Homebrew tabletop system- playtesters requested

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Yes; two do. Not exactly brilliant with them, good enough to make a difference- but a Chevalier unit is really supposed to be heavy assault, it's the heavy Cataphract and light Hobelar's job to shoot from horseback; still, the essential structure of it is bring your own, so yes.

Of surprising them, less so. There are other people here, place isn't empty, mix of traders and patrons, and one of the yeomen is apparently delivering a political speech- one of the others, arrow nocked, is watching the crowd for trouble. Hard to do stealth on an eighteen hand horse.

They spot you, but Safrac is faster on the draw (initiatives ranging from ten to twelve for this lot). The plan?

[Master_Baerne]

In light of new information, change Valette's actions from standing in a corner thinking "Please don't kill me" to projecting an air of quiet competence. I really should have known that - note to self: pay more attention.

On a vaguely related note, it's not that she's naturally timid, it's that I, for some reason that currently escapes me, imagined pretending to be so as the safest course. Protective camouflage, if you will, which I think a con artist would have a natural inclinaiton for.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Good. On a more plot related note, when Carlotta says "I think I need to see my father's papers", Valette really ought to remember exactly which ones she's talking about.

The signed-and-reneged oath of allegiance? The deed of sale for something he didn't have clear title to sell? The elvish correspondence? Those papers. Which are still lying in a room in an inn run by a middle- aged widow who isn't likely to put up much resistance to a gang of thugs, and which have already had one magical trace placed on them today- I think action might be called for.

[Master_Baerne]

Oh, bloody Hell.

"Lady, those papers you want to see - I know where they are, but they may not be there much longer. The will was magically traced; no reason to beleive the others won't be... Would you care to accompany me, or detail the men who were following me earlier to do so again?" This last is directed to the dark elf.

[Vehrec]

((As an aside, I am waiting for some sort of reaction to that. Let this be a lesson-I'm a terrible roleplayer at initiating actions or prompting them.))

Randolf has spoke to assure Carlotta that he'll be willing to aid her in any reasonable way with her patients, but hasn't so much as hinted at his magic. Given what's happened in the past few day's I'd be shocked if he wasn't already running on empty, and it's not something he likes to advertise lest people think he's prone to making mistakes he can't fix otherwise.

At Valatte's confession, Randolf curses and begins preparing to get up and leave. "Well, a fine time to remember that. Couldn't have brought the rest of them with you, no, it's running all over the city in daylight and in darkness today." His muttered complaints don't last very long, but he's mostly mollified by the thought that he's not the only one suffering and that even on a local scale, his complaints are small potatoes. Except this being a Europe analogue, there probably aren't many potatoes.

Which naturally leads to the question of what the local crops are, and how well the population can expect to eat in good times and in the current situation.

[Norade]

Safrac is the first with a bow up and he fires a shot at the yeoman with the arrow knocked before reaching down, putting a hand on his hammer, and heeling his mount into a charge. As his horse starts to gallop the ork gets hammer in hand and lets out a loud cry. The charge is aimed straight for the man giving the speech and he knows that the rest of his lance will follow right behind him.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Rav is clearly about to say something very rude to Valette, but holds it back on the grounds that they can't afford the time. 'We're probably going to have to. No more getting lost, no more offering targets of opportunity. We all go. Including you, Dame Carlotta. Close this place and seal it-'

'What about my patients?' she says.

Rav makes, arguably, a bad decision. 'If they matter to you, bring them too.' Impulse control is not the svartalven's best trait, and she is containing a lot of frustration right now. 'Five minutes, prepare them to travel.'

Carlotta looks horrified at this, there's a long pause as both of them look at each other, then both of them manage to hold it back. 'Could you help?' she asks Rudolf.

Peresumably he does. Rav glares at Valette. 'Just sit there, don't go anywhere, say nothing.' and goes to arrange transport for the two burn victims. Rigging up a pair of travois. Carlotta is not happy to see this, looks ready to protest then thinks better of it. She leaves to collect a few personal effects, and Rav says to Rudolf, quietly, 'She's going to be no good at this unless she learns to lose her temper a little.'

