious heat called down on him. Orux, among others, needed the information Novac had uncovered.
It was the commotion Novac caused that Jonas finally found. He watched a man, obviously a new-born servant, put the fear into some pansies who probably fancied themselves professional killers. The kid was handling himself, so Jonas turned his attention to the surroundings.
A car pulled up a block away, parked. A young couple came out, looking around and chatting. Their clothes were nice, but not lavish. Perfect urban camouflage. Jonas wasn't fooled. He saw the way they moved. They were predators of the highest order. Servants, he was sure of it.
The couple kept chatting, watching the alley in their periphery. Likely they would wait, and follow the kid to Novac. It's what Jonas would have done.
Then the sirens started. The man and woman exchanged a glance and strode purposefully up the street to the alley. They wouldn't risk losing the kid to the legal system.
(Jonas: You are on the roof of the building that Mark has started climbing. You are well hidden. The cops are minutes away at best, the servants a few seconds. What do you do?)
...Meanwhile...
David was sitting under a massive oak, which provided shelter from the light rain, as well as acorns. He held a cell phone to his head, so he didn't look as insane as he felt while he talked to Yanu. He still couldn't get the hang of sharing his head with her, and felt more comfortable when he could converse with her somewhat normally.
"Ok Yanu, we're here. What the hell is so urgent?"
"Novac found something. Something big. Abolish."
David took that in. Finding the Abolish agents in the city was Yanu's purpose for being in it to begin with. Abolish had controlled the city for years now. Vanguard or unaligned reapers disappeared frequently. The faction's influence in the powerful organized crime syndicate was blatant. Yet no one had found the reapers themselves. No one knew their names. Or who their servants were.
"Do you know what he could have found?"
"No," she said, "but they'll kill him for it if they can. He'll meet us here. We have to spread whatever he found as fast as we can, before Abolish can establish control."
"Should you even be here? This sounds dangerous. I can afford a death or two, but only as long as you're around," David said as he eyed a tourist. Something about the man was bugging him.
Yanu looked at the sky, "Novac seemed confidant he could evade pursuit. Besides, this is important. I couldn't stand being anywhere else."
David didn't really get people. Never had. But he'd watched them. The tourist wasn't saying 'tourist' to David, no matter how perfect his clothes and camera for the role. He appeared to be wandering aimlessly, to be taking it all in, but he'd been going in circles instead of moving onto another area of the park.
David began to feel very uneasy about the man.
(Alright David, I think your situation is pretty clear. What do you do?)
* * *
(Okay, party people! Your characters are all relatively fresh servants, and have yet to manifest their powers. It's time to think about what those powers will be. Soon enough you'll be earning XP, and I'll tell you how to exchange them for FABULOUS PRIZES!)
Monday, September 22, 2014
Prologue
Mark was having a very weird dream. He knew it was a dream, because each piece was unable to connect with any other piece, whether in time or in space. There was a glorious exploit, sitting in a virtual world of wealth. There were bullets and organs which seemed strangely familiar, even though he'd never seen them before, lying on the pavement. There was a gay sex-line, of all things. He opened the connection, left it on mute and linked it to the wealth. Let it charge his dupes as long as it wanted. He laughed while (later? earlier?) blood filled his lungs. His grandmother told him how lovely it was past the light, and someone with a British accent asked him if he would like a second chance.
A second chance for what? He'd done everything that had ever popped into his head. Gotten away with it, too (until that last, stupid...), or been slapped on the wrist for committing crimes no one else had been creative enough to invent yet.
His grandmother was fading, and the British voice seemed to be growing insistent. Mark kept expecting the voice to fade into the blaring of his alarm, but the voice only became more defined, more itself.
"Look, do you want to live, or not? I hate to rush such a vital (haha) decision, but I am operating under some severe time limits."
Since it was only a dream, and because it was true besides, Mark answered, "Of course I want to live."
"Well thank...whoever, because so do I. Let's do this."
Mark finally woke up and opened his eyes. The good news was that he was alive. The bad news was that none of whatever had happened before he'd died had been a dream.
