In Progress Torment on the Shards, Part 36 - Planescape-inspired CYOA

[Kz3r0]

B)

 

[Gauldur's Bait]

Yup.

C) Wait on the roof until we can confirm what it is, then maybe drop down on top of it? If it does not show up, then climb down quietly.

 

[Storyfag]

C) Wait on the roof until we can confirm what it is, then maybe drop down on top of it? If it does not show up, then climb down quietly.

^

 

[Lithium Flower]

I love the smell of Kool Kodex Konsensus in the morning.

How does this work? Is it teleportation or something?

To the outside observer, yes. However, there is one major difference. You are not appearing someplace instantly, you are traveling there instantly. Do you want to get back to your (hypothetical) room in an inn a few streets away? Sure. Do you want to get back to someplace in a different ward? Sure, but you've just crossed ~50 city blocks in a second and your legs are killing you. Do you want to travel to another Shard, which involves crossing the Void? Sure, but you might come out dead (or worse) on the other side.

Belief moves are basically using the strength of your convictions in an ideology to shape reality. As Seekers are explorers concerning themselves with new empirical data, they can bend time and space in order to travel someplace they have already been without wasting much time, like a scholar skimming a book they have already read.

 

[Nevill]

But does it work as an escape route in case we find ourselves outmatched? Trapped in prison? Or are there some limits?

I guess 'trapped' can be forbidden as it is not a teleportation and we can't go anywhere it is physically impossible for us to go, but what if it was, say, a barn with a guard posted outside? It is theoretically possible to walk out, it's just there is a possibility that we would get beaten or shot if we tried... that does not exist because the action is instantaneous. Would it work?

 

[Kipeci]

C) Wait on the roof until we can confirm what it is, then maybe drop down on top of it? If it does not show up, then climb down quietly.

Lovely CYOA! I think this option sounds alright, chirping doesn't necessarily indicate that we should execute the source and so far as we can tell screaming seems to be the ambient noise of this area.

 

[Lithium Flower]

But does it work as an escape route in case we find ourselves outmatched? Trapped in prison?

Totally. No real limits except belief and what I mentioned above. Which is why if the Censors/Guard are interested in apprehending a Seeker, they are more likely to place them under surveillance (like the killer explained) or just kill them and dig through their shit than arrest them.

Lovely CYOA! I think this option sounds alright, chirping doesn't necessarily indicate that we should execute the source and so far as we can tell screaming seems to be the ambient noise of this area.

Thanks. I should clarify that the skittering and the agitated sounds (and the chirping, too) are clearly coming from within the hovel.

 

[Obsequious Approbation]

C) Wait on the roof until we can confirm what it is, then maybe drop down on top of it? If it does not show up, then climb down quietly.

Yeah, this should do the trick, I think. Got to be careful round here, from all we've seen so far.

 

[hello friend]

To the outside observer, yes. However, there is one major difference. You are not appearing someplace instantly, you are traveling there instantly. Do you want to get back to your (hypothetical) room in an inn a few streets away? Sure. Do you want to get back to someplace in a different ward? Sure, but you've just crossed ~50 city blocks in a second and your legs are killing you. Do you want to travel to another Shard, which involves crossing the Void? Sure, but you might come out dead (or worse) on the other side.

Belief moves are basically using the strength of your convictions in an ideology to shape reality. As Seekers are explorers concerning themselves with new empirical data, they can bend time and space in order to travel someplace they have already been without wasting much time, like a scholar skimming a book they have already read.

Does a higher belief score lessen the dangers - that is to say, increase the effective range, or is it the same at all levels of belief?

Also, you can add my vote to KKKonsensus C)

 

[Lithium Flower]

I realized my previous response to Nevill wasn't actually complete enough and may lead you to believe some things that are not true. Firstly, the second paragraph of his post is absolutely true, if say you are kidnapped whilst unconscious and dumped into a cage, there isn't any point where you can use that move to get out of said cage because it is a physical constraint, but in the barn example it would work. I have no idea why I didn't address that in my response, I guess I should get some coffee before I post in the morning.

