Synopsis of Chapter One: The Plate

I put it into more of a bullet form this week because there was a lot to cover.
FYI each Palladium month has 28 days, or four weeks. at the end of the year they have a special "half-week" to keep the calendar aligned.

Þriðjudagur (thrĭth-yĭ-da-ger) Maí 25, 3839 A.P.
Silus left to meet with Ankar about what kind of deal could be offered to you.
Grant, a friend of Oki's, stopped by to let you know that you were all in danger and being watched constantly. Oki and Grant work out travel arrangements the group to ride the Veloz out of town. He'll take his payment later and tells you keep your money for now. Grant plans to bring friends by for a party to create cover for your escape.

The plan of escape to leave through the root cellar, which leads into the catacombs under Ricmorn.
Silus returns with an offer from Ankar which includes loads of money, protection, and the right to have the plate back after his research is done. The offer for free passage, or passage of any kind, to the Eastern Territories (Gevril, to be exact), has been withdrawn as you are being followed by too many interests at this time.

The guests start arriving, and so do the wolfen, knocking at your back door. You tell them that you are not going to take their deal and they tell you that this is most regrettable. Shortly afterward, city guards come knocking at the door. This is your cue to leave.

You all escape into the catacombs and are happily making your way now into the sewers when pfft! Agar disappears!

Agar was summoned using the hair and blood by someone who is most likely Churokand a lady friend named Asuka. Asuka blows Churok's head off using a Skedic pistol and demands that Agar tell her who he is and where the plate is. Fortunately Agar was not transported too far away as he is somewhere near Zog's lair. Zog the za. Asuka escorts Agar back out towards the rest of the group.

The rest of the party backtracks and meets up in Zog's lair. There they meet the za, a demonic winged doglike creature. The fight many expected never comes and it seems as though powerful (demonic?) force has possessed poor old Zog. The entity warns the group that it is in way over its head and that it knows what they have and who they are. Oh well, time to leave as the great vaulted room begins to collapse.. Oki provides a convenient dimensional teleport that gets you all to the docks and on board the Veloz.

miðvikudagur Maí 26, 3839 A.P.– You spend Wednesday on board the Veloz, screaming along the open sea at 30kts. During this time you get to know a little about Asuka (aka Songia) Hasder's daughter, although she is not the most talkative of people. She dresses as though she were from the East and wears a little choker with a small “X” pendant. She is pissed at you all and expects you to repay your debt to her father for your complete idiocy, but at least she understands that you were duped by “that @#$! Elf” as she calls Silus. Right now she is interested in getting the plate to a safe haven.

fimmtudagur Maí 27, 3839 A.P.– You arrive in Wertouth. Nobody wants to stay in Wertouth, a small city in the very south of the elven territory of Ellendel. The captain, Bhurgen, will take you to Elgretisland for 1200 apiece. Since you have Hasder's money you agree.

föstudagur Maí 28, 3839 A.P.– Elgretisland welcomes you like a swarm of angry bees as the Misarlon ambush you in the busy main street market. One of the seven, a dwarve, steals the backpack from Landros and hell breaks loose. People running, screaming. A horse that the dwarve tries to use to get away is first knocked down by the sekai, then pulverized into ground meat by a Riga. But, somehow you manage to get the backpack with the plate in it and jump through another rift, courtesy of Oki, and land outside of Bathfells. There you split up and try a safe way to Aja, a place where you hope you will find some relief from this chase. Oh, yes! And Oki got a brief view of the mind of a Misarlon and may have some useful gold nuggets of information. Of course, the member of the seven also saw everything that Oki knows.

Outlook – You have found a smugglers path that runs down to Slódaulur, although you will have to watch out for dragons and drug runners. The path is 300 miles to Aja from here, or given the slow nature of mountain trails, 20 days. Ah, the classic fortnight trek, right? In that amount of time the Misarlon will certainly have reached Bathfells and be back on your trail. Obviously they have informants everywhere, so maybe they'll know you have been here sooner than later.

News in Ricmorn

Time scale: You all left for Hasder's Föstudagur morning. On Laugurdagur morning, before sunrise, you split ways, some going to Ricmorn, others to the estate. Sunnudagur evening Hasder passed away. Manudagur morning (Chris) returned to Ricmorn to join the rest of the party. Today is Þriðjudagur.

