Damn, the vote tally bugged out. It still gave me the data, I just can't format it for posting. I will explore tomorrow if I have something to report, or if I have to fix my between-chair-and-keyboard peripheral.
Anyway, the result were:
[X] The Fertile Riverlands, 11 votes.
[x] The Arid West, 3 votes.
[x] The Cold North, 2 votes.
[X] The Oceanic East, 1 vote.
[X] The Mountainous South, 1 vote.
Now I have to finish my starter hook and some clarifications on the character, but have a few quick and dirty abstract pictures, courtesy of DALL·E 2. Nothing scares me much, but those AIs man, those AIs...
Hello! Is this thread dead? The nerve of some assholes, opening a quest and then leaving them abandoned.
Anyway, this asshole in particular had a trifecta of not very serious, but very annoying and time-consuming problems, and also underestimated the amount of building needed to start. My bad.
For those still interested, well... Let's play, shall we. Sorry for the wait. The first post here is short and easy, wait for a second until I post the character sheet before making any decisions, I will take some minutes formatting it after posting this.
Somewhere and somewhen, those new centers of power and industry extend their cultural, military and commercial nets upon those around them, weaving the first kingdoms. And when one of those kingdoms raise even further than the rest, an Empire is born.
Here, in the Central Plains South of the River, that first city, of the first kingdom, that forge the first empire, rested buried under the weight of the ages, its location lost to the ravages of war, but its history still remembered by their descendants.
By the will of the Heavens, the burial mound of this first city rose towards the light of the sun once more, unearthed by the works of the Ancestral Spirits of the Cold Solstice, the immaterial emissaries of renewal.
The moment that the spirits' labor finished, the night turned to twilight, when an old star in the sky above broke, gifting light brighter than the moon with its selfless sacrifice, just to guide a lost soul and its faithful companion towards their destiny.
Then, descending from the sky, two small shooting stars appeared, visible from a thousand kilometer, ending their trip on the tallest palace standing in the center of the old city. Those with keen eyes realized that of the shooting stars, one looked humanoid and the other equine. And among those keen eyed, the ones who also managed to cultivate their spirits above the detestable state of prevailing ruin, could also feel the aura of serene confidence and encompassing compassion emanating from a transcendent soul.
The hearts of those people with long sight were inflamed with a surge of emotions, every one of them aware that the race for the future started once again. Among them, those with lofty desires and long-lasting ambitions, the emotions inspired were hope and anticipation, desire and satisfaction, love and lust.
"Wow, Thank the Heavens that our clothes also made the trip intact, or we would have flashed a few million souls." Said the Winged Ass. Pegasus? No, Asno Alado the Pegassus.
"Asno, I'm sorry, but your blanket doesn't cover your lower parts. I fear that you actually flashed everything around these lands." Aldonza answered her friend with a soft laught.
"Ugh, I'm not going to apologize for any alleged trauma."
"Yes, the surrounding farmers are going to get traumatized from seeing you from below. You are really out of it, Asno." Aldonza said, crossing her arms, unamused. "Anyway, I'm more grateful for still having our tools with us. Look around, we are in the middle of a ruined city, surrounded by damaged fields. We have a rough start, my friend." Said the Knight Errant again, looking at the scorched land around her.
"No matter how much we travel, people will be people, he? The city is clearly old, but not the fields…" Asno finished, looking around seriously.
What is the plan now?
Aldonza and Asno are standing in the top of a building in the center of a city in ruins, recently uncovered by spirits of the wind. The city extends for about 2.5 kilometers around them, or 5 Li. After that, up to the horizon, a single road contorts around half the city, standing a bit taller than the city itself, at about the same height as them on top of the ruined building.
Inside the city, the peaceful echo of the forgotten ancestors of this land are stirring. They are not spirits, but memories, imprints left by the routine work of what was once a glorious center of culture and industry.
