Choose Your Own Cliché: A Quest With No Curveballs. Trust Me.

[Grandy12]

[Character Sheet]

Name: Frank Zappa (no relation)

Appearance before summons: A great Yami Yugi cosplay


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Current HP: 45/50

Current MP: You don't know magic

Current Money: No

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Current S.P.E.C.I.A.L.:

Strength ( + 0 ) - You have all the strength of an average salaryman.

Perception ( + 2 ) - You have good eyesight, but are no Legolas

Endurance ( - 1 ) - Kind of overweight and flabby, but not by a whole lot

Charisma ( + 5 ) - Jesus Christ kid close your mouth your teeth sparkles are blinding people

Intelligence ( + 1 ) - You went to school, and learned things there as well.

Agility ( - 2 ) - You will have trouble running away from trouble

Luck ( - 5 ) - Oh. Oh god. This is beautiful. This is truly beautiful.


Explanation on how the points were distributed;

Spoiler

All the SPECIAL skills start at 0


The first 20 users who post in this thread may take 1 point away from one of the above attributes, and put it in another one, to a maximum of +5 and a minimum of -5.


If there aren't 20 people voting until the end of today, I'll just, dunno, go to a corner and cry. But also will take the few votes I get and multiply them by 2 or something.

(EDIT: There weren't, so I multiplied all results by 2, except if they were going to go above +5 or below -5)

When skillchecks happen, someone will roll a d20, then add (or subtract ) the relevant attribute bonus. Anything below a 5 is a failure, anything between 5 and 15 is a mixed success, anything 16 or above is a success. Nat 1s are critical failures, Nat 20s are critical successes.


And the most important part: Everything in the above paragraph can and will be discarded depending on how foolish the action taken is. A Nat 20 with bonus +5 will still be a failure if you try to punch Superman.


Not that Superman will be in this.


Trust me.

--------------------

Current traits:

Cold-blooded - You know that the best way to react to skimpy-clothed women you have a vendetta towards is to keep your eyes on the prize, and the prize is up here buddy.
You have advantage on rolls when you wish to ignore or disobey orders from bossy women.... but a -1 in CHA when trying to convince them of something.


--------------------


The humble begginings of your journey was;

• [ ] Thank You Truck-kun - You were a normal boring person, living a normal boring life, when suddenly you were hit by a truck. When you woke up, you were in an completely different world, one with RPG rules… too bad your companions are a bunch of borderline criminal weirdos.
• [ X ] A Familiar Tale - You were summoned to another dimension by an abusive self-proclaimed witch. She seems at the bottom of the social ladder and her peers look down on her… but she might have a hidden power?
• [ ] No Good Deed - After trying to help a woman from being harassed by a drunkard, you got yourself a criminal record, and your parents sent you to Tokyo to live with a frankly shady old guy. It sucks, but you know deep down rebel soul does not regret your path of outlaw justice.
• [ ] An Ordinary Life - You are the neighbor of a tomboyish onee-san. You two don't speak very often, but one day you help her with some trouble…

Depending on the path chosen, some new questions may arise.

 

[Grandy12]

The chosen path was

• [ X ] A Familiar Tale - You were summoned to another dimension by an abusive self-proclaimed witch. She seems at the bottom of the social ladder and her peers look down on her… but she might have a hidden power?

This opens a couple new questions that first must be answered.


* What is your name? - An identity is a precious little thing. You should strive to keep yours!

* What is your appearance, at the time of the summon? - First impressions are good, and you would benefit looking your best!

* Would you like to have meta-knowledge?
[ ] Yes, I know things about this world. I'd like to make decisions based on them. - Adds trait "Meta-Gamer", players may discuss and plan a course of action based on what they know about the world and surrounding tropes, but must declare the reasoning behind it. Any actions taken based on -correct assumptions- will add +2 advantage bonus to the action taken, on top of the normal bonus. Unfortunately, any actions based on -incorrect assumptions- will have a -2 penalty. But you wouldn't run into many of those. Trust me.

[ ] I have no knowledge of where I am going. - No change.

[ ] I don't trust you. You are planning something. I want meta knowledge, but meta knowledge I can trust - Okay you cheeky breeky non-truster, Adds trait "Meta-Gamer(?)". What does it do? It is a surprise, but it will be useful. Trust me.



