[OOC] General

Hi everyone, welcome and thank you for joining my game!

We'll be using this thread for out of game discussions and questions and any other general chat. For quicker responses, it's okay to use Discord as well. I have the habit of switching back and forth.

As advertised, I imagine there might be players with differing experiences in play-by-post, as well as in different game systems. I'll be making a point to explain everything in more detail as I go along, at least at the start, until you're reasonably confident about how we're proceeding with this game.

Happy to see everyone!

Discord channel, in case anyone missed it.

A character sheet is up in the Resources section. I welcome attempts to make it better or prettier if you're so inclined!

Welcome to the crazy random range of OSR style rolls! It ain't D&D where everyone starts with the same point buy, but I understand how it might be less enjoyable to feel disadvantaged from the start.

I'll make a judgement call on how to balance things up if necessary. But do note each class starts with different stats, they aren't meant to be equivalent, just like their various abilities and equipment aren't equal.

What can I say? Bonus points on the monkey art for sure! :D

I'd invite this character over to a new Usagi Yojimbo game, which I've long considered running too! Happy to get in on some anthropomorphism. (In fact, my GenLab Alpha game is currently short of players: only two PCs, an ape and a deer, are currently left).

Also, no rush to confirm that leprosy, there's an affliction table waiting to be used when the time comes!

Alrighty, as we get close to starting, I'd like to check with all of us on our lines and veils. This game is Borg-themed, which means generally grimdark, violent, apocalyptic, with some horror. And it has a death mechanic related to seppuku, or ritual suicide.

That said, I'd like us to state our no-go areas: these can be entirely taboo, ie lines we do not cross, or implied and 'off-screen', ie veiled. This list needn't be exhaustive; if something occurs to you later, it's okay to bring it up. By agreeing to play together, we will respect each other's boundaries in this matter.

Also, as GM, I retain the right to invoke any safety measure necessary if for some reason our posts make some of us uncomfortable. I will be consultative on this, of course.

Thanks for all your views on this. We will address issues if they do come up.

On the topic of magic, magic is corrupting and unpredictable in this setting. The darkness that overtook the land transformed what would have been a more realistic world into a greater blurring of the lines between the mundane and the arcane.

Test

Thanks again for all your replies. I will honour them.

I realise six of us are all set to go, so let's get started! I'm starting you off with individual threads, and I've tried to use some feature of your background or skill to give context to what you're doing, or why you're currently in the situation you are in.

We haven't established whether you already know each other or not, so I'm going to let your paths cross first before we establish that. I've deliberately left all names blank, so please fill them in when appropriate, ie who was the person you offended, who your immediate superior was, what was the name of the temple/inn/castle etc.

The first main thread is also up, but you can't post there yet until or unless you all meet. Please read that for context, there will be a few more there to set the scene.

No worries, I was pretty clear I didn't need a background write up from anyone, in the spirit of OSR which leans towards emergent play (let the details come out as the story develops), rather than have a fully developed history.

So in Ikari's case, I started with your key feature: a bakuto with high thievery and pickpocketing, to suggest he would be a skilled member of a gang. There could certainly be factions between different gang, or clearly defined turfs. What you do next might reveal some of that. I implied the curse might be affecting his ability to do his job, but intentionally left the details blank (maybe it's just bad luck, or maybe the curse is getting worse, maybe Ikari might finally want to figure out why this is happening). I can follow up with some directions on your thread once you've had a chance to post an initial response first.

As for PCs already knowing each other, I have a suggestion for that too! Check out my table in the Character Creation thread! If you've aleady written something, we can always retcon a little if necessary, it's early days yet.

Just in case it is hard to keep track of where everyone's starting locations are:

Ikari, Kayo, Satoshi are all about to travel out of Heian, the former capital. Ikari is seeking to shake his current misfortune. Kayo is trying to avoid a vindictive enemy. Satoshi needs to find his contact.

Kenji revived in an abandoned temple, unsure why strange activities are afoot.

Genji is about to leave his temple in search of, enlightenment?

Tomoe, as befitting a ronin, is on the road, in this case the mountain road.

