Second installment of Flint's story....
Second installment of Flint's story....
She grabs her bow and begins to track the dire wolf.
Flint uses the Gather Information move to follow the blood trail. Flint has the Ranger asset, so she gets to add +1 to the roll and take +1 momentum on a hit. She rolls a 5 on the action die, adds +1 for Wits, and the +1 from her asset. That 7 beats the two Challenge dice, 3 and 5, for a strong hit. She gets +3 momentum out of the deal, bringing her to +8! Better yet, she discovers something helpful and specific. I’m not sure what that is, so I’ll consult the Twists table for the Oracle — 37, “A more dangerous foe is revealed”. Since Flint got this information due to a strong hit and things are really going her way, I say this means she gets some forewarning.
As she traces the smears and drops of blood through the deer trails through the forest, she comes across some footprints. There are two sets, one is a pair of boots. The other is unlike anything she’s seen. They are long like a person’s foot, but shaped like a wolf’s. The air here smells wrong, a little sweet, and it sends a shiver up her spine.
What to do? One thing I should do here is invoke the Reach a Milestone move. These footprints are a clue to her current vow, “Discover the source of the attack against her village.” It’s only a Dangerous quest, so she gets to mark 2 Progress. 2 down, 8 to go. Let’s Gather more Information.
Wary, she continues to follow the trail of blood. The patches of blood are getting smaller now, and farther between. It is as though some mystical power has healed its wounds!
Flint rolls a 4. The +1 for her Wits and +1 for that Ranger asset gives a total 6. The challenge dice are a 4 and 6. Ties go to the Challenge dice, so it’s a weak hit. I am going to add a complication due to weather. Still, Flint gets to mark an extra momentum, and another due to her Ranger asset, so she’s at +10!
The track go together into a denser part of the forest, where the fog is quite thick. It is always misting in the forest, it seems, but it has actually begun to rain in earnest. She things back to her camp and realizes her bedroll is getting wet. At this point, it can’t be helped. She has to see this through.
Because of the rain, it’s going to be harder to track the wolf. Flint decides to Secure an Advantage. As with the Gather Information role before. She rolls a 6, +1 due to her Wits, and another +1 for her Ranger asset. Unfortunately, the Challenge dice are a 7 and 10, so that 8 she got yields just a weak hit. Note she gets would normally add a couple extra momentum here, but she’s already at her maximum of +10. I’m not sure how to weave this into the fiction, so let’s consult the Oracle again — 30, “Your actions benefit an enemy.” Hmm, I’m still not sure.
After a few minutes’ search, she finds a patch of fur stuck in the crook of a branch. It’s hard and wiry, not like a normal wolf pelt at all. In the fading light of the big moon, she sees a tinge of orange ahead, is that a fire?
“I may not have found the wolf,” she says to herself, “but I’ve found something more valuable.” She slinks away and dashes back to her camp.
As she feared, her bedroll is wet. She wrings it out best she can and rolls it up. She lowers her backpack from where it hung and coils up the rope. In just a few minutes, she’s ready to leave. She looks for a place deeper in the woods, where the trees and bushes may still hide a dry spot. She will need to light a fire to dry out her roll, or it will mold.
Undertake a Journey is the most reasonable move to represent this. She rolls a 2. Her Wits of +1 only gives her a 3. The Challenge dice stare at her, a 9 and 10. She doesn’t want to Pay the Price for a miss, so she chooses to Burn Momentum instead. The two Challenge dice get canceled, which turns this would-be miss into a strong hit! It does mean her momentum is reset to +2, though.
She finds a group of bushes, almost like a cave. Under the thick branches, the dirt and leaves are dry. She cleans out a place to sleep, and uses the leaves as kindling to start her fire. She eats some dried meat and curls up in the leaves to sleep.
The bushes are a waypoint. She chooses to make good use of her supplies, so her Supplies track stays at +5. She’s able to salvage her bedroll.
In the light before dawn, she checks her bedroll and finds it dry enough, thank the Spirits! She decides to make her way back to her old camp in order to pick up the trail once more. To her dismay, there are large wolf tracks, and more of the half-wolf man-prints in the mud. They know she is here now....
She grabs her bow and begins to track the dire wolf.