Travois are what she reckons to be the best practical solution- they can be managed by one man, and she needs eyes out and hands on weapons. Cart would take too long to sort out, stretchers need too many people to manage.

I want to know what Rudolf says to that, and what Valette is doing unsupervised for those five minutes.

There were six blackcloaks in the pursuit party, a scout and five thugs; at night, there are a few fires, there is some magical light around the temple quarter and the thaumaturges' guild but it is, basically, dark. Forming up around the travois and the noncombatants, Rav and the other rooftop- runner (also female) leading the way, you head for the inn.

There's a shout and a clatter from overhead about two thirds of the way there, a whooshing sound. Nothing after that. When you get to the inn, the front door is wide open, and there's a strange sweet chemical smell coming from inside, as well as the occasional bout of demented giggling. What do you do?



Oh, in terms of local diet, remember there are elves about, and quite a high density of Shapers, the radical faction that believes in helping nature along through improving it. In other words, Mad Scientist- level bioengineering. Whether you want to eat anything grown by them, considering the nasty surprises it might contain- deliberate and otherwise- frequently not. Whether you want to let them help you, considering what they reckon actually counts as help, think hard about that one.

The Happenists are the preserve the local ecosystem movement, and they are numerically the strongest, but the Shapers are just too nuts to completely contain. The middle path, the Nurturers, do trade plants with other elvish communities scattered across the world and sell some of the results, so there is a wide variety of exotics to be had. Usually at luxury prices, though.

There will certainly be something potato- like at least, a hardy, ridiculously efficient starchy root vegetable, but even in peace, economics dictates diet, the wealthy eat better than the poor. Breakdown of the supply system is much more important than actual shortage of food- most of the countryside is still there after all.

[Lord Relvenous]

Sorry about my absence. I've been very sick these past few days and am just getting to the point where I can leave my bed.

Has the situation with de Andorra changed at all? I know that ?I haven't posted for a little bit and the story has moved on, so thought I'd check.

If it hasn't, consider this de Andorra's response to her question.
De Andorra bows to the woman, acknowledging her skill. He straightens and meets her eye, answering her query.
"Well, in the practical sense, I am a man with a skill who needs to find somewhere to apply it. A man of the sword with no purpose to wield one is a poor man. However, that is a secondary concern. I was instantly struck by the fact that your temple had avoided damage from the invaders. It intrigued me. To deter such men as the invaders would require quite the formidable effort, thought I. To meet such people as those who had protected themselves so adeptly was a most interesting prospect to one who has studied war and violence such as I. This short sparring match has quite reaffirmed my desire to learn more. While I might be not of the highest skill, I am eager to progress in talent, and if you are any indication, this is the perfect place for that. I am not a holy man, and thus am ill-suited for a position in the religious side of a temple. Therefore I offered my services as a guard, though I think you are quite capable of your own defense."

[Vehrec]

Randolf is opposed to moving the patients, on both general principle and for the practical reasons of being slowed down and taking people with life threatening or crippling injuries into a dangerous situation. He does recognized the need for security, but isn't sure that this is the best way to balance these things. He'll be expressing that to Rav when she confides in him. On the other hand, he admits can't see any solution that's definitively better-locking the house with them inside leaves them vulnerable to spiteful assassins or arsonists, while waiting is absolutely unacceptable and splitting up might invite a defeat in detail. As far as needing to let some anger out, he opines that maybe Carlotta's saving that for something more important. Compared to the shocks of the past few days, an argument like that is really unimportant.

As far as getting them ready to move goes-this would be as good a time as any to breach the subject of his abilities. People needing to be good enough to move, even if it doesn't actually speed their recovery, is a prime example of a situation where magical healing is of paramount usefulness. He'll breach the issue with Carlotta first of all, since these are her patients.

