Horrorscapes [The Vault #19]

Click Here for a Master Index of “The Forge” and “Vault”!

Dream vistas twisted by alien intelligences of frightening power. Environs out of Nightmare. Lands inimical to the continued life of thinking races. All these and more dwell in the provinces of the Horrors. Many have been catalogued by brave and foolhardy wizards. Some have only been spoken of during palaver with the Fae and the shades of the Dead. Few have been survived. The Codex of ibn Al-Kazad relates twenty such locations:

1. _Cloud Castle_ (#CC) Large, black, and ominous... > Perception :ranged: :roll:s must be made each cycle around the table. Failure means the :adventurer: falls through a thinness in the cloudfloor or wall, suffering 3 hp of damage OR 1 Persona loss.

2. _Deathlight Spire_ (#DSpire) The darkness beaming from it's pinnacle steals the minds from all things it touches. You watch a flock of birds cease their flight and plummet... > Approaching the Spire is difficult and must be done between the cycling of the deathlight. An athletics :melee: check of 13+ is required or 1 Persona is lost. If Persona hits minimum the mind of the :adventurer: is stolen by the light, as their body crumples into coma.

3. _Crystal Caverns_ (#CCaverns) Stalagmites as large as humans litter the floor. Twisted simulacrums of the adventurers leer from their surfaces. > On a failed Persona check a simulacrum of the victim leaps from the crystal. It has half the hp of the :adventurer: and uses 1 ability drawn at random from the type(s) known by the :adventurer:.

4. _Spore Halls_ (#Spore) A long corridor covered in fungal blooms. > Make a Perception :ranged: check. For every multiple of 5 draw 1 :magic mushroom: encounter cards. They take -1 damage and deal +1 damage while in the Hall.

5. _The Writhing Plains_ (#WPlains) Spoken of by the surviving members of The Shining Band before they were committed to an asylum. They related a tale of a farmer's field, covered not in stalks of corn, but in grasping tentacles. > Passage through the plains requires 3 successful Athletics :melee: checks of 10+. Each failure results in loss of 1 Loot OR 2 hp.

6. _Sucking Sands_ (#SSands) Stand still for any length of time and you're dead. It is as though something follows beneath the sands, but at a pace just slower than one can walk. > Traversing the sands requires 3 successful Endurance :melee: or :music: checks of 8+. Failure results in being sucked below the sands for 4 hp damage and combat with a foul horror.

7. _Hairy Hole_ (#HH) The Devil's Navel, some call it. It quivers at your touch, but you see not what lies below. > Make a Persona :roll: of 11+. On failure you're compelled to enter and lose 1 Persona. On success it belches forth 1 random Loot item.

8. _The House of Hieronymous_ (#SHouse) A vast shell, large as a small castle, now vacant. Lesser creatures live inside it now... >

9. _Serpentskin Tunnel_ (#SS) You realize you're not in a tunnel adorned with glistening mosaic walls. Rather, this is the molted skin of a vast, dread serpent! > Make a Persona check or enter a trance induced by the glittering scales. Suffer -3 to all checks until you take damage. If combat is initiated, entranced :adventurer: s must attack another adventurer on the first round.

10. _Dreadhome_ (#Dhome) An immense cube floating in the sky. Every few decades cyclopean stones move and shift along its surface. Sometimes things exit to bedevil the world, or plummet to gory and enigmatic deaths. > On the approach to the Cube, make a Notice :roll: of 9+. On a failure, you are attacked by 2 :nightgaunts: for each person who failed the :roll:. On a 1, the :adventurer: is also struck by a falling body (or flying body parts from impact) for 3 hp damage.

11. _Incubation Plain_ (#IPlain) Barren plains scorched by sun and salt crystals, hatched eggs as tall as two and three story houses litter the flats. One remains, surrounded by a tentscape of adoring cultists. A ritual is about to take place atop "the One". > If the :adventurers cannot stop the 5 :Acolytes: from completing the ritual in 5 rounds, a :Cthulhi: comes forth.

12. _The Sloar!_ (#Sloar) It's not a smoking cavern. It's the belly of a terrible beast. Like the Keymaster said, "Many shubs and zools knew what it was like to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar that day, I can tell you!" > Every round in the Sloar one suffers 1 hp of damage. Two successful Climb :melee: checks of 11+ must be made to escape back up it's gullet.

13. _Horror Flats_ (#HFlats) The flat landscape is pocked with holes the size of wagons. Gore lingers at the edges of some. Something came from below... > Whatever foe you encounter while traversing the Flats gets a free attack against the adventurers (resolve no abilities the first round).

