Swords and Darkness

Swords and Darkness

A pbp game using Jaws of the Six Serpents (Prose Descriptive Qualities) by Silver Branch Games[1], and Mythic GM Emulator serving as the GM[2].

IC Thread[3]

OOC Thread[4]

Characters

Mahon

aka Mahon the Bear, Mahon Kinslayer

Mahon is tall and muscular, with long black hair. He was handsome once, until he was branded on his face as exile and murderer, and now has a spiderweb of scar tissue on his cheek, pulling his face into it like a black hole. He dresses in leather breaches and a vest,and does not seem to feel the cold. He loves to have the sky above his head and so hates Narrowhome, and takes his hatred out on those that cross him and his employers. He has little need for money, and has taken up the mantle of thug and leg breaker as an outlet for his misery and self-loathing.

Backstory

Mahon had no exuse, no answer. Of course he regretted what he'd done in a red rage, but the fact remained that his brother Tain the Bull was dead, and Mahon the Bear had murdered him.

At the age of 20, the fraternal twins had become skilled hunters, and came to the autumn meet at Bryhope laden with furs and salted meat. They sold their stock quickly and commenced drinking. They spied a girl at the same time and quarreled over her until Mahon, blind drunk and furious, bashed Tain's head against a tavern table until his brother stopped moving. Later, at the Branding, Mahon saw the girl again; they must have been drunk, because she weighed nearly as much as he did and had a lazy eye to boot.

Mahon was brought before the meet. He had killed before, in raids against rival clans and in arguments turned ugly, sometimes for trivial reasons, but this was different. He knew it, and everyone else did too. The Earth Tribe elders pronounced sentence, banishment from the Kalet lands. Then Mahon was held down and a glowing brand placed against the side of his face, so that all who saw him would know him as Kinslayer. Then he was driven with sticks and thrown rocks to the edges of the Kalet lands, where he could never return to on pain of death.

He wandered in the forest for a long time, until alone, miserable, and mourning the loss of his brother and his home, decided to stop eating. He became delirious with hunger, and had a vision of Hursa, the Earth Goddess. Hursa forbade him from a coward's end, and commanded him to go forth and seek renown for her, his people and himself. He was to show that Hursa's chosen people were worth any three southerners.

Armed with hope and purpose, Mahon wandered west to Narrowhome. He despises the place and the people, but has become known and feared as assort of freelance enforcer in Narrowhome's criminal underground.

Stats

Strengths:

• Expert [+4] Warrior
• Good [+2] Fearsome Presence
• Good [+2] Redeem Himself in His Goddess's Eyes
• Good [+2] Hunter
• Good [+2] Stealth
• Good [+2] Improvising
• Good [+2] A Barbarian's Hardiness

Weaknesses:

• Poor [-2] Fearsome Presence

Fortune Points: 1

Learning Points: 0

D = Damage; F = Failure; S = Shift

Story Hooks: None

Karesh

Karesh is a thin dark-skinned Nilsomarian swordsman. He has shed his traditional veil, revealing a smooth clean-shaven face and smooth bald scalp to represent his self-reliance and straightforwardness. His chosen mask is instead a perpetual smile of amusement. He wears a white flowing ankle-length coat under his flared shoulder mantle, and carries the thin scimitar given to him by his mentor.

Backstory

Karesh grew up one of the lucky ones—an orphan of the vast and decadent city of Nilsomar who received the attentions of a kind old merchant named Yoosehd. Karesh followed the old man around and performed odd chores, living in the old dusty shop that sold brass trinkets, crystal objets, and books. During that time, young Karesh learned many things—the art of dealmaking, managing a business, and obscure booklore including some modest secrets of arcane nature he found in those old forgotten tomes.

As he grew older, it seemed that Karesh would one day inherit the old bachelor’s business. However, Yoosehd became deranged in his old age, oft possessed of paranoid ravings. One day, he blamed Karesh for stealing from him and cast him out, cursing him a hundredfold for evil deeds and conspiracy against his many kindnesses.

Saddened, Karesh returned to the ruthless world of the street, coming full circle to his life in days half-remembered when he eked out an existence as a cutpurse. However, the old gang would not have him back, being strange in their eyes and possessed of odd knowledge and displaying a fierce independence. In the end, his so-called friends framed him, selling him out to the authorities for evils he did not commit. He found himself suddenly in this familiar and unpleasant position for the second time in his young life.

He was cast into the arena where he learned to survive through quickness of foot and a good deal of luck. A famed fighter, Mufahd Halfhand, took an interest in him, and rather than slaying him, spared him and taught him the art of swordplay, especially of the flashy and stylish Benghareen school of fencing, used by the feared soldiers of Selmé’s temple, with their long flashing curved scimitars. Mufahd had long since won his freedom, but remained in the games for sport and to seek new recruits; he was a contractor of sorts, getting paid by anonymous masked lords or wealthy merchants to send young talent on suicide quests to assassinate their rivals for reasons petty and personal. The intrigues that they played in secret were time-honored games among the elite of Nilsomar.

Karesh served on one such mission in exchange for his freedom. He was sent to his target, but was set up to be ambushed by the palace guards. By luck, he learned of this and altered his plan of escape, never reaching the mark. He instead escaped the city, but not without a price on his head, and the enmity of both Mufahd and the sword master’s employer.

