[RPG] Sword and Sorcery Play-by-Post

[mrz84]

Thank you for the clarification. I'm just the type who likes to plan his characters' abilities out ahead of time as much as possible within their background (Mangetsu for instance is the father of a character from the Bar-Buddies webcomic I used to post here years ago). Anyway, I'm done character ranting now and ready to get back to the game.

[TheDarkOne]

My Sancireph character outside of this thread has a sort of "sixth sense" due to his aasimar heritage. It gives him the heightened ability to detect traps, secret doors, and can often tell if a person is lying, but not always. Will you allow that here?

[CJC]

My Sancireph character outside of this thread has a sort of "sixth sense" due to his aasimar heritage. It gives him the heightened ability to detect traps, secret doors, and can often tell if a person is lying, but not always. Will you allow that here?

Yep, sounds like he's subconsciously channeling Scry magic. Perhaps it is a talent he shares with his people, or perhaps it is a personal benefit that will grow with time. We'll have to wait and see.

(Yeah, this is great stuff! Keep it coming)

[Xyvol]

I sniff the fizzy drink to try to determine what it is before I attempt to drink it. The runes I draw are simply a short, colorful review of my experience with the wait staff, though in a language/script only know to other magic users. I will watch the center table to see what is going on over there.

[CJC]

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Rule Clarifications

Combat: Offense
If you choose to engage in combat, know that the effectiveness of your performance is directly proportional to the creativity of your action. Simply attacking an enemy will get you very little. Use the scenery, use your special techniques, describe the way you attack, and take advantage of the scenery. Remember--if a detail has not been declared, then it is fair game. For instance, I never stated whether or not there is a moosehead on the wall of this tavern. If you wish to take down a moosehead and then slam it over an opponent's head, rendering him blind while he stumbles around looking ridiculous, go for it!

Also, in combat certain opponents will be locked while others will be free. Just like with conversations, you are free to describe how your attack has impact on a free opponent, but not on a locked opponent. For the purposes of this first brawl, every brawler is free and thus fair game.



General: Free and Locked Characters
Just a reminder, when you encounter a character that you as a player are not allowed to control, I will inform you at the end of the post that the character is LOCKED. If I do NOT tell you a character is locked, you may have them say and do whatever you please in the course of anteing your actions.

Once I've told you a character is locked, that character remains locked until I inform you otherwise. If you attempt to control a locked character, I will inform you in the next post that the character is locked and I will respond as if you did not control the character.

Characters that belong to other players are always locked.

Every patron in the bar, including the MAN WITH THE GOLD and the BARTENDER, is a free character. The MAN ON THE HILL is a locked character, however, meaning that when you have a free character talk about him, you will need to use phrases like "He tells you about the MAN ON THE HILL" so that I can fill in the specifics in the next scenario post.

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@TheDarkOne
Sancireph, the man is a human, likely in his thirties, dressed in attire that is inappropriate for the wealth he is flaunting. Clearly it was a recent acquisition, and from your gut you feel that he made this fortune through LESS THAN LEGAL avenues, and he seems quite pleased with himself for having done so. You push your way through the crowd to confront him, but he seems distracted by the scores of people trying to garner favor with him in exchange for a piece of the prize. You ponder about how you will manage to GET HIS ATTENTION, but as you plan the heavily armored SOLDIER you were watching earlier walks up, takes out his giant sword, and knocks the piles of gold to the floor. The other patrons scramble to claim these scattered coins; what do you do?

@mrz84
Zataka, you try to catch the attention of the MAN WITH THE GOLD as politely as possible, but he is absolutely distracted by the scores of patrons trying to get a piece of his prize. Frustrated, you take out your greatsword and use it to knock a massive portion of the PILE OF COINS onto the floor. They scatter, clanging bit by bit like hailstones as they strike the hard ground. For a moment there is silence, and then the crowd breaks into a roar as they scramble to gather the scattered wealth. The man with the gold gives you a sour look, but you do not allow him to speak.
You demand to know what he knows about the man on the hill. He seems flustered by the question.
"Ho... how do you know about that?"
He is scrambling now, scrapping what's left of the gold into his satchel. What do you do?

@Xyvol
Malichor, you sniff the drink and find it smells quite sweet. Taking a sip, you notice that the beverage is carbonated. You've heard of this... certain establishments have started serving this SODA stuff to their younger patrons--sugar water with artificially infused bubbles--though you wonder why a tavern would bother serving such things as they are non-alcoholic.
Looking past the bad review you inscribed onto the table, you watch as a heavily armored SOLDIER takes out his weapon and knocks the piles of gold to the floor. The chaos that follows is almost inviting; patrons crawling on the floor and clawing at each other trying to snatch a handful of toppled wealth. You can tell they are just seconds away from grabbing weapons and launching fireballs at each other. It's been a while since you had a GOOD BRAWL... what do you do?

