OOC - Killing in Khelia

Here, we'll discuss rules questions, character generation, and other meta stuff. As well as random commentary.

IMPORTANT: The random generator I posted is an option, not mandatory. I will try to put together a template for a character sheet that looks equally good.

This guy should be fun.

Do you have a preferred naming convention? A specific cultural/historical naming scheme, perhaps? Khelia--sounds almost slavic or russian in origin.

A few questions...
Maze Rats is very OSR focused, but Horror can imply other takes on it. For the Tone of the game, are we leaning into the horror aspect of it (sort of expecting that our characters are likely going to their doom) or are we in the more OSR feel of puzzle-solving adventure mode?

On the scale of horror I'd prefer something along the lines of Stranger Things, and not like a Cronenberg-level weird. Maybe keep it PG/R level. Is that what you were going for?

Also, did Horror imply taking the game more seriously, nothing zany or comedy?

Slavic / Germanic / Romance sounds all would be good for names.

Since your guy has a shield, you could swap the halberd for a one-handed weapon, or swap the shield and light armor for heavy armor.
You will be investigating a death in which the corpse was ravaged by animals. I'll keep to a PG-ish level of gruesome throughout the game. I'm thinking more like Law and Order SVU, rather than Brooklyn Nine Nine. Is that helpful for tone?

I mashed some slavic/romance names together if anyone finds this useful.

I added to the Game Details a link to a custom Maze Rats character sheet!

A party of ex-kidnappers it seems ...

and mine - rhymes? 🤣

I'm throwing together a possible background, for my character. But maybe the fates have said we should link them somehow.
I was going with Ognimir worked the docks a big burly guy, and the navy would often have him help get volunteers on the ships-- essentially worked with a pressgang.

Soon enough, he targeted the wrong person-- someone affiliated with Arcane Order.
OR, perhaps someone with the Arcane Order needed some other kidnapping done, and hired Ognimir....

But the mission went bad, he was "Hideously" scarred-- his arms and body are gross and distorted. And his lungs and throat were burned to give him his "hoarse" voice.

Just some ideas, maybe we riff off this kidnapping angle.

Does everyone in this world have magic or just characters-- perhaps only Guardians are giving some rudimentary channeling powers as being in the service of the Arcane order?

The fates indeed...

I like the navy approach and imagine them working together on occasion. Each can hold his own, of course, but it can be handy to have someone at your back. Damir might not have been on the particular job that went bad or he was in a position that rendered him unable to help. Maybe he did help and they somehow fled the scene or went underground to avoid further troubles.

Not even all Guardians have magical power - Damir does not, for example. Neither do most of the populace!

One thing we should know about spells that is a bit different from standard Maze Rats. In addition to having new spells come each night in dreams, erasing those from the previous day. Also, a character can bind a spell from their mind into a mundane object ... by expending a point of health (their own health, or that of any other creature). A bound spell can be used one time by releasing it from the object. The Arcane Order are rumored to do this often, to have a treasury of these horcruci. Perhaps your kidnapper characters abetted this, whether they know of it.

Leaving aside the grim possibilities of what the mages do with "sailors," you're welcome to post IC now.

Adrasthea, were you planning on posting in First person or 3rd person perspective?

Once the spell triggers, that point of health returns to the character? We're talking max health, I'm guessing?

Yes. For example, a seventh-level mage might have four spell slots in their head plus a dozen amulets with spells bound into them, and a total of 4 health. If they were of a darker bent of mind, they might have a greater number of amulets, and greater health.

Here's some brainstorming... I don't want to do too much backstory-- I like to discover in play. But I think this might be enough to get going... I am 100% open to revision and editing-- etc...

---


Worked the docks of a busy city. A big burly guy, good at loading and unloading shipments.
Sometimes the local navy would have him help "recruit" the local riff-raff into the service to the king's/queen's fleet. Essentially a kidnapper and pressgang work.

He got pretty good at it. Folks around the docks would treat him with a measure of respect, given the rumors--- but in truth, Ognimir only snatched up people he thought were dangerous or trouble, and never made it personal.