That said, I realise that some of us have written up a starting narrative that puts everyone together already. We can do that too, though that'll fast forward through your individual threads, and I wasn't about to resort to the classic reunion among friends at an inn as a starting point. May I recommend instead we let your meetings emerge as the starter threads unfold?

New posts incoming! Taking a moment to juggle all your starting propositions to that they all make sense as a whole. Especially with a bunch of suggestions flying around.

Jomsviking, I'll get to your submission in a moment as well. For consistent thematic flavour, how about a japanese-inspired name for your character?

You'll find that that's exactly what Jiggedy's character (who owns war armour) would understand if he walked anywhere wearing his armour. (We're not playing japanese-flavoured D&D!)

That'll cost you 2 ryo in terms of bookkeeping. :P (I don't think any of the PCs will run out of ryo though, so I'm just accounting).

Oh, Bakuto start with a tanto, it's listed on the class page. Further on, yes anyone may use any weapon, although some have restrictions.

I was just about to ping you @gtg620q to see how you were feeling. Pneumonia really takes its toll on a body! Hope you have a chance to rest and recuperate properly.

I was holding back commenting on it when Jiggedy rolled for a missing arm, knowing what I had planned in the story. Maybe I could've changed my details to have our poor constable have a missing leg instead. :P

I'm prepared for the PCs to choose either way! I believe you'll have a different, ahem, encounter depending on what you choose.

Nope, no roll needed to search (that's more D&D than OSR). OSR-wise, specify what you're looking for: eg are you looking for more of Nira's body parts? are you looking for what might have attacked him around here? or maybe some lateral thinking, do you want to examine the blood on the statue? do you try to clean it up because it's inappropriate to left it like that?

Most definitely maimed. But it's a slow maim ... the blood rains might eat everyone up even before you get anywhere.

Looks like a normal meal, two bowls of rice, a fish to share, soup.

Slight long weekend slowdown, new posts tomorrow!

No prob I got it!

New posts! Still two threads, but your paths will be crossing in a bit.

We've lost Ogion I think, they haven't logged in for a while. We're still good to move forward.

Hi everyone, it probably took a little longer than I expected, but we're finally at the point in the plot where the party is finally together! That takes us from our solo threads, to our prelude scenes, and now we are ready to start what happens in chapter 1.

Here's a good time to take a moment to check in with everyone. How are you with how this game is playing out and what you expect from it? Do you want to see more or less of certain things? Will appreciate any suggestions or feedback so that they can be constructively applied.

Thanks for the update Nebula, and thanks everyone for the positive reactions! Jomsviking, because it's old school I'm drawing from the older films way more than, say, modern anime.

There was a bit of contrivance, but I believe all six PCs are now at the same spot with a logical reason for being there. The starting posts for Chapter 1 attempt to summarise what has gone before, but some details are still to be found in the separate preludes which I didn't fully replicate. Feel free to read each other's previous threads to understand what is going on. I trust you'll keep player knowledge and character knowledge separate.

And make ready to traverse the blood forest!

You haven't reached the temple yet. This is the the shrine that marks the start of the route to the temple. Getting past this means you're not lost and definitely on the right road that leads to the temple (which could still involve a longer walk, some uphill steps, etc

(Using Japan as an inspiration, there are plenty of shrines that mark the land. Some are a simple small statue, often found along roads and crossings. Some also sit next to geographical features, a river or lake, or the start of a forest path, would have a shrine. Others are slightly bigger, a statue that sits on a dais or platform. The entrance to a place would have one, such as the entrance to a village or town. This one is slightly bigger than that, because it has its own small housing with roof. No other rooms, three walls, the front is open. And this one has a life-sized statue standing inside.

Jiggidy has bowed out of our game. I shall be using Kenji as an NPC as he's integral to the plot.

There's still five of us plodding through the forest to get to the bottom of the living dead and the blood rain, so we press on! Guardian statue is doing their job!

Got it Redcroc! We'll still be plodding along!