[TheDarkOne]

I grab the arm of the man with the gold and pull him firmly away from the table and out of the reach of the soldier's greatsword. He reaches for his satchel and the remainder of his gold but I tell him to leave it or he'll be crushed by the chaotic mob. I take him towards the door and push him out ahead of me, then follow to get away from the chaos. Once we are outside, I glance over my shoulder to see if anyone has followed. The man looks at the door as if he wants to go back in but as I am between him and the door, he instead calls me an obscene name and storms away. ((Can it be taken as read that I have my pack with me from now on unless circumstances prevent it?))

[mrz84]

I try to regain my composure from my outburst, not having been so frustrated like that in years. With diplomatics failed and a mob of people between the man and myself, I sheath my weapon and try to go out the closest window to pursue the man. I look around my surroundings once outside in an attempt to locate and pursue the man for whatever knowledge he can provide, even if I must bribe him to do so with what little coin I possess. For the time being, I'll avoid trying to anger the elf and explain my reasons if possible.

[Xyvol]

Regarding the soda, I just think "Meh... bunnies." I will prepare a spell to fling chicken wings like projectiles at any looter/brawler that gets too close for comfort. The soldier and the man with the gold are my main focus now, and I am interested in finding out what is going on between them. Should they be split up, I'll follow the soldier to ask what prompted the outburst.

[CJC]

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Rule Clarifications

Combat: Defense
While engaging in combat, you will inevitably be subjected to hazardous situations, such as the very deadly prospect of being thrown through a window. You will ALWAYS have time to react, however. When the narrative indicates you are in peril, the means through which you describe the mitigation of that peril will help you reduce the injury you suffer.
For instance, if the MAN WITH GOLD had been a player character, he might have shielded his body with his arms to restrict the injury to his limbs, or he might have thrown his weapon at the window while he was airborn to break the glass before he arrived, effectively nullifying the injury.
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@TheDarkOne
Sancireph, you yank the MAN WITH GOLD away from the SOLDIER and toss him out the window. Odd... you meant to calmly walk him out of the door, but instead you flung him through the window. Your PULSE RATE is accelerating and something feels... wrong. You hurry out of the tavern after the man, finding him on the ground dusting the shards of glass from his clothes. A few particularly large shards are lodged in his body; he begins to shout PANICKED OBSCENITIES as he tries to crawl away. The soldier that threatened him emerges from the tavern.
You felt yourself CALM as soon as you departed the tavern, and you sense that this soldier too was being pushed to aggression by some unseen force. Still, he did attack the man. A MAGE joins you outside the tavern and looks down upon the injured man. What do you do?

@mrz84
Zataka, you feel a THROBBING RAGE building in your head. Your arms are shaking and you find it PHYSICALLY DIFFICULT to sheathe your weapon. Still, you grit your teeth and put the sword away, following the MAN WITH GOLD out of the tavern. As soon as you pass through the threshold of the window you feel the anger depart you. What manner of SORCERY is this? The man is on the ground, suffering from lacerations and embedded shards of glass as he writhes on the ground. The HALF-ELF threw him through a window, after all. He is standing beside the man, collecting himself. Additionally, a MAGE approaches from behind you. What do you do?

@Xyvol
Malichor, you push the soda away, as it wasn't the flavor you were seeking. Strangely, you find yourself with a flavor for BLOODLUST... some intense force is driving you to violence. Closing your eyes, you focus your mystical senses and detect a pattern of PSIONIC MAGIC radiating off the piles of gold that are scattered along the floor; it would seem there was an embedded spell of RAGE that was set to trigger a riot as soon as the pile of gold was disturbed by aggression. There is also a secondary effect on the coins themselves... a PHANTOM SPELL summoning spirits of greed and anger in the vicinity of the gold. The two together tell you a great deal; clearly the gold was booby-trapped by someone--possibly even the man at the center table. You decide to follow the SOLDIER outside, where you find the MAN WHO FORMERLY HAD GOLD seriously injured on the ground. He seems to have been maimed when that HALF-ELF standing next to him threw him out of the window. What do you do?.

[TheDarkOne]

I kneel beside the injured man. Being assimar (let me know if you need more info on what that is), I have the ability to heal minor injuries, similar to the Lay On Hands ability of a paladin, but unlike a paladin, I can never use it more than once per day, even if I go up in level. I try to pull some of the larger shards of glass from his body, checking for any serious injuries while I do so. Once most of the glass shards are removed, I use the healing ability to close as many of the wounds as possible. Afterwards, I look up at the solider and mage that have emerged from the tavern, and get to my feet as I size up the situation.