[Interest Check]Seasons of Tempest and Mirth

I would like to GM a game inspired by this set of images and the included oracle.

For 1-3 players using a solo-threading format. Solo-threading means individualized posts for each character yet all characters are in the same world. Rare crossover scenes that include multiple player characters are possible - but not a focus of play.

If you answer Yes to any of the statements below, this might be a fun game for you:

You usually GM, but want a chance to take a character out for a spin.
You enjoy improvisational and collaborative play.
Playing PbtA or FitD games has been on your to-do list for too long.
You enjoy pushing your characters into trouble and out again.
You enjoy tweaking and adjusting rules on-the-fly.

Inspirations
In a Wicked Age, The Wizard’s Grimoire, Blades in the Dark, World of Dungeons, Apocalypse World, Burning Wheel, Microscope.

A Note on the Rules
The Iridescent Hack are rules morphed from World of Dungeons as part of several months of playing in other PbP games.

Posting Rate
This will be the third active game I’m GMing. My current games have priority. I won’t post on this game until I’m caught up on my other games. As such, my posting rate will vary, but I don’t anticipate more than 3-4 days lag time. I’ll likely reply within 36 hours.
You can post at any rate that works for you. I prefer at least once a week, but I’m good with anything.

What To Do Next if You’re Interested
Skim the Iridescent Hack paying close attention to Character Moves. If that seems fun and exciting, then, in this thread, roll a few times on the Oracle. From the results imagine a situation and a character it implies. Give a brief Situation and then write an associated Character Move, maybe a Belief.

This might not be the character you actually end up running, but it will give you a sense of what this game will ask of you. Please feel free to ask me questions.
Even if you are not interested, you're still welcome to roll on the Oracle and create a situation/character move/belief combo here (which I might possibly steal for an NPC).

Looks super-cool! Need to focus on my own stuff, but good luck with this!

You had me at rabbits.

I think I'm interested in this. I should have a bit of time in the next day or so to consult the Oracle and to try and come up with a situation, character etc.

Good to see you, Dunder!

Thanks, Harrigan!

Ha! Cool.
Let me know if you have any questions about the Oracle or Character Moves.

Great! No rush. Let me know if you have questions.

This looks amazing, I'm very interested! The images and oracles are creatively evocative to me and the aim and tone are what I'm looking for in a game like this.
I wouldn't say that I usually GM, but I definitely enjoy GMing and that influences how I play as a player.

I have played a lot of PbtA (Apocalypse World, Dungeon World, Uncharted Worlds and Lady Blackbird) and really enjoy that style of play. I've wanted to try FitD for awhile, but I've always had a full plate when other opportunities have popped up on GP, so I'm really excited that this game has some influence from that system/style and that I'm only committed to one other game at the moment.

I enjoy imagining exciting successes, complicating partial successes, and dramatic consequences that lead to trouble or tough choices for characters and then playing to find out.

For PtbA/narrative-style games, I enjoy tweaking the rules to fit the situation, particularly in advance of the roll, so everyone knows what the stakes are in that situation, it makes the roll more exciting. I'm not a huge fan of tweaking the rules post-roll because I think that often feels railroady, although creative interpretation is definitely welcome and enjoyable.
I haven't heard of Wicked Age or Wizard's Grimoire before, but Burning Wheel is another game I've been interested to try. I've played a lot of microscope (including 2 games here on GP) and I really enjoy the shared interactive world building that can happen there.
I like the flexible posting rate because I'll be quite busy in January, so I might be a little slow to start (1-2 posts per week), but if the game goes well, I expect to settle in around 24 - 72 h response time.

I'll roll on the Oracles, think about their meaning and get back to you ...

Oops, Region was supposed to be 1d3, so 6 = 3.

Region: Khist-Nolmriah
Name: Oril

Oracle 1:
The wreckage of a colossal airship.

Oracle 2:
Discord and dissent on the verge of merchant civil war.

Oracle 3:
A stringless mandolin with emerald inlay.

Awesome, I'll let these stew for a bit and come back later ...

Khist-Nolmriah - Somewhere



The platinum blade, heavier and harder than any steel, strengthened by dendritic growths of sperylite. Wraith like it swallowed light. Torc smiled, the omen was good, a dark blade, for a dark Deed.


The scriptorium where silence and speed are cherished above all else. Such a place given to the weird rites that bound man to Outsider. Flood plains full of grime and ruin. The vision became clear, there would be found the sacrifice.


As the vision faded, Torc rose from his meditation, seeking his guildsmates. The hunt would commence as soon as they assembled. Nigh is the time, near was the hour.

Player Move:
Bearer of the Curse:
A ravenous hunger for souls fuels you. No amount of food or drink will satisfy. Only the death of great souls near the Cursed One will satisfy. Duty is all, forsake it and suffer a fate far worse than the death you will never know. Seek great souls to restore your humanity. Increase an attribute of your choice by 2, decrease Charisma by 2.

