Steve

ROCK-M
and 
SOCK-M

Background: In another thread, I noted that the Cu didn't have any robot characters that specialized in fast, skillful hand-to-hand combat -- i.e., martial artists. So I decided to write up one of my own.
 
That's done. In fact, I wrote up a whole team. The background for martial arts robots was obvious: Where are robots a big thing, and martial arts are a big thing? Why, Japan. It's a team of robots that each use a different Japanese martial art.
 
Since as a GM I need villains more than heroes, the robots are villains. Whoever originally thought that building a group of robot martial artists was a good idea, the Yakuza coopted the project to use them as supervillains.
 
Now I just need names. I have names for most of them, but maybe someone can think of something better.
 
As a group, they are Robogang. The names I have so far are:
-- Judotron (Jujutus)
-- Karatebot (Karate)
-- Kendroid (Kenjutus)
-- Tetsumo ("Steel Sumo." Or maybe it should be Tetsumoka, since some of the martial arts descriptions in Ultimate Martial Artist seem to use the -ka suffix for practictioners.)
 
5th member should maybe be a robot ninja, practicing Ninjutsu, but I don't have a good name yet. I don't want to repeat the name elements that indicate the character is a robot. "Cyber" suggests a cyborg rather than a robot. "Ninjatron" is out because -tron is taken. Ninjamatic?
 
Anyone have better ideas? (It's all rather Silver Age, of course, it's okay to be a little silly.)
 
Dean Shomshak

Sweep was introduced in the original Fantasy Hero, as one of the 3-point Weapon Maneuvers characters could purchase.  In 4E Champions / HSR it became one of the optional combat maneuvers.

One of the things I like about the idea of starting with stripped-down, lower-priced martial arts maneuvers is that buying them can provide a feeling of learning and improvement, especially in lower-pointed campaigns.
 
Instead of saving up and buying ten points of maneuvers all at once, why not do it slowly, paying in a point or two at a time?
 
Start with Martial Strike, paying a point to get either the first +1d6 in damage or +1 DCV HTH. Then slowly add more points to it and other maneuvers as you gain experience.

Politics could also make this even more interesting. Evil organizations could keep the PCs quite busy without them ever leaving the Fortress of Doom.

Does the Dark Lord have children? Are any of the PCs his children? Are there other lieutenants or henchmen? Do they plot and scheme against each other? Will they try to involve the PCs? Do they want to get rid of the PCs and usurp their place at the Dark Lord’s right hand?

The Dark Lord’s beautiful but treacherous daughter may try to use her femme fatale wiles to ensnare a PC in between her time spent pining for the unattainable Hero. Does the PC get jealous and sally forth to stomp on their Hero rival? Perhaps the Dark Lord has more than one daughter from his various mistresses, and they are struggling with each other in the pecking order. Perhaps the Dark Lord’s eldest son is a powerful brute but dim of wit, but the younger son is clever but physically weak.
 
Are there rival factions in the Legions of Doom trying to pawn off their failures on the PCs or get them to do the hard work? Do the PCs have someone lower in social status trying to suck up to them?
 
You could get quite the soap opera going with only a little bit of effort. The PCs may end up having so much going on in the Fortress of Doom that they don’t seem to have much time to get out and enjoy some looting and pillaging.
 
And then there’s the paperwork. It’s all fun and villainous to march around and tyrannize the peasants, but you haven’t seen real evil until you’ve had to deal with the Dark Lord’s bureaucrats. They have ways to make you suffer without ever lifting a sword or wand.

Very much so; that is why I suggested it up-thread a bit.  It plays with the very basic rules from the  inception of the game, so there is no new mechanic or thing to wonder about.  The biggest number of skills, at least originally, we're "pay X to gain a characteristic roll that simulates success or failure at this skill.  Pay an additional point to increase that roll by 1."
 
What do you do if someone doesn't have a skill, generally?  "Blastro has disintegrated the observation deck out from beneath your feet!  Do you have Acrobatics?  No?  Do you have Breakfall?  No?   Okay, gimme a DEX roll...." 
 
"can I remember anything more about the mysterious man who handed off this old bottle to me?" 
 
Do you have Eidetic Memory?  No?  Okay, give me an Intelligence roll.... "
 
We studied this a lot when 4e hit. Well, shortly after 4e hit, because at first we were just enamored of this ground-breaking new skills system,  but it didn't take too many campaigns to see lots of the problems with it, chief among them being skills as points sucks.  The three of us that GM'ed in our group were slowly creeping toward mandating that your character didn't know it if you didn't buy it, and we were doing that simply because _it was possible_ to do it.  Every possible knowledge, every possible hobby or trade, could be turned into a skill, for Pete's sake!  And because we could, we too often _did_. 
 
I am sure you have heard me taking the position that just because your Inferno Blast _can_ set things on fire or your Freeze gun _can_ be used to chill a soft drink or your force field _could_ be played so as to serve as a ramp does _not_ automatically mean that a mechanic for this aspect must be paid for in addition to the base power. 
 
This Skills thing, way back when--  that was our own version of that.  The point at which I finally got it to click was when it occurred to me that "I am going to ask for a DEX roll whether he has the Skill or not." Since then, I have been pretty vigilant about watching for instances of pointlessly charging for something. 
 
Getting back on topic, 
 
Anyway, you want a very tight, very specific skill?  An in depth knowledge of the history, spread, and culture of variegated nasturtiums?  Go for it.  It costs one point, and gives you the lower of Characteristic roll or 8 or less.
 