One day, agents of the Arcane Order arrived in the city. They were tracking a known criminal, who was about to steal away on a ship. They paid Ognimir to keep an eye out, and if he spied anything fitting the bill to grab up the criminal.
Of course, it happened, Oginimir spotted someone fitting the description, he ambushed them, went to sap and grab him-- but then things went sideways. The target cast a spell. Ognimir's skin boiled, he was afflicted. The target escaped.

The Order examined his hideous wounds. There was nothing to be done. The skin of his arms and hands are unnatural, disturbing and horrible. And yet, days later, Ognimir woke up with a spell in his head.

As some form of compensation-- he was offered a position of a Guardian. Slightly better pay and prestige than a dock worker, that was for sure. And over the years as a Guardian, he's actually come to like the job. Helping the people, doing the work. Though, on the harder days, he still wonders if it was some sort of set up-- where he was the target of some untested magic...

3rd usually.

I re-wrote the open. I want to start things earlier, and get your characters more involved in the story.

I just rolled on the various tables in the book. Brief background forthcoming...



Quintus Quail was a tattoo artist of some renown in one of Khelia's more cosmopolitan cities. He enjoyed a lucrative commission to inscribe elaborate protective symbols upon the flesh of certain Arcanes for ritual purposes. His career ended when a small error in one of his etchings led to the grisly death of an Arcane during a particularly dangerous magical ceremony. Honor-bound to atone for his tragic mistake, Quintus closed his shop and enrolled as a Guardian under the direction of the Arcane Order. He's been learning as he goes.

In addition to being an artist, Quintus Quail has some small magical talent of his own. He casts his spells by drawing symbols, whether in the dirt, on some surface, or in the air. He smokes a pipe, but not very well. He favors heavy, colorful robes, but these are singed in places where he has carelessly let ash fall from his pipe.

Are we travelling on foot or horseback? thx

That is something you three should determine now.

If we're agents of the Arcane Order, on a tour of frontier villages, then it makes sense that we would have horses.

Quintus sounds like an interesting character. Is it widely known that he botched a ritual and got an Arcanist killed? Does he go as far as to send money to the surviving family?

For horses.. maybe we lean into "loosely-ruled and almost-organized association of adventurers," where there should be horses (and other traveling essentials) ready for us when we leave or go to a particular location-- but sometimes that is not the case.

How much do we want to focus on this like a Hexcrawl/supply tracking game?

Perhaps since this is a forest adventure, on poor trails, a pair of sturdy pack mules might be more handy than horses that are prone to catching hoofs and breaking legs in holes?

I think it would be widely known that an Arcanist died, and it might be fairly well known that Quintus did some work for them in his capacity as an artist. My sense is that outside the Arcane Order, fairly few people would know that the mages employed protective tattoos for some rituals, and that Quintus screwed up one of these tattoos. Probably the dead person's family, if he/she had one, wants nothing to do with Quintus, so he serves as a Guardian as a more abstract form of amends.

Regarding equipment, Maze Rats does seem to care what tools you have at your disposal, and where you're storing them. So we should probably track it. That said, I'm happy to go with whatever level of detail people want.

Let me know if we decide to go with pack mules instead. If so, I'll tweak my first post.

It seems like we're committed to horses, which I'm envisioning as sturdy mountain horse types rather than swift desert coursers.

Maybe once Ognimir got the invite to be a Guardian, he owed Damir a debt and managed to get the invite extended to his fellow kidnapper?

I get the vibe that Quintus just joined the group, maybe freshly assigned. How does that sound?

That works for me. Quintus is definitely not an old hand at this Guardian business. He means well, though.

This is cool. Taken literally, it could mean the tattoos are animated, and actually do move. I like that.

Thanks! Not knowing how magical we're supposed to be, I meant them as normal tattoos of snakes in slithering postures. But they could certainly be moving!

Done. This fits nicely, I think.
I also thought that when reading the passage. Moving tattoos make the character even more exotic and appear more powerful. Cool indeed :)

Compared to ordinary folk, you lot are powerful.

Cheers to you for all of this rhyming, by the way. :)

thx
I'm trying to stick to the generated character 😅
Not sure I will be able to follow through for the whole game, though.

So far, I am intrigued with the story and curious what troubles we might face!

What are the thoughts/expectations for splitting the party?

