Exam: Chamber 1 (OOC)

Out of character chatter about Exam: Chamber 1 can go here to avoid cluttering up the Roleplay thread with discussions.This is for longer questions and answers related to that Roleplay, general rules questions can go in General Chat or here depending on the question.

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When and how to Roll:
Narrate your character's action up until the point were there is doubt about the outcome, then we can talk about if there is need for a roll, and what sort it is (we will get a feel for this, and it will, mostly, become obvious after a bit of play).

Add the relevant roll (in a new post or in the one that triggered it), then, based on the final results --and taking any help from your companions into account-- continue the narrative in a new post.

Waiting for the final GM decision, but looks like pretty bad 😅 So spectacularly bad immediately sounds like setting the kitchen on fire but, given I'm trying to cool it down, maybe I can lower it to glacial temperatures instead and actually freeze the fire solid?

That happening, probably should to shapeshift into something cold as well due to the wild surge

@The_Librarian: If you want to just eat and see what comes of it, you are welcome to. Else you could maybe roll:
and then decide. If you roll well, whatever you choose will be right, if you roll badly, whatever you choose will be the wrong thing (I don't know yet if the food is 'safe':).

It does matter what you are rolling, the mechanical outcomes and consequences are different depending on which it is.
You only know the listed spells, so you only roll Wizard when you are casting one of them, everything is risky Wild. But this 'control flame ritual' could easily be Frost-Nip with a pompous name?
No, but using your prop allows you to choose to Add 1 to Wizard or Subtract 1 from Wild (it does not modify the rolls), so, since you used it before casting, you can make that change if you want. It won't make a difference in this case since 4 is still lower than the 5 you rolled.
The dice have spoken. You get to describe the failure, so go for it if you want that to come up, you will have to deal with that problem quite quickly else risk drawing attention.

Maybe keep the consequences limited to yourself rather than the room for now? We don't need two new issues right away. :)

totally forgot about the spell list 😅

freezing myself would definitely fit Frost-Nip

Well... a Frost-Nip failure, yeah. :)

Don't forget to add 1 to your Wild Stat.

Is this permanent by the way? Why would I want to decrease my Wild temporarily if it can only make me fail and get wilder?

No, the Stats are fluid. They constantly increase and decrease.
If your Wild is at 6 you can't cast Wild Spells. If your Wild ever goes higher than 6 you fail, that is game over.

Props are one way to save you from that. The other way to bring down your Wild is to cast a Wizard Spell when your Wild is locked at 6. However when your Stat is at 6 you can't use that Stat, so if bother your Wild and your Wizard even end up at 6 your Props are the only way for you to lower Wild so you can cast Wild to lower your Wizard.

The whole game is about balancing those Wild and Wizard Stats.

There is no limit on the number of times you can use your Props, but they could be destroyed or damaged if they are used too much (simple abuse prevention:). Use the fiction to guide when they are appropriate (in this case it looked --to any unseen observers-- like you were looking up a spell, which looks very much like what a Wizard would do, so that hides your Wild nature, so it seems like a completely reasonable use of the Prop).

right, I think I got that. I will say I used it for RP purposes now, as I'll probably be referring to it a lot of times (as part of the character MO) and get the benefit at a later time so I'm not always using its bonuses

Yeah, a spell book is an easy Prop to work in, but it also takes time, and there might not always be time to use it convincingly. A Pocket Full of Glitter --for instance-- takes almost no time at all, but would reasonably run out if used too much. Being 'reasonable' balances most of the Props, I am not stressed.

Any Wild value at all will be 'suspicious' if it ever goes over 6 that is an immediate failure and we end the game.
Cool... (um, sorry, was that insensitive?:)

🥶 🤣🤣

It does not sound like you are helping with the task, so I am not sure that you need to roll anything just for that. There are open fires, hot pots, and griddles and such if you want to cook it in a mundane way (but what sort of cat are your?! Cats don't cook their fish!:).

The closes Wizard Spell would be:
and that would not cook food any better than a lighter would.

If you want to cook the fish using magic, then it would probably be a 'Wild Spell' --which can be any effect of your choosing. If so, describe what you are doing and roll Wild.

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If you want another PC to, maybe, shout at you and get you to help the team, let us know. Don't expect us to force your character without your express permission.