Not only that, but since any book left unattended for more than two weeks through the 1990s turned into a copy of Aaron Alton's Ninja Hero, we were all _very_ familiar with the idea that Skill Levels could be used to _simulate_ something specific, beyond just raw ability. 
 
(don't believe me about that Ninja Hero crack?  Over the years, I have given away well over a dozen copies.  I currently own 2 copies.  I have never bought a copy, nor have I ever received one as a gift, so you tell me....) 
 
So why couldn't we use them as the skills themselves? 
 
Let me take a moment to point out to anyone not familiar with the old editions (pre-4 e) that the three magic numbers were 8, 11, and 14.  They still show up on various things-berserk recoveries, etc, but that is why the skills system we use works this way.
 
Skill points: the bare minimum cost of a skill level was 3pts for just one thing.
 
This worked out great for us, because we decided for that three points, you would get the lower of 14- or Characteristic roll.
 
That left two more of those magic numbers, so for a mere 2 pts, you could get the lower of Characteristic roll (no plus one, because you hadn't actually bought a full skill level).  Similarly, for a mere 1 pt, you could have a field of knowledge on any one thing at  the lower of Characteristics roll or 8 or less. 
 
 
Over the years, I have considered bringing those numbers more in line with the 6 9 11 thing, but at 8 or less, you have roughly a 25-ish percent chance on 3 dice, with 11 or less, call it 63 percent, and with 14 or less, you bump up to something like 90 percent, and I find this feels really 'right' for supers and for pulp. 
 
Given these results, I find it works particularly well for supers and pulp, where those who are good at something are very good at it. 
 
For most Heroic stuff, I drop the numbers down to a more modern 6, 9, or 11.  Most player Characters will at worst match that 11 or less with their characteristics rolls, and a good number of them will beat it. 
 
Skills that don't tie well to a characteristics roll Start at 11 or less for a 3-pt skill level.  If the skill is excessively narrow or non-utilitarian, then maybe two points, and often just one.  Let's face it: while it may come in handy once during a long running campaign, certain overly-obscure and excessively narrow knowledge skills are more quirks of the character than anything actually worth paying a point for. 
 
Right off the bat, improving from a one pt skill to a two pt skill costs 1 point, and adds _up to_ e3 to your roll.  Going from a 2 to a 3 costs one point, and adds _up to_ 3 to your roll.  After that, improve with skill levels as one would improve them via skill levels in the actual written rules.
 
 
A five-point Skill  group is a small group of tightly-related Skills.  Typically, I break the builds down as I would for the 1,2,3, pt skills described above:
 
You have 5 points; buy any combination of tightly-related skills that spends those 5 points.  All done?  Good.  Pick one more tightly-related Skill and take it at the 2 point level. 
 
Why?  Because otherwise you are just buying more of the previous kinds of skills, with the unnecessary requirement that they be related.  This is your reward for working within that limition.
 
These skills may be improved as per the previous category, one at a time, or all at once with another 5 pt skill level.  All skills are improved with a 10 pt skill level. 
 
At the 8 PT level, you may either take the eight points and spend them on tightly-related skills, then take two additional tightly-related skills at the two pt level.  Alternatively, the eight point skill group can take eight points of loosely-related skills and one more loosely-related skill at the one pt level.
 
Because of the way skills are built for one-at-a-time skills, there are no ten-point skill groups; ten point skill levels, as always, can advance all skill rolls by 1.
 
 
 
8 pt skill levels can advance all skills in any one 8-pt group or less by 1, or all loosely-related skills (such as if someone took an 8 pt group and a five pt group for a slew of science skills).   Note that the related skills need not be in the same group. 
 
If one character has a five-point groups of skills with archaic weapons that includes javelins, discus, and darts in the group and another five point (or even an eight point) group that includes bolos and hammers (the stone-on-a-rope kind), they are all nicely related under a skill level for "thrown weapons.". Tightly or loosely will vary from table to table, of course. 
 
Five point skill levels advance any five point group by 1, or all skills in a tightly-related group (which, again, does not have to be contained entirely within one Skill Group, though they generally will be). 
 
Three point skill levels work as described above, save when the current roll exceeds the lower of Characteristic roll or 14-, at which point they will advance one skill by 1.
 
 
Additional notes on Skills: all characters are assumed to have professional skills.  For this reason, I allow up to three no-charge professional skills, one at each level of 8, 11, and 14.
 
All characters are assumed to have background skills, and again: up to three, as above, for no charge. 
 
Everyman skills are still free, and I have a slightly higher tier scammed 'every adventurer skills' that varies from game to game.  Generally, when I notice that either everyone in the game has bought the same skill (hunting, for example) that is not on the everyman list, that skill becomes an every-adventurer skill, and they all get it at the 1 PT level for no charge. 
 
Literacy is determined through disadvantolications, and not skill point spending.  No matter how ignorant the typical person in the campaign is, lacking the ability to read is a disadvantage.  Maybe not much of one, but it is indeed one. 
 
Additional languages are three-point skills as above, with 1, 2, and 3 PT levels.  Mastery is assumed at 14 or less (at the very worst, you come across as low-brow or insulting or uneducated or something, but your point is completely made and understood. Accents are optional after 11-, and literacy is determined more by your background than any points spent. Conan could be literate (and eventually was) if he can explain it. 
Any 'Professional Skill' type skill is assumed to come with a sufficient knowledge base to perform that profession, allowing the roll for PS or KS to be on the same skill. 
 
