Metagame Discussion

I'll open a metagame thread for discussions outisde the game...

Foolsmask: Your setting information therad is too nice to be spoiled by comments :-) I like your setting a lot. You seem to be a wonderful storyteller...
I am really looking forward to the game. My compliments on weaving in the bits and pieces of the background stories.

Well thanks for saying so. I have had a general idea for this world for a while. Its actually heavily inspired by a sample setting from the Spark RPG book in which a human kingdom is being invaded on all four sides by orc, elves, dwarves and some kind of deep-one-esque race. In that game the invaders are forces of nature, representing the four classic elements fire, air, earth, and water respectively. I've eliminated the direct elemental ties (except maybe for the Fire Fields) but I liked the idea of being besieged. The Dragon and Lich masters were great ideas and I had a flash of inspiration on how to weave them I to the plot. The rest of the masters will be involved as well, those two just jumped out as having an obvious place in the world.

So thanks again for the complement and the inspiration to do this.

I concur with chocokiko, this looks like a great setting ripe with opportunity for high adventure, even if we are but wee.

But the power we wield is MIGHTY with a capital MIGHTY :-D

rofl

I also had a flash of inspiration that sums up coco very nicely.

Take this video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj3bKj5w2Bc

but change the the soundtrack to this:
H-BLOCKX & TURBO B - The Power
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTBpvtQjxH8

Excited to see an opening RP post--very evocative! Today is my last in Chicago so I will post today or tomorrow as time permits.

Should we have a thread where each of us can post our character sheets for easy reference?

If you post as your character you can click the character's name to view the sheet.

Oh that's what that option is about. Cool, thanks!

Not sure if this or the character creation thread is the right spot for this but what do ya'll think of this image for my character. Does it look like a creature people would think is high value? I'm think this would be what he would look like when he uses his human sized stunt It stinks that they aren't the same art style. It's been tough to figure out what this character would look like. I haven't had a great vision in my head for it.

Well. They seem fine. Not exactly what in was picturing either. But then we are just talking about a visual reference for a text game. It can change over time if you find a representation that is closer to what you picture in your mind.

I like it. I was imagining more like the Gorignak monster from Galaxy Quest, but with gemstones, but that was just my mind trying to build a gems/crystal monster using existing templates.

Haha yes! I had thought of the same thing early on in coming up with this character. Especially after reading the pathfinder description of the type of familiar I am basing it off of, it says the stones of its body move and shift constantly. I immediatly pictured the scene where the gorignak takes its form :)

I wanted you all to know I haven't forgotten about you. I was hoping to get a response from Almathea on how Teasel responds to getting invited in. I think I'll give it another day then move forward with the story.

Apologies for my vanishing act! A friend was visiting and took me out of routine more than anticipated. Glad to be back.

Glad to have you back! :-)

Indeed. I also got caught up in some things. I am on an unexpected camping trip. Thru Sunday my posting ability will be sporadic. But we will carry on.

Hi everybody. I hope I'm wrong in this but I'm worried the lack of action is due to confusion about what is happening in the story. There is some kind of monster out in the woods that is trying to get to you. Right now there are wards protecting the area, but they are being damaged. You do need to deal with this monster somehow. Fighting is not the only answer, but you guys are fully capable of dealing with the beast if you choose to. Running is also an option. You have been presented with a mystery, the Lich and the Witch are in fact sisters, and their brother seems to have been involved (i.e. responsible) for what has happened to them and all the other masters. He is seeking godhood, but something went wrong and Marta, in her very temporary lucidity, has informed you all that you are the keys to either his final ascendance or ultimate destruction. And perhaps there are more clues in the book that was mentioned though is now missing. So, I hope that I have provided sufficient plot hooks to get you in the story, but I don't want to railroad you either.

Diginus has been trying to prod the rest of the group into action or at least help put the clues together. But it may be that people have just been busy with real life and that is the reason for the lack of posts. Hopefully the latter. We'll see :-)
Was that actually meant to say recopies, or should it have been recipes? Either one actually makes sense :-)

I like recopies. Very evocative, haha.