It's not a problem for me, if our GM doesn't mind.

Splitting the party is always fun in a horror-themed story.

Sry guys. I am travelling and stay at a place without much internet until Sunday. I'll try to participate, but if I cant, please just take me along for the ride. Thx

NO worries!

Everyone please welcome @Dunko! and the marvelous Danill Krahl, who will introduce himself in-character shortly.

Hello all! Glad to be here!

Oh and wait, Danill is a he.

Greetings

Welcome!

Welcome :)

I know aside from Ognimir's combat we have been short on rolls, is everyone ok with how things are progressing?

Also @Rabbits I would be ok with a little time distortion to have Ognimir rejoin the group soon.

I'm indifferent to rolls as long as the story is progressing nicely, as this one seems to be. Indeed, I think that wise play in OSR-style games tends to avoid rolls; if you're doing a lot of rolling, you've probably messed up somehow.

Yes, bring Ognimir back in when you see fit-- he's had quite a bit of spotlight, so I'm also OK if the camera focuses on the other PC's for a while.
That's my sentiment as well. Things are progressing nicely. I am having loads of fun.

I particularly like the guidance in Maze Rats where it says to roll "if the action is risky and difficult to resolve through the description." I take this "difficult to resolve" part as the GM honestly doesn't know how that action would result-- and the dice are there to help inform the GM.

Question for you: how much of a mystery/investigation should we expect? I get the sense there is an interesting situation in Limm that needs to be uncovered-- but I'm not sure if you're going to dole out the information to us during play, or if you are expecting a full-on investigative type game. (Not sure if I'm explaining myself very well.)

In some games, the mystery is just hand-waved. The game is more interested in what the characters choose to do once they have all the information, rather than getting the information itself.

In other games (e.g., Call of Cthulhu) getting into the mystery is the whole point.

I'm good either way. But I think I'll run Ognimir a bit differently depending on the tone you're looking for.

This completely. I'm of the mind that rolls should only happen when the outcome is unclear--as others have said. Or when there is a legit risk of something going wrong that'll be narrative changing.

But of course rolling is fun. LOL

I think it may be enjoyable for you to track down the information, which will be provided by various people. I'm not going to make it terribly difficult to get, but I think it would be a bit unfair to simply dump it on you without some kind of NPC interaction to entertain you.

I am happy to investigate and I really enjoy the game so far :)

🤣🤣🤣

Is there a German word for that?

Agreed, and agreed! Lovin' the tone and feel. Thanks for having me.

I liked this. :)

"Guardian business" is great. :)

:D personally, I'm lovin' this game Tibbius and @all! Thanks for having me and thanks for the cool characters!

oh I have ideas about this vengeful spirit - thanks @adrasthea!

Oh damn... lol

killing my cool here...hrmpf

I think that was a private note to you. We didn't see it in the thread.

good to know 🤣

Waaait, what did we miss--is this related to Damir changing his clothes??? :lol

indeed

Hi, guys! I am travelling and most likely won't be able to post until Monday.
Have a great weekend :)

Caught a case of the old Covid over the weekend. But starting to get my brain back working.

Remind me, what do the guardians know about Dommic?

He's Podreg's twin. Like his brother he is good with a bow. He is hot for Ciara. He possibly resented her interest in Tiyem, who now is dead with an arrowhead lodged in the back of his neck.

I forgot I need to roll for Ognimir's spell.

1, 2 = Physical Effect + Physical Form.

2, 2 = Diminishing
3, 5 = Golem

answered I/c

I am willing to hand wave how you get Damir and Dommic back to the village, Damir treated and Dommic burned. Shall we cut scene to departing the village? Do we want to continue with another Guardians scenario?

Well, coincidentally, Quintus is a tattooist - and the Guardians are marked by tattoos - so probably you could induct Danill, yes.

Ok. I have thought up a new adventure seed. Everyone who's interested, please raise your hand.@Adrasthea,@Rabbits,@Ciriaco,@Dunko

I feel that character advancement is warranted. Your characters now are Level 2. +2 max health, +1 ability bonus.