Any purely academic KS- the character has the education, but no actual experience or perhaps even no idea how to physically do the thing- is 11 or less for three points. If it is a particularly broad field, then it is 8 or less for three points. If it is a narrow or obscure field, then it is 14 or less for one skill level. 
 
Any character who does not have a particular chracterisitcs-based skill may still attempt the skill using a characteristic roll.  In most cases, a GM has already assigned a difficulty penalty to a task.  Increase that penalty up to double (add no more than 4 additional penalties).  A successful INT roll can be a complimentary roll to a physical task, because sometimes you have to stop and think about it) 
 
Why?  Because these are superheroes, where even the impossible has a pretty good chance. 
 
This has allowed characters from all genres to have as many skills as they wanted, not have to pay for mundane things like foraging berries while marching, and with the various skill level options for increasing the characteristics, allows differences in skill levels to grow in ans the character moves through his story. 
 
It also really helps prevent skills becoming points-sucks. 
 
I think.  That may just be a side effect of having done it for a couple of years making me extra-sensitive to it now. 
 
 
Now it is slightly more refined that it sounds-no more complex than martial arts or any other skill level usage, really, but as I am working on a phone, I can't really go back and see what I have or have not said thus far, so I am assuming I screwed it all up. 
 
 
Optional:
 
For pulp, we use 5 point skill levels for very broad skills, and eight point skill levels for stupidly-broad skills, such as "Science!". (exclamation point not optional) 
 
Those are advance with additional skill levels, though the character may break out individual skills to advan e by one point per. 
 
Almost forgot! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Yep.  Always check for eighteens. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Yeah, the way we do it, supers can still buy most of the powers they want and still have a nice assortment of skills.   Heroic characters don't have to be built on what we used to use for supers, either. 
 
 
Well, we didn't do it so much for the pricing (that was just a happy accident) as much as we just had too many arguments about the "new" system and how it worked, _but_ we liked the idea of being able to make anything into a skill. 
 
 
 
Agreed.  I just kind of got tired of the 'you know this is wrong, right?' responses the few things I posted in the past generated.  You can only say "ni; this is _difgerenr_" so many times before you figure out that for some people, it is much more important to point out what isn't rules-legal, in spite of the fact that they are pointing it out to the guy who said 'these rules aren't working for us" then sat down with his group to figure out something different that did work.  Wierd, I know, but there it is. 
 
 
I used to as well, but I have lost them over the years.  Besides, the ones I tried and liked I continued to use, so I think I'm good. 
 
 
 
Well, it is when I met my wife, so you might be on to something there... 
 
 
 
Well, considering how many people loved 5e and still love 6e, I am going to guess it would have bombed horribly, so it is probably just as well DOJ beat me to it. 
 
Also, I would have had little budget after the initial rules run, because I would have withered up and blown away before I sold the rights to the flagship title. 
 
Though honestly, I have been posting here long enough that I think you can reasonably infer what it would have been like, perhaps not perfectly (because we will never know),  UT I am sure you could get a reasonable picture. 
 

 
 
 
Yeah, I forgot to remove that box early on, and now I cant
... 

Don't be.  While I disagree with a lot of the changes, ultimately, Steve and DOJ did a _great_ job as both revivalists and stewards of the game.  There is no way I could assure you that I would have done nearly as well. 
 
In fact, I encourage you to be as happy as I am that it _didnt_ happen.   
 
 
 
 
Well, that's a shame. 
 
I appreciate the insight, though, and yes: I will probably buy it anyway when I can find an affordable paper copy.  I have seen it as one book and as three books.  Does anyone know if there is a difference? 
 
I confess, it was only a few years ago that I heard of T4, and that it was out and gone a decade or two ago.  Shame what I hear about the content, though. 
 
 
I saw that title "Marc Miller's Travellers, and I was all excited, thinking" yeah!  Take _that_, Fugate!  This is Traveller the way _Miller_ intended! 
 
Then I noticed just how many more books there where, and I thought "oh, I bet it isn't...." 
 
I still want a nice printed copy of the core rules, though.  I can't help myself. 
 
Oh, Joe: as for collecting Classic Traveller, I'm good.  I have my memories built around what I actually did manage to pick up off the shelves way back in the day.  I would like to replace two or three things that have disappeared over the years, but I am at a point where if I didn't have it then, I don't want it now.  Those other things are not part of those memories.  I hope that makes sense. 
 
The core rules of later editions, though-those I will get eventually.  My inner Traveller won't rest until I have them.  Besides, something has to push T20 out of my long_term memory.  Dungeons and Vargrs, woo-hoo! 
 
 

🤣
 
Sorry about that! I'd used "Ransom" for decades because Out of the Silent Planet was the first sci-fi novel I read. As a kid, though, I hadn't realized what the protagonist's name really meant. I kept using that because I was known by it even long after I belatedly realized the meaning, only changing it more recently. On RPG boards I went with GM Joe, since I'm usually the GM and also because I was a big fan of GI Joe as a kid (back when they were 12" 'action figures' who could plausibly make out with Barbie).
 
 
I doubt many are interested in this, and it's definitely off-topic, so I'll spoiler-hide it:
 
 
 
CT stuff is so expensive now! I gave my copy of the Atlas of the Imperium to someone who needed it to produce T4 stuff and never did get it back. Now it would cost an arm and a leg to get a copy in good condition. Not that it's worth anything in play, of course. We have it all on a website now, errata-free. What I wouldn't have given for that back in the early 80s!
 