As we move to Round 2 of combat, I offer some suggestions for actions if you don't want to make direct combat, in the spirit of Jomsviking's idea.
For example, it's been raining, you could try to lure it to a spot where it's muddy, and it could get bogged down, allowing you to flee past it. (The dirty feet was a hint.) Joms, you can't try the same thing again, but someone else can. It would take a Spirit roll to successfully find such a 'trap', and a Swiftness roll from someone else to 'lure' it there.
Alternatively, some of you have 'equipment' in your possession which could be used to distract or misdirect. Kayo technically hasn't attacked the statue for example, could she try something else?
Next, although this is more costly, a weapon such as the kusarigama could be used to entangle or trip the statue, but that would mean giving up the weapon so that everyone can run away.
Finally, you can flee, but remember it is possible that it'll continue to chase you down.
Of course ultimately, slugging it out is a solid option too!

(This game is OSR-inspired, so encounters can be direct fights, or problem-solving situations, or in some cases 'social' confrontations, eg Hakusa prayed, and the statue won't attack him unless he reneges and attacks first.)

Ah, is the confusion to do with me asking you to narrate what your success looks like? Let me break it down what's happening again.

1. There are various ways to deal with threats. Straight up combat works, ie, roll attack and defense, whittle down its hp. In Round 1, Satoshi managed to hurt the statue, but Genji misses. We're now in Round 2, and you can continue fighting it to bring it down.

2. Or, another way of dealing with threats could be to find an alternative solution, and that's what was being discussed as a possibility (such as trying to slow down the statue, or collapse the shrine on it, or trip it, etc. If you are, I'm requiring a successful Spirit toll to find that solution. Jomsviking rolled in Round 1 but failed. In Round 2, Grendar rolled it and succeeded. Since you've succeeded, I'm asking you to narrate your success, ie what Grendar has spotted which will enable you to do it (eg Grendar spotted some crumbling part of the wall which could be used against the statue, or he found a muddy section of the path thanks to the rain which could cause the statue to be stuck in, or something).

3. Assuming Grendar then tells the rest what he found, someone else can attempt to make it happen, eg gtg620q's ooc question asks if he could throw or push the shrine bricks at the statue. The answer is yes. Or perhaps what Grendar finds is something on the pedestal that he thinks is causing the statue to animate, so someone can attempt to destroy it. Or perhaps Grendar spots the muddy patch and tells someone to lure the statue there so that it gets trapped. Go ahead and make it up (or if you're out of ideas, I can do so too.)

4. I'm requiring the PC who does this to give me another roll. Depending on what you're trying, use the relevant ability, eg if you're trying to shove those bricks, then roll Vigor. If you're trying to make the statue chase you towards the mud, then roll Swiftness, etc etc. If you succeed, then the thing happens.

Generally, in an OSR game such as this, where players do all the rolls and not the GM, players get to describe their successes and failures, so go ahead and unleash your creativity!

The table on p68 lists a bunch of DRs, or difficulty levels. DR12 is standard difficulty for Borg games, but sometimes it scales up or down depending whether the task is harder or easier. So yup you can save your reroll ability for now.

You cleared this hazard! Figure out if you need/want to do anything else here before proceeding.

In real life absolutely! Am only stating that tanto aren't listed as ranged weapons in the game. Narratively we can spin the story whichever way (eg Kayo throws the knife, or Kayo runs up close and stabs it) and it would still have worked. The main thing is the roll succeeded, so we can always fit the story about it.

Sure you want to take a common staff as spoils of the fight, and not the vajra ?

I posted with a quick description of what the vajra does, in the ooc comments. Sure it's big, and will require two hands to use. :)

I thought it was hilarious when none of you made the save except for Jomsviking! I'm guessing the leprosy prevented Hakusa from catching something more serious!

Sounds about right!

Yup!

The village sits on the edge of the forest by the bank of the river. It stands to reason that there's a creek or stream that runs through the forest further upriver. So that's the detour you can take.

It's not as direct as village -> cut through forest -> guardian shrine -> more forest -> torii gate -> temple steps -> temple,
but more like village -> hug the riverbank -> follow the stream -> more forest -> get to ?? -> temple slope -> temple,
where you're currently at 'more forest'.

Borg-style maps are notoriously lacking in visualisation detail. Have a look at this (with the details blanked out):