Remember that Polyhedron issue that included a d20 minigame based on Spelljammer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelljammer:_Shadow_of_the_Spider_Moon)? I do, because I bought it. Well, recently my wife decided she wanted to play it, so we grabbed up Fudge (our current fave) and started to roll. Here's an AP report. Mind you, I'm using Shadow of the Spider Moon (SotSM) as a basis, not a straitjacket. In other words, I'm making stuff up and adding junk on as I go.
Her character's name is Nefaru; she comes from an Egyptian-flavored world where she is royalty, but with a requisite enemy whose attacks have caused her family to send her out into space with a bodyguard, for her protection. Easy enough background. I tried to get her to use 5-Point Fudge but she found it too restrictive, so instead I just said, "Okay, 2 Greats, 4 Goods, 6 Fairs." She took 3 gifts (Ambidexterity and two High Status) and 3 faults (Curious and two others that I forget right now). She named the bodyguard Anfir, and left him up to me to detail and to stat. With that out of the way, we got rolling.
We started off in the system described in SotSM, specifically on the planet Quelya, a watery planet with a balmy atmosphere and myriad small islands. We concentrated on The Freehold of Lagos, a city of varying size -- it's mostly temporary, a place of tents and stalls, easy to break down and move when the storms come. It's also a main port for the planet and for the system.
Quelya had been safe enough that Anfir, the bodyguard, had the day off to enjoy himself while she did same. I established the mood and setting by starting her out on the docks, watching sea-ships and spelljammers come and go. She decided to go get some food, so I started improvising.
While eating in a bright, airy tent, her unusual wardrobe caught the eye of one Mr. Skycloak (I forget his first name and my notes are at home), a merchant who inquired about her unusual clothes and where to buy some himself, for trading. She got the impression that he was indeed an honest merchant, told him who her tailor was, and made a contact. She asked him about passage off-wrld, and he told her he'd be leaving in 5 days. This entire scene was just for setting, and to let her get used to her character.
Then, I dropped the hammer.
Nefaru then returned to the inn (one of the few permanent buildings in Lagos). Upon leaving the dense market area, she noticed that a half-dozen armed mummies were coming down the street, making a beeline right for her! She tried to outrun them, but a situational roll came up kinda low, so I decided that a carriage blocked her path back into the market area. An Agility roll got her under the carriage, the elven lady inside looked interestingly surprised, and Nefaru was in the clear...until two of the mummies flanked her out.
I ended up making situational rolls a LOT, by the way.
Dashing back into the crowded market, she put a little bit of distance between herself and the mummies, but not the crowd (more situational rolls) made it hard to advance. The mummies caught up, and she bared her twin handaxes...
A few sour rolls kept her from kicking outright bandagey ass, and two of the foul undead got a grip on her. Here's where she noticed that they were chanting in hoary voices: "For the master...for the masterrrrrr!!"
Oops! Luch over. We'll get back to Nefaru soon enough...
Quote from: Dr Rotwang!she bared her twin handaxes
I was so disappointed by that last word... I was expecting maybe "pyramids"...
-clash
Sounds fun so far. As a non-Fudger I have to ask: what's a situational roll?
A situational roll is a basic, unmodified roll of the dice. High is good, low is bad. You use it to get general bearings on a situation, relative to...anything, really. Is downtown traffic good or bad? What mood is the shopkeeper in? Gonna rain?
It's not unique to Fudge of course, but it's very, very in the spirit of the game.
Quote from: flyingmiceI was so disappointed by that last word... I was expecting maybe "pyramids"...
-clash
There were such things later on but only briefly and not Nefaru's.
Perv.
Ah, cool. We've been doing that for years and never had a name for it. :)
Coolness.
Any reason you chose FUDGE over it's upstart progeny FATE?
Quote from: James McMurrayAh, cool. We've been doing that for years and never had a name for it. :)
In Massachusetts, we call it "flashing."
-clash
Quote from: Caesar SlaadCoolness.
Any reason you chose FUDGE over it's upstart progeny FATE?
:shrug:
Actually it's 'cause I don't have a print copy of FATE.
More AP today at lunch.
A FEW CORRECTIONS TO THE EARLIER POST:
- Nefaru's Faults were Curious, Secret (She's really royalty!) and Enemy;
- Mr. Skycloak's name is Raban [rab-AAHN]; and
- He did not offer Nefaru passage off-world; he merely stated that his ship, the Cloak Of Air, was in port for a while,and that if he coul be of assistance, she was welcome to come looking.
On with the show.
Two of the mummies had Nefaru well in hand as the oher 4 came up behind; one of her captors held a hand up before her face, twiddled his leathery fingers and was heard to chant a spell. His roll was favorable, and I culd've pronounced her ensorcelled (really a Sleep spell) right then and there, but instead told her she felt sleepy but could continue to struggle...which she did.
Seeing herself in peril, my wife offered to blow some fudge points to have Raban show up to help her. I will admit at this point that I didn't want her getting saved from this: I wanted to capture her! So I said, "Okay, it'll cost 3 [of her 4 remaining] points." So we made a deal: 1 fudge point would get the city guard to show up. I described their arrival, the whistle, the charge, the parting of the crowd.