 
That first edition was pretty great. We did what we'd always done and fixed the problems we found. It was worth it. 2e worked for us, too. Then I waited in line at GenCon to get a signed hardcover copy of 3e the day it was released (it was so great when GenCon was in Milwaukee which is about an hour's drive from my home) and never used it. Eventually I sold it off, but I still have 1e and 2e!
 
 
Well, it's been a long time.
 
 
 
Great stuff! Just one question: when are you going to get the time to write up Duke's HERO System for publication by our hosts? It really should be shared. 🙏
 

A skilled player can make a Human Fighter interesting.
A skilled Dungeon Master can make players excited over a humble Potion of Healing.

A mention of Jack Of All Trades from Traveller Hero probably deserves a mention at this point, since it was just a construct of skill levels. A more limited form of it could be easily constructed to just apply to Science skills or any other grouping of similar skills.
 
I could also see an argument for buying a Skill Enhancer like Linguist and then just buying single points in different languages and calling them full fluency thanks to the enhancer’s effect. For ten points that would mean the character is fully fluent in seven languages, which seems reasonable.

A mention of Jack Of All Trades from Traveller Hero probably deserves a mention at this point, since it was just a construct of skill levels. A more limited form of it could be easily constructed to just apply to Science skills or any other grouping of similar skills.
 
I could also see an argument for buying a Skill Enhancer like Linguist and then just buying single points in different languages and calling them full fluency thanks to the enhancer’s effect. For ten points that would mean the character is fully fluent in seven languages, which seems reasonable.

I’m wondering if the comic book age of a setting will affect how skills should be treated. Some of the examples given above are straight out of the Silver Age, which had more of a whiz bang view of science than a modern setting does.
 
For Golden, Atomic or Silver Age settings, a much simpler skill structure seems better, but maybe something more granular fits for more modern settings?

Selversgard - Events of the Year #4
 
It has been a harsh Winter, with a lot of snow, and life has been hard for many. But Spring has now arrived, and with it, planting and the beginnings of the working year. Floating ice damaged several of the piers, which the current floodwaters haven't helped with. Blake is still Mayor (until the Spring equinox) and has steered the council into putting some good timbers aside for the repair work. Arram’s discovery of those ancient cisterns near town has got the interest of the council - Blake would like Arram and the usual troubleshooters to go investigate, in the hope that there will be at least one noteworthy positive in his tenure as Mayor.
 
Shev: I keep wondering why they send the school teacher out for this kind of thing, then I remember he’s probably one of the most powerful spellcasters in Selversgard.
Gonno OoC: No doubt the cisterns were discovered decades ago, and put into the ‘To Do’ list. 
Arram OoC: And their wives are getting a bit too friendly with the schoolteacher, let’s get him out of town for a bit.
Shev OoC: They want to find out what 18 Charisma looks like under the hood.
 
Gonno’s daughter Ionia has very sharp teeth, to the point that Shev provides a teething aid used by Ysoki infants - thick leather on the end of a stick, dipped in honey.
 
Shev: Let me know the first time she escapes her bassinet.
Gonno: *alarmed expression*
 
Arram: Anyway, thank you for letting us borrow your husband, we’re going to drop him in a cistern.
Galiante: He’ll be fine, especially if you drop him on his head.
Gonno: *amused snort*
Arram: I love this woman. In a purely platonic manner.
 
The site of the first cistern is overgrown with Redvine, a particularly vicious albeit natural plant with two-inch thorns. Further in there’s wild roses, even more refractory than the redvine, but in the middle is a marble statue of a naked elven girl. It looks like it was set up as a fountain, once.
 
Skave: Stop staring, Gonno, you’re married!
 
Skave, investigating the statue for whatever mechanism ran the pump, discovers that the whole thing rotates to reveal an inspection hatch for the cistern, which is over 100ft across. That’s enormous, considering none of us are aware of any ancient settlements anywhere near Selversgard that would have required that much water. Skave uses his recently booklearned knowledge of architecture to figure out this cistern is likely Thassalonian.
 
Skave: Amazing! Selversgard must have been built upon the ruins of an ancient Thassalonian Civilization!
Arram: Most of *Varisia* is built on the ruins of an ancient Thassalonian civilization.  
 
We descend into the tank.
 
Gonno OoC: So on top of having real jobs we’re apparently also part-time plumbers.
Skave OoC: If we go through a pipe and end up in a kingdom of mushrooms, I’m out of here.
 
The only pipe we can actually see is the one leading up to the fountain, although there’s also a larger barred opening in the floor that probably leads to the other cisterns. The entire place is weirdly pristine - there’s nothing organic down here at all.
 
Gonno: Hmm. (remind me, can Gelatinous Cubes squeeze through bars?)
GM: Indeed they can.
 
It’s just as well Arram lobs a glowing stone ahead of us as we inspect the connecting pipes - there is indeed a transparent ooze filling the pipe, and creeping in our direction. A certain amount of cursing ensues - so many of us have Darkvision that we didn’t bother bringing torches. 
 
Peanut Gallery: All villager mobs must carry torches and pitchforks! It’s mandatory!
 
It doesn’t help that Shev’s musket keeps misfiring on the second shot. 
 