Towards the north, a line of distant trees mark the presence of a river. To the east of the road, a tumultuous dust cloud betrays the approach of galloping horses, and from the west, a caravan of some kind advances slowly.
Finally, a hamlet of ruined houses surrounded by half-ruined fields can be seen from the south, connected to the road by a smaller path. The presence of some pigs and a few smokes from bonfires shows that there are still people living there, even if not a single person is visible.
Every story post is divided in two parts: the resolution, with a narration of what happened with the quest since the last post, and the description, containing the elements necessary to plan the next actions. You can either use any element of the description to craft a vote, or wait until the votes are crafted and then pick the option you like the most.
Additionally, to make sure that there is at least one path, I will always include an example plan that can also be voted, BUT I will never use more than a single Fate Point in those votes.
What is a Fate Point? Basically, is a cheat. Every time that someone crafts a vote, they can use a single fate point in one of the following ways:
Activate a supernatural effect to use in the next scene. That guarantees the use efficiently in the following narrative. The powers affect a whole scene, not a single detail, do not think as an ability to use in the single swing of a sword, think about it as an advantage in confrontation, a process, not a single action. If the power is passive, it does not require a Fate Point to work, it can just be used at any time.
They can be used to Invoke Aspects. In Aldonza's sheet, there is a set of characteristics that have a deep meaning for her personality, her Aspects. When she acts in concordance with those aspects, she can use a Fate Point to enhance her skills by two steps before making a roll. For example, Aldonza has a Great Will (+4), on the cusp of what a human can accomplish without supernatural effects, but perhaps she would need a bit more to face the madness ahead. In that case, by using a Fate Point, Aldonza gets to act for the next scene as if she had a Fantastic Will (+6), so long as she can justify it with one of her aspects, like protecting the innocent as a Knight errant, or battling the madness afflicting a River Dragon as someone who does good without looking at whom.
They can also be used to cheat and Invoke the Aspects of others or of the scenery to advance her cause. In the description of the text, I will put things in italics. Those are aspects of other people, objects, or even the scenery, and can also be used to gain an advantage. For example, a stormy sky could become an intense rain with the use of a Fate Point, helping perhaps to hide the approach of her army until it is too late. Or maybe a Fate Point can be used to guarantee that the Arrogant Yong Master starts underestimating Aldonza, giving her the initiative.
While a single Fate Point is always available for crafting a plan, there are to more ways to use more Fate Points in a single scene:
The vote crafter can deliberately accept a consequence. For example, perhaps a tough battle can only become a Pyrrhic victory, in which case the vote crafter may put "Mild Social Consequence: The army suffer severe casualties", and then use a Fate Point obtained to empower Aldonza. Note that this is a meta-use of Fate Points, is not Aldonza exchanging lives for a win, is the players trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
The vote crafter can exchange a single Quest Cookie for a Fate Point. Quest Cookies are assigned by the Quest Master for making a cool contributions to the quest, have an original out-of-the-box idea, being awesome, nepotism and/or bribes of non-material value. Remember, no matter how many cookies you managed to steal from the jar, only one can be used per post.
And what exactly are consequences? They are a special kind of aspect, that always hinder Aldonza in some way. They always need some kind of effort to overcome, that is, Aldonza needs to take a rest and plan how to get rid of the particular consequence. There are three kinds of consequences: Mental, Physical and Social. Each one of them has two steps: mild and severe. At any time, Aldonza can only have a single consequence in each category, anything more, and it would be game over.
To have a mild consequence imposes a penalty of one step on any action related to its type. For example, a mild social consequence implies that Aldonza did something to piss off the people around her, and thus any social interaction with them may be penalized. It can even be something like a tournament, since even if fighting is a physical activity, the tournament itself, with its public, judges and rules make the event a social one.
Similarly, a severe consequence imposes a penalty of three steps to its type, and having both the mild and severe consequence imposes a penalty of four steps.