@nezzeraj, a 3 is equal to your Wild Stat, so that is a success. If you are able to make this look like 'proper magic' or hide that your are using Wild, then all is good, else you need to add 1 to your Wild Stat.

What are you doing? Using the gloves as 'oven mits' so you can touch things? Trying to cool the oven down to the correct temperature so the bread can finish baking and not burn? Something else?
Sure, your Wild Spells are from the stuff you have collected, but you do also know a few 'real wizard spells' that you actually can cast 'properly'. (Frost-Nip is one of those spells.)

Hunch - You sorta get a sense for what someone else is thinking, or get a hint at what to do next.

Frost-nip - You shoot a beam of cold air at your enemies, making them chilly.

Singe - You produce a small flame, like a built-in lighter.

Harm - You hurl a tiny ball of magical force, like throwing a pop-it firework.

Transmogrify - Turn a small amount of non-magical material into a slightly different one.

Shield- You create a small force field, although it shatters after one hit.

Slowish fall- Maybe now you won’t break your legs.

Slime- You conjure a ball of goop. Gross!

Simple illusion - Make a thing look like something else, if you squint.

Acid- You produce a small stream of weak acid. Put it over some baking soda for a winning science fair project

Unles it is one of the official Wizard spells (as listed above) you will need to use your Wild magic to achieve your goal.

A 2 is a success, so go ahead and describe what happens. Either show us how you make it look like you are using Wizard Magic, or increase your Wild Stat.

Yeah using the gloves as oven mitts to take the bread out of the oven before it burns.

Cool. You doing anything to make it look like you are using allowed magic? If not, increase your Wild.

Either way, it works, so do it.

I'm not sure if in the world using magic items counts as using allowed magic. If my character is unsure then he'll make ice cover his hands which hide the mittens.

Yeah, the mechanics kinda clash with that, which is a pain. To keep the world consistent maybe you are not supposed to use preexisting items during the test, since they are being tested on your ability to do magic? So you could, maybe, make it look like you, right now, created the item with magic (that should be fine?), but I am not sure how you would do that.

For now, we can say your apparent ice-covered hands is good enough, but you may need to do more later once they start to pick up on that pattern.

Ok sounds good!

Hopefully not waiting for me? If so, whoops, I was also waiting for more on that conversation and had not noticed that you were wanting to roll, sorry. :)

That seem to work. Nicely done. :)

Since you are not actually using the weak Shield Spell, it can last long enough get the job done. Describe it.

It does look like a stronger Shield Spell, so they believe you are using Wizard, so no change of Stats.

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You interpreting
here to be 'turning a small amount of non-magical air into slightly damper air'? That could make sense if that is really what we want, though I still think it might be better as a Wild Spell instead. Either way it worked, since both stats are currently better than the 2 on the dice.

It sounds like you are using your (Wild) druid magic for this and not Wizard as mentioned in the roll? If so: do you think you made it look enough like a Wizard Spell to fool the unseen-watchers? If not: add 1 to your Wild Stat.

Either way, describe what happens. I am not sure which oven/stove you are working on, we seem to have the bread and the
soup, maybe your best results would be with the bread if Hooligander waited for you? Then we can say that it is perfectly cooked, else it might be a bit doughy in the middle from being taken out early? Up to you.

Yeah, looking back, my post then wasn't as clear about my intentions as in my head.

Isn't that always the case. We know that what we mean. :)

what about Abbys's rain?

I am assuming that is what you rolled in your earlier post? You got a 2, so you succeed, but I am not sure what you are doing with that effect. We also need to work out if you were casting a Wizard Spell (as indicated in your initial post) or a druid spell suggested in your latest.

See my question above for a bit more detail.

overlapping posts. Sorry....I'd say weird since it isn't kn the spell list. And whichever fire appears to be hottest or under the least control is the one she casts on

What are you wanting to do? Generally cool the room? That is a viable and valuable effect as well if you are not working with the soup or the bread.

yes trying to cool the room.

Cool, that works (2) and helps everyone.

Can you describe it in a bit more detail? Or should we just assume it happened and move on, then I will include it in the next framing?