The Gelatinous Cube had also eaten a few coins and something that Skave confidently announces is a Gelatinous Cube egg, until he gets a closer look and realises it’s the thorax of a very very big ant. Maybe there was something to those rumours last year. We advance down the tunnel, carefully probing ahead with ten foot poles and glowing rocks. The next cistern is partly collapsed. Unfortunately the first three people that climb up from the connecting tunnel fail their perception checks and blunder into the snare lines of a giant black widow spider. There’s another dead giant ant here too. They might be coming through the hole in the wall. And the grate underneath the third cistern is covered with some kind of papery substance. Miya drills through it, and gets a faceful of some foul-smelling powder in her face in response. It’s ant frass. 
 
This is a problem - drowning out the nest will poison the cisterns, even if we could somehow set up a flume to refill the tanks without being swarmed. 

 

Pathfinder : Hell's Rebels - Face It Alone

We return to Kintargo, re-equip everything we burned through trying to burn through the Aboleth, and depart again to visit Vyre, on Vyre Island. 
 
GM: Think of it as Kintargo’s New Jersey. 
Terzo: So we could have returned to Kintargo via Vyre?
 
Vyre is known as the City of Masks, because it’s traditional to go about in disguise, to better enjoy all the illicit activities that form the bulk of Vyre’s economy.
 
Terzo OoC: Everything’s Legal In New Jersey.
Rajira OoC: As long as you don’t get caught.
 
A largely freewheeling and chaotic city, Vyre is not entirely without laws. Five rules known as ‘Promises’ govern all residents and visitors, compact enough to be carved on statues throughout the city - "I Shall Honor All Coin", meaning all transactions are assumed final and binding and all prices are negotiable. This rule also prohibits theft. "I Shall Speak Many Names", meaning all people should accept any name given by a person Vyre, regardless of its veracity, and without ever revealing a person's identity if they conceal it. "I May Wound Yet Shall Not Kill", which requires people to let their enemies in Vyre live in order to give them a chance to avenge themselves. "I Know None Are Below Me", which discourages all forms of prejudice and discrimination. "I Shall Let Closed Doors Remain Closed", meaning all private secrets and acts must remain private, and any broken promises are assumed to be intact unless sufficient evidence is provided.
 
Terzo’s player: It’s honestly astonishing that the Chellaxians haven’t had the city magically nuked. 
Rajira’s player: It’s too useful - You don’t seal off your safety valve.
Civilla’s player: It’s a good place to have agents. It’s their Casablanca. And it has rules, and doesn’t necessarily oppose Thrune. 
 
Civilla is going to take advantage of the fact that the prohibition on other gods isn’t complete across Chelliax, by wearing a full-face opera mask that references her own goddess of choice. It’ll also magically conceal her Alignment. 
 
Terzo: Well, going masked won’t be a hardship for me - I used to go about in disguise on a regular basis, back when I was younger and more handsome.
 
We have a few objectives in the City of Masks - make certain arrangements regarding a number of warehouses in the city on behalf of one Molly Mayapple, and contact the ‘kings and queens’ of Vyre to try and garner support for the rebellion. Of course the ‘rulers’ don’t exactly advertise their whereabouts, even if the existing advertisements leave nothing to the imagination.
 
Terzo: *stopping in front of one and turning his head sideways* Hmm. Haven’t seen THAT one in a while.

Civilla: You know, Terzo, there might still be copies of your work here.
Terzo: *cheers up*
Civilla: After all they’re illicit now.
Terzo: *cheers up even more*
 
There’s a lot of aspirant Hellknights hanging around Vyre, rounding out their life experience before joining own of the Orders. They’re pretty obvious. The Mask of Blades are less obvious, but still too much of a semi-official militia to be the kind of people we want to meet. 
 
Rajira: I’m trying to spot the *private* spies. 
 
Rajira spots at least three other factions following us around.  Most of them are probably from Vyre’s various interest groups, but she’s most interested in contacting one of the Masks of Blood, who oversee the legal affairs of the citizens of Vyre and assist them against foreign interests. She has Mahat drop a message where it can reach the appropriate personages. Molly Mayapple, on the other hand, is much easier to find - she’s running a hostel called The Seven Apples. Convenient, since we need a place to stay. And you can book the rooms for the entire night here, instead of by the hour. At least we’re more professional than most adventuring groups, so she doesn’t direct us into the queue for the corner booth.
 
Civilla: You know who has it worse? The bar wench. Adventurers putting on AIRS. Trying to pay with platinum, or rubies. That’s why I always carry copper and silver - the COMMON coin.
Rajira: And then the money changers take a cut anyway.
Civilla: Right! So you’re not doing the innkeeper a big favour anyway - instead of saying ‘let me know when this runs out’, at say ‘Let me know when this runs out - and charge me double’
 
Molly agrees to talk in a back room - she’s not pleased when she sees we have all those deeds we found in the Grey Spider’s lair.
 
Molly: So, what brings the Grey Spiders to my door?
Civilla: Grey Spiders? No no, we recently came into possession of these deeds.
Molly: And now you’re going to extort money from me, after stealing them?
Rajira: We’re just going to give them to you.
Molly: For FREE?
Civilla: I think you’re suffering a misapprehension. We’re not the Grey Spiders. We’re The Rumour. The Whisper. Chance Incarnate. A group of prisoners just *happened* to walk out of a salt mine. Another walked out of the gaol before they were due to be executed.
Molly: … you’re from Across The River.
Civilla: Yes. 
Molly: And you’re just giving them to me?
Civilla: As a display of good will and the benefits of future co-operation.
Molly: *tears welling up* Excuse me a moment.
Ayva: I think we’ve broken our hostess. In less that 5 minutes
Rajira: Still not our best effort.
 