14. _HellMist Hall_ (#HMHall) A venerable manor, shrouded in mists without and within. Where are they coming from? Why won't daylight dissipate them? Why do you feel so...odd? > The mists distort :music: abilities. Failure on their :roll: is treated as a "1" :roll: instead.

15. _The ShieldWall_ (#SWall) It stands higher and thicker than a skyscraper. What was it meant to keep out? Luckily the lifts still work...for now.

16. _The Annihilation Arch_ (#Arch) Majestic and horrific at once, sacrifices are thrown from it into the mouth of a vast, sleeping terror far below. If it could be held against it's fanatical worshipers, the terror below might be starved to death...

17. _Webwoods_ (#WebW) If only those that spun them were spiders... > Any :roll: of 5, 10, or 15 results in the adventurer being ensnared in a web. Next round they take 1 extra hp in damage and suffer -3 to ability rolls.

18. _The Voidswamp_ (#Void) An unnatural vacuum above the swampy surface makes all breathing impossible. > No sound travels in the void. :Music: abilities do not function here, and :magic: abilities suffer -3 to rolls.

19. _The Trackless Dream_ (#Dream) In this place all objects return to their prior form. Nothing inanimate can be truly destroyed here. > Any :loot: spent or destroyed mysteriously re-forms two rounds later.

20. _The Quaking Caverns_ (#QCaverns) They are constantly moving and shifting, perpetually threatening to bury anyone traveling through them. > Two Perception :ranged: checks and two Athletics :melee: checks of 9+ are required to come out of the caverns. Each time a Perception :ranged: check is failed the adventurer who failed is separated from the party and must fight a Tier I Encounter card. Each time an Athletics :melee: check is failed, the adventurer suffers 2 hp damage from moving walls and falling stone.

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Righteous Role Playing [The Forge #5]

Click Here for a Master Index of “The Forge” and “Vault”!

A recent community survey on the role playing elements of Expedition has shown that 62% of you would welcome more robust role playing as part of your Quests. This installment of The Forge hopes to give you ways to do that, whether you are an author writing a quest or a group of players playing a pre-written quest. Authors, you can use these to outline/plan quests. Players can use these on the fly. 

Four common things that provide grist for role playing are Backstory, Complications, Consequences, and detailing Description. 

Backstory

Unrevealed backstory is often used to hint tantalizingly at greater revelations. When used appropriately (as a tease) it retains that element of mystery keeps us watching movies and reading books, for there is suspense not only in the unresolved future, but the tension of events already past. As you are playing a quest, adventurers can role play and help create the backstory. 

You may object, "What if we create a backstory that the quest later contradicts?"

It doesn't matter so much if during the unfolding of the quest we're told the backstory really isn't what we thought it was. After all, Luke Skywalker found out the narrative given him about Vader by Obi-Wan wasn't accurate. There are lies we sometimes tell ourselves, too. 

1. Why is the villain doing what they're doing? (Stealing X, Attacking Y, etc.)

2. Why are the adventurers getting involved?

3. What does this quest mean to each adventurer as an individual?

Notice that #2 and #3 may seem the same, but they often are not. The adventurers may be getting involved to stop the Lich's undead army from conquering the realm, but for different reasons. One might fear for what will happen to his wife and children in the city under seige. Another may know the magecraft he practices will be outlawed should the Lich take power. The mobster in the group may only want the Lich kept at bay out of selfish financial interest (you can't sell drugs to the undead). 

Some other elements you can use to craft the backstory:

1. What type of relationship do the adventurers have with the victims or characters in the story?

2. What type of history/relationship do they have with the Antagonist (Enemy)?

3. How does the Antagonist feel about the adventurers (if they know of they even exist)? Do they hold them in contempt? Secretly fear them? Have crossed paths (and swords/spells) with them in the past?

All of the above questions will probably be answered/role played in the opening phase of the quest. Here are some likely to come up in the middle and end phases of a quest:

1. How do the characters in the story feel about the adventurers' actions. If we find out later the quest tells us those things, it's okay. Maybe our adventurers' initial impression was wrong.

2. What do characters do about the adventurers actions.

Complications

Complications are the challenges or conflicts the heroes must overcome to succeed.  They may also be things that happen to the Antagonists or their minions that make things funny, more interesting, or easier for the adventurers.  