@Tickettbror: We can wait to see if anyone acts to save some of the soup (it does not sound like Catin is doing that (through cat-like reflexes?)) and then see how you can clean up (which might help if the dice agree), but we can also assume those things are happening at the same time and you can tell us what you are doing to help the situation without waiting for others.

Since Catin wasn't entirely paying attention I'm happy to have someone move in before Catin, otherwise they'll be attempting to use summon familiar to split some of them off from the group to eat the soup

Cool, though, in PbP it is not always necessary to wait for others to post what they did before you acted. We can assume that most of these things are happening at the same time, and even add stage direction like "right before so-and-so did that..."
That sounds like Wild. Go ahead and describe it, roll it, and then describe the result. If you can make it look like an official 'summon familiar' spell, then they will believe you are using Wizard (if all goes well).

Do you need any help with any of that?

at this point let's assume it happened. the posts are fast and furious here. not that that is a bad thing.

No problem.

@CESN: Are you needing anything from me or anyone else before you follow on from your Successful Hunch based search of your book?

Are you expecting to actually find a relevant spell in your Massive Tome?
Are you looking for a Wizard Spell in there? You won't be able to cast it since you can only cast the Wizard Spells on the list.
Or are you looking for a spell that you can pretend to cast while using Wild Magic instead? That would probably have worked even without the Hunch, but this risk does guarantee the disguise.
Are you trying to justify its use as a Prop? Done, you can Add 1 to Wizard or Subtract 1 from Wild as you choose.

If you were wanting something else from the Hunch, let us know.

Since you successfully cast a Wizard Spell (Hunch) don't forget to add 1 to your Wizard Stat.

Since we're testing the system, I wanted to get some insight on what to do next just to try the Hunch spell (You sorta get a sense for what someone else is thinking, or get a hint at what to do next).

Reading through the massive tome (It's a dry but comprehensive encyclopedia) was more like an RP ritual casting. Maybe the spell just makes the encyclopedia open at the right page and it sorta get a hint at what to do next?

OK. Summary as a Hunch? :)

Hope that helps.

Your previous Shield was Wild.

You described it as 'short', though, so maybe you need to recast it to cover a person and extend that far? You have also cast other spells since then, but were also thinking about shield spell variants so you had that spell in mind. If you think you could keep that Shield spell going on the appetisers while searching your book and casting Hunch (a Wizard Spell, so hard for you guys?), then we can say it is still up.

If you need to cast it again, I don't see any need for editing the text, just add the roll. Maybe you need to roll Wild to change the shape of the spell?

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Is someone else going to take over preparing the appetisers? Else you could finish the job you started and someone else can use your advice to Shield or cool themselves?

Well, it may fail xD And if I cast wild, I may give it extra power anyway (shield being just the wizardry disguise)

Charcuterie? In this heat? :)

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I am not sure what you are rolling for, though. What effect are you trying to achieve?

That works. Describe it.

thought wild was used for anything not magic. guess I don't need to roll. just veggies then....and maybe some.of.the rescued bread

The Wild Stat does sorta cover everything that is not actual Wizard Magic, but we don't have to roll for things that don't drive the story or have interesting consequence on a fail.

On the other hand, not using 'Magic' in a Magic test will draw the attention of the examiners. I don't want to model that as forcing an increase in Wild (the mechanic for such scrutiny), but the more suspicious they are the closer they will watch, and the harder it will be to disguise your actions as Wizard Magic, so that will drive the Wild Stat up as we play.

@CESN, I ran with your suggestion that is may now be too cold [ref]. I hope you don't mind.

But definitely still a Wizard, though, right?
The bread was already a tad doughy, all you two have done is dampened and then singed the crust a bit. You can save enough to still make a slice or two for the plan. Hopefully that will be enough.

The real consequence of the failure (the only one the rules call for) is the increase in Wild. Which for you is particularly bad since you will need to succeed at a impossible Wizard roll to get get it down when it reaches 6... soon.

totally, it's probably not completely harmful because the roll succeeded, but I like the messy side effect :D
ahah go for it! the examiners will probably put it down to "exam nervousness" :D

Being a success it should, on balance, be a positive, which I think it was. Everybody can now get in and finish this test, and the veggies might be nicely crisped.

In truth, I merely meant it to spur everyone to move, not to be an obstacle that needed fixing. I should have been more clear.