LB play by post

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A PBP game of [Lady Blackbird:Tales in the Wild Blue Yonder]

Setup

Lady Blackbird is on the run from an arranged marriage to Count Carlowe. She hired a smuggler skyship, The Owl, to take her from her palace on the Imperial world of Ilysium to the far reaches of the Remnants, so she could be with her once secret lover, the pirate king Uriah Flint.

However—Just before reaching the halfway point of Haven, The Owl was pursued and captured by the Imperial cruiser Hand of Sorrow, under charges of flying a false flag.

Even now Lady Blackbird, her bodyguard, and the crew of The Owl are detained in the brig, while the commander of the cruiser, Captain Hollas, runs the smuggler ship’s registry over the wireless. It’s only a matter of time before they discover the outstanding warrants and learn that The Owl is owned by none other than the infamous outcast Cyrus Vance.

Characters

Natasha Syri • Lady BLackBird

An Imperial noble, in disguise, escaping an arranged marriage so she can be with her lover

TRAITS

  • Imperial Noble Etiquette, Dance, Educated, History, Science, Wealth, Connections, House Blackbird
  • Master Sorcerer Spellcaster, Channeling, Stormblood, Wind, Lightning, [Fly], [Blast], [Sense]
  • Athletic Run, Fencing, Rapier, Duels, Shooting, [Pistol], [Acrobatics]
  • Charm Charisma, Presence, Command, Nobles, Servants, [Soldiers]
  • Cunning Deception, Misdirection, Disguise, Codes, [Sneak], [Hide]

Tags in [brackets] are qualities you don't have yet. You can buy them with advances. See the Rules Summary below, under Keys.

  • Key of the Paragon As a noble, you're a cut above the common man. Hit your key when you demonstrate your superiority or when your noble traits overcome a problem. Buyoff: Disown your noble heritage.
  • Key of the Mission You must escape the Empire and rendezvous with your once secret lover, the Pirate King Uriah Flint, whom you haven't seen in six years. Hit your key when you take action to complete the mission. Buyoff: Give up on your mission.
  • Key of the Impostor You are in disguise, passing yourself off as commoner. Hit your key when you perform well enough to fool someone with your disguise. Buyoff: Reveal your true identity to someone you fooled.
  • Secret of Stormblood As long as you can speak, you can channel magical power and do Sorcery. You have the Master Sorcerer trait and the Stormblood tag.
  • Secret of Inner Focus Once per session, you can re-roll a failure when doing Sorcery.

Conditions [ _ ] Injured [ _ ] Tired [ _ ] Angry [ _ ] Lost [ _ ] Hunted [ _ ] Dead [ _ ] Trapped

Rules Summary

Rolling the Dice

When you try to overcome an obstacle, you roll dice. Start with one die. Add a die if you have a trait that can help you. If that trait has any tags that apply, add another die for each tag. Finally, add any number of dice from your personal pool of dice (your pool starts with 7 dice).

Roll all the dice you’ve gathered. Each die that shows 4 or higher is a hit. You need hits equal to the difficulty level (usually 3) to pass the obstacle.

Levels

easy—3 difficult—4 challenging—5 extreme

If you pass, discard all the dice you rolled (including any pool dice you used). Don’t worry, you can get your pool dice back.

If you don’t pass, you don’t yet achieve your goal. But, you get to keep the pool dice you rolled and add another die to your pool. The GM will escalate the situation in some way and you might be able to try again.

Conditions

When events warrant or especially when you fail a roll, the GM may impose a condition on your character: Injured, Dead, Tired, Angry, Lost, Hunted, or Trapped. When you take a condition, mark its box and say how it comes about. [Note: The “dead” condition just means “presumed dead” unless you say otherwise.]

Helping

If your character is in a position to help another character, you can give them a die from your pool. Say what your character does to help. If the roll fails, you get your pool die back. If it succeeds, your die is lost.

Keys

When you hit a Key, you can do one of two things:

  • Take an experience point (XP)
  • Add a die to your pool (up to a max of 10)

If you go into danger because of your key, you get 2 XP or 2 pool dice (or 1 XP and 1 pool die). When you have accumulated 5 XP, you earn an advance. You can spend an advance on one of the following:

  • Add a new Trait (based on something you learned during play or on some past experience that has come to light)
  • Add a tag to an existing trait
  • Add a new Key (you can never have the same key twice)
  • Learn a Secret (if you have the means to)

You can hold on to advances if you want, and spend them at any time, even in the middle of a battle!

Each key also has a buyoff. If the buyoff condition occurs, you have the option of removing the Key and earning two advances.

Refresh

You can refresh your pool back to 7 dice by having a refreshment scene with another character. You may also remove a condition, depending on the details of the scene. A refreshment scene is a good time to ask questions (in character) so the other player can show off aspects of his or her PC—“Why did you choose this life?”—“What do you think of the Lady?”—“Why did you take this job?” etc. Refreshment scenes can be flashbacks, too.