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(Until character creation is complete, I will still accept SPECIAL changes, but the path is defined.)

 

[Grandy12]

[X] I have no knowledge of where I am going. - No change.


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You are Frank Zappa. Not *the* Frank Zappa, of course. Everyone knows Frank Zappa died in a bigfoot hunt related accident in the 1970s.

No, you are merely named such because your parents were big, giant, humoungous nerds.

An you inherited that trait, as your current costume shows.

As you strut your way downtown for the local otacon, your appearance catches a few eyes in the busied streets, and your hair pokes a few more.

It is hard to pull the anime bad boy luck, but you are handsome enough that you can do so easily. You have always been rather handsome - some of the girls staring at you right now aren't even doing so because of your costume - add some leather shirt, studded belts, and a copious ammount of hair gel, and presto, you are as lose as Yami Yugi as a real human can get, which is surprisingly close.

As you reach the otacon, you begin to feel a sense of... familiarity.

A cardboard-helmeted Captain Falcon is hamming up near the entrance. Vendors wearing patamon hats sell bootlegged keychains that almost look like the Hidden Leaf logo and the Straw Hat skull. A woman dressed as Yoko Littner is gathering a small crowd of thirsty teenagers wishing to take pictures. Somewhere, you can hear a deep voiced man singing the karaoke version of a song meant to be sung by a girl, and he is absolutely killing it. There is a sign near a room that says you need to use deodorant if you with to participate in the MtG tourney.

You feel free.

These are your people.

This is were you belong.

And this is the year, you decide, that you will win the cosplay competition. Every year in the past four you *should* have won, except for the... accidents.

In 2015, a sudden but inevitable stomachache prevented your amazing Sanji self to go on stage.

In 2016, your Courier outfit was ruined as the LEDS on your homemad pip-boy decided to explode

In 2017, you were a perfect Kenshin Himura. Unfortunately you hadn't heard of the news.

And the least said about the 2018 the better. "Todoroki Cosplayer And The Amazing Hot Dog Incident" trended on youtube for a month.

But now, it is 2019. You will be the cosplay champ.

And after this year, the next as well! Nothing can happen in 2020 that would get in the way of you winning an otacon contest in front of a huge, massive crowd!

Yeah! Your luck is turning! You can feel it!

[Roll for luck]

 

[Grandy12]

Luck roll: 9

Result: Mixed success

Pro: As you were talking to yourself you bumped into a cute girl

Con: As you were talking to yourself you bumped into a cute girl you recognize

------

"Hey, watch it, creep!"

You refocus your attention and recognize Cammy, from Street Fighter, glaring at you. Well, "Cammy", from street fighter.

The reality is much worse.

Alice Lewis.

Your arch-nemesis.

Do you know how hard it is for a man to even get to the finals of a cosplay event when the judges are all teens and your opponent is a curvy blonde wearing a leotard for a top and a few stripes of paint for a bottom? Her costume isn't even accurate! Cammy doesn't wear high-heeled boots! Those would get in the way of combat!

No, no, this is the year. You will not let her ruin it for you.

"Oh, it's you." she sneers "Zappa."

It seems she finally recognized you. Each year it takes a bit longer, as your cosplaying skills become more accurate.

"Lewis.", you

[ ] growl her name out

[ ] smile flitartiously

[ ] kind of just said in a bored monotone

But before you can continue, she cuts you off.

"You are brave to show your face around here after the hot dog incident."

You cannot believe she went there.

"That was not my fault and you know it!"

She huffs, haugtily.

"All I know is that that bus did not swerve into the sidewalk by itself, Zappa."

"You can't blame me for every impromptu rube goldberg reaction that starts with me flipping a coin and ends up with us both covered in ketchup in compromissing positions near a flaming bus wreck, Lewis."

"We agreed never to talk about that!"

"Then don't bring it up!"

Around you, a few people stop to watch the discussion. You overhear whispers.

"Isn't that 'Blonde Hair' Alice, one of the four heavenly cosplay kings?!"

"Who is the Yami arguing with her? He's kind of cute..."

"Don't get involved with him, he is 'Walking Disaster' Zappa! Everywhere he goes, accidents happen!"