1. What happens that makes the quest or part of it unexpectedly difficult? For the adventurers? For the Villains?

2. During Combat? Outside of Combat?

Here are some examples of complications:

• The henchmen of the Bandit Captain have fled with the contents of the Royal Treasury. Perhaps one of their wagons has broken down, allowing the adventurers to attempt a Sneak check to attack with surprise while they try to repair the broken axle. This is a complication for the villains a one or two person party can inject to make a quest easier.

• As the battle against the Dark Wizard grows more desperate for the adventurers, they opt to introduce a complication against the Wizard...the battle is happening in the Wizard's chamber, with magical Loot all around. A Notice check allows them to grab some Loot to use in the final stages of the battle.

Consequences

At the end of the adventure we're probably given a surface level explanation of what we've done (defeated the Lich, saved the realm, etc.), but what does it really mean? This is a great place for players to help craft the story and tack on a more personalized ending to the quest. 

1. How do people feel about the outcome or adventurers?

2. If they were victorious, there may be a very important but involved. Ex. We defeated the army of the Dark Wizard, but we did a lot of property damage that the citizens of the Kingdom aren't too happy about. We may have to lay low for awhile.

3. What were the moral consequences of everyone's actions? Ex. Those guards we killed when we could have snuck by had families to feed. Maybe one of their relatives has sworn vengeance against us.

Descriptions

Quests provide the body of a story, but there is almost always room for you to dress that body in some interesting clothing. The locations and individuals may not always be described or named. The party can do this collectively. We recommend such role-playing have some limits, for the sake of not extending quest length too long:

• One sentence is probably good.

• Anything longer than a short paragraph may "break' something coming later in the story or take too much time.

Examples: We enter the Copse of Candlelight and are told "the profusion of fireflies makes it difficult strike a target or find one's way."

A player wishes to add some further ambiance...

"The fireflies are attracted to their reflection off the polished armor and steel of our armaments. They gather around us like iridescent halos and out spirits are lifted."

Maybe the party thinks the description is appropriate enough to warrant the player raising their Persona by 1 as a reward for the role playing.

We hope we've given you some ways to enhance and deepen your enjoyment, social interactions, and role playing!  Happy Questing!

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The Guided Quest (The Forge #3)

Click Here for a Master Index of “The Forge” and “Vault”!

Intrepid Authors, audacious adventurers, this week we propose to you a method by which we hope you can craft a quest in about an hour of time! I clocked the example we're using below at 68 minutes, and you could certainly cut it down by omitting some skill checks or advanced combat scripts. 

You can find it in the Community Quests section of the App under the name "Bacchanalian Revels".

Made from the ideas and script already provided in the weekly "Vault" entries, we hope this method will provide even first-time authors with a way to fashion a custom adventure with ease.

For our first Guided Quest I'm going to pull from Vaults #8-12, which focus exclusively on the Fae, then I'll show you how to pull all this together in the Quest Creator.   So to begin I'll choose (or select by a random roll) a plot from Vault #10 (Inscrutable Intentions): 

• Plot #4: _Bacchanalian Revels_ Several charming and reckless Fae have swept into town, seducing the young with indiscriminate abandon. Much destruction and heartache will result if they are allowed to continue, but anyone dealing with them will also have to face their beguiled victims too."

Next let's choose a name and a Title to give to the Boss/main Antagonist from Vault #9 (The Fae Folk):

• Title #5: _Lord of Illusions_ While they live, you'll not know what to believe. > Every other round, adventurers :roll:. Whoever rolled lowest finds their ability misses one intended target (they choose which, if multiple targets were designated).

Any proper Quest needs settings for the action, so let's select 3 from Vault #12 (Occulted Environs):

• Location #4: _Faerie Circle_ This simple circle of stones or oddly colored grass in the middle of a forest clearing is a gateway to the realms of Fae. > Attempts to travel to or from the mortal and Fae lands gain a +3 while in the circle, but such travel can only be undertaken by one person at a time. Alternatively, with a proper offering, adventurers may summon a Fae to answer their questions on a :roll: of 10 or above. The Fae's answers may clear as mud, but that's another matter.

• Location #5: _Copse of Candlelight_ The profusion of fireflies makes it difficult to strike a target or find one's way. > -2 to all :ranged: and :magic: abilities. -3 to any :roll: to search the area or find Loot.

• Location #6: _Flickerwood_ So named for the pockets of flammable gas throughout. > Use of abilities with "fire" or "lightning" in the name ignite a pocket of flammable gas on rolls of 10 or less. All enemies and adventurers take 2 damage.