Secondly, at the risk for confusing people, I am going to use way too many words to elaborate on when belief moves can be used, regardless of how apparent it may be, because I don't want to mislead you.

Blah blah blah

Basically, belief moves should be premeditated to a degree.

Mechanically this means that you have to declare them during a choice (be it one of the ones I offer you or a write-in). Belief is not going to be a resource that I am going to manage for you, just like I am not going to pull things out of your kits or spend money for you unprompted (well, I did give away your drugs - but that is because the vote to offer him goods won.)

Narratively this means that you can't, for example, instantly travel away from a wolf who has you pinned and is about to rip out your throat. You need at to have at least a little distance from immediate threats and a few moments of time to consciously will something into existence. Can you use belief moves when in presence of danger or a combat situation (ex. facing down a bunch of people who are about to attack you)? Sure thing, as long as it has those two requirements not present in the wolf scenario: a lil' bit of space and a lil' bit of time.

I will do my part by trying my best to break the narrative fairly and offer choices at critical points.

All of the above will be added to the mechanics page. I am probably making this sound more convoluted than it is (I mean, I think "you can only take actions when I give you an opportunity to do so" is probably a pretty self explanatory concept in CYOAs), but I'd rather take too many words to say it now than worry about people making misinformed choices in the future, so forgive me for yet one more mechanics ramble.

Does a higher belief score lessen the dangers - that is to say, increase the effective range, or is it the same at all levels of belief?

No, higher belief just lets you use more belief moves per rest. The dangers of that particular move are circumstantial to the move itself and the effective range is whatever you want it to be, after all.

 

[Lithium Flower]

Everyone and their proverbial mother voted to stay on the roof until the occupant is visible and try to sneak inside if they don't show themselves.

Part 8 – How It Eats

You wait and listen. The deranged sounds continue. At some point you begin to hear a quiet panting and the moans become more breathy, yet the scratching persists. Eventually you surmise that whatever is inside must be busy with something. You don't know when it will show itself and in the meanwhile every second spent on this blasted roof increases the chances of someone spotting you.

You sit up, slowly lowering your feet through the hole, half-expecting them to be gnawed off by some beast from below. The uninjured leg touches down first, then you hiss in pain as the injured one joins it. Now all that is left is to take cover and hide...

Rolling...

...2d6+Dexterity
Result: 4; Failure!

Instead you slip on a pile of hopper shit, stumbling into the rain catcher and knocking it over. You fall on your ass, hard.

That is when you see it. The beast, about a third of a meter in height, is in the corner of the room, by the entrance. It snorts and turns around, staring straight at you with its beady little eyes. Besides its slit-like nostrils, they are the only features on its large spherical head, set unusually high on it. Its oversized belly almost touches the ground.

You go for your brace of knives. The creature leaps, crossing the length of the room as if the bulk of its belly was not slowing it down. Four strong limbs land on your chest, knocking you flat against the ground, the hopper's claws scratching at your upper torso as it screeches in your face.

Rolling...

...1d6-2 Damage
Armour: 1
Result: 3-1=2; You lose 2 hit points!

Its weak claws just barely penetrate the padding of the gambeson, streaks of pain spreading through your chest. You manage to draw your blades just as the skin on the beast's head, revealing a mouth full of disproportionately large teeth.

Oh. So that is how it eats metal.

You try to...

A) Go for the score - shove a dagger in its throat.
B) Cut it to ribbons with your blades.
C) Grab the thing and toss it through the hole in the roof.
D) Other, please specify

Notes

I had ZERO IDEA how relevant the example in my previous post was to this. As fucked as the situation may seem, try to have some optimism. The die taketh away, but sometimes it also giveth. Sometimes.

 

[Nevill]

Okay, we have 3 HPs and are about to get fucked. However, we confirmed it's indeed a hopper, AND we have traveled inside the shack. Meaning we can teleport inside it instantly as long as there is a way in and out.