"No way, that is the Hot Dog menace himself?! I can't believe he looks like that under all that red sauce and cat hair!"

Alice seems to notice them as well, and wastes not an opportunity.

"See, 'Walking Disaster'? We all know about your rotten luck. You will never be able to defeat the Four Heavenly Cosplay Kings."

The Four Heavenly Cosplay Kings.

"Blonde Hair" Alice Lewis, with her enchanting beauty.

"Foam Props" Perez, the master of crafting.

Suzy "We-Can't-Call-Her-A-Loli-That's-Weird" Smith, able to win hearts and minds with her nine year old innocence

And of course...

"The Masked Mystery"

Nobody knows who they are, or even their gender. They always appear dressed in full costume, covering their whole face, and never says a word.

Master Chief from Halo, Samus from Metroid, Al from Fullmetal, No-Face from Spirited Away...

Each year they appear, with a perfect costume, and act the character with perfect mannerisms, then vanish once the convention is over.

The only mark identifying them as the same person is a small logo hidden in the neck of their costumes. A red eye on top of a blue cross.

From a young age, you admired the Four Heavenly Cosplay Kings. You still do. They are the pinnacle of otacon charisma, and brighten the world around them, weaving a beautiful and fleeting fantasy.

And today, would be the day you joined their ranks.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, Lewis. This year I came prepared."

"Hmph. You have been warned, Zappa. Don't think your cute face will save you from being banned from the convention this year."

You turn around, and walk towards the backdoor to the contest, but not without a final word.

"I will see you at the finals."

You close the door and turn around.

You are in the middle of a void, blue lights flash on the distance, you can no longer hear Renai Circulation.

[Roll a d20 for Intelligence]






---------------


This concludes the Four Heavenly Cosplay Kings arc.

The Masked Mystery was Adam Savage.

 

[Grandy12]

[X] growl her name out

Trait acquired:

Cold-blooded - You know that the best way to react to skimpy-clothed women you have a vendetta towards is to keep your eyes on the prize, and the prize is up here buddy.
You have advantage on rolls when you wish to ignore or disobey orders from bossy women.... but a -1 in CHA when trying to convince them of something.

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Luck roll total: 19

Result: Success

Pro: You skip all the 'wow they really stepped up the special effects' misunderstanding shenanigans and immediatelly realize reality done fucked up big time. In addition, the roll was good enough thatyour brain has notshort-circuited at the revelation.


This is weird. Okay don't panic. This is weird.

There is only an endless expanse, and colors.

Faintly, you hear a young, feminine voice, seemingly distant but also getting closer. It is hard to make out the exact words at the start, it's... is it even english? It doesn't sound like it.

But wait, by the end of the sentence you clearly understand the command.

"...-me to me! Heed my call!"

You feel a pull. Not a physical, but an mental pull, the wish to follow that voice's commands.

You...

[ ] Listen to it - whoever that is, probably they know what is going on

[ ] Turn around and go back through the door, you miss reality (Roll for Intelligence*)

[ ] Stay still and try to make out where you are (Roll for Perception)

[ ] Other (write-in)

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*For the purposes of the Quest, intelligence will also affect willpower.

 

[Grandy12]

Roll the dice. It's genre convention for a QM to do rolls.

Edit: I appear to be cursed.

Click to shrink...

IMO the QM have to roll, if the roll is different depending on the choice because people would vote more for the choice with the best roll if they can see the roll.
But if the roll are not depending on the choice no reason to don't do it.

Click to shrink...

Then what I'll do is let you guys choose first then roll it later myself.

Also I'll hide which rolls will be behind each choices, to avoid metagaming.


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[X] Stay still and try to make out where you are (Roll for Perception)

Results: Total of 4

You try and look around the abyss, but all you see is the darkness, and the distant lights. Also the darkness is non-euclidean, and the distant lights mock you.

It all gives you a terrible, terrible headache.

You take 5 points of damage, and your next Int roll will have a -1 penalty.

Suddenly, the female voice rings again, this time sounding a bit clearer.

"Hey, why the fucking whoreshit are you dilly-dallying for? I said come to me, heed my call!"