Finally, just to make things more interesting, let's select 3 "Alchemies of Alteration" from the only fae Vault we haven't used yet, Vault #11:

• Alchemy #10: _Illusion of Control_ You get the impression you’re being toyed with. > Cancel all damage done to one Encounter Card this round.

• Alchemy #11: _Word of Creation_ An item of worth springs into being from nowhere. > Choose Loot items equal in Tier value to the Fae's Tier value and put them into play under it's control. It can use them against adventurers or for its own benefit.

• Alchemy #12: _Phantasmal Peer_ A simulacrum appears out of nowhere and strikes. > Draw a Fae Encounter card of equal Tier level to one already in play and place it into play for a single round, resetting the Tier count. After resolving damage (and surges, if applicable) for the round, discard the Phantasmal Peer.

Finally, we'll yank some Skill Checks from the latest Vault (#13).   We'll show you those in the Quest Creator.... 

In reality, while we've done this we've been copying and pasting the Vault entries into the Quest Creator. This will save us loads of time. We do, however, need to add some necessary spacing and pathways (**goto XYZ**) to each entry we've pasted. Let's see how that might look in the Creator:

So you can see the first thing we have to do is put the proper spacing between script that we've pasted from the Vaults. Since we're using the plot (Bacchanalian Revels) as the quest title, it's the only one that'll have the # and the added screen script (_Introduction_). Then we've inserted our skill check _Craft Item_ bumping the text players will see (in white) to the line below, then bumping the instructions (> On an appropriate etc.) to its own line, with a space between them.

Next comes our first selected location, _Faerie Circle_ , where we repeat the process of putting blank lines between screen/card names (_Faerie Circle_), narration text (white font), and game instructions (red font).

We have deleted some instructional text from _Faerie Circle_, since traveling to the Fae realms isn't part of this adventure, and added some story narration about summoning a Fae to question (final two white lines). Next, let's introduce our antagonist...

On the screen above we add some connection narration for the story. Then we throw in a skill check, _Discern Intentions_ that has bearing on our first combat encounter. You'll notice I've scripted some advanced combat to randomize the enemies faced and keep them fresh:

- {{_.randomEnemyOfClassTier("Fae", 2)}}.

I've also added one of the "Alchemies of Alteration" (this one was called "Word of Creation"), that'll appear periodically throughout the combat. This script, which begins with:

* {{_.currentCombatRound() % 2 == 1}} on round

and ends with "benefit" will also buff our low Tier enemies, as well as turn over some additional loot to the adventurers when they win. The first screen (#Slaves) below is what will be seen for any battle lost during this quest. We've written it from scratch.

The battle won, the Fae impersonating "Ariel" can be Deceived or Intimidated (two Skill checks seen above) to get us to our next locations (either the _Copse_ or _Flickerwood_).

If the adventurers failed their skill checks, they have to take a more circuitous route before finding their way to the site of the final confrontation with the Lord of Illusions. Enter the _Flickerwood_ . You'll notice we have to write some connecting story narration (it's not purely copied and pasted, though the special condition applies), and thrown in combat with teens besotted by the Lord. The advanced combat script for this battle is the _Illusion of Control_ from "Alchemies of Alteration" (Vault #11) .

After overcoming adversity in the Flickerwood or succeeding in their skill checks against the fake "Ariel", the adventurers arrive in the final location, the Copse of Candlelight. This location is simply copied and pasted in its entirety, then we throw in 2 skill checks, to which we've added but a few words to fit them into our story. Next we will see the Lord himself and get our final combat encounter:

I'm not going to include the alternate combat if the adventurers fail their notice check (and suffer extra damage for it), but here is the screen if they succeed in the notice check. You'll see we have a few instructional scripts, which appear in red and begin with ">" . One script is for the notice check (> +1 damage...), one from our pasted location (> Suffer -2...) and then the advanced combat attack of the Lord of Illusions (in which "A simulacrum of the Fae lord appears our of nowhere and strikes". ) If the adventurers prevail in the titanic struggle, the end is brief but happy:

So you'll see that our Quest was a total of 182 lines (many just spacing lines, many others copied and pasted) at a total word count of 1,118, again, most of those already written for us in the "Vault" series.

If you've taken the time to get here, we're confident you're about an hour or so from crafting your own short quest. Happy scripting!

Like this? Consider sharing or Tweeting it, or joining the weekly Quest Crafter mailing list for more writing inspiration.

Have an idea for the next Quest Crafter or feedback on how we can make it more useful to you? Email us at Authors@Fabricate.io or leave a comment below.