"You are an elven (ranger/perhaps druid) creeping through a grassy field in thick fog, when all of a sudden you step on something that feels like a rock path underfoot...and your next step lands your other foot on cold metal. You feel left and right with your foot, and that metal object you stepped on seems awful long. You then hear a "whooooooooooooo" sound deep in the distant fog..."
I've played several editions of D&D, also dabbled in FATE Accelerated. (a system like DW or 13th Age wouldn't be out of place from what I've read/heard though, and might be easier to run for a Theater of the Mind-heavy game like this scenario posits)
yeah, I'm just not experienced enough with FATE (either Accelerated or Core) to really run something like that well, and the dicebot here doesn't support dFs well either
@Nyoze -- it's a mystery/exploration scenario btw -- so don't expect to be fighting. however, there are things in this scenario that can do a metric crapton of damage if you let them smack you.
@Shalvenay mm. if you're mentioning the lack of clarity because you're also open to recommendations on which system to run this in, you'll probably have to be spoilery. otherwise, cool, keep it secret. :)
@doppelgreener -- wrong sort of strange for cthulhu dark's setting assumptions I suspect -- it's more industrial-technology-strange than creepy-occult-strange
@doppelgreener I've got both, I prefer to use chrome. And... I'd probably rather not try. I'm the only person in my department with a computer that I get to use every day and don't have to swap, and I'd rather not have to explain why I'm installing things into chrome.
Question. From my experience with Fate - Character Sheets are supposed to be open and free for all players to view. I'm assuming we wouldn't be able to just post a question and then add the sheets to answers on SE, is there anywhere you guys can suggest to hold them?
You've obviously got a class in mind, which would be a primary aspect. Is there anything else that I should look at, and is anyone else part of this at all? :)
@Nyoze -- you're pretty much free to choose whatever aspects you want that fit with the class :) but one thing -- an animal companion wouldn't be particularly helpful here, I don't think
It is a cool and foggy pre-dawn for Noyze as camp is broken for the upcoming day's travel, with plenty of pastures and thin tracks ahead of him to traverse. He has been given the instruction to head southeasterly from his encampment, starting early
Noyze coos out to the pastures as he breaks the camp, and as an owl arrives perching on his shoulder, he scratches it under the chin, before gesturing to the southeast. His companion flys off into the distance, as Noyze finishes the last ties on his pack, before hoisting it on his back and starting down the same direction, listening to his friends calls in the distance
The fog bank is thick, to the point where Noyze's elf eyes can barely see past his outstretched hand...only his compass, his ears, and his feel of the ground are left to navigate by, as the map he was given...well, it's more of a sketch, really.
He shut his eyes to focus on the ground, where he was walking. He had long ago given up on the map, walking only by the feel of the ground on his bare feet. His companion tucked in a pocket of his bag, peering out into the mist
The feel of the damp grass beneath his feet reminds him of some of the valley pastures near his homeland as he continues to plod through the fields cautiously
Noyze really wasn't sure where he was going, or why. He thought back to a few whispered words, and the map being shoved in his direction... Getting impatient with the slow progress, he focused on his feet and started running along the tracks, his eyes completely shut, relying on his companion to alert him of any obstacles.
He feels a crunching sensation under one foot, and then the sense of metal under his other as he takes his next step. Noyze backs off, looking down and staring at the fog-shrouded gleam of what looked to be a ribbon of steel in front of him, atop a mysterious layer of what felt like road-rock. He then turned, heading northeastward now, following along this ribbon, curious as to where it leads. Faint sounds are becoming audible now...howling hoots more distant than any owl's call
When his foot touched the metal, he recoiled instantly. This was a material he was not familiar with, had hated, avoided at every opportunity. This was something that didn't belong. The fog was still to think to see, so he followed the ribbon, touching it every few steps to ensure that he was still on course. He cradled the owl in his hands, shielding it from the ominous noise in the distance
The distant noise grows slightly louder, clearly off to his southwest and moving eastward now, stopping and starting again. "whooooooooooooooo" "whoo" "whoooooooooooooooooooo"
He stopped, staring into the fog behind him... Those noises were not natural, but this entire situation was beginning to feel more and more threatening. How he longed to be back within his forest, away from this all. "Whooo" His owl called back into the distance, while Noyze closed his eyes, stopped moving, and focused on listening to the area around.