Stuff at the inn to follow once this is squared away.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Ok, things happening;

Relvenous, if something like that is happening, getting better comes way before anything happening on the internet. As long as you are up and about, first and foremost.

de Andorra- Mathlde listens to this, makes an animal noise- a snarl of frustration; thinks it over for a second- the invisible aura of Playerness helps a lot. She says 'follow me' and leads him back inside.

Off to a side room, some sort of prayer cell, motions him to sit. She's between him and the door. 'We're good, but not that good. They bypassed us, left us alone as an act of political cruelty. So that it would look that we had somehow helped them, been on their side, and the people and the other churches would turn on us and destroy us for them... a slower, sweeter revenge.

We were turned into white crows, and we need fighting men and women, for that the commander of those madmen is a renegade, apostate Krylanyan; one of ours, until she sold herself over to the doctrine of total war. And it suits her to pass some of the blame on to us- that's war at the highest political level for you, and I wish we really were as good as you think we are.

We're almost certainly going to have to buy our survival at the price of doing a lot of the other temples' muscle work for them; we'll see who comes out on top after that, but one thing is certain, there's going to be a lot of use for swords. Still want a job?'



Norade- the first two rounds of that fight, Safrac shoots at the watching yeoman, and the yeoman dives out of the way- he recovers, but his return shot isn't great and Turstin sidestepps it, losing momentum but at least not being skewered.

There are a lot of snapshots and misses, some of them thin numbers indeed- the yeomanry are at least semi-professional, charging them down before they get too many chances at you is definitely the right thing to do. One horse is hit, in the hindquarters, and from the way it whinnies and bucks quite badly, one yeoman hit in the leg but only a light wound. The market stall holders are ambivalent- being stuck trying to push through them would involve taking way too many arrows.

Bellowing at them to get out of the way achieves a little, but it's only when the political yeoman shouts 'Clear the butts, there'- basically meaning, get out of the line of fire- that they open the field. Turstin dodges, you don't know how, another arrow- one of your men swears loudly as he gets hit.

Almost on top of him, Safrac's opponent has the choice of a point- blank snapshot or of changing to a secondary weapon. He does, moving to a heavy hammer of his own. Hammer on hammer should be interesting.


'When you spot a good option,' Rav says to Randolf- ? I thought it was Rudolf, wasn't that the name from earlier?- 'let me know. My main concern is dame D'Cearach- this is what she turned away from her family to do, a failure on her own chosen path would destroy her from the inside out. Their chances if we leave them behind are poor- worth the risk. Just pad them well.'

When Rudolf mentions magial healing, Carlotta looks massively relieved. 'if you could. There's precious little that can really be done for severe burns- clean the skin, dull the pain and encourage the body to heal as fast as it can is about all. If the magic...'

(GM note; the regen rate for mana is one thing that has been up and down through rule revisions trying to get the balance right, and a balance more to the point that still makes sense on through the mid and end game. At the moment, let's experiment with highest Power, in points per day.) Rudolf has enough power to heal both of them, but one is a much cleaner job than the other- post- thaumaturgic shock, there's going to be about half a day difference in recovery times, the earliest in a day and a half more or less.

[Norade]

The initial charge didn't go as well as he had hoped due to the market goers not moving aside from the charge and part of the knight wishes his men were cruel enough to simply run them down as part of the charge. That however isn't what he came here for and in spite of the screams of horses and the curses from one of his men he's confident that they'll win this skirmish. Calling out words of encouragement to his men he swings his hammer from horseback only to find it met by another hammer.

Smiling down at the man below and confident that Turstin can hold his own Safrac decides to fight this battle dismounted so his mount can fight freely. No sooner than he decides to fight on foot the Ork puts both hands on his hammer and attempts to dismount while dropping an overhead blow into the yeoman below. He hopes that the extra power behind his blows with two hands will end things quickly enough that he won't want for his shield.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Administrative bit first; had a PM from someone who wants to join, going by the handle of Kheitain, who says he's known IRL to someone already in and wants to play a construct.

