Conversation started May 13, 2013 at 11:09.
May 13, 2013 11:09
Getting to the Enchanted Forest from your city requires crossing the Mountains of Morning. Although they're home to dragons and giants and things, you've done pretty well avoiding the nasties. You're over the top and heading down the other side of the range.
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Are these wintery mountains? Snow, low temperatures, etc?
Or pastoral mountains?
The path you're on is a narrow rock ledge carved out of a steep cliff. Below you, the tops of the Forest's trees sway in the breeze like waves on the ocean.
@Cat Which would you like them to be? We'll make an appropriate aspect.
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Warmer, definitely.
Do I speak in first person, or third person when I write what I'm doing (without other players present)
?
Okay, so you're on a Narrow, Dusty Path across a Steep Cliff. That should be enough aspects to set the scene; if more are needed, we can make 'em on the spot.
@Cat That's totally up to whatever you're comfortable with. I'll be narrating in third person as the GM, and NPC speech will be in quotes.
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I like third person for general action, so I'll stick with that until we run into people/things
May 13, 2013 11:14
Okay, well, let's throw an obstacle in your way right off.
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Sin is on her guard as she walks the narrow, dusty path, knowing the reputation of these mountains for danger. She is also very conscious of the shadows thrown by the rocks and boulders, scared she'll be sucked into them against her will.
As you carefully inch along the narrow path, a section of the path just in front of you vanishes suddenly.
It's wide enough that jumping across would be possible, but dangerous.
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Sin blinks and a confused look passes across her face.
Sin picks up a rock/pebble and tosses it into the section of disappeared path, after looking over her shoulder to ensure she isn't being followed
"You seem to be in some difficulty, girl. Might I be of assistance?" A grey-bearded man in a brown robe, carrying a fancy walking stick, is standing immediately behind Sin.
"You really shouldn't be out in the Mountains alone at your age. These are dangerous places, with many rockslides."
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Sin quickly takes a step back, drawing a dagger.
"Who are you? How long have you been following me?"
Sin is very conscious of the fact she is now trapped between the man and the chasm that has opened up behind her.
May 13, 2013 11:18
"Please! I mean you no harm. I simply noticed your predicament and thought a good deed in a harsh place would be appreciated."
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"Answer the questions!" Sin intones in a slightly stronger voice.
"Ah, where are my manners? Of course!" He sweeps a bow as well as he can on the narrow path.
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Sin considers pushing him, but a moral part of her hesitates.
"I am Zemenar, Head Wizard of the Society of Wizards. I have not been following you, but there are very few paths through these mountains so travelers are likely to meet each other."
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She quickly looks for a shadowed spot to "shadow walk to" as she listens to his answer.
May 13, 2013 11:20
4d6
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Wizard. Sin grows even more suspicious.
(do I roll?)
Or is that my roll?
[out of character: Zemenar is lying Cleverly to you, and got a total of 4 on the roll.]
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So, OOC, what is the order of the rolls again?
[You should roll something appropriate in response.]
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May 13, 2013 11:21
Is the first one "sneaky" as it's my top trait?
Or is there a standard order?
You can roll any approach provided you narrate the action so that it makes sense to use that approach.
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Or are the order of the rolls known only to each unique player
There's no "order" to roll them in, just rolls you're better at.
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Well, Sin is mistrustful, but she will try to assess if he is lying.
4d6
May 13, 2013 11:23
Off the top of my head, it'd make most sense to me for Sin to be Careful (+2).
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What's that?
I get +1 for the 6's?
5s and 6s are +, while 1s and 2s are -, so that's a total of 2.
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and -1 for the 1?
Do I add the +2 mod to it?
(for careful)
Yup!
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So I get 4?
What happens in case of a tie?
May 13, 2013 11:24
Yes. (Zemenar rolled 0, but his stunt gives him a +2 to Clever Lies and his Clever stat is +2.)
Okay, so this is where the mechanics come in.
Zemenar was trying to Create an Advantage by placing a temporary "Trusting" aspect on you which he could later take advantage of.