Seeing how we are about to die, I figure out it would be important to get away alive. I am thinking bolting out of here, perhaps putting something between us and the monster. Heal up (hit the contact, Knows? He might have something). Then come back, lure it out of the hole in the wall with a hopper snack, teleport inside, barricade the hole, and search the place. Then teleport out. Uses up our belief moves for today, and delays us somewhat, but it's better than being gnawed to death.

Might be tricky when it's sitting on top of us, though. Might be easier to kill it outright.

 

[Nevill]

Hey, OP, how does this work?

*Communicate via thought with someone in sight

Does it work on animals? How hard it would be to convince it we are poisonous, or that a hopper eater is behind it, or something?

 

[Grimgravy]

Hmm. It's gullet may be pretty tough since it eats metal. There would probably be some jagged shards of metal as it chews and swallows.

B

 

[Storyfag]

B flipflop in lower post

More cosmological questions!
Does the Demiurge make public appearences? Or is His divinely human image known only through statues and such?
Does He take any active role in the governance of the City? Like telling His High Priests or whatever is their proper title what is His will?
Are there temples to the Demiurge? Shrines? Cathedrals?
Does He feed on the belief of His creations, growing in strength?

 

[Nevill]

Uh... Lithium Flower? You there?

It is kind of important to know what we are capable of, given that we barely started and are already on our last HPs.

 

[Lithium Flower]

Does it work on animals? How hard it would be to convince it we are poisonous, or that a hopper eater is behind it, or something?

Creative! This is basically telepathy, so sure - you can instill a weak, generally non-predatory animal with a sense of fear of its surroundings (much like the hopper. The reason it attacked was because it was scared, not necessarily because it was trying to hunt a larger prey, and it doesn't help that it had been agitated because of reasons). If only it wasn't about to bite your face off...

B

More cosmological questions!
Does the Demiurge make public appearences? Or is His divinely human image known only through statues and such?
Does He take any active role in the governance of the City? Like telling His High Priests or whatever is their proper title what is His will?
Are there temples to the Demiurge? Shrines? Cathedrals?
Does He feed on the belief of His creations, growing in strength?

The Demiurge is said to have close to unlimited power (as he can bend reality to his will) but his attention is by no mean unlimited, so he is not fully omniscient. He typically spends most of his time at the fortress of Heartisle, steering the Shard, but it is said that he was out more in the early days of the City when it was smaller (hence a giant statue of a burly bearded man erected in the Demiurge's Plaza), and there have been many times it was rumored to have "stepped in" and resolved some problem or overridden the Officials' authority.

Because of the aforementioned limitation and the fact that he has an entire Shard to maintain and steer through the Void, he has given the authority over the City to its three pillars: Temple Guard protects, Bureau of Builders creates, the Censors College regulates. Said form the Auspicious Assembly together with the ward Seneschals, which decides and passes edicts and resolves City matters. Some edicts are passed in the Demiurge's name, but it is unclear if they came directly from him or if the title simply refers to them being written under his authority.

The Cult of the Demiurge is a widespread religion that worships the Demiurge as not only a creator, but also of divinity - the ultimate being from which meaning should be derived. The Cult of the Demiurge is the only accepted religion in the City, meaning you may choose to be atheist, but you cannot express any religious sentiment towards any entity besides the Demiurge. There are many places of worship in every ward of the City, the most important and largest one being the fortress-monastery of Heartisle.

He doesn't even need to actively feed on the belief of his creations. Because of the laws of the Void (or the lack thereof, perhaps?) strong belief or willpower activates the untapped energies of creation within the Void, changing reality. So passively, from having so many people belief that he is a Divine all-powerful being, his strength is preserved or multiplied. That is why the Temple Guard serve a dual function: they are warriors, so they protect him and his City physically, yet they are also traditionalist conservatives and religious fundamentalists that try to preserve the Cult of the Demiurge and spread it, for that in essence is as important as physically protecting the Demiurge and his power, because ideology shapes reality.

EDIT:

Uh... Lithium Flower? You there?

It is kind of important to know what we are capable of, given that we barely started and are already on our last HPs.

Nevill, I just woke up, man.