He lay face up on the pavement. He became aware that he his eyes were open and had been long enough to force him to blink the gentle rain from them. He noticed the gaping, gory holes in his torso at the same moment he felt them closing. Warped discs of lead were ejected from him softly and painfully.
The men who had killed him were standing over him. As was the grim reaper (OOC: Mark, it is up to you to decide how reapers appear to you, I'm keeping it generic for the moment.)
Death spoke, "I need to run, and you need to follow me. In that order. Sow whatever chaos you can, and meet me at the tallest tree in the park. As long as I exist, I will swear that you are safe. Sorry for my brevity, but believe me, it's necessary."
With that, the reaper was off.
Three heavy, armed men who Mark briefly recollects from agony and death stood over him, guns drawn but empty. Or so Mark guessed. There were many bullets continuing to empty from his body. The men were terrified, and made no move to fire again when Mark's eyes snapped open and his fatal wounds closed.
(Mark: You are standing in an alley. One end is a dead end. Three armed mafiosos stand between you and the exit. A three story building is to your left. A four story building to your right. There are no windows or doors on the first story. The fire escape in roughly six feet above your head on those buildings. The fence behind you is composed of vertical wooden planks, and difficult to climb. You have been given a vague guarantee of safety from a possible hallucination. What do you do?)
EDIT: Upon review, I feel I have not made one thing clear. Feel free to post more than one action. Because of the free form nature of this forum story telling game, one action at a time would not move anywhere quickly enough. Feel free to tell me what your character plans to do and why. Tell a story with it. My job is to craft that story, changing it based on success, failure, and fun. Even if your many ideas and actions do not succeed, I will resolutely do my best to make them happen.
A second chance for what? He'd done everything that had ever popped into his head. Gotten away with it, too (until that last, stupid...), or been slapped on the wrist for committing crimes no one else had been creative enough to invent yet.
His grandmother was fading, and the British voice seemed to be growing insistent. Mark kept expecting the voice to fade into the blaring of his alarm, but the voice only became more defined, more itself.
"Look, do you want to live, or not? I hate to rush such a vital (haha) decision, but I am operating under some severe time limits."
Since it was only a dream, and because it was true besides, Mark answered, "Of course I want to live."
"Well thank...whoever, because so do I. Let's do this."
Mark finally woke up and opened his eyes. The good news was that he was alive. The bad news was that none of whatever had happened before he'd died had been a dream.
He lay face up on the pavement. He became aware that he his eyes were open and had been long enough to force him to blink the gentle rain from them. He noticed the gaping, gory holes in his torso at the same moment he felt them closing. Warped discs of lead were ejected from him softly and painfully.
The men who had killed him were standing over him. As was the grim reaper (OOC: Mark, it is up to you to decide how reapers appear to you, I'm keeping it generic for the moment.)
Death spoke, "I need to run, and you need to follow me. In that order. Sow whatever chaos you can, and meet me at the tallest tree in the park. As long as I exist, I will swear that you are safe. Sorry for my brevity, but believe me, it's necessary."
With that, the reaper was off.
Three heavy, armed men who Mark briefly recollects from agony and death stood over him, guns drawn but empty. Or so Mark guessed. There were many bullets continuing to empty from his body. The men were terrified, and made no move to fire again when Mark's eyes snapped open and his fatal wounds closed.
(Mark: You are standing in an alley. One end is a dead end. Three armed mafiosos stand between you and the exit. A three story building is to your left. A four story building to your right. There are no windows or doors on the first story. The fire escape in roughly six feet above your head on those buildings. The fence behind you is composed of vertical wooden planks, and difficult to climb. You have been given a vague guarantee of safety from a possible hallucination. What do you do?)
EDIT: Upon review, I feel I have not made one thing clear. Feel free to post more than one action. Because of the free form nature of this forum story telling game, one action at a time would not move anywhere quickly enough. Feel free to tell me what your character plans to do and why. Tell a story with it. My job is to craft that story, changing it based on success, failure, and fun. Even if your many ideas and actions do not succeed, I will resolutely do my best to make them happen.
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