Consequences can be cured with planing, time and resources. A single special vote may be called to take care of a consequence, and if successful a Severe Consequence can be transformed into a Mild Consequence, while a Mild Consequence is just erased.
And what in the heck doest that mean? Simple, when Aldonza tries to do something meaningful, that has substance, that actually matters in the narrative, I will assign a difficulty based on the factors involved. For example, in a fight against an NPC I will first take Aldonza fighting skills, add any step modifier, then modify that with a roll of four Fate Dice (a single die goes from -1 to 1, giving results from -4 to +4), and then compare the final results with the corresponding fighting skills of her opponent. If she has the better results, she wins, in a manner fitting the difference between the result and the difficulty, if she ties the difficulty, she still wins but with a mild consequence (or a severe one if no mild consequences are available), otherwise she loses, and suffer some kind of dastardly related consequence depending on how hard she loses.
Example vote
[ ] Plan: Explore the ruins.
With nothing urgent, it's better to look around for clues or treasure in the city. Aldonza has a Good Notice (+3) skill, enough to do a good search.
Let's make sure that we find everything important. Aldonza should be excited to be in a completely new place, since she is a wanderer (look her sheet for her Aspects). I use a Fate Point to push her curious spirit forward, raising her Notice from Good, to Superb (+5)
If someone approaches Aldonza, like those galloping horses, Aldonza will try to first assert their intentions, and only reveal herself if they seem cordial. Do we even speak their language?
Note that this example is simple on purpose, and there are many more things that you can do. Perhaps approach the hamlet to lend a hand, or hey! What if the horses are bandits about to attack the caravan? Maybe you are one of those obnoxious lolrandom players, and want to take a bath in the river instead? Go ahead, craft your vote, put any level of complexity that you want in them, just try to keep it in character.
And please note, that I can and will object to things that could derail or otherwise affect the flow of the game, in which case I will explain the reason.
I will give two days for from now for any vote crafting that you want to do, and to answer any question that you might have. Then, I will give one more day to cast the vote, between the example given above and any other that you may have crafted. The times can be adjusted after, if you think that is too much or two little.
Character Sheet: Aldonza Soledad Hidalgo de Las Lomas, the Knight of the Weary Countenance.
Description
A tall brunette woman in the peak of her life, with smiling wrinkles in her adult face. She gives a patient, caring impression when interacting, a soft temperate joy when celebrating, and a hard, rugged countenance when mad.
She always travels on foot, her mount, Asno Alado, too busy carrying her pristine healer implements, but she does mount her faithful companion when she needs to fight, or fly. Aldonza usually wears sturdy traveler clothes, and her panoply includes a sturdy armor composed of gambeson, brigandine and overcoat, with a kettle helm and mail coif. Her weapons are an aspergillum-shaped steel mace, a well-loved arming sword and a utilitarian bollock dagger. She also has a sling, even if she is not very good with it.
Aspects
High Concept: Knight Errant
Aldonza is an idealist warrior-medic in battered armor, humbly living off what the grateful people give her for her healing.
Trouble: Do good without looking at who
While Aldonza has the experience and empathy to discern other people's intentions, she still will go out of her way to heal anyone she can. This is the burden of a medic.
Relationship: Asno Alado
Asno is Aldonza's faithful mount. The pegasus serves as her fulcrum, opposing her more self-sacrificing acts, nagging her to not give more than she can, and openly mocking others when she opts to respectfully remain silent.
Personal Aspect: Compassionate executioner
Aldonza doesn't believe in cruelty as punishment. Injustices are either remediable, in which case the guilty must make amends, or irremediable, in which case the guilty must die.
Personal Aspect: MurderhoboWanderer
Aldonza loves to wander around, guiding, healing and righting wrongdoings, and she feels really uncomfortable staying too long in the same place.
Personal Aspect: Respectfully disrespectful
Aldonza treats everyone with maximum respect, always. The downtrodden loves her for it, the malicious think her easy prey, and the prideful hate that she does not give them special treatment.