Molly promises to get us an invite to one of the Masked Balls (of course all balls are Masques on Vyre) and 800 platinum in a Handy Haversack so we can enjoy ourselves in town - she’ll make that back easily now she has the warehouse deeds again. Of course Civilla came prepared for our trip, with everything she needs as letters of introduction - or the tools to forge them.
 
Terzo: This isn’t why I taught you calligraphy, young lady. 
 
The current Queen is an atheist, apparently, so Civilla’s mask might be a problem at the ball. The other advice we get include ‘don’t mention the King, even though he’ll be there’,  where to get the brand new outfits and masks expected for one of these functions, and suitable price ranges for the required gifts for the Queen. Spiders, onyx jewelry, fine mead, salacious works of art, lacy gloves, fancy potion vials, flowers with black petals, Ustalavic novels, or exquisite banquet utensils are preferred. 
 
Civilla: Unusual combination - Ustalavic literature is all ‘we’re cold and miserable and by the end of the book half of us will be dead’.
Terzo OoC: So she’s a rich goth.
Civilla OoC: A rich THIRSTY goth. 
 
Given the price of custom glassware made in three days, it’s just as well Molly gave us that bagful of cash. 
 
Terzo: Perhaps I can find her a collection of salacious poetry.
Rajira: Possibly, have you written any?
Terzo: I can always offer to customise it with one I make up on the spot. Well, claim I came up with it on the spot. 
 
Rajira commissions a pair of potion vials in the form of coiling snakes, Civilla brings an obsidian dagger in an ivory sheath with an onyx spider on the outward side and a concealed symbol of Noticula on the inward side. Shimza brings a corset with a spider motif (and another concealed symbol of Noticula). Ayva is bringing a painting of a naked woman with a strategically positioned variety of colorful spiders “Lady with Spider” (Not a Typo), but then she is the artist of the group.
 
Civilla: I didn’t have time to do a sculpture, OK?
 
Dressed to the nines and possibly elevens we arrive at Cobweb Manor, an apparently decrepit building guarded by flesh golems in suits, and infested by fist-sized spiders,  where a small group is already gathered. Nine guests and their assorted attendants who don’t count. Molly is with our group.
 
Ayva: Oh good, that makes 14 guests - otherwise one of us is bound to be murdered.
Civilla: Does Shimza count as a guest or attendant?
 
We decide that Shimza counts as Civilla’s plus-one, regardless of what that does to the likelihood of horrible murder. Molly helps us with the public names and backgrounds of the other guests, despite their masks, but Civilla already knows most of them anyway. 
 
Anca Verezzian: Female Varisian human; orphaned ex-circus acrobat; chief of security at the Final Throw; eager and curious. Asmerru: aristocrat from Hinji; interests in halfling slave trade; shameless gossip. Elitu Rosewinter: Female halfling; wanted for murder in Augustana; out-of-work assassin; sadistic and prone to using grisly metaphor in idle conversation. An unknown elderly Tian woman, her grey hair tied in a bun in traditional fashion. Notable feature is a mole on her chin. Kekza Zenk: Female gnome; ex-adventurer; dancer at the Nine-Tails pub; incorrigibly flirtatious Morvira Crispin: Female Chelish human; madam; owns the Night Tea Room, a local brothel; enjoys giving people embarrassing or salacious nicknames. Sefuri Dendru: Male Garundi human; businessman; owns the Coughing Carbuncle, a local tavern; heavy and proud of it.  
Terzo (OoC): I’m sure there’s a fascinating story why it’s called the Coughing Carbuncle and I’m equally sure I don’t want to know.
Civilla (OoC): Do you know what a carbuncle is?
Terzo (OoC): The gemstone or the cluster of connected boils?
GM: There’s also a kind of lizard that plays dead - that was probably the inspiration for the name.
Ayva (OoC): You’re welcome to ask.
Civilla (OoC): I’m not.
 
Strephian: Male half-elf; businessman; owns the Blue Monkey game hall; heavy drinker who never seems to get drunk. Xoshak Zabrinni: Elderly male Keles***e human; businessman; owns local curio shop Zabrinni’s Discoveries; refers to self in third person.  
All very plausible victims or suspects in a murder mystery, but we’ll see how things turn out.
 
Rajira arrives in an emerald green dress, backless and ankle-length, with a subtle scale pattern, accessorized with an emerald choker of ridiculous expense. Her hair is tied back with an emerald silk ribbon, and she isn’t hiding her non-human heritage at all. Mahat on the other hand is posing as her attendant, and is dressed in a monotone grey suit. Civilla and Shimza’s outfits are even more expensive, being black with blue and off-white highlights, augmented by corsets of black silk, their silver brocade accented with azurite insets, and both brought griffon mane reversible cloaks. Civilla’s outfit includes the purple and orange of her house. Ayva is wearing a dress of many hues of blue that look like paint on silk canvas with ‘drips’ of sapphires from the sleeves and dress. Ayva’s offsider Portia is wearing a Pink Plush dress out of a princess fairy tale. Terzo’s less expensive outfit includes a Chellish doublet with slashed sleeves, in red and yellow.
 