It is supposed to be recipes. I'm doc this mostly on my phone which has decent spell check but I think I was on my laptop which does not autocorrect. I'm a horrible speller...have been since grade school.

Just to be clear, I wasn't poking fun :-) Recopies would have also made sense.

Hello Guys,

I am very sorry but I'll have to give up this game. On one hand I somehow just don't get the feel for it. This is not our GM's fault, foolsmask is doing a great job. But somehow I don't get into the flow.
On the other hand I am much too busy for 3 games at the moment. I took a bite larger than I can chew. I'll hand over my caracter to anyone who wants to play it.
Sorry again, I really hate to leave.

Regards, Martin

Well that is a shame, we hate to see you go, but thanks for not leaving us hanging. I will use your character since he is so ingrained in the story.

Oh no choco, sorry to see you go. And apologies for being out of it to everyone else, it is indeed the real world that slows me down. I'd prefer to write at a real computer but never seem to be on one in my free time.

Sorry to see you go, Chocokiko! Real life comes first of course! See you around! :-)

I'll try my best to keep up the other games :-) Coco should be in the library. Feel free to copy it and drop me a line when to delete my version.

Just a heads up: I will be away for a couple of days and unable to post. Thanks!

Gadzooks, three heads! A battle is upon us!

4...actually...don't forget the snake. ;-)

If I command the storm elemental to attack does it use one of my approaches or does it have its own? I imagine it would have top scores in flashy and forceful - quite the opposite of Diginus.

You would still use your approaches. The elemental counts as an aspect for the scene. If you wanted to use Sneak for example you could describe how the elemental shoots a lightning bolt to the left then "jumps" to the right surprising Chimera. Or maybe the elemental charges in allowing you to Sneak behind the beast unseen, where you unleash the real attack. Make sense?

Yes, that makes sense, thanks! :-)

Next question: I get 2 free invokes of the storm elemental aspect only, or of any of the available aspects?

Two free on the elemental. The others cost Fate points as usual, but I was trying to put out a few extra things that you all might find useful beyond your own character aspects.

Diginus has just caused the elemental to attack the chimera while he distracts it. So that's my first free invoke on the elemental, right? If that hadn't been a freebie then I would now be subtracting a fate point from my character sheet. Is that how it works?

What about the elemental's attack? Do I make an attack roll for him? (possibly with a bonus as a result of my successfully distracting the monster?)

I have a few ideas for how to use some of the scene aspects. Is it possible to invoke more than one aspect in a single move?

The way you have written that post you have not used any of your free invokes from the summoned elemental. Your result is a +3 and Chimera will be getting a reaction roll. But that's OK. In Fate you can Invoke aspects after your result, getting either a +2 or a re-roll. The way it seems you have written this post your action is an attempt to Create an Advantage (a temporary aspect) of "Distracted by Diginus" that you and other players could use. Your elemental does not have its own actions for attacking, its presence in the scene is to add to your description. If you want it to Attack (potentially doing damage to Chimera) that requires your action.

The fact Diginus is distracting him so the elemental can attack is fine, your character is "setting up" the attack. We can use the roll you made as an attack just as it is written. You can use a free invoke still to make it a +5 result, or re-roll (I don't recomment that though, a +5 is a pretty good result).

So just let me know if this is an Attack or Create Advantage roll and we will be fine. If you wish to use an invoke from the elemental put that in the Scene 1 thread, posting as the player so I know it is an OOC comment.
Yes. You can invoke as many different Aspects as you want on any given roll as long as you can "pay" for them. Obviously, if they're free it doesn't cost any Fate Points. Think of Free Invokes as Fate Points tied directly to certain Aspects. Otherwialse if you have the Fate Point you can spend it how you wish. The only limit is you can only invoke an Aspect once per roll...unless you came up with a really creative reason.