I can't think of a reason to say no, so unless anyone objects he'll be in.

There are two other posters who have expressed an interest then not got back to me in a while- Zixinus, who's character design was fine and who would be really relevant right about now, and Lusankya. If either of you are reading this, could you post and tell me whether you will or will not be able to join in? If not, at least I can stop worrying and drafting situations to include the characters.


Norade; the first few moves- Safrac's target is tall, strong and heavy for a human, but not up to orcish standards. As Safrac vaults off Turstin, the target holds his sledgehammer horizontally and pushes upwards- catching the descending warhammer haft to haft, with a loud thunk. Sheer weight and momentum shoves him back and bowls him over, he rolls with it but ends up sprawling;

Safrac steps after him, swings down at him, he manages, just, to twist himself round and block, manages to get up, sort of scuttling sideways and using the haft of his hammer as a lever to do it, half- ducks behind it, half moves it to block to intercept the third swipe.

Any pole weapon, you can pretty much use it to block with like a quarterstaff. Just with a heavy, dangerous weight at one end. which is exactly what he's doing, and well, too. He'll run out of energy first, a smaller being using a heavier weapon, but that's not how Safrac wants this to go, is it?

He tries to get it over wth quickly, too- a horizontal sweep, left to right at ribcage height, barely parried; followed by his recovering stance quickly by shifting his centre of gravity after the weapon, sweeping round the other way. Safrac deflects that slightly more convincingly.

Lookng around, of four targets, Safrac's busy with one, Parrol's dropped his man and is moving to help Walter, who's in trouble with the third- been wounded, one of his legs is starting to fold under him. No sign of the fourth.

[Norade]

This isn't going as well as Safrac had hoped, but he knows that his size can be made to work to his advantage. He swings down hard again, hoping that his foe will parry and once his foe makes a move he'll step in and try to grapple and throw him to the ground. Here his weight should make it hard for the yeoman to get up again. It would also make it nearly impossible to swing the hammer up given the weight and lack of leverage.

[Master_Baerne]

Valette uses her five minutes to take stock of her surroundings. Rav's comrades and the patients themselves get particular scrutiny - What guality troops do the guards appear to be, and is ther anyone unusual-looking among the injured?

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Baerne; as the bandages are pulled back for them to be healed, Valette gets a good look at the burn victims- such of them as there is to identify rings no bells. (Were you expecting a missing noble under there?) Social class is hard to tell, but not scum at any rate- relatively well to do, and she must be good at this because Valette doesn't understand why they're still alive after being reduced to this state.

They're both sedated anyway, and even less capable of talking after Rudolf heals them. The burns heal from the bottom up; no scarring- both male, as their faces become recognisable, she makes a connection; one of them is a lawyer, an advocate at the city halls.

The hunting party that was originally after Valette, that Rav co-opted, are muggers, footpads, burglars and street rangers, not soldiers; light and fast on their feet, but not cut out for a stand- up fight. .

[Vehrec]

Apologies, I'm terrible with names. Including, it would seem, my own characters. It's Randolf Alfman, or so my initial post with it indicates. It's a portmanteau of twp characters from a jRPG series, one a kind of Knight Templar, the other a savvy politician. Neither contributed anything to this characterization.

As for the arrival at the inn, Randolf will finish the run puffing and lean against the wall to look at the others, before turning to Valatte. "Which room?" It's an important question right now, and as soon as it's answered, he's going to suggest sending the two rooftop jumpers to get the things since they can presumably break and enter on whatever floor it is.

[Lord Relvenous]

De Andorra knew that the skill of the acolytes was not the only thing that contributed to the protection of the temple, but thought it better to not mention that in his first statement. Now, he nods his head while considering the facts. "I see. Well, I've never been one to turn down a job because it had the potential to be dangerous. If I did, I wouldn't be much of a mercenary. I would still like to join you, if you would have me. You have seen my skills somewhat, though I hope to not fight often against ones with such attire." De Andorra smiles, gesturing to her suit of liquid metal. "That is quite the interesting piece of equipment. I've never seen anything so advanced in my travels."