[Willpower/Intelligence check]

Dice Roller • Orokos.com

Orokos is a tool site for role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, allowing players to upload characters from Wizards of the Coast's Character Builder program and providing a dice roller and attribute calculator.

orokos.com

Result: 8 (+1) (-1) = 8 Mixed Success

Your legs suddenly move without any input from your brain, taking you further into the void, towards the lights. Each step seems to not really change your position at all, but nonetheless you also feel you are miles away from before.

After a few steps you regain control of your body. You look back, and see that... you moved 4 steps from the door. Either that or it followed you through the infinity.

On the plus side, you feel you still have a way back and a tournament to win, on the minus side you also feel that voice will rip you a new one if you ignore it futher.

[Perception Check]

Dice Roller • Orokos.com

Orokos is a tool site for role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, allowing players to upload characters from Wizards of the Coast's Character Builder program and providing a dice roller and attribute calculator.

orokos.com

Result: 6 (-1) = 5 Failure

Nothing catches your attention. Well, aside the general weirdness of the situation.

You...

[ ] Run back to the door. Time to nope this adventure away.

[ ] Obey the voice, you feel it will force you anyways

[ ] Try to talk to whoever that girl voice is, maybe get some answers

[ ] Look around again. That worked wonderfully the first time

[ ] Other (write-in)

 

[Grandy12]

[X] Try to talk to whoever that girl is you, maybe get some answers

>Rolling for Luck

Dice Roller • Orokos.com

Orokos is a tool site for role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, allowing players to upload characters from Wizards of the Coast's Character Builder program and providing a dice roller and attribute calculator.

orokos.com

Result: 7 (-5) = 2

Failure!

You look up to the infinite and do the best not to have your voice crack.

"Huh, excuse me, miss? I, huh... I think this might be a mistake? Who are you? Where am I?"

Rolling for Perception

Dice Roller • Orokos.com

Orokos is a tool site for role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, allowing players to upload characters from Wizards of the Coast's Character Builder program and providing a dice roller and attribute calculator.

orokos.com

Result: 5 (+2) = 7

Mixed success, barely!

You notice there is something weird about your voice, but you don't feel like you have the time to focus on that, given the everything going on.

Rolling for Charisma

Dice Roller • Orokos.com

Orokos is a tool site for role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, allowing players to upload characters from Wizards of the Coast's Character Builder program and providing a dice roller and attribute calculator.

orokos.com

Result 15 (+5) = Non-nat 20 baby

There are a few seconds of silence. The tugging in your head fades away, and for a while everything is utterly still.

Even the geometry in the infinite expansion stopped shifting, before settling in a peaceful... nothingness. It's weird how you can't tell a place has over three dimentions when it stops moving.

Rolling for Perception

Dice Roller • Orokos.com

Orokos is a tool site for role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, allowing players to upload characters from Wizards of the Coast's Character Builder program and providing a dice roller and attribute calculator.

orokos.com

Result: 7 + 2 = 9

You turn your head to the sides, trying to figure out what happened. For a second, it seemed like you were abandoned by the voice.

Cautiously, you turn around, and take a few steps towards the door.

"....heh."

You stop.

The voice... chuckled?

You once more turn around, searching the horizon.

And then


Rolling for Perception

Dice Roller • Orokos.com

Orokos is a tool site for role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, allowing players to upload characters from Wizards of the Coast's Character Builder program and providing a dice roller and attribute calculator.

orokos.com

Result: 19 + 2 = 21

You look up.

And the abyss stares back.



"...heh heheh." you hear the voice again, chuckling "hehehehHAHAHAHAHA!" before burstling into a mad laughter. The geometry shifts once more, thrice as madly as before.

"JUST AS THE BOOKS SAID! YOU HAVE CURIOSITY! YOU CAN ASK QUESTIONS!"

Dice Roller • Orokos.com

Orokos is a tool site for role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, allowing players to upload characters from Wizards of the Coast's Character Builder program and providing a dice roller and attribute calculator.

orokos.com

Total inteligence: 5 + 1 = 6

Result: Mixed success; you are panicked, but you do not faint.

You;

[ ] Try and get some answers once more Locked; you are too panicked

[ ] Try to run back once more.

[ ] Freeze in place, try to regain your senses

[ ] Instinctively try and find something to defend yourself with