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Oh, btw, do I get an extra +2 for my "mistrustful" aspect?
Not automatically, but you could spend a Fate point to do so.
You have three Fate points right now.
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(in addition to my "careful")
Ok.
I won't use a fate point.
If you don't, then he tied, and he still gets to place the "Trusting" aspect on Sin, but it will vanish as soon as he uses it the first time.
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just a sec, gotta help with my nephew on minute.
May 13, 2013 11:27
If he'd won, Sin would be be "Trusting" until the end of the encounter or until someone rolled to remove that aspect.
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back
OK, got it.
So can I try and put an aspect on him?
Yes. You can Create Advantage (place an aspect, discover an aspect, take advantage of an aspect), Overcome (get past something that's blocking you from a goal, including removing an aspect), or Attack.
So his turn was making Sin "Trusting," but it won't last after he takes advantage of it.
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Sin senses that there is something deceitful about this wizard big surprise.
Sin decides to play along, however, pretending that she is trusting.
I guess she will use her sneaky aspect to try to create trust in Zemenar.
Ahah, dueling wits!
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What happens now?
May 13, 2013 11:34
Narrate how she does it, and then we roll.
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Does how I narrate it make a difference in the roll?
It has to justify using Sneaky.
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Hmm...that could be difficult, lol
May I make a suggestion?
While Zemenar is winning her trust, Sin might want to Sneakily glance behind herself to see what happened with that pebble she threw.
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(I'll just finish this and fail on my own, lol) Sin lowers the weapon in her right hand in a broad arc, knowing from the card hustlers on the streets she grew up with that the eyes of the untrained follow arcs. She brings her left hand to a position behind her back to sneakily grab hold of a second dagger in her belt.
(but good suggestion)
May 13, 2013 11:39
Okay, so is she trying to attack, or trying to place an aspect on herself like "Secretly Armed"?
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(simultaneously)
Trying to become secretly armed.
Excellent!
Zemenar will have to be Quick to notice that, and he's only got +1 to that.
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Do I roll as well using my sneaky roll?
Yup! It's opposed rolls.
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OK, here goes nothing
4d6
May 13, 2013 11:40
That's a +1, with your +3 for Sneaky giving you +4.
4d6
Zemenar gets... +1.
Total.
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So he's got +2 altogether
Or?
Oh wait, they cancel
No, he's got 0 on the dice and +1 for Quick.
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May 13, 2013 11:41
So I am now secretly armed? (against a wizard, lol)
So you have firmly fooled him, and are now "Secretly Armed." You get a free invoke on this because you created it (that is, you get +2 to a roll one time when being Secretly Armed would help).
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OK, I think I follow
His turn?
Yup.
"Now, little girl, I think it's time we got past this unfortunate rockslide."
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"And how do you suggest we do that?"
"As a wizard I could easily bypass it, but for you it may be less simple. Would you like my aid?"
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May 13, 2013 11:45
"It's not really that wide," says Sin, sneaking a glance at the gap to see where her pebble went.
do I need to roll for that?
"But it really is a great distance down," he says with a grand and nauseating gesture at the forest below.
Yes, because he's trying to distract you.
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4d6
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sigh...
He's rolling Flashy (+2).
4d6
May 13, 2013 11:47
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So I have a ... +1?
Hah. Your dice say "-2" and his say "-1." What attribute are you rolling?
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Sneaky?
3-4 is 0, so you got -, 0, -, 0. He got 0, -, +, -.
So you have +1 and he's got... +1. Since it was your action and his block, you win.
The pebble is floating in midair.
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Hmmm...
May 13, 2013 11:49
(In a case like this, we can just ignore the tie because it was fairly trivial.)
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"Only if you can't fly," says Sin wryly.
"Why don't you show me how it's done yourself first?"
"You? You're no sorceress! My techniques would be useless to you on your own. I really must insist, a little girl like yourself can't possibly be left alone out here in the dangerous Mountains. What if an ogre were to come along?"
"If you'll just let me escort you to wherever it is you're going, I'm certain you'll be very grateful."
