_________________
"Brothels are a much sounder investment than ships, I've found. Whores seldom sink, and when they are boarded by pirates, why, the pirates pay good coin like everyone else."
- Lord Petyr Baelish, A Game of Thrones

Oh, come on Grettir! Those people are Pac's family! His cousins, cousin's children, aunts, uncles! They've seen P'Tarn's body and Pac, the head of the household, sacrifice himself to slay P'Tarn's executioner. How many Insight do I have to spend to get them to charge the palanquin!?!

Regards,

_________________
Ian Plumb
Illustrations for Gamers
Lyonpaedia
Griffin Grove Gaming
Kraftworks for Kids School Holiday Program

Higgins, having Ixcal get bitten is no problem – even if he gets suspicious and wants to draw back from Itzcoatl, he’s old and frail and weak and unprotected, and Itzcoatl is prficient in handling the snakes. The question here is not wether Ixcal gets bitten, but wether anybody notices what Itzcoatl pulls off. This requires subterfuge of Itzcoatl – moving in such a way that Ixcal doesn’t become suspicious of Itzcoatl’s motives and thus forces Itzcoatl to struggle with the old man to have him bitten, because if he has to struggle with him, somebody among the well over fifty people present will notice for sure.

Being innocuous is a Social/Acting roll. Bonus dice are obviously the power-Drive and the hate-Passion, but also the Destiny (if Itzcoatl doesn’t pull this one off, he’s in grave danger of dying, which would thwart the destiny). That’s 11 dice against TN 13. A single success suffices.

Ian, spending Drama would be higgin’s call. And then Pac’s people would be hardly enough to swing the balance, but certainly enough to be a factor.

_________________
My real name is Michael; use it, if you like.

Ah, I understood that now that I've rolled, I cannot spend Drama.

Social 7+0+1+3 vs Acting TN 13
[dice]aaalezvmom[/dice]
[dice]yaxfvtuwxj[/dice]
[dice]rozfqlrdlr[/dice]
[dice]ldhlyuakmy[/dice]
[dice]jegdycaigs[/dice]
[dice]gxnrpqdhto[/dice]
[dice]bajvauhyfr[/dice]
[dice]mucpvlvnic[/dice]
[dice]wtbmwjgluh[/dice]
[dice]ddmyllecoq[/dice]
[dice]rftcbhldth[/dice]

Ugh, quoting Michael messed up this "original post" thing. Anyways, rerolling 10s.

[dice]cyunroaivw[/dice]
[dice]hfpzsyevzf[/dice]
[dice]izrotnqlls[/dice]



Okay, now I'm just curious how high result will I get.
[dice]dvupwfikqn[/dice]
[dice]cezpsoltgw[/dice]

Is TN 27 (beating the require TN by more than twice) going to bring me a Luck point?

Edit: Acually it was 12 dice (I have to unspend that spent Drama), but I don't bother adding that die.

_________________
"Brothels are a much sounder investment than ships, I've found. Whores seldom sink, and when they are boarded by pirates, why, the pirates pay good coin like everyone else."
- Lord Petyr Baelish, A Game of Thrones

Oh, I thought the roll was to incite the Temple guard. Spending the Drama on the workshop crew would, I think, simply introduce the fact that they are angry about P'Tarn's and Pac's deaths and have become incited by those events (rather than Itz's fine speech).

Anyway, go Itz! Kill the senile old bastard. Deal with the Servitor and then deal with Layanna!

Regards,

_________________
Ian Plumb
Illustrations for Gamers
Lyonpaedia
Griffin Grove Gaming
Kraftworks for Kids School Holiday Program

If that's so, I'll happily spend that Drama to indulge Ian.

_________________
"Brothels are a much sounder investment than ships, I've found. Whores seldom sink, and when they are boarded by pirates, why, the pirates pay good coin like everyone else."
- Lord Petyr Baelish, A Game of Thrones

Well, higgins, I like rolls in my games to carry a lot of weight, and thus I am reluctant to allow Drama to practically negate a roll once a player has chosen to make it. But that does of course not prevent the player from using Drama to effect some other event that does still bring about the desired outcome in some other way. Like Ian pointed out, Itzcoatls did incite the guards, but not sufficiently that Ixcal’s powerful call to order did not sober them again – that’s the result, and nothing’s to be done about it. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t spend Drama to, say, have one of the renegade Servitor’s henchman appear and attack the Servitor in the palanquin, or to have Pac Uta’s family charge in a frenzy, or whatever.