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Dammit dammit dammit, the computer just ate a long story post. Bollocks and crap.
Reconstructing in reverse order,

Relvenous; should I be checking on de Andorra's Allure now? She says 'Figuring out where to fit you in is problematical; you have talent, you could be more than straightforward rank and file, but being of the goddess we naturally extend command and responsibility first to the devout- and you're not, you would have thought to mention it by now if you were.

I'll pay you what your skills are worth- seven and a half copper to start with-' which is actually generous, a johnny- raw or a man in hard times might be paid three to four, a veteran armsman usually five to six, '-but if you want to be in charge of anything, you'll have to earn it. We certainly have no shortage of trouble for you to prove yourself on.

I'll assign you to Theresa's foot patrol, not to my personal guard- not yet.' she smiles at that. 'My war- party is the ready reserve, you'll only be seeing much of us if you manage to get into trouble.

Oh, my second skin? The temple does have some ability to make and empower such things, as aids and rewards for the faithful. Something else that you're going to have to prove that you're worth.'

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Norade, I think the board is trying to save you from my dice. They seem to have decided they want a love- hate relationship.

Writing this for the third time, then, after session timeouts and edit limits; the yeoman manages to take Safrac's feet out from under him with the haft fo the sledgehammer, but the orc has too mcuh momentum and they both go down in a tangled heap. Some wrestling follows, the yeoman manages to use the hammer as a lever to force himself at least partially back to his feet- and then dice happen.

As Safrac tries to bear him down and the yeoman tries to hit the orc, mutual critical failure. Both dice come up maximum results. Pain occurs. All the yeoman's weight goes into a short, fast blow that's more than half accidental, and as the orc collides with him his head hits the ground with a sickening crunch.

As Safrac goes to check and see if he's really dead, it's hard to move- the plate over his stomach is seriously dented in. Excellent resist injury, the orc can work through the pain, but the organic damage- it would be good to see a medic, and very soon. The yeoman's gone, neck broken.

The rest of the fight is more or less over, two men and one horse hurt besides Safrac, one yeoman dead, one seriously injured and lying there bleeding, one moderately wounded and taken prisoner, one fled.

This incident isn't going to go unnoticed- there are almost certainly armed people going to react to this, and not necessarily friendly ones. There's still a large crowd of bystanders. The plan?


Baerne and Vehrec, your bit; Valette was in the large room at the end fo the corridor on the uper floor, and as soon as she says it Rav is heading that way, hand- signalling her colleague to go to a nearby rooftop and take overwatch, essentially. One of the footmen looks in the door, spots the owner lying on top of a table, twitching and giggling. At a guess, she's been dosed with a hypnotic, tickled, and hypnotically instructed to relive the experience.

Embarrassing and undignified, but magnitudes less lethal than what happened at the other place. There are two other patrons in a similar state. What's the plan?

[Norade]

Safrac, in some pain after an unexpected blow to the stomach in the hurried melee, looks around to see that his men are wounded by victorious. He knows that more will be coming shortly, and that his small group won't be able to keep fighting for much longer. The crowd also doesn't seem very receptive, as might be expected giving the circumstances in the city, and that fact that they seemed to be on the side of the yeoman archers.

Climbing gingerly onto Turstin he says to his men, "We're pulling out, follow me."

Once his men are ready to move he starts to lead them to De Novara's residence in hopes that he'll be able to find somebody to treat their wounds and get things dealt with. Along the way the ork curses his bad luck, at taking the shot and not having the crowd move away from his charge. He also wonders how much longer he can continue to deal with problems in his usual way instead of trying diplomacy first.

[Lord Relvenous]

Hmm, about the Allure, I actually don't know. While this Mathlde has been described as a very attractive woman, de Andorra isn't the most charming of men, so that could easily backfire if he tries to seduce her in anyway. I didn't even put any points into Allure. So while having Mathlde seduced by de Andorra could be good for espionage purposes, it's too risky to try I think.