The Farlax has delayed leaving port; reports are that they are waiting for some cargo on the road from Niverhall to arrive. A second Uarnesian ship, the Veloz, has arrived in harbor.

News of Lord Hasder's death is circulating around the city and some wonder whether his daughter, Songia, from his most recent marriage will return to manage the estate. The rumor is that they were estranged and she was living as a missionary in some remote corner of the world.

The Wolfen legions are preparing to to cross to the northern shores of the Western Empire where they will board ships bound for their home.

Some socialites are talking about some sort of hubbub that occured in the middle of the evening at the Omunis party. Some blame a small group of Wolfen who were attending while others note that Omunis seemed peeved for a while that evening, not something you see often in that man.

The homeless population has dropped dramatically in recent months and the governor's pointing to a boom in trade from the south for the economic good fortune. The number of arrests for disorderly behavior have gone up, however, as has the murder rate, which is not something the authorities are talking much about.

Synopsis of Chapter One: The Plate

Here's is what has happened so far:

The gracious Lord Hasder invites you to his estate because he has a business proposal. The estate is indeed filled with artifacts and ancient relics from around the world, and this includes his staff and his pets, among them the stone statue of King Tiu-Tiu of some kingdom in the Yin-Sloth jungles.

The job was supposed to be simple (aren't they always?). Retrieve a stolen artifact from the store rooms beneath the Omunis estate and return to Hasder. Jiunko, Hasder's scholar/curator with his curious assortment of powders was to help you find the item in question, a simple earthenware plate. You leave immediately and hope that many of the servants are busy with the guests at one of Omunis' soirees. And indeed there are, as it turns out.

After a seven mile jaunt down an old service path, Jiunko lead you to a narrow cave that was supposed to gain entrance to the wine cellars beneath the Omunis estate house; it turns out that it lead into some deeper dungeon in which terrible human sacrifice was taking place. It is dangerous thing to drink too much at the Omunis party.

You sneak past a sleep ogre. You investigate some human screams and rescue a woman from two evil kobolds looking to have some fun. You see some strange sand pit filled with bones and souls. and then, the room with the plate. No sooner have you found the object than a loogaroo corners you. She is apparently a servant of Churok's, and, perhaps because of her distaste for her master, she agrees to let you "protect" the plate in exchange for a lock of hair and a few drops of blood.

The sekai volunteers and you make your way out, dropping the women just outside the cave. You are on the path only a short while before an attack comes from both sides. A poison dart fells Jiunko and a band of angry ogres comes crashing down through the woods at the party.

You all try to run or hide, but before the ogres can get to you Silus, a character you briefly passed when entering the Hasder Estate, comes to your rescue and leads you through a back way to return to the Hasder residence. Unfortunately, you all get caught in the Issian Fields outside of the Issia Monastery area and almost succumb to the sopporific powers of the nightflowering plant.

Ogres try to follow you into the fields, but they fall prey to the flower's power and you think you might just get out okay...but then the fog.mist rolls in and seven riders in grey cloaks on silver white horses stop you and demand that you hand over the artifact.

Oddly, they don't put up too much of a fight and leave, promising that they will get the artifact (plate) from you in the near future.

You split up: the riga goes to Hasder with a fake plate and the rest of you return to Oki's place in Ricmorn. Hasder dies of old age within 36 hours of the riga's return, and so he, too, returns to Ricmorn.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... things are tense but not much happens. There are rumors that the Farlax, the Uarnesian ship, has decided to delay leaving port. Of course, this is the ship associated with Omunis' company; and the plate had been packed in a Nehranes Sea Co. Shipping crate. It seems, like...what?

Shortly after you are all reunited, a wolfen general comes knocking on the door of Oki's house, offering to take the plate back to the Northern Empire; his interest is in preventing the kingdoms in the Eastern Territories from having a fearsome artifact at their disposal. So he claims to know who the original buyers are, perhaps? Yes, as Silus tells you, it is Ankar who had been on of the two or three people to place a bid on Hasder's plate before it was stolen. And it is an interesting coincidence, at least, that Ankar is planning to travel back to the east on the Farlax. Silus says he can offer you safe passage on the Farlax, although not without its risks.

Some of you want to hold on to the plate for research. Others want to sell it for a hefty chunk of change.