The city guard were immediately beset by the remaning mummies, and a few opposed combat rolls were sufficient, one each round, to determine the general flow of that fight. I had my wife roll for the guardsmen (I do this a lot, too -- let PCs roll for allied NPCs). They achieved a series of stand-offs: as the mummies would seem to gain the upper hand, the guards would back them into a corner, or wound one, or simply spend a lot of time barely holding them back. I described these things as acting like machines, tireless, unforgiving. "They just keep going," I said.
Meanwhile, Nefaru resisted the sorceror-mummy's spell, and the creature resorted to another tactic -- a punch in the face!
I forget how, but she shook it off. She shook it off, and wriggled out of her other captor's grasp. She then spent a fudge point to get an automatic +4 on an attack roll. "I want to rip the khopesh from its belt," my wife said, "and jam it into the mummy's face."
"They only take half-damage from piercing attacks," I cautioned.
She replied, "I have a plan."
Into the mummy's face went the khopesh, the +4 assured that. And my wife said, "I grab the hilt of the khopesh and use it as a handle to twist the mummy's head off!"
Nefaru, for the win. She also pinched a scarab talisman from its neck. Treasure!
The tide of battle soon turned in the guards' favor as more of them showed up (this fight needed to be over), and her erstwhile captor (not the sorceror) was quickly subdued. Nefaru and the guards took stock of the situation: one mummy was left, still calling out hoarsely: "For the master! For the master...!" As the captain of the squad decided what to do about it, the mummy said, "
A bride for the master!" Tuhn-tuhn-TAAAAAAAAAHNNNN!!!
They chopped its head off and shut the damn thing up.
The guardsmen escorted Nefaru to the watchtower (basically, the police station) to find out just WTF; now she'd have to answer some of the police chief's questions without giving away her Secret. A so-so Acting roll tipped off the chief that she was hiding something, but she backpedaled from it and he let her go with a caution.
She decided it was time to get off-world ASAP. She left the tower and went to find passage offworld. The
Cloak of Air was right where Raban said it'd be, a Spelljammer tethered to a tall stone pylon (that particular craft cannot land, so it gets tethred like a zeppelin). A deckhand told her that Cap'n Skycloak was in town but would be shoving off in five days. FIVE DAYS!? The mummies were there NOW! What was she going to do?!
That's when I introduced Lang Arbagon.
He's the captain of an elven Spelljammer called the
Ibicia [ee-BEE-see-uh]; he's young, handsome, dashing and cunning; and he's a jerk. "If you're looking for passage," he said as he strolled up the docks with his dwarven first mate, "my ship leaves tomorrow morning. If you want to leave on it, good. If not, then don't." He kept walking.
(I had...
plans for this guy. I came up with him the other day, gave him a few twists of character. He's a lot of fun to play so far, because he's a very, very angry man. More on him later...)
Still making her plans, Nefaru went to get the bodyguard, Anfir.
I had no idea who he was.
I grabbed my AD&D 1st Ed. DMG, opened up to the random NPC trait tables, and got to rollin'. I ended up with an optimistic (but ugly -- Poor Comliness. Yes, I'm using it.) dude from a barbarian culture. I wrote down a quick description which included some of his stats ("He's a Great fighter, etc..."), and I had me an NPC! Yeeehaw!
She found him at a brothel. Hey, the guy uns around with a hot chick he can't do anything with...He was asleep in a tent, with two, umn, ladies of the night next to him and a third, topless (THERE YOU GO MISTER BOWLEY SOME BREASTS YOU'RE WELCOME), drinking wine. Nefaru woke him; he shot awake asap, and she filled him in on leaving ASAP.
As night fell, they headed to the inn to get their stuff. Not 100 yards away, Nefaru's Danger Sense tripped; her Perception roll failed, but Anfir's didn't.
Six MORE mummies, coming up the street. Running. Angry.
Very angry.
LUNCH OVER! MORE LATER!
...Blah blah blah BOWLEY blah blah BREASTS! blah blah....
Awesome intro, Doc! Loved it! :D
-clash
To quote Dr. Orpheus "I'm jealous, there. I said it." Seriously, it sounds like all kinds of fun.:)
Hang on. There's a chariot, a Magic Missile rifle, some arguing and giant beetles later on.
This is just starting -- the stuff so far is only 2/3 into the first session!
LESSON: Fudge is quick.
No AP today. Turbo-bad mood. Sorry.
Bummer. Hope your day turns out better.
Hey Doc, are you planning on posting any more about the session. I cant speak for any one else. But I'd like to read more.
Yeah, tomorrow. Sorry!
Very cool! Looking forward to it.:win:
C'mon man....don't make me go the entire weekend....
Yeah, I'm a scuzz. Maybe I can sneak some intertron use tomorrow at work.
Just wanted to say, this game is a classic! Will there be any more from our intrepid space-princess?