Flint uses the Gather Information move to follow the blood trail. Flint has the Ranger asset, so she gets to add +1 to the roll and take +1 momentum on a hit. She rolls a 5 on the action die, adds +1 for Wits, and the +1 from her asset. That 7 beats the two Challenge dice, 3 and 5, for a strong hit. She gets +3 momentum out of the deal, bringing her to +8! Better yet, she discovers something helpful and specific. I’m not sure what that is, so I’ll consult the Twists table for the Oracle — 37, “A more dangerous foe is revealed”. Since Flint got this information due to a strong hit and things are really going her way, I say this means she gets some forewarning.
As she traces the smears and drops of blood through the deer trails through the forest, she comes across some footprints. There are two sets, one is a pair of boots. The other is unlike anything she’s seen. They are long like a person’s foot, but shaped like a wolf’s. The air here smells wrong, a little sweet, and it sends a shiver up her spine.
What to do? One thing I should do here is invoke the Reach a Milestone move. These footprints are a clue to her current vow, “Discover the source of the attack against her village.” It’s only a Dangerous quest, so she gets to mark 2 Progress. 2 down, 8 to go. Let’s Gather more Information.
Wary, she continues to follow the trail of blood. The patches of blood are getting smaller now, and farther between. It is as though some mystical power has healed its wounds!
Flint rolls a 4. The +1 for her Wits and +1 for that Ranger asset gives a total 6. The challenge dice are a 4 and 6. Ties go to the Challenge dice, so it’s a weak hit. I am going to add a complication due to weather. Still, Flint gets to mark an extra momentum, and another due to her Ranger asset, so she’s at +10!
The track go together into a denser part of the forest, where the fog is quite thick. It is always misting in the forest, it seems, but it has actually begun to rain in earnest. She things back to her camp and realizes her bedroll is getting wet. At this point, it can’t be helped. She has to see this through.
Because of the rain, it’s going to be harder to track the wolf. Flint decides to Secure an Advantage. As with the Gather Information role before. She rolls a 6, +1 due to her Wits, and another +1 for her Ranger asset. Unfortunately, the Challenge dice are a 7 and 10, so that 8 she got yields just a weak hit. Note she gets would normally add a couple extra momentum here, but she’s already at her maximum of +10. I’m not sure how to weave this into the fiction, so let’s consult the Oracle again — 30, “Your actions benefit an enemy.” Hmm, I’m still not sure.
After a few minutes’ search, she finds a patch of fur stuck in the crook of a branch. It’s hard and wiry, not like a normal wolf pelt at all. In the fading light of the big moon, she sees a tinge of orange ahead, is that a fire?
“I may not have found the wolf,” she says to herself, “but I’ve found something more valuable.” She slinks away and dashes back to her camp.
As she feared, her bedroll is wet. She wrings it out best she can and rolls it up. She lowers her backpack from where it hung and coils up the rope. In just a few minutes, she’s ready to leave. She looks for a place deeper in the woods, where the trees and bushes may still hide a dry spot. She will need to light a fire to dry out her roll, or it will mold.
Undertake a Journey is the most reasonable move to represent this. She rolls a 2. Her Wits of +1 only gives her a 3. The Challenge dice stare at her, a 9 and 10. She doesn’t want to Pay the Price for a miss, so she chooses to Burn Momentum instead. The two Challenge dice get canceled, which turns this would-be miss into a strong hit! It does mean her momentum is reset to +2, though.
She finds a group of bushes, almost like a cave. Under the thick branches, the dirt and leaves are dry. She cleans out a place to sleep, and uses the leaves as kindling to start her fire. She eats some dried meat and curls up in the leaves to sleep.
The bushes are a waypoint. She chooses to make good use of her supplies, so her Supplies track stays at +5. She’s able to salvage her bedroll.
In the light before dawn, she checks her bedroll and finds it dry enough, thank the Spirits! She decides to make her way back to her old camp in order to pick up the trail once more. To her dismay, there are large wolf tracks, and more of the half-wolf man-prints in the mud. They know she is here now....
Very nice, Chuck Durfee. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteOne minor suggestion: you might consider leaving the twists table for more dramatic moments. Actions/themes is a great oracle to roll on for "not sure what that means" moments, since the results are more interpretative and can be applied to more situations. With a bit of creativity, you can get a ton of mileage out of it.
I like to use the twists table for a roll of 10/10 on the challenge dice in a dramatic moment, then use that result to upend my current quest.
Thanks, I'll have a look at that table.
ReplyDeleteThese are all such good reads, and helpful. I only wish I had time to delve off into a solo adventure, but alas the holiday season waits for no one.
ReplyDeleteI like how this is going! John Risus, I know what you mean. I've just been too tired to put anything together the past week or so.
ReplyDelete