Anyhow, great roll, with 3 successes and highs of 27, 23 and 19; seems that you are saving all your good dice rolling luck for one roll, leaving nothing for the others. As of now, you have definitely both this session’s most lucky and most unlucky roll.

Anyway, Itzcoatl approached Ixcal in a completely innocuous way, had him bitten without anybody else noticing it and did even give a great and convincing show calling down the divine punishment on Ixcal. A skill improvement check to Acting, and 1 point to the power-Drive for Itzcoatl.

Itzcoatl. The square in front of Pac Utal’s house.

The commotion of the pious guards subduing the those incited to violence has covered up the sharp outcry of Ixcal as he was bitten on the wrist, and then Itzcoatl has immediately seized the initiative, drowning out everything Ixcal might have want to say with his powerful voice and ominous words.

The old high priest is clasping his left wrist and stares at Itzcoatl his rheumy eyes wide and incredulous. Already his breath is quick and laboured as he spits “Madman” and then “Murderer” at Itzcoatl.

“Nahuatec”, Ixcal call for the commander of the temple warriors, and as the old veteran reports from among his men, Ixcal turns towards him – and as he does so, one of his legs buckles, and the old man topples hard to the godstone.

“Now behold the awful price of protecting those who have failed the Gods!”, Itzcoatl thunders, his voice once again drowning out whatever Ixcal might be saying. “You have brought this fate down on yourself, Ixcal – do not bring it upon the faithful!”

Some of the priests shake of their dazed stun and rush to the side of the fallen high priest. Ixcal’s face is by now glazed with a thin layer or perspiration and his breathing has become a painful panting as his lungs struggle for enough air. His face a mask of suffering and his hands clasping at his heart the old man tries desperately to squeeze out words in between his pants: “Itzcoatl … he” – a gurgling of pain – “Servitor … protect.”

Here, the hyperventilating stops suddenly and only choking noises escape from Ixcal’s throat as the breathing becomes even harder. Ringed by minor clerics, the high priest doubles up on the floor, throwing himself from side to side in pain and sheer animal panic forced upn him by his violently racing heart. Itzcoatl knows that the end is very near.

“The Reverend Father Ixcal has doomed himself by defying the Gods, by standing between him whom the Gods have fated to die and those who would do the Gods’ will!”, Itzcoatl calls out again, now sure that Ixcal won’t be able to utter anything coherent anymore. “Serve the Gods! Kill him who betrayed them!”

With these words, he stabs an imperious hand towards the closed wooden palanquin. First only a few, then all of the guards throw off their stupor and charge in a mob towards the palanquin.

Higgins, I just want to afford you an opportunity to have Itzcoatl do anything, or possibly to spend some Drama if you should want to. If not, I’ll continue with resolving the attack on the Servitor. Anyhow, don't worry about Ixcal, he's a goner and has no opportunity anymore to coherently implicate Itzcoatl for anything before he dies. Nahuatec might be a problem – he doesn’t participate in the lynching, but he also doesn’t interfere, but if he chose to oppose Itzcoatly, he would certainly command the warriors’ loyalty over Itzcoatl. If there is any problem apart from the Sevitor himself, it will come from the priests and acolytes – Itzcoatl outranks all of them, but there are a great many of the adherents of Ixcal among them.

_________________
My real name is Michael; use it, if you like.

I'd like to spend that drama to have Pac's family and workshop to have a meaningful role in the upcoming slaughter. Spending that Drama, I also want to point out that while it was the Servitor who actually killed Pac, it was Itzcoatl who claimed that Pac was a poisoner. Most likely, from their viewpoint the priests are also responsible for their master's death.

_________________
"Brothels are a much sounder investment than ships, I've found. Whores seldom sink, and when they are boarded by pirates, why, the pirates pay good coin like everyone else."
- Lord Petyr Baelish, A Game of Thrones

Woo Hoo!! Go Itz! There'll be no mass blindings/executions today!

Regards,

_________________
Ian Plumb
Illustrations for Gamers
Lyonpaedia
Griffin Grove Gaming
Kraftworks for Kids School Holiday Program

Sorry, people – my modem at home gave out on me. Does anybody know why such things always seem to happen on Saturday mornings, when you have to wait for days until you can get them fixed? Anyhow, on with the show:

Itzcoatl. The square in front of Pac Utal’s townhouse.