I'd be happy to try another adventure! Did Dommic's death or sacrifice quiet the wailing spirit? Can the people of Limm sleep at night? Will Ciara ever consider Danill as a potential romantic partner? :)

....and where do we get another horse🤔

Danill is ready to be initiated lol, and get his very own horse!

These questions will be answered in the next IC thread! (forthcoming)

(I believe @rabbits is out of town on a business trip, we will wait a few days for them to respond IC before I post more ...

@adrasthea, does Damir have anything to do before leaving Limm?)

Yes! Let's have another adventure.

sry, have been away as well. thx for hosting a second round :)

Here's another rare photo of a mirror wolf!

Very cool. :)

pretty, too

Nice! How did you do that?

Found it while surfing the web.

I'm actually going to formalize this in place of the Maze Rats initiative-by-side rule: in a combat segment, all of the GM-run participants declare actions (which may be attacking, or running away, or anything else) and then make attack rolls. Then all of the players make attack rolls, knowing that they can act before any GM participant with a LOWER roll. Player characters can use their attack rolls to attack, run away, etc. Actions are resolved in descending order of attack roll.

Hi,
so are the both of us ... prone ... or can we get up and try to end these wolves? thx

@adrasthea @rabbits woo I should have said something about this! Thanks for asking. Yes, you were prone for one action (due to failed Danger Rolls), but you can get up and act now.

Thx. Will try my luck tomorrow 🍀

I cannot let this go without comment longer. @adrasthea, your mastery of rhyming speech is impeccable.

Hi, should I cut scene to some thing? What would people like to engage with?

Sorry, it's just been a busy week at work. I'm caught up now!

And I'm following the lead of the other Guardians!

I'm feeling that we might need some kind of push to move the story forward, but I will wait on that until Friday in case anyone wants to post in the mesne time.

Sry. Totally sick. Will post in the evening *

Oh I'm sorry, I hope that you feel better soon!

thanks. I am trying to do my character sheet justice, but it's mostly my trusted rhyming dictionary 😋

@Adrasthea,@Rabbits,@Ciriaco,@Dunko a heads up that I most likely will be offline from about Christmas until about New Years Day.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll be slowed down very much as well.

I'll be here just mashing the refresh button. :) Have a fun holiday!

I've been pretty busy as well. Thanks for letting us know!

Fine by me. A break from Christmas until after New Years Day.

I just want to check in here, I am torn between Ognimir being a bit of a stick-in-the-mud rationalizing in denial or having his faith in the Guardians start to crumble... Not sure which way I want to go. Thoughts? What sounds more interesting to you all?

Stick-in-the-mud, until we travel to the veil and see for ourselves 😆

I don't think one woman out in the sticks carries much weight without physical evidence. Let's see what happens. Maybe there are more ex-Guardians out here?

I'd like to take a break with Damir as I am on the road for a week and do not know how well reception will be. So if anything occurs that requires a roll, please just take him along for the ride. Should be back next weekend. Give 'em hell until then ;)

Damir would rush outside to Support Ogni if sb d be so kind and roll ; )

Idea for combat that I mentioned.

Oh Noooooo! Brothers! 😱😭

Stay strong! The Arcane Order is counting on you.

Unless the Arcane Order is evil, in which case it is coming to get you. One of those.

Maple died, then everything went downhill from there...

Would you guys want to proceed? As zombies maybe or new characters?
I doubt we can find out the truth without you ;)

I guess Maze Rats emulates old school play pretty well ... what with the potential for TPKs ... :sad:

Scratch the idea for combat that I had, I have play tested with another group and it was not good.

An alternative idea that I'll float is this:

I'm going to change the rules for combat significantly to hopefully reduce the likelihood of one-hit kills.Accordingly, I updated your character sheets ... with buttons for making all the common rolls!

How are we feeling about the game, after the demise of Maple and Ognimir and Quintus?

What say the folk who lost PCs? I was ready to carry on but my character has been a kinda a side character 😆

Work's gotten crazy for me this year, so this is probably a good place for me to step aside. I had a good time! Thank you all for having me in the game. I'm sure I'll see you around the site.

Glad that you enjoyed it, @ciriaco. Good luck with work and all! Hopefully we'll play together again sometime. Ping me if you start a game.

Thanks for the game, everyone!