And then there was Zog. Poor, forgotten Zog, the odd ruler of the Ricmorn underground and either a servant of Churok's or Omunis'. This plate might hold the key to long life, but it is certainly threatening to shorten yours. Who knows when Zog's minions might come calling...

The Campaign Starts!

Tuesday, December 9 at 7:00pm the game starts! Our fabulous hosts will be Chris and Tamiko at their place (I'll do a private email about address because the rest of the world doesn't have to know where that is).

If you drink, bring your own favorite. If you have a favorite gaming snack or munchie, bring some to share. And, of course, bring your completed character!

For those of you who need to get me info on your character's background, email me when you can.

An offer you can't refuse...

I suppose that we could find some way to torture the beginning into some sort of forced explanation as to how the whole party of you has come together, but I'd rather leave your backstories and motivations up to you as players. So instead, I am going to give you the prologue and you can each figure out for yourselves exactly why you are going to accept the “offer”.

The Offer

You are each in Ricmorn for some reason. Perhaps you live here, or maybe you are passing through (where did you come from and where were you going to?). You might even have relatives or friends in town (what do they do?).

You have each been approached by an agent of Lord Hasder's, a world renown collector of antiquities whose name is familiar with merchants in the most remote of ports. Mercenaries and adventurous people of all sorts seek the opportunity to work for Lord Hasder for the prestige and pay. The collection at the Hasder Estate is unique in the world and scholars from every corner of civilization seek the opportunity to study artifacts in this collection. His agent has asked if you would be interested in meeting with the Lord at the estate, just a few miles outside of Ricmorn, to discuss a possible business opportunity. There are few who not consider this an honor, for Hasder's agents generally only seek the most qualified personel to do work in the name of the estate. Why Hasder's agent would think you are right for the job is up to you to decide.

You might also be intrigued to know that there have been several buyer inquiries on items in the Hasder collection, some from the Wolfen, others from the Emissaries from the Eastern Territorities. But it is widely known that Hasder has never and will never sell anything in his collection. Of course, there are rumors of everything from a possible Wolfen seige to theft by agents of darkness, but mostly it is wild speculation.

And so you each, for whatever reason fits your background and personal goals, have decided to accept the offer to meet with Lord Hasder at his estate. Maybe you just want the money, or perhaps you seek a glimpse of some famous artifact; maybe you fear the vile Wolfen will attack the estate house and you want to be there for the carnage; who knows, could it be that Hasder is an old family friend you haven't seen in years? Whatever the reason ,it is yours.

And you don't have to be strangers, either. There is a Skedic and a Sekai in the party, so maybe you already know each other. Perhaps everyone else has been wandering the country side together for a few weeks now. Or you might decide that you have never met the others in the party before now.

If you have any answers to the questions posed here, and you should, email me so I can incorporate it into the story!

A Combat Primer

With our first meeting coming up and the extreme likelihood of combat in the near future, I thought I would take this opportunity to go over how combat works. I'll point out now that there is no such thing as a perfect or realistic combat system. Every system has its strengths and weaknesses. In general, the Palladium/Rifts system, although somewhat modified as presented here, is less forgiving than some: on average, 5 or 6 solid hits by any opponent with a long sword would kill most human characters even with armor on, but you really only need one critical strike.

There is a basic over all flow that looks something like this:

1. Determine Initiative

2. Attacker rolls for Strike

3. Defender rolls for Parry/Dodge/Entangle

4. If Defender fails, Attacker rolls for damage

5. Repeat Step 2 thru 5 until combat is over.

Now let's break it down.

Step 1 – Determine Initiative

Many times it will be clear from the context of the confrontation who has the initiative, or upper hand. Sneak attacks and ambushes obviously afford the attackers the initiative, but attackers whose experience is vastly greater will also have the advantage. When two combatants of roughly equal ability meet under normal conditions, each combatant will roll a 20-sided die; the higher roll always wins and ties must be re-rolled until there is a clear winner. Whoever wins initiative retains it for the duration of the battle.

The combatant with the initiative rolls first as the attacker. To be more precise, the person with initiative gets to decide what to do, but there is very little reason not to strike first. The order of combat then follows the Timing Chart, with each combatant taking turns as the attacker according to the number of attacks they may use each Melee Round (MR).

The Timing Chart shows at what point during each 15 second MR a combatant is allowed to strike. You will notice that someone who has three attacks per MR will strike at different times from someone who has two attacks per MR.