Civilla: Please tell me that’s noble standard. Or at the very least courtier.
 
Perhaps predictably for a place called Cobweb Manor, lair of the Queen of Delights, the interior decorations lean towards spiderweb, magical chandeliers, and numerous paintings both varied and scandalous. The dining room already has a guest seated in the door nearest the entrance - a skeleton in a tophat.  Presumably this is the King nobody is supposed to comment on. Portia is made to sit next to him.  When Manticce Kaleeki the Queen of Delights - a stunningly beautiful tiefling woman with blood-red eyes, prominent horns, and a scaled tail, and the star of some of the more salacious paintings in the building - enters, she is greeted with a standing ovation.
 
Terzo (OoC): Of course I stand and join the ovation, I taught Civilla half the etiquette she knows.
Civilla (Ooc): Of course that was only half of what he tried to teach me. And I then had to figure out for myself which half actually applied. 
 
She welcomes us with a short speech, and promises a meal that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. That’s not ominous at all. 
 
The Queen of Delights: Greetings, new friends and old, to my home. I see some familiar faces here, and some delightfully unfamiliar ones as well. It is always a pleasure to serve new tongues the delectable offerings of House Kaleekii, and I trust you shall remember the meal to come for the rest of your lives. Tonight’s banquet is brought to us by master chef Annatolintis Tasetas, all the way from Katapesh, and consists of four expertly prepared courses. I expect the conversation to be lively and thought-provoking, and as always, I shall accept your gifts during the serving of dessert. Without further ado, let us begin!
 
Civilla and Shimza promptly down some antitoxin. 
 
The Queen of Delights snaps her fingers, and a small army of servants, all clad in diaphanous white robes and wearing wraps of gauzy veils over their faces, emerges. The servants quickly move with dishes to each of the dinner guests, and all at once they remove the covers to reveal the first course: In front of each guest is a tureen of heady, boiling-hot liquid sitting atop a nest of five short candles. The liquid has a hypnotically metallic appearance, like that of mercury. Also in front of the guests is a smaller bowl in which swim five live minnows. Finally are a set of utensils that include a two-tined fork; a sharp, slender knife; and a spoonlike sieve. This would seem rather more difficult than remembering which one is the snail fork. Careful glances at the other guests suggests we’re supposed to poach and fillet the fish, and blow out the candles to let the Quick Soup cool. Mahat performs flawlessly, but Civilla is slightly irritated that Terzo is more dexterous at catching the live fish.

Portia, unfortunately, manages to lose all her fish onto the table, as do some of the other guests. One of them just dumps his fish into the soup.
 
Civilla: This would seem to be the host’s chance to show that her guests are fools. 
Rajira: I’m seriously considering botching one of the fish on purpose. 
 
While we wait for the second course the Queen of Delights comments on the current political situation on the mainland.
 
Queen: If such a small group of rebels can fight back so easily against the powers of Hell, then is House Thrune really able to say they are in charge?
Civilla: Kintargo has never truly been Chelaxian - it’s always been its own creature
Queen: Interesting - I was more referencing events in Westcrown.
Civilla: Perhaps it is simply that Barzillai grips too tightly.
Rajira: If you squeeze too tightly, most things slip between your fingers.
 
The slave-trader is so offended by this that he spills his soup, denying that there’s any situation in Chelliax. Rajira murmurs an observation about how a slave-trader is hardly going to admit that an uprising is likely. 
 
Ayva: Ah, the slap you DON’T hear around the room.
Civilla: I’m not claiming that it’s the Empress’s fault - merely that of those she has act in her stead.
 
The second course appears to be a braised human head. Fortunately it’s a specially shaped boiled squash. The spices in the sauce are rather more of a problem, at least for those of us that didn’t grow up in areas where vindaloo is babyfood. Some of us are glad they brought vials of antitoxin AND antiflame.

Rajira (in vishkanya, to Mahat): Varisians, thinking they can handle spicy foods…
Civilla (In perfect Vishkanya): Who are you calling Varisian?

Queen: You know, this very aptly reminds me of the nation of Galt. The nation’s Red Revolution has been going on for years now, and so many have been beheaded by the ‘final blades’. It makes one think, don’t you agree? All the pain and death that comes from their actions, sometimes to oppose the rightful rulers. Is it any wonder that some would label these rebels as domestic terrorists.  How is it that these revolutionaries justify this?
Terzo: I imagine they’ll say something like ‘the rose of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.’
Civilla: *hisses* Do not use language like that!
 
Funnily enough two of the other guests do use language like that, and their argument becomes quite heated.

Queen: It seems we have our own rebellion growing at this very table!

She claps her hands in delight as the meat course is brought in - three large pies with golden, flaky crusts. The servants with the empty trays then line up behind the servant with the pies, who begin cutting large slices of the pies and giving those slices to the other servants. These servants then quickly go to each of the dinner guests and place a single piece of pie in front of each of them. The process of cutting and distributing the pies is insanely quick—the servants deftly deliver the pies to the guests within a minute of the first cut being made! Although, once the slices of pie are given, we discover the strangeness of this dish. The pies themselves appear to consist of crust and nothing else—yet while physics would dictate that the top of the crust would sag from lack of support, it doesn’t. It simply floats. Prodding between the crust reveals that there is indeed something of substance there, but it is simply invisible. Apparently it’s made from the flesh of an Invisible Stalker, and is supposed to be eaten before it reacts with the air. Rajira eats the entire slice whole, by dislocating her jaw. 