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The more the wizard repeats the words "little girl" the more angry Sin becomes.
"As you will wizard. But you lead the way."
He's looking a little put out and impatient.
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As he attempts to pass her on the narrow dusty path, she is going to attempt to push him off it, down the hill/cliffside.
May 13, 2013 11:53
"Very well." He looks gratified, but the hand holding his staff is very tight. He gestures with the staff, and puffs of cloud float up from below to make stepping stones across the gap.
He walks up past Sin, striding confidently (if still rather impatiently), toward the cloud-filled gap.
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Do I need to roll?
Yup!
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4d6
Narrate it, please.
(Hint: Pushes are usually more Forceful than, say, tripping, which can easily be Sneaky.)
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May 13, 2013 11:58
As the wizard comes in closer to her, she can smell strange scents off his brown robes, both sulfurous and spiced. She times her push to coincide with when his staff is off the ground and uses her whole body to forcefully do so.
(not wise, but in character, I guess)
It'll be hard for Zemenar to be anything but Forceful in his defense, so you're both at +1.
You rolled +3, for a total of +4.
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(She wants to be sure she doesn't fail)
4d6
Bwahahahahah. Zemenar rolled -3, for a total of -2.
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May 13, 2013 11:59
I love it when a plan comes together ;)
There's no way he can get past that with invocations, he just doesn't have the Fate points or the free invocations necessary.
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What's a invocation?
Calling on a stored aspect?
Basically, yeah.
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lol
He's got a free invoke on your "Trusted," and a Fate point he could spend to invoke something else, but that'd just bring him up to +2 vs your +4.
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May 13, 2013 12:01
Is all of this open in regular play?
Yes.
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I mean, you always know where your enemy lies before you invoke fate points?
Well, to a certain extent.
Yeah, rolls before invokes.
Fate points shouldn't be wasted.
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Good
So, Zemenar scrabbles at Sin as he tips over, but she brandishes a sudden knife in his face, shocking him into letting go of her.
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May 13, 2013 12:03
So, what happens? He falls off the cliff?
Hope he's got feather fall...
With rage in his eyes and his feet tangled up in his robes, Zemenar tumbles off the cliff.
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Oh my
He screams "I'll GET YOU for this, Sindaria! MARK MY WORDS! I SWEAR IT!"
and then he's gone in the distance below.
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Sin scurries across the clouds across the gap.
quickly
Hee.
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May 13, 2013 12:04
Yeah, I knew it
what else is she going to do though
So, mechanically, you dealt him stress equal to the difference between your attack and his defense.
That's SIX, which is twice what you'd need to take him out unless he took consequences.
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Are we still back at the knife wielding?
Hm? You defeated the wizard and scampered across the ledge, which by the way is now whole and solid again: the clouds are gone, and the stone is solid as if it had never vanished.
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(And did he really use my name? when I didn't tell it to him?)
Yes, he did.
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May 13, 2013 12:06
OH, ok.
So the stress I dealt was falling damage?
Or something else that you can't say?
No, the stress was pushing him off the ledge. Stress is... not damage.
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And he was attacking by trying to grab me?
It's the character's ability to avoid getting hurt/affected in significant ways.
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(or sorry, defending)
You dealt him so much stress that he would've had to take some pretty major and long-lasting consequences (bad aspects) in order to stay in the fight.
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May 13, 2013 12:08
The six comes from the difference between my push and his defense?
Right.
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OK, now I understand what we're talking about
I chose for him to instead take the stress. He had three stress boxes, and any stress he took that he couldn't fit into a box would take him out.
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How do you know how many stress boxes you have?
When he's taken out, the person who took him out got to decide what happened. In this case, it was obvious that you wanted him to fall.
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May 13, 2013 12:09
Yup
In FAE, everybody's got three. You can use stunts to increase them.
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OK, got it
So Sin scampers across the gap that no longer exists, concerned with the fact he used her name.
And I think that's a good place to end the session.
 
Conversation ended May 13, 2013 at 12:10.