Step 2 – Attacker rolls for Strike

The attacker rolls a 20-sided die for the strike roll, adding any strike bonuses from combat skill, stats or magic. Any adjusted value above a four will hit unless the original or natural roll of the die was a 1. In this case, it is a Critical Miss and will not hit no matter what the adjusted value is. On the other hand, if a natural 20 is rolled, it is a Critical Hit and will do at least double* damage unless the defender can make a miraculous save. Sometimes a person's Hand-to-Hand combat skill will allow Critical Hits to occur from sneak attacks or on natural die rolls of 18, 19, or 20!

Step 3 – Defender Rolls for Parry/Dodge/Entangle

Before the defender rolls, they must decide what their course of action is going to be: they can either Parry (block the strike), Dodge (move out of the way of the strike), or Entangle (attempt to snag the opponents weapon, or grapple and pin a limb). Although a dodge will always grant you a better chance of avoiding an attack, and is the only way to avoid something like a dragon's breath attack, there is a time penalty for dodging which may cause a low level character to lose his next attack. Entangling is difficult and dangerous, but if successful might disarm or pin an opponent. Parrying is the safe, middle of the road defense that costs you no penalty. In any case the defender rolls a 20-sided die and must, with all modifiers and bonuses for the chosen type of defense, at least equal the attacker's adjusted strike roll in order to successfully defend against that attack.

Step 4 – Roll for Damage

If the defender failed to somehow avoid the attack, then the attacker rolls for damage according to weapon type, PS bonuses, weapon bonuses, and magic bonuses or damage. If the adjusted original Strike Roll was greater than the defender's AR (armor rating), then the damage is applied directly to SDC, or HP if SDC are gone. However, an adjusted Strike Roll lower than the AR results in damage being done to ASDC. The defender has one last chance to attempt to roll with impact to reduce the damage taken. This only applies to physical attacks, of course. Again the defender must equal or better the strike roll on a 20-sided die. You cannot roll with impact when cornered or in tight quarters.

Step 5 – Rinse and Repeat

Combat continues until one side is dead or has run away.

Critical Rolls - Critical Strikes, Critical Misses and Critical Saves

A natural roll of 20 is always a Critical Strike and will do extra damage. It also bypasses any armor the defender may have. “Double” is defined like this: if you get a Critical Strike using a long sword that normally does 3d6 damage, you will do 3d6+18 points of damage. I felt that this was better than simply doubling 3d6, which could result in your spectacular hit doing a whole 6 points of damage on the low end. Some highly advanced hand-to-hand combatants get a Critical strike on rolls lower than a natural 20, but the roll must always be natural.

Critical Saves – When your attacker has just rolled a critical strike against you, you must match that roll with a natural 20 or feel the full force of the attack. Even if you do roll a natural 20, you must then match or better the attacker's adjusted roll with your adjusted roll or you will take full normal damage (not double) from the attacker on your ASDC.

Critical Miss – If you roll a natural 1 on your attack, then this is a Critical Miss and you will not hit your opponent regardless of your adjusted roll. You also lose seconds in your MR, just as if you had dodged, and may as a result lose your next attack. This is because a Critical Miss indicates that you have over extended yourself and are off-balance for a certain period of time, equal to your dodge time.

Calling an Attack

You are allowed to “call” an attack before you roll if you wish to target a specific part of your foe. Broad targets, like swinging for the legs of a humanoid opponent, are relatively easy to hit and only require that your adjusted roll is successful in order to hit the desired target. On the other hand, trying to jab a dragon in the eye with your spear or shoot an arrow into its mouth are very difficult targets to hit, not only because of relative size, but also because they are moving targets. As such, you must roll a Critical Strike to hit the intended target, and failure to do so will result in a miss, no matter what the adjusted roll may be. There is an exception to this when you are trying to hit a small target within a larger field, for example you wish to fire an arrow into the center of a an emblem in the middle of a chest plate. In this instance a Critical Strike roll will hit exactly where intended, but any adjusted roll that is not defended against will at least hit the opponent somewhere.

Character Sess

It is official...

There will be a character building session on Tuesday, Nov 25 at 7pm. Our gracious hosts will be the folks at 10 Islington St. in Allston. I realize that many of you cannot be there, and I am still available to anyone who wants a hand in creating your character -- you just have to let me know how to get together wth you.