Suddenly, the foremost four of the temple guards who charge the palanquin howling for the Servitor’s blood just … fall into the sky. Tumbling, crying out and flailing their limbs like men plummeting do their deaths do, they drop instantly to a height over well maybe twenty meters, where they hang as if weightless, struggling, terrified.

The attack on the palanquin has halted dead in its tracks as everybody is gaping open-mouthed at the distant figures hanging in the sky.

“Foolish mortals”, a lilting voice comes from the palanquin, despite its softness carrying far in the awed and terror-stricken silence of the square. The sliding panel of the palanquin opens…

… and the four men in the sky are suddenly hurled downward again with the force of a giant’s fist – or a God’s.

The men don’t even have time for more than a short yelp before they shatter on the godstone of the square like over-ripe fruits hurled against a wall. Hardened temple warriors of decades of service cannot but cry out at being splattered with blood and guts of their comrades, now no more than smears on the ground.

All around, priests hurl themselves to their knees, wailing, hitting the godstone of the square repeatedly with their foreheads.

The tall figure of the profile-masked Servitor folds himself from the palanquin, and the temple warriors draw back from him as if from a poisonous Nayalli bird. They are overawed, on the verge of breaking down before the power of the divine.

All save Papalotl, an old warrior who has seen too much blood spilt in the Gods’ name. His bronze hatchet is a flash in his hand and a lightning in the air as it flies straight at the chest of the Servitor. The tall being in the his cloak of feathers seems to flinch…

… and the axe imbeds itself in the belly of Papalotl, who crumples, screaing in agony. It has been too quick for the eye to follow and for the brain to grasp, but it appears as if Papalotl’s hatchet has reversed its course in mid-air and found its way back to the thrower.

Itzcoatl’s mouth is dry. He is the only priest who now remains standing.

Somewhere, a spear clatters to the ground, followed by a second. The warriors draw back further from Servitor who straightens to his full height. “Abase yourself”, a voice issues from the mask, firm, calm, irresistable.

The warriors, even Nahuatec, fall to their knees like stalks of rice bent by the wind.

The unsettling profile mask turns towards Itzcoatl. Does it … smile?

“Treacherous priest”, the Servitor addresses Itzcoatl. “Now feel—“

A man tackles the Servitor from his blind side, takes him down. A tangle of bronzed and pale limbs, man and angel roll over the ground. “Murderer”, the man cries out, struggling to dash the Servitor’s head against the square’s smooth godstone. It is one of the craftsmen taken from Pac Utal’s shop.

Higgins, the situation hangs visibly by a thread. The priests are overawed, and so are the warriors, but they might be spurred into action by a sharp command issued with authority – that would require Willpower/Leadership, with hate-Passion, power-Drive and Destiny as bonus dice, but a full 5 successes (“flawless”) required; if the warriors don’t act immediately, with but a word of Itzcoatl, the Servitor will likely have overcome Pac’s relative.

Alternatively, Itzcoatl might try to interfer in the combat in person – he’s but a dozen paces from the struggling pair and could rush there in time, possibly picking up some warrior’s dropped weapon.

Or he could do something entirely different, or nothing at all, or you could spend more Drama, or, or, or…

In any case, pay the 1 Drama for having Pac Utal’s kin save the day, and don’t forget to award you 1 Insight for it.

_________________
My real name is Michael; use it, if you like.

Izcoatl has nothing to lose now, he shouts commands to the others to follow him and kill the traitor Servitor and joins the attackers himself with a spear grabbed from the ground.

Ugh... I only need a statistically average roll now. *Fingers crossed*
Willpower 6+0+2+3 vs. Leadership 6
[dice]xyeamhbauy[/dice]
[dice]dkrtiaeoec[/dice]
[dice]alablkpgdn[/dice]
[dice]hnqpoqjnmm[/dice]
[dice]eggfkujmik[/dice]
[dice]ilktbqwoud[/dice]
[dice]ltrcdeppcu[/dice]
[dice]jzgdjsmtru[/dice]
[dice]bngrkvmoxy[/dice]
[dice]oaktqavkwe[/dice]
[dice]citvunmpsn[/dice]

_________________
"Brothels are a much sounder investment than ships, I've found. Whores seldom sink, and when they are boarded by pirates, why, the pirates pay good coin like everyone else."
- Lord Petyr Baelish, A Game of Thrones

Itzcoatl. The square in front of Pac Utal’s townhouse.

