Play-Test Episode: "Ariel's Fate"

[Noma Galway]

"Shooting through the bubbles pops the bubbles," Mariya says. "But if you don't react quickly enough to shoot the orc, it could save your life. I can try to put them on all of you."

((assuming Mariya could notice Fenella right now with a high enough roll))

"Does anyone but me hear something?"

 

[Ireth]

Ariel

I nod. "Makes sense."

When Mariya mentions hearing something, I hush up and try to see or hear what she's talking about.

 

[Ruby]

Fenella

I hear a familiar voice.

"Mariya! Mariya! Mariya?"

I see her ahead of me.

"Hey!" I yell. "What are you doing here? Why am I here? Have you summoned me with your magic, Mariya?"

 

[Ireth]

Ariel

I wince at the woman's shouting -- there goes secrecy! -- and blink in surprise as she comes into view. She's older than me, tall, blonde, pretty, and... is that a crown?

I dip a curtsy, then speak. "Greetings, Your... Highness? I'm Ariel, and this is Lily, Furtano and Dila. I guess you already know Mariya. Can you not shout anymore, please? We're trying to be stealthy." I lower my voice. "There's at least seven orcs behind this cliff wall, and you might have alerted them to us."

I hope I'm not coming off as rude, but this is kind of important.

Boy, I suck at this whole making-friends thing today. Stupid orcs and stuff making me nervous. I look away, blushing and awkward. I don't know how to talk to royalty! I'm not as good as Dad is at reading people -- he can read minds, for crying out loud. But I'm not usually this bad at getting acquainted with people. Maybe Lily's rubbing off on me. She doesn't seem too comfy around people; animals are more her thing.

That sounded rude even in my head. Was it rude? I dunno...

Ugh, this sucks! Can we just kill the orcs and get it over with?

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Lily looks ready to shout, but hearing Ariel's words, she composes herself.

"Wow, so this is what a real princess looks like. I mean… no offense to Rose. I just never saw how a princess from the main land gets all dolled up." To Fenella she says, "Oh, and you're not the delicate flower they say western princesses are. You dress like one, but you have a sword, and…"

Quickly sizing up the crowned maiden, she grins. "…you know how to use it, I'll bet."

 

[Ruby]

Fenella

I smile regally down at everyone.

"May I introduce myself: I'm the Princess Fenella. Ariel, Lily, Furtano, Dila, it's wonderful to meet you all. And Mariya - did you summon me here?

I was just about to partake of the Royal breakfast with the King, he's my father you know, when I found myself transported here.

If you'd given me fair warning, Mariya, I should have dressed in full armour instead of this flimsy silk dress! Fortunately, I do have my sword with me."

I slice the sword through the air a few times. It makes a loud swishing sound.

"I've used this weapon to kill many evil monsters in the past!" I say, matter of factly.

 

[Noma Galway]

Mariya also cringes at the loud noise, but manages to wipe her face of expression before Fenella can make out the expression on her face. Hiding emotion has almost become second nature.

Ariel's frankness does bring a smile to her face, but she alters it to seem as though she is smiling about Fenella's presence. Of course she is happy to see the princess, but sometimes her regal manner is bothersome.
"I did not summon you, Princess. I believe my mother brought you here, as she did me," Mariya says. "We are trying to decide the best plan of attack on the orcs. Hopefully they do not know we are here."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Lily says to Mariya, "I think if you zap the orcs and they chase fighters to shooters, that should work." Lily looks around. "Any objections?"

Spoiler: combat coming soon

Let's wrap this scene and get to combat! I need to make a map, but characters over photos should do.

Let's just stick to single-target attacks for now. We have enough complexity considering that you need to roll defense + another action every turn. Defense isn't passive, and I want to play-test Fate as it was designed.

Maybe we can get into multi-target stuff when you face "killer donkeys." The Fate PDF does imply multi-target fighting is allowed, but I think the way they do it is odd as the number of shifts (damage) for each target is based on the difference between the attack and defense rolls. I guess this means super-wimpy NPCs have passive defense rolls; otherwise, this doesn't work. Splitting the roll independently does work, and it would make multi-target attacks less common, which I think is a good thing. It would also make multi-hit attacks risky in the way that you might miss when you'd have hit vs. a single target.

I may consider a defensive strategies and how to roll them, but again… we need to test combat before taking creative advantage of the game's rules.

 

[Devor]

Another one brought by magic, and this one a princess. When Furtano came to this island, the worst of his expectations were that it would be a dead end. And it seemed likely.

But now. There are too many players. Too many interests. Surely one of them knows somebody who can help him. And just as surely, someone who would take Leppy away.

The odds of surviving the full course of these events have gone down quite a bit. But Furtano was no stranger to risk. He laid his hand on the hilt of his cutlass, having made his decision.

"Well met. Princess, am I to understand? As I had explained to Lily and Ariel before, this blade of mine has cut much of the greenery between here and the little dingy I had landed on. But none of that greenery bleeds quite like green orc skin. It is an experience I await with trepidation."

"And excitement."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Battle #1!

Our heroes now outnumbered by only one, the fighters venture into the cave while shooters wait outside. Mariya hears two orcs close to the room where the seven were talking earlier.

They may be lookouts, but there are no irregular movements that suggest they had heard Mariya casting her bubble spell earlier.

Spoiler: a note to Noma

@Noma, for now, go ahead and cast Bubble as single target and assume it stops a full hit with the downside that you can't shoot through the bubble. We can assume all players have a bubble even though I forgot to draw it. Maybe the bubble is even harder to see in the dark than we thought?

So Bubble is all set. You can zap an orc.

Spoiler: note to Devor and Ruby

Enter stealth mode! @Ruby, Fenella's stealth roll is 4u1. No plus! Roll 0 or better to be sure you're not seen.