The Queen: Sin is very strange, don’t you think? What constitutes a ‘sin’ is very much a societal and cultural notion. For example, I’m sure many here would agree with the notion that cannibalism is a terrible and monstrous thing to do. But the gnolls of Garund have a very different idea—for they feast upon their own as a sign of reverence to the person’s life—almost like a funerary rite. They would hardly think twice of the moral implications of cannibalism, because to them there is no moral quandary. And yet, the ‘civilized folk’ label them as monsters who feast upon their own for the hell of it. We label one culture’s actions based on the cultural norms of another. Or, for a more close-to-home example, I personally believe that the worship of a deity is a sin, and yet here in Cheliax, worship of Asmodeus is all but required to avoid political backlash. It is fascinating, is it not? What one considers normal, another might consider terrible. So, let me ask you, my esteemed guests, as we let closed doors remain closed: what do you consider to be the greatest sin one can commit?

The Queen extends her hand to invite her guests to speak. After an awkward silence, it is the well-dressed half-elf who speaks first.

Strephian: Well, I would say wasting booze. 

This elicits a soft chuckle from a few of the guests—including the Queen.

Sefuri Dendru: Well, why that specific? I would say wasting food in general is a terrible thing to do. *proudly smacking his rotund belly*.
Kekza Zenk the flirtatious dancer: Well, I would have to say chastity. Just…no!
Xoshak Zabrinni: Xoshak believes fraud to be a terrible sin! You would never catch Xoshak doing such a thing!
Molly:  *thoughtfully pauses* Racism.
Asmerru the slaver: *glaring at Molly* It is a horrid thing to be disobedient to one’s superior.
Elitu Rosewinter, the halfling assassin: Heh. Resurrection.
Anca Verezzian: To give one’s trust is a great thing, but to abuse that trust…I have no pity for such a man.
Morvira Crispin: *clutches at a necklace that she is wearing and whimpers* N-neglecting your children…
 
The Queen of Delights turns her attention to the elderly Tian-Shu woman whom the PCs now realize has not spoken since the dinner began. She meets the Queen’s gaze, and the Tian woman’s words are spoken with pure venom and contempt: ”To invade another’s home.”

Terzo: To act against one's true self.
 
That, of course, goes down like a lead balloon in Vyre, and there are audible gasps around the table, but the Queen acknowledges it with interest, apparently realizing that Terzo is being perfectly sincere.
 
Rajira: To enter into an action knowing failure is the only option.
Ayva: To toil without purpose.
Civilla: I would say Pride - pure and simple. To pretend that there is nothing left to achieve, that that there is nothing left to do. None of us are perfect and all of us have room for improvement. 
 
This is an oblique reference to her faith in the Redeemer Queen, and the Queen apparently recognises it as ‘maybe you just haven’t found the right god yet’ and narrows her eyes.
 
The servants come back out with the desserts. The servants place the following in front of each of the dinner guests: A small plate covered by a silver lid, a strange device that looks like a little corkscrew, and a curious fist-sized object in the shape of a dodecahedron. The servants all simultaneously lift the lids, and a tumble of fat candied spiders pour out, their abdomens are much larger compared to their heads. The disproportional abdomens are about the size of a grape.
 
Civilla OoC: ‘So, which PCs have Disable Device?’
 
Unfortunately most guests do quite badly figuring out how to eat the dessert (or even opening the polyhedral puzzle box) so it gets a bit messy. At least the transdimensional d20s weren‘t Lament Configurations, and the mess is merely the dipping honey rather than blood and assorted organs. Shimza expresses her displeasure by skewering the spiders on her claws.
 
Rajira: *in Undercommon* Delicious.
Civilla: *in Undercommon* I wouldn’t know.
 
Then the Queen accepts the various gifts. She is generally quite pleased with them.
 
Ayva: I present, my lady, a modest painting of an immodest woman.
 
The guests mingle and eventually start to disperse, and Molly nudges us to indicate that it’s time to actually talk business with the host.
 
Rajira: An excellent meal, O Queen - pleasing to the belly and stimulating to the mind.
Queen: Thank you
Rajira: But I’m sure you are aware we are here for another purpose.
Queen: I am indeed, my darlings. And your performance tonight has already decided me. Now it is time for me to calculate your score.
Civilla OoC: Was that last bit the queen or the GM?
Terzo: In character for either.
Ayva OoC: ‘I must now count your BANQUET POINTS!’
 
The Queen is ready to support our overthrow of Thrune.
 
Queen: Of course Vyre will support your bid for freedom—this little banquet is nothing compared to the complex political machine at work. When the time comes to throw off Thrune’s shackles, Vyre will be there to aid you! Now, with all due respect, if you would please see yourselves out—my staff must clean the ballroom posthaste. Oh, but before you completely leave… Rajira, would you care to linger for a private conversation?
Rajira: Of course, O Queen.
 
The rest of us don’t bother to mill outside - it’s pretty obvious that Rajira won’t be home tonight. 
 
Terzo: How did Rajira manage to dislocate her jaw like that?
Mahat: Like this *does the same*
Civilla: … wait, are you truly that oblivious? Out of everybody here there are only two pure-blooded humans. 
Terzo: … wait, what… Even you?!
Civilla OoC: ‘When a Hag and an unwilling male don’t love each other at all..’
Ayva OoC: ‘When a Hag successfully catfishes an adventurer…’