The combination of decisive action and powerful command shakes the more daring of the temple warriors awake. Groping again for their dropped weapons, some ten fighting men arise and throw themselves at the Servitor struggling with the craftsman.

As the guards and a desperate Itzcoatl charge, some invisible giant’s hand rips the artisan off his divine opponent. Like a rag doll thrown away by a petulant child the man tumbles through the air, hitting the foremost of the temple warriors and taking him down with a sickening crunch of broken bones.

On the ground, the Servitor, his feather cloak ripped and his jewel-studded robes torn and soiled, throws himself around to face his attackers and unleash his seraphic fury upon the blasphemers. He turns just in time for the thrust of Itzcoatl’s spear.

Higgins, the Servitor is finished more like than not, but I’d like to know wether it is Itzcoatl who actually dispatches him or some warrior, as this might yield political currency for Itzcoatl and also be important later on. Therefore, I’d like you to roll an attack on Itzcoatl’s prone opponent. He has a common spear from TFoB p165, with thrust TN 6 and thrust Dam ST+2. Itzcoatl is attacking from above (+2 CP) and may once again add his power-Drive and hate-Passion, but not his Destiny to the CP; his high-priestly vestments count as Light Encumbrance, for –1 CP. That’s a total of 7 dice in the CP, unless I’ve miscalculated; all modifiers from MRB p234 do also apply.

The Servitor’s base CP is 5. Subtracted from this is 1 for encumbering robes, 1 for being one-eyed, and 1 for the vision-reducing mask, for a total of 2; this is halved for being on the ground, for a whopping CP 1.

To be able to defend at all, the Servitor must succeed at a surprise-roll with his Reflex of 5 against TN 9; here it is:
[dice]jyrtnoxfpi[/dice]
[dice]zagmcnhdfa[/dice]
[dice]hvtynlcztm[/dice]
[dice]lflzdqplxp[/dice]
[dice]dboqiswjyd[/dice]

In case the above roll was successful, I do also roll his defense – partial evasion with 1 die against TN 7:
[dice]rbsderwqph[/dice]

If you don’t want to roll, some warrior will stick the Servitor; this is merely a question of how he dies, not if. If you want to make sure that Itzcoatl himself kills the Servitor in a spectacular way, you can just pay 1 Drama and describe the death instead of rolling. In any case, mark down a check next to Itzcoatl’s Leadership skill.

_________________
My real name is Michael; use it, if you like.

I'll roll... an all-out thrust to his belly.

7CP vs. TN6
[dice]gvmdopppvn[/dice]
[dice]qjdcqrrhbo[/dice]
[dice]mjjnuhsuwy[/dice]
[dice]ibdyrsteek[/dice]
[dice]hmfyematvm[/dice]
[dice]eaxlsriqhr[/dice]
[dice]lpjejoitcq[/dice]

And if needed, 1d6 roll.
[dice]ipkupdpcgu[/dice]

_________________
"Brothels are a much sounder investment than ships, I've found. Whores seldom sink, and when they are boarded by pirates, why, the pirates pay good coin like everyone else."
- Lord Petyr Baelish, A Game of Thrones

Pac, somewhere in the afterlife, writes:

Note to An-Ara: Give that man a raise! Oh, and we should really pay for his funeral...

Great stuff guys! Is this Itz's big chance to get a hold of another device...? That Servitor had some pretty cool tricks!

I liked the way my comrade worker tackled the oppressor to the ground. Long live the Revolution!

Regards,

_________________
Ian Plumb
Illustrations for Gamers
Lyonpaedia
Griffin Grove Gaming
Kraftworks for Kids School Holiday Program

Four successes, with ST and TO cancelling each other out, that’s lvl 5 (6, actually). Ouch.

Itzcoatl. The square in front of Pac Utal’s townhouse.

The Servitor’s single eye widens in terror as he sees Itzcoatl charging. He tries to throw himself out of the spearhead’s deadly way, but it is too late – with all his strength and hate and fear behind the thrust, Itzcoatl plunges the foot-long wicked bronze deep in the Servitor’s bowels.

The Servitor’s cry of anguish has nothing human to