Lily, Furtano, and Princess Fenella move in quietly. Mariya finds a small tunnel that allows her to see her princess and the others approach.

 

[Aspasia]

Dila

Whew, at least it's not me sneaking in there! I glance at Ariel, wondering how good of a shot she is. I guess I'll find out.

"We should get into position." I say, making sure to keep my voice quiet. I look around for a good spot. I don't want to be too close when the orcs come barging out -- I've never liked close fighting.



Aha! I see an excellent spot between two bushes, far enough from the cave mouth that I'll be out of the chaos, near enough to be useful. It's partially concealed, too. I smile, pleased.

"I'm going there." I tell Ariel, indicating the spot. "Hope Lily's plan works." I walk over to the bushes, making sure they have a good view of the cave mouth. All seems well. I just need to hide.


I conceal myself well between the thick bushes, training my crossbow on the cave mouth. I wonder how the others are faring inside the cave -- the huntress, the little pixie, the strange man, the newly arrived princess. Well, I'll know soon enough. I set a bolt to my crossbow, and wait.

As for the orcs? They won't see me, I'm sure of it. I grin. Won't be long now, before they feel the bite of my bolts. I'm liking this company better and better. I just hope there's loot. I'm not used to working without pay.

 

[Ruby]

Fenella

I wave my sword and

I'm a bit rusty. It's a while since I've attacked monsters and never in this manner!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Princess Fenella breaks silence, and one of the orc guards steps out only to be struck by the princess' golden blade.

Though on lookout duty, the orc clearly wasn't expecting such a dainty foe.

((ORCS' DEFENSIVE ROLL))

((EVERY PLAYER WHO BEATS A 1 IS HITTING AN ORC))​

He finds out the hard way that Fenella isn't afraid to strike a bigger foe. The experienced warrior princess hits her mark, thus the battle has begun!

Lily mutters a curse and makes a swift and silent charge.

((LILY'S ATTACK ROLL))

((A HIT, WHICH ADDS TO FENELLA'S HIT))

​

That she's unarmed doesn't stop her from giving an orc a swift kick. A tooth flies from the orc's "pants."

Spoiler: a note

For better or worse, battle has started. Since the orcs were unaware until Fenella rushed, players get the first attack. You can move the full screen and attack due to the orcs' slow reaction time.

After Devor rolls, I'll make a GM post to let you know how the orc is doing. (With Mariya's attack, I'd say not very well.) The bubble will keep anyone from getting hurt at the end of the turn. Once engaged in the fight, running away won't be easy. You'll need to base your next move on the action of the surviving orc(s).

Unless otherwise stated, I'm assuming everyone's ganging up on the same orc. He's taken 5 points so far, which means there WILL be a consequence. No matter how strong the attacked character is, damage >4 is guaranteed to have at least a mild consequence.

 

[Noma Galway]

Mariya raises her voice in an eery, wavering low note. Fenella attacked too soon...not that Mariya would ever say that to her.

 

[Devor]

Furtano resists the urge to groan aloud when Fenella strikes too early.

Clumsy. But she's got the muse's magic bubble. She's protected. She can run out, at least a few will follow her to the shooters, and then the rest of the group can flank them. The orcs wouldn't -

Damnit Lily! And Mariya? Must everyone break cover?

Furtano lowers his hand to the hilt of his cutlass, about to join the slaughter. Then he flinches and pulls his wand instead. It looks like they've got this orc covered. There's no need for him to break stealth.

In the commotion of battle he pushes a little further into the cave. A position behind the rock. What are the other orcs doing? Let's not give them the chance to figure it out.

Leppy, here it goes.

A dark eerie green light shoots from his wand, flowing around the orcs, accompanied by the creepy sounds of pirates grumbling and the shrieking Furtano would hear whenever the crew of the Red Hull made their first kill boarding a vessel.

Spoiler: Magic effort

So, I'm attempting a multi-hit mental attack on the orcs, hoping to send them running past the group and out of the cave. Or would that be an obstacle?

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Fenella, Lily and Mariya all attack the orc guard, who is well bloodied from the abuse. He still has some fight in him, but before he can retaliate, a ghostly whirlwind of green shrieking light engulfs Furtano's new friends and foes. The orcs cannot see through the illusion, and Lily is under the opinion that it's foolish to even try.

Spoiler: the math

Your will roll would need to beat a 5 to successfully overcome. A tie means you overcome, but can make no other action. Even if your will is +4, the odds of rolling a 5 are NOT in your favor!

Lily says, "I suggest we move. When this magic fades, I think ALL of the orcs will be here."

She stumbles into the wall as she runs from the illusion, but says, "Don't mind me—" She gets her footing back and says, "Keep moving!"

Spoiler: how to run fast

Roll athletics.

(@Ruby, it's +1 for Fenella. I have her character sheet up on the "fate of Flat Earth" thread. You can find all the numbers +1 to +4 there.)

 

[Ireth]

Ariel

Following Dila's lead, I look around for a place to conceal myself, so we can snipe the orcs from two spots at once.

Aha, perfect. I sneak toward a spot opposite Dila, where I too have a good view of the cave mouth. Now to make sure they won't spy me while I'm trying to spy on them.

I grin to myself. I'm a sneaky, stealthy Lioness.

 

[Noma Galway]

Mariya retreats further into the tunnel, then runs for it, trying to get outside before the orcs so she too can attack them as they come out.

 

[Ruby]

Fenella

I try to run away.

Where has Mariya gone?

I need to follow her. Where is my muse when I need her!

 

[Devor]

Furtano takes a few steps away from the orcs while he's still stealthed. Then he slips his wand into his belt and bolts for the cave exit, drawing his cutlass while he runs.

Spoiler: Bragging

Hate me, one and all, for all my rolls are good.