It is usually frowned upon to allow multiple invokes, and I have always agreed until this scenario that we are playing. Chimera has four heads. If you used the roll we are talking about to Create an Advantage as I discussed above, and Chimera failed to Overcome that Advantage, you could, if you wanted, spend a Fate Point per head to get a bonus of +8 to your next Attack action on your next turn. It would cost the free invoke you might get if the Advantage sticks and three Fate Points for the additional invokes. I don't know if its a good idea...but it would be interesting. And actually if that "Distracted by Diginus" was created, you could pass the free invoke to another player and they could spend three Fate Points to do the same thing. Again...I leave it to you to decide, that would be a very cool, but costly, action.

I will respond to Fenwicks action, but that should not affect you in anyway since you acted first and he is simply trying to Create an Advantage by hiding.

Actually I won't. Because Fenwick could invoke "Distracted by Diginus" if you create that Advantage.

So I've decided to make my last action a Create Advantage so that everyone can use it. So if I understand correctly, each "turn" it would either be Diginus or the elemental making a move, not both? So if I wanted Diginus could have done his distracting thing, sometimes using the fallen trees as cover (spending a Fate point to invoke that scene aspect) and with that roll would have gotten a total result of +5. Then next round I would use a free invole on the elemental, whose attack would then benefit from the Distracted by Diginus temporary aspect. Is that correct? Thanks, I think I am gradually making sense of how the system works :-)

Excellent choice on Creating an Advantage, though attacking would not have been a bad thing either.

So...Actions. You are almost there...and this is a lot harder to explain in text with these delayed responses but I think we are almost there. In Fate you have "The Four Actions" (there are also Four Outcomes, but those are more my responsibility). A player can: Attack, Defend, Create Advantage, & Overcome. You, as Jabes, have one action per turn. When you describe that action you can describe anything that makes sense in the narrative using your character and the various elements that you directly control. In this case you control Diginus and a Storm Elemental and you can take control of Aspects with Fate Points. You could describe your character teleporting and throwing lightning bolts as many times as you want in a single action (again with the idea that it makes sense "in the world" which it would for Diginus), and you can include the summoned elemental describing how it attacks with its lightning sword. But in the end you are just choosing what kind of action this is from the list of four. If its an attack you might deal damage, if its a create advantage action you might create the advantage. So the only limits on what you describe as your action are the constraints of the narrative and the type of action you want to accomplish.

For example, if someone were to nail a board across a door in an attempt to keep zombies out of the house. This could be a Defend Action or a create advantage action. Its not an attack, because the zombies aren't being injured by placing a board between them and the tasty brains. It might be an Overcome if the zombies are "Breaking down the door" as an aspect...but that's a stretch. It could be Create an Advantage because ...obviously...it is creating an extra barrier the zombies would have to Overcome. It could be a Defend because in that the action might keep the zombies from attacking the people on the other side of the board.

Overcome is used to remove the aspect made by the Create Advantage action. So a zombie hoard would need to Overcome "Boards nailed to the doorway" in the above example before they could really attack the people. However if someone were to be standing close to the door, the zombies might be able to declare an attack and the defender could use the "Boards nailed to the doorway" as a descriptive reason their defend roll was successful (the zombies just couldn't read) or invoke the aspect and get the +2 to the defend roll, still describing how the board keeps the zombies out but also using it to get a mechanical advantage.

I dont feel like i need to describe Attack and Defend in depth...thise are pretty simple cincepts. Attack lets you deal damage, Defend lets you avoid it. A special note on the Defend Action. It is a little special in that you can make a defend roll as many times as you need to in a round. You can use your action to preemptively defend someone. This would sort of draw the attacker at you instead of other characters. You would still get to defend against all the attacks directed at your character.

So...just to "sum up" you are in control of what your character does. And because we are in a world with magic your character can do a lot of cool stuff. The only limit is what makes sense and how it is applied mechanically in the story. You should not describe how you completely obliterate an enemy...until after the roll and I tell you to describe how cool it is that you obliterated the enemy. You can launch a wave of electricity that singes the eyebrows off anyone standing nearby, but stop at the point where the results of the roll dictate the action. Your elemental can "stab at the heart of the beast" (just an example) but unless the roll result allows for it, you won't be dealing the death blow.