Scenario Aspect:Fish out of water
Aldonza is on a new country, with a new culture, on a new world. She doesn't have the education, backing, proper contacts or even friends beside Asno Alado.
Skills
Fantastic Heal (+6)
The art and science of keeping living things alive. Used to treat wounds and maladies, it also can be used to keep people healthy. Normally a subset of Academics, Aldonza raised this skill to a supernatural level.
Superb Empathy (+5)
Ability to accurately judge someone's mood and intentions.
Superb Fight (+5)
Ability to excel at hand-to-hand combat, whether with weapons or fists.
Great Athletics (+4)
A measurement of physical potential, agility and motor skills.
Great Physique (+4)
Raw power and durability, including feat of strength and ability to resist physical stress or damage.
Great Will (+4)
Mental fortitude, the ability to overcome temptation and to withstand trauma.
Good Notice (+3)
Ability to pick up details at the moment, spot trouble before it happens, and generally be perceptive. It contrasts Investigate, which is for slow, deliberate observation.
Good Rapport (+3)
Building connections with others and working together. Rapport is sincerity, trust, and goodwill.
Good Academics (+3)
Specialized or formal knowledge and education, including history, arts and sciences.
Supernatural Stunts
Heal
Rejuvenating aura: Just accepting Aldonza's tender care is enough to eventually cure Alzheimer and regrown severed limbs. It also convinces cancerous cells to stop bring horny, halts the effects of aging, moisturizes the skin, and any other thing that helps people to stay at peak mental and physical health. The effects, of course, also applies to herself, so long as she is actually taking care of her wellbeing.
Mechanics: As a passive effect, Aldonza can declare that up to a thousand living beings of any kind are under her care. Every time that Aldonza and her people can stop to rest, any mild mental or physical consequence is cured, and any mental or physical severe consequence is reduced to a mild one. She can declare herself under her own care.
Diseases of the World: What is rust, if not a disease of the metals? What is corruption, if not a disease of the institutions? Aldonza can heal even a construct, an object or an institution, as long as she can put it under her tender care.
Mechanics: Aldonza can use a Fate Point to declare a single physical or social entity as her patient. After that, she can treat it using her healing skills or even her related supernatural stunts. She can only affect a single entity of this kind at a time, but can spend another fate point to change the entity treated whenever she wants.
Guardian Angel Slap: When death wouldn't wait, time is crucial. No therapy or medicine can help someone whose soul depart before the treatment can help them, and the only option is to show Death who is the boss with a firm pimp hand.
Mechanics: At the beginning of a scene, she can declare any living being under her protection, including herself. If something happens that would kill, destroy, erase or otherwise remove said living being from either the list of the living or the list of beings, then Aldonza can spend a Fate Point to slap said something with extreme prejudice, preferably with the back of her palm (so she doesn't drop her weapons). This counts as an attack on the source of the damage using her heal skill, and if successful, completely prevents the damage in addition to any other consequence of her attack upon her target.
Empathy
Sharing is caring: Nothing wastes so much goodwill as miscommunications, either deliberate or accidental. And while it's possible to understand with skill alone the person in front of you, what about the intentions of the one who spoke with her before you? When trying to understand the intentions behind something, Aldonza can expend a Fate Point to read not only the persons in front of her, but also the persons behind their behavior. For example, if a guard is only following orders, this power could reveal why such orders were given in the first place, or if an obvious falsehood is being said sincerely by someone, this could help elucidate the intentions behind those who misguided him in the first place.
Mechanics: At the beginning of a scene, Aldonza can spend a Fate Point to extend her generous spirit into the people around her, to help her read the intentions behind those who interacted with them. Since a single person interact with a lot of people, Alonza need to first restrict her empathic reading to a single topic or event. This power allows her to make empathy rolls against people that she doesn't even know, as long as she is talking with someone who interacted with said person about a topic that involved both of them.