Ashen Undead:
Your hunger has been fulfilled, and you are free to pursue your duty. Wary death, for even though it's sting will not keep you down, you are still accursed and will revert to a ravenous hungering undead upon it. Precious humanity ill afforded to be lost. Increase Charisma by 2.

Belief:

Though I cannot die, I know of fates worse than death. I believe it is right to take life if the end justifies the means.

This reminds me of making an Everway character. I will back to play with the Oracle and if there is room, I would to play.

Hey Harrigan. Good to see you too. Maybe we'll be in a game together at some stage

I'm going to roll some dice (maybe reroll if the result have already come up and see if I can get something cooking.

Region: The Seven Kingdoms of Llorinth
Name: Colsea
Origins:
The financial district filled with fog.
A tin of fine tobacco
The wreckage of a colossal airship.
The crimes of a local magistrate, swept under the rug.

Some interesting stuff to ruminate on

Let's see what we get.

Origin: Seven Kingdoms of Llorinth
Name: Hidgest

Discord and dissent on the verge of merchant civil war
A school for the mathematically gifted
The friendship between an aristocrat and a constable

When the biggest draw your city has is an academy for math, well it makes life pretty quiet for the city watch. Even the drunkest of scholars don't make much trouble. So you can imagine our surprise when mercenary companies start lining up around the city while city-state envoys demand or imply how much better things would be if they just turn over the city to them before things get messy. I had no idea what was going on until Count Rodolfo found me, city patron and, I like to think, friend. Turns out one of the scholars, Miko, did a mathematical analysis of trade patterns in the region. It was supposed to be a boring project so she could graduate. Instead, she found years upon years of graft, kickbacks, and shady dealings and before she realized she should bury this and pretend not to have noticed, word got out. Now all the merchant lords are up in arms, claiming that they are the wronged party and once they have the scholar in safe custody, the full report will prove it! Count Rodolfo is supposed to turn her over to the Duke of Milano as is his feudal duty. He would consider it a great favor if when he went to collect Miko tomorrow, the Count would not find her. I nodded. The poor scholar did not deserve this and the count has always been good to me.

Member of the City Watch

Members of the City Watch are expected to stay in shape and are given basic instruction in the use of spears and daggers and wearing of leather armor. They are also expected to obey orders. + 1 Str, +1 Dex, -1 Cha You have several contacts in the Watch and among the citizens of the city where you patrol. You earn enough to survive if you are careful.

Sergeant of the City Watch (Member of the Watch prereq)

Through competence and connections, you have earned a rank in the City Watch. +1 Int, +1 Cha. Advance any social actions for those of lower rank in the Watch and for the common folk of the city. As Sergeant you have been to track down criminals and recognize criminal activity. Advance associated actions but diminish social actions with those that have something to hide from the law. You earn an income for a modest lifestyle.

Patronage of Count Rodolfo

The Count watches your career with interest and others watch the Count's interest in the same way. Advance associated social actions with those allied with the Count and diminish associated social actions with those opposed to the Count. The Count arranges for gifts to find their way to you. Your overall lifestyle remains modest but you have several possessions of finer quality than your lifestyle can afford.

Belief: The innocent should flourish and the guilty punished. I will rescue the scholar Miko and take her to a place of safety.

Oh, this is wonderful.

This is intense! Gives a distinct impression of Khist-Nolmriah.

I can't wait to see the other starters.
Just a reminder, nothing here is set in stone. Feel free to just let your imagination run.

Once we move over to the main thread, we'll do some shared World building, tweak things and lock items into place.
I like to do the Microscope Palette if you're familiar with that.

Thanks, everyone! I'm super jazzed.

dunderklumpen and Chalrytharendir, any thoughts on your oracles? I'm looking forward to seeing what you or others can come up with.

Sorry for the delay, busy with holidays and beginning of the year. I should be able to post tomorrow. I enjoyed your post Verrain and am looking forward to adding some potential ideas.

Oril climbed up the cracked hull of the colossal airship. He had found the ruin while wandering the grimy Wastes of Khist-Nolmriah looking for the ancient hidden treasures scattered throughout. This one, though, was a surprise. It was ... fresh, not ancient.

Giant letters came into view as he crested the curved hull, The Spirit of Leviathan. The young man, who hadn't yet fully grown out of his teenage body, almost fell in shock of the ship's name. It was the largest airship ever built, only just completed in the famed shipyards of his home town, Sellean, an outpost supporting the wood milling and airship industry a weeks journey to the North. The forests of northern Khist-Nolmriah were a wild and dangerous place, but the silkwood timber harvested from there was essential for airship construction. He'd worked in those mills most of his life, just like his father. But unlike his father, he knew he was destined for greater things. He often took leave of the mills to venture into the vast wastes to the south hoping to find treasure that could fund a new life, travel to the great cities, find new experiences and escape from the hard manual labor and saw dust of the giant mills.