Stats

Strengths:

• Good [+2] Peoples: Trade
• Good [+2] Faculty: Quick Wits
• Good [+2] Driver: Keep His Past Behind Him
• Good [+2] Thief
• Average [0] Charm: Pyrotechnical Display*
• Good [+2] Bengarheen Fencing
• Good [+2] Knowledgeable
• Good [+2] Acrobatic

Weaknesses:

• Poor [-2] Impulsive

Fortune Points: 1

Learning Points: 0

Notes

Karesh’s Charm can produce minor and flashy effects, including the alteration of existing open flames. These can take the form of colorful flames that dance for the duration, a single bright flash that snuffs out the flame, creating smoke (and causing all within the area to resist the TN or suffer Failure Ranks in temporary blindness), or burning sparks that may shower targets within the area (resisting TN for damage).

Mythic Scene Tracking

Lists

NPCs

• Jidi Craggly—Mahon & Karesh’s current criminal employer
• Styno the Buzzard—Jidi’s chief rival
• Constable Jonah Tanner—the law in Narrowhome
• Silas Feather—the guy the PC’s are after at the start of the story

Threads

• Extract a sum of money from Silas Feather on behalf of Jidi craggly (open)

Chaos Factor

• Chaos: 5

Scenes

Scene 1

Scene 1 Setup: The PCs have learned about the whereabouts of Silas Feather, who has been in hiding for weeks, avoiding their calls. He’s been holed up in No. 33 High Crag street with a cousin. Karesh and Mahon are paying him a visit at night when it’s expected he’s there. Altered? No

Notes:

Concerns & Considerations for Running Mythic with PDQ

Interpretation

I'm not sure about how much you've used Mythic. It certainly had a steep learning curve for me. Interpretation is a fine art, and spending too much time fretting over a meaning can lead to system shut-down. Mythic only gives very vague results, which at first might not have any real logical connection with the action; this can be frustrating.

What I've learned is to go with whatever pops in the head first, even if it's only a tenuous connection to the listed meaning. Going with bold, interesting interpretations leading to immediate action and/or consequences usually works out best. Don't worry about whether or not you knew that you wanted—or didn't want—a particular outcome or scene setting. It has to come from our minds anyway, so don't agonize over any choices. That's pretty much straight out of the Mythic book, but it's great advice, nonetheless.

Upshifts and Rules Arbitration: I've found that Mythic also works well helping to adjudicate rules. One of the fun features about PDQ is upshifts based on good description. What I've done in my solo sessions is to rate the attempt being made to describe particular maneuvers in combat (either for attack or defense). Is it “Likely” that the attempt produces an upshift? What we really need is an agreement that the attempt was good enough to get an upshift.

Sounds like cheating? Not at all, I say! First, we really wouldn't want to over-elaborate on dull things or pointless action. We will ask these questions when the characters really need it—the drama will be high and the characters placed in desperate situations. That's when they need it, and the narrative will reflect this sort of elevated dramatic circumstance. Plus, we may likely find that we are describing NPC actions just as well because of the narrative demands (even without realizing it). That means NPCs get it too. It's safe to be generous about rating our own attempts.

For that matter, we might consult with Mythic about whether a particular Quality is relevant. Always give a generous assessment of likelihood about whether a Quality is relevant and then, if the situation comes up again, we'll just assume the same result. Same goes for NPCs, by the way. If the PCs' Qualities are broadly applied to different situations, the same goes for the baddies. Then, game balance is a no-brainer. IME, it doesn't matter if a GM (or GM Emulator) allows extraordinary benefit of broad Quality Penumbra, because both sides would benefit. It's also fun to stack qualities. A game for all those min/maxers, without perverting the system. Of course, one has to write a convincing description.

Also, Fortune Points falls into the above category. They're not exactly easy to earn. If unsure, ask Mythic. We can always reserve the right, as players, to award one another's characters a point for interesting and exceptional roleplaying...but perhaps only one every few scenes or so.

Story Hooks

We've talked about it before, and I think you have a good take—apply them as soon as possible and ask Mythic when in doubt or to clarify. Event Focus and Meaning can help to understand the nature of the Hook.

Turns

It might be fun taking turns to set each subsequent scene, and not worry about deferring to one another. Just do it. We will each, no doubt, have our own style of interpretation; but if we slow down to ask an opinion, it can take extra long (unless we're really stumped). In this way, I think we'll see that the story progress far faster than the average pbp.

We can run our own conflicts, running either a few turns at a time, or the whole conflict in one go, depending on the length and scope. If it's a long conflict, then a few turns at a time before deferring to one another is appropriate rather than the whole thing. Then it can be quite cinematic, panning from one shot to the next.

One other suggestion I have related to conflict situations is to adopt a convention from PDQ Sharp! “Duels”—all opponents split into one-on-one duels or groups against one character. Of course, if there's a powerful opponent, we would naturally gang up on it and take it turn by turn as needed. But as a general rule, at the start of a conflict, we as players would decide who pairs up with which opponents. For example, if there are ten minions, how do they divide? (Perhaps moot point in terms of minions, since they would get maximum 3d6 + MOD on a character, redistributing as needed.) This maybe won't be an issue at all.

OOC Text

We shouldn't feel the need to record every question and answer in the post, or details with the rolls, as that can all slow down the post. Random events might be recorded, but all depends on your taste. Sometimes I might list it as, "Are there 2d6 mooks? Yes," or "Karesh attack: 14 vs. TN 9." Sometimes it's simply easier simply to leave it out unless the notation of it is useful for future reference. I'm not sure how you feel about it.