Fight
Let the Dogs Bark: This is the fighting style of the one who sees the act as a chore, a means to move forward, a simple way to restore peace. So long as Aldonza engages in battle with a clear head and a proper motivation beyond fighting, every weapon she wields strike with the force of her conviction. In addition, she can exert her spirit to guide her towards the best way to accomplish her objectives in order to cause the least damage possible.
Mechanics: So long as Aldonza enters a battle with a clear goal and is not otherwise distracted from it, any melee weapon she wields or otherwise use becomes capable of resisting any strain, and able to overcome any supernatural immunity. Additionally, by spending a fate point at the beginning of the scene, she knows who, how and when she has to fight to accomplish her goals in the most efficient way available.
[] Plan Where There's Smoke There's Fire
-[] Go towards the hamlet. Call out that you're here to help (Good Rapport +3) and activate her Rejuvenating Aura as needed to heal anyone there that might need help. Spend a Fate Point to activate Diseases of the World to heal the village as well.
-[] While there, question the people. Who are they? Who did this to them?
-[] Keep an eye out on those galloping horses as well.
[]Plan: City of the past
-[]Let us take a look at the ruins of ages past. Explore what we can to find out what has brought ruin before if we are to help create a brighter tomorrow.
-[] We have the good notice skill lets pay special attention to what differences there are between this city and the cities we are used to.
=[] Hopefully our acedemics will help us with deciphering the language of this place. Look for a library to see if we can find better information.
So the choices we're debating right now seem to be exploring the ruins or going to the town in the distance to help out. Maybe this old place has tools we can bring to that town to help them out, such as farming equipment. It might be good to look for that while searching.
So the choices we're debating right now seem to be exploring the ruins or going to the town in the distance to help out. Maybe this old place has tools we can bring to that town to help them out, such as farming equipment. It might be good to look for that while searching.
And remember that some things can be left for later, but something might happen to change the original conditions. The ruins might get sacked explored by another party, someone that could be saved in the hamlet might die, the caravan and horses might go their own way...
I think we need to go investigate the galloping horses just because that situation is the most urgent. It's very plausibly gonna be done with before we can intervene if we don't deal with it now.
Time's up! We have two voted to choose from, plus my example.
Please pick one:
[ ] Plan Where There's Smoke There's Fire.
Go towards the hamlet. Call out that you're here to help (Good Rapport +3) and activate her Rejuvenating Aura as needed to heal anyone there that might need help. Spend a Fate Point to activate Diseases of the World to heal the village as well.
While there, question the people. Who are they? Who did this to them? Keep an eye out on those galloping horses as well.
[ ]Plan: City of the past
Let us take a look at the ruins of ages past. Explore what we can to find out what has brought ruin before if we are to help create a brighter tomorrow.
We have the good notice skill lets pay special attention to what differences there are between this city and the cities we are used to.
Hopefully our acedemics will help us with deciphering the language of this place. Look for a library to see if we can find better information.
[ ] Example plan: Explore the ruins.
With nothing urgent, it's better to look around for clues or treasure in the city. Aldonza has a Good Notice (+3) skill, enough to do a good search. Let's make sure that we find everything important.
Aldonza should be excited to be in a completely new place, since she is a wanderer (look her sheet for her Aspects). I use a Fate Point to push her curious spirit forward, raising her Notice from Good, to Superb (+5)
If someone approaches Aldonza, like those galloping horses, Aldonza will try to first assert their intentions, and only reveal herself if they seem cordial. Do we even speak their language?
Also, as a bonus for being the first ones to craft a vote, I give @KreenWarrior and @fireknight a quest 🍪 each. @GoldenGlory and @DeadmanwalkingXI also get a quest 🍪 for being the first ones to discuss vote building.
Now, please vote, I will close this 24 hours from now. Have fun!