The owl's call brings no reply as the fog behind him reveals nothing, not even the dim gleam of a light trying to pierce the pre-dawn gloom
His hearing, though, picks up another sound now, coming from his east, southeast, and almost dead south even, fainter now, yet perceptible as a chorus of low rumbles, to the point where it's practically impossible to pick any individual rumbling sound out
With the rumbling behind him, Noyze quickens his pace, veering away from the ribbon, north, and the west. Whatever that rumbling is, he didn't want to run into it within this sort of fog. He raised a hand before him trying to conjure a light to see through the mist
The mist proves nearly impenetrable to his light source, but he can see vaguely that there are still pastures to his north/northwest, but the ribbon to his south is joined by another parallel to it, and he can barely make out the glint from what looks to be the ends of another pair of ribbons, somehow conjoined with the first two.
A few isolated trees are also silhouetted against the fog to his west, the strange, faint glint off to his dead east now
He gestures towards the light, and his owl flies towards it, to get a better look. He focuses his gaze in the same direction, trying to find the source of the rumbling.
*The owl flies off toward the light, disappearing into the mist. The source of the rumbling isn't apparent yet, but another, more distinct set of "whoooooooooo" "whooooooooo" "whoo" "whooooooooooooo" sounds joins them, punctuating another faint rumble from the southwest, moving eastward
Noyze launched himself to the ground, and took off at a dead run, exactly towards the noise. He conjured a flame in one hand as he ran, chasing after his friend.
Noyze runs along, headed towards the southsouthwest, the rumble growing stronger to the point where he can feel it in his feet as he gets closer to its source. He runs across one section of road-rock, then more grassy field...and then sees a large, bright light off to his west atop two smaller lights, forming a triangle shape, the rumbling growing yet louder
His own light and the now-dim light from the west combine to reveal several sets of metallic glints in parallel on the ground not far south to him, as well
"Flyte!" Noyze called out as he changed course and ran towards the lights, his free hand flying up and gently brushing the animal as is came charging past him, flying faster then his feet could possibly carry him. As the owl was touched, it seemed disjointed, streetching, increasing to the size of a man, rushing toward the light
The rumbling grows louder, and a "ding ding ding ding" combined with "whooooooooo" "whoooooooo" "whoo" "whooooooo" accompanies it, followed by a "chuff" of air, and a heavy mechanical "clank-clank-clank-clank-clank" sound. Flyte pulls up hard and turns to the north, using its momentum to avoid the triangle of lights, which is growing steadily bigger and bigger, becoming clearly apparent to Noyze now.
The silhouette of what looks to be some sort of machine, angular and industrial, is now visible coming nearer to him, but staying slightly southward, as are the lights
(( Now, this is where it comes into the whole does my character know what I know? No way :D ))
Noyze saw the machine coming, and panicked. He turned and started sprinting away from it, following the metal spans on the ground hoping that the machine would try and avoid them.
The machine seems to keep up with Noyze for a little while, and then begins to recede as it slows down, a couple of "whoo whoo" notes emerging from it. His stride carries him along the metal spans, until he sees another set glinting at an angle across his path...
Noyze really doesn't understand what is going on. Focusing the flame in his hand, he launches it at the intersection of spans, attempting to damage or destroy the effects that are creating the awful machine he can still here behind him
Noyze does a head-first slide in the grass beside the intersection of the two spans. The lights pass by and disappear from his view as the guttural rumble continues on, through his entire body
Noyze takes cover as the monster slides past, his owl flying back towards him, the spell of growth having expired. He crawls away from the tracks, the rumble disrupting him every time he tries to concentrate.
Noyze's crawling takes him northwesterly again, taking him from grass and dirt to more of that road-rock, this time with no sign of the metal ribbons as of yet. The rumbling continues for a while, having been since joined by a metallic squeal.
Noyze as he gets further away from the monstrosity, he slowly crawls to his feet, then making sure everything is in place, he turns and follows the road, away from the beast
A large, looming metallic object stands before him, over twice his own height tall, its ends barely visible in the distance. It appears to be coupled onto other, similar objects as well.
Lo and behold, where that object ends, another begins, with only a small gap between the two, spanned by a heavy mechanical linkage that looks like a bar with two mechanical mittens in the middle grasping each other
Noyze squeezes into the gap, looking for anything about the contraption which would reveal anything more, spitting and cursing at the cold metal all around
There is some sort of pipe or hose connecting the two objects as well as the bar. A hand-wheel of some fashion has been mounted on the end of one of the objects, and the ends of the objects look to be elevated, as if they were resting on something. There are what look to be ladder rungs mounted to these objects in various places, as well
The wheel barely turns in both directions, but does not budge beyond that. It clearly is meant to spin, but has been tightened quite strongly by someone
The Back Room: Live Tabletop Games
The Back Room: Live Tabletop Games