 

[Obsequious Approbation]

C -- Just because the mental image made me laugh. :D However, if Nevill's idea is possible then let's do that instead. Otherwise, I don't see much of a chance for us if we play it fair, considering our wounds.

 

[hello friend]

B

Edit: Actually, scratch that. Flopping to Nevill's implied D. We r poisonous, not for eating, don't eat!

 

[Lithium Flower]

It is possible to do the belief move right now, technically - but you are gambling is that it is not going to kill you before or the moment that you do it. As I outlined in the previous post, you need a moment of concentration to do it, and since you are beset by an immediate threat, that is one very dangerous moment to spend idle indeed.

Since this is a very important choice, I will be transparent and say that if you choose to use that belief move now, I will roll a Die of Fate (say, 1-3 is it bites you before you do telepathy, 4-6 it doesn't) to determine if it will manage to attack you. It it does, there is the damage roll, which you might very well survive.

Again, sorry if I hadn't been clear on this. English is my second language, my writing is shit, I am kind of slow in the head by the virtue of being a Slav - etc.

EDIT: It all depends how you want to frame your write-in choice. If you manage to put some distance between you and the immediate threat, you can then do the belief move without risk of harm. Again, like I outlined earlier.

 

[Kz3r0]

B)

 

[Nevill]

Nevill, I just woke up, man.

Oops, sorry man. There is only Europe, past it there may as well be Dragons.

D) Hit him in the beady eyes to momentarily stun it, then concentrate and think really hard at it to instill primal horror so that it'd run for its life.*

*activate the Belief move, if this needs to be spelled outright.
It works in the movies.

I would not bet on the whole fight, but the first strike daggers may be of use here...

It's not putting distance between us in space (we are on the ground, pinned by its not-so-light bulk, how do you put a distance?), but rather in time (by getting it occupied with PAIN). Does this work for the purposes of the belief move?

Edit: modified to hello friend's:

D) Attempt to stun with fist, then use *belief move* to communicate how very poisonous we are to touch and taste. If stun fails, strike to kill to death with dagger. As we used our first action on the stun attempt, the hopper's attack is likely to hit us first, but on the off chance the damage is low enough that we survive the blow the fast attack speed of the dagger gives us another chance to save our skin.

 

[hello friend]

 

[Lithium Flower]

Oops, sorry man. There is only Europe, past it there may as well be Dragons.

D) Hit him in the beady eyes to momentarily stun it, then concentrate and think really hard at it to instill primal horror so that it'd run for its life.*

*activate the Belief move, if this needs to be spelled outright.
It works in the movies.

I would not bet on the whole fight, but the first strike daggers may be of use here...

It's not putting distance between us in space (we are on the ground, pinned by its not-so-light bulk, how do you put a distance?), but rather in time (by getting it occupied with PAIN). Does this work for the purposes of the belief move?

No problem, my dude.

Cool plan! I assume everyone who voted to use the move supports it, if not they can let me know otherwise.

Whenever you exchange damage with someone (most likely to happen on a 7-9 result, aka partial success), whoever uses fast weapons deals damage first, as opposed to simultaneously. So if you manage to kill your foe with a fast weapon in that scenario, it won't be able to hurt you.

And yeah, this totally works if it succeeds. Distance/time is there to establish you are not going to get killed or interrupted while try to concentrate. So its less of distance from it physically and more of distance from the threat of it, conceptually. If that makes any sense.

What are you hitting it in the eyes with? Daggers? Fist? Cawk?

 

[Nevill]

I will let others decide if it wins. I want to stun it, not send it into a rage, so I would use fists (if they are 'fast' - nothing about it was mentioned yet), but I can see the benefits of hitting it with a dagger. On a lucky roll we'd just kill it, and that'd be that.

The problem is that daggers are messy. They leave blood and traces if it runs away on the streets. And we don't want that, not even after our fuck-ups.

Though is it really time to think about professional pride instead of our life?


Edit: actually, do we even want to send it running? It might attract the attention of whoever is watching the place. Maybe someone can come up with a better idea? Maybe suggesting that we are poisonous and dangerous and better left alone would be better here.