Sorry for the wall of text...just trying to explain the issues. And I'm happy to do so for new players. I tend to be verbose when trying to teach...my wife says I can be a little to long winded.

On more note...on "The Four Outcomes" I said those were more my responsibility to deal with. While that is true, you players are more than welcome to make suggestions. In the case of taking Stress and Consequences you get to decide for yourself how that affects your character. In all other cases you can suggest what an Outcome looks narratively. In the case of a tie you usually have the option to "succeed at a cost" and can describe how you suffer a small setback while still accomplishing your goal.

No need to apologize for the walls of text, I am quite enjoying them, and yes it is all becoming clearer to me :-) I'm just glad you are being so patient with me here.

I know that chocokiko bowed out, but it has been awhile since we heard from Amalthea and THEMeeple.

Yeah :-(

Well...what do you guys want to do then? Should we keep playing? I can open this up to more people and hit the forums...but the story is really tied up in the current cast of characters.

I'd like to wait for them. That is, if they still intend to play.

I will be away for a couple of days and unable to post. Thanks!

I'd love to continue, but we should wait for Jabes to return. Maybe we proceed as we are for the chimera battle and then see whats what?

I'm OK with this idea.

I'm back. Yeah let's finish the battle at least :-)

Just for my own continuous learning of how Fate works: Having invoked Recently Fallen Trees on the 2nd roll, Diginus now has 1 less Fate Point, correct? Actually, I didn't need to invoke the aspect as the Defense roll resulted in a +3 which was more than enough to beat the +1 Attack it was defending against. Am I right?
Can I apply this boost to an Attack action causing the elemental to slash the chimera with its lightning sword? If I wanted, would it be possible for me to also invoke Distracted By Diginus for the same action?

You've nailed it. The only thing that I feel needs to be mentioned is that if you had not invoked the "recently fallen trees" during your defend roll you would not have gotten two Success with Style results, only one.

However you could then invoke it on the attack roll and get the same net benefit you now have. So you could look at it as you hedged your bet on that roll and it paid off so you get the bonus for the fate point twice. Had you not spent it the result would have still been OK, just not great like it turned out.

And just so we are clear...spend as many Fate points as you want, normally you can only invoke a single aspect once this way, on any given roll, but your "Distracted by Diginus gets to be invoked multiple times because you are focused on it.

Also...the consequence on Chimera "Wounded Led"can be invoked once for free. I think I forgot to mention that before. Anyone can invoke it if they feel it is appropriate to the action (like an attack) but only one person gets it for free. After its been used it needs to be paid for.

So...I did reduce Chimera's max stress because the party shrank so much but it still qualified as a tough challenge for two characters. You spent a lot of Fate Points and had some great strategies and rolls. So good job. Your official stress against it totaled 11. It had a minor consequence (worth 2 stress) and three more physical stress before it was taken out completely. It was on a fact finding mission so fighting to 0 stress was never in the plan. I had decided that Chimera would flee if its consequences ever got filled and you guys pretty much got it there.

Interesting! I ran FAE (Star Wars) for some friends once, but we handwaved most of the rules.

Well that is the great thing about Fate products in my opinion...they are very modular so things can be used or not as needed.

Will post soon...busy day.

Your Koco post is hilarious. If you've heard the parrot singing "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" on Youtube, you'll know why haha.
Youtube link

That's awesome. I had a Yoda like voice in my head but that has replaced Yoda completely. Though the speech pattern will stay.

Ok, I'm sorry it took me so long to put a new post up. Honestly, the trip through the woods should not have posed any difficulty to Digginus as he would have just teleported around any physical obstacles, but I'll go along with Qralloq's post anyway. I'm not sure what rolls to make on either his or my posts though :-)