As for the job, while OOC I think it could drive me away from the rest of the party, I suppose you wouldn't have given de Andorra the opportunity if you weren't prepared to deal with it. So yes, de Andorra will take the job.

"Seven and a half copper and the promise of trouble is more than enough to buy my sword. Your offer is accepted." De Andorra stands, and gives her a salute. "Now then, ma'am, what would you have me do?"

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

When it comes to being put in contact with dubious elements and sniffing out the sneaky and deceitful, the Krylanyans are an excellent place to start. They are the people who believe in deception and misdirection as a tool of combat, and even if all their acts and operations were entirely above board (which they aren't), you can bet that some of their friends and contacts are way on the other side of that line.

I'm also trying to resist temptation because the idea that just popped into my head seems corny as all hell- but why not?

Mathilde reacts before de Andorra, reaching behind her to open the door at least a second before the messenger she had heard running down the corridor gets to it. 'My lady, there's a-' The paladin calms the messenger down and gets the whole story, then turns to de Andorra.

'That would be job one. Find Theresa- the eastern refectory most likely, she'll be in bronze half- mask, feather headdress and cloak- and pass on to her that a small band of militant yeomanry is making a nuisance of themseves in the Karval Gate market, she- and you- are to go and stop them, and bring them in for questioning if you can. Good luck.'

Krylanya being a goddess of war, people tending to have more respect for those who actually practise what they preach, and the working definition of a paladin being a warrior blessed and empowered by divine magic, there are few priests as such, most of them being retired paladins, and it is the paladins who do most of the work of the church. (Although you can forget the bit about spotless moral character.)

Of the dozen at this temple, six are male and six female, and Theresa is one such- she's easily identifiable, seems to lead a personal retinue of ten, four others like herself wearing half- plate and five more lightly armoured, archers. From the snarkiness she greets de Andorra with, there's at least a rivalry between her and Mathilde. (skipping the detailed introductions.)

She leads off at a punishingly rapid pace, that being one of Krylanya's divine magics; and is annoyed by de Andorra's (excelent Athletics) ability to keep up, but by the time the patrol gets there, the yeomen are down, defeated already, there a few battered and beaten guildsmen, and the victors- an orc, ludicrously in full plate armour and with heraldry, and four human warriors- are just leaving. Safrac and de Andorra both spot each other. The plan?

[Norade]

A welcome turn of events happens as Safrac and his bloodied, but victorious band start to move away from the battle site and the ork spots De Andorra along side what looks to be a well armed band of warriors. However he isn't exactly well liked among those in the temple district, so he nods to the group while making fleeting eye contact with his ally. He hopes that this sign will be enough to get the attention of his ally so the other group can as for his approach.

[Master_Baerne]

Valette passes the information on which room she was staying in to Randolph and Rav, then try and climb up towards her room's window. If there's no one inside, she'll pop in and retreive as much stuff as she can reasonably carry, if not, she'll wait for the more combat-oriented people to lead the way.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Baerne; Rav's doing the same thing, up the wall- she stops half way, whispers to Valette 'Do you smell elf? they'd go for me on sight- you go in first, bluff them and baffle them, get them talking. Strange, I was expecting my own kind.'

Vehrec, Randolf is the only one of the party at the door who manages to spot something- a shadowy shape, but one that fades in and out of clarity. For a moment he can't believe his eyes, but then he thinks about magic a bit. If the shape is using magic to deflect light, the light tends to object- it has to go somewhere, and that somewhere just flashed across the doctor's eyeline.

Tall, thin, long- boned, hooded, masked, wearing shades of grey, some sort of hand weapon, and was moving from the stairway towards the kitchen counter.


Relvenous, dame Theresa may be a fairly nasty person- maybe she improves on acquaintance, de Andorra doubts it, she appears to have absolutely no sense of humour- but stupid she, unfortunately, isn't. She notices the nod, says 'You know him? Excellent. This can be done bloodlessly- reel him in.'