Oril ran his hand along the side of the ship. No doubt, some of the wood in Leviathan had been milled by his own hands. He loved the craft of creating from wood, but he wanted to do it on his own terms, his own projects, but that was not possible in Sellean, which was ruled by the two largest merchant companies in the World, Amez and Sons (A&S) and The Maltaph Coast Company (MCC).The Spirit of Leviathan had been completed a few months ago and had been expected to set out on its maiden voyage shortly after Oril had left Sellean on his current trip into the Wastes. And yet, here it was ...

Oril pulled himself up and over the railing that lined the main deck, which slanted downwards at a steep angle towards the fractured and smashed destruction that was the rest of the ship far below. This section of the ship was still somewhat intact. Leviathan was not a battleship, it was a luxury passenger vessel sponsored by one of the Kings of Llorinth to encourage travel between the Seven Kingdoms and the Quailing Heights, and yet there was evidence of a fight, arrows embedded in the deck, bodies impaled with weapons, scorch marks that Oril couldn't explain, but there was no signs of anyone living.

There had been controversy about the construction of the ship. The rest of the King's fleet had been built by MCC, but MCC had refused to build a ship as large as The Spirit of Leviathan, so the King convinced A&S to build it instead. MCC and A&S had worked as partners for decades forming a pseudo-monopoly that dominated world trade, but the Leviathan contract had fractured the relationship and put the merchants on the brink of a civil war. Oril wondered if that tension, which had been building for the last year or so, finally snapped.

Making it carefully to an entrance that led below deck, Oril opened the door and yelled, "Hello! Is anyone here?" There was no reply or evidence of activity below. He slowly descended into the bowels of the ship.Most of the ship was still empty. It was to be furnished upon arrival in Llorinth, however, one room was jammed full of exquisite provisions and decor. Rumor had said that the King's son, Prince Bedon, a child of only 10 years, would travel to Sellean, accompanied by a royal retinue and guardians, in order to ride with The Spirit of Leviathan on its first trip back to Llorinth. This must have been his room, but no one was here now, the content were strewn about, a mess from the crash. But one object caught Oril's eye, a stringless mandolin with emerald inlay. When Oril picked it up he was immediately overcome by a vision:

A prince stood in that same room, practicing the mandolin. It must have been before the crash because all its contents were upright and orderly. By the door, a woman with red hair stood guard, a Knight of the Feathers, her colorful companion perched nearby.

The door opened and a figure dressed all in black stepped inside. He pulled out the most ornate pocket watch Oril had ever seen. After checking it, the figure nodded to the Knight, who returned the gesture and turned to the Prince, "Alright Bedon, we must go. You must leave your things," she said as she took the mandolin from the child. "What? Why?" Bedon looked confused, began to argue and grabbed for the instrument, but only succeeded in grabbing the strings, which ripped off as the the Knight tore it away and tossed it onto the bed.

Suddenly, the ship jarred to the side as though from some sort of impact. A bell began to toll. The muted buzz of commotion and fear.

"Quickly! It's already begun!" The dark figure urged. The Knight picked up the prince, who had been knocked to the ground and gone quiet with shock and concerned on his face. "Are you sure this will work?" the knight asked as she followed the figure out the door. "No, but it's too late. It's our only chance now. We must get him off the ship and to Micester before ..." and they were gone.

Before the vision faded, Oril's mind spun and conjured what he recalled from rumors about the city of Micester, a dark city with tall towers, shroud in mist ...Oril strapped the mandolin to his pack and climbed back out of the massive wreckage and began his journey back home to Sellean.

Belief:
The information from his vision was very valuable. If he could get it to the King, along with the mandolin as proof, he would be well rewarded.

Apologies @Verrain, I'm going to have to withdraw from the game.

Thanks for checking in Dunder!

I am so into this idea but have no idea where to start. Suggestions?

Greetings, Valdus!
I have a full crew at the moment, but one can never know. Would you be interested in rolling on the Oracle, just in case we get an opening?
The next step would be to roll on that Oracle 3 or 4 times to get inspirational elements.

Have we a numbered oracle?

Yep. At the very top of the game advert behind a spoiler tag.

Rolling them bones...
Roll 1
d6 : (1) = 1
d6 : (4) = 4 Where the navigators purchase their specialized equipment.

Roll 2
d6 : (2) = 2
d6 : (5) = 5 The hidden ledger of a merchant-thief.

Roll 3
d6 : (1) = 1
d6 : (3) = 3 A library next to a confectioner's shop

Chabon's life, always surrounded by the books amassed at the library next door, gave him an awareness of serpentine powers that pointed men and monsters toward the cardinal points.

The knowledge gave him a sailor's life, always with a promise of Captain lingering just beyond the next horizon. Just in a beyond over there.

It was an advantage no doubt, one that men hated.

MOVE
When confronted with a directional choice, of which way to go, the fates whisper in your ear. Use your wisdom bonus to roll on the result.

BELIEF
Chabon senses there is a destiny, a reason for his life and abilities somewhere, out there.

This is really cool.
I'll put you on the waiting list. Thanks for contributing.

Meantime, I will gladly lurk. Is there a link to the main thread? I won’t post, just drool.

See if this one works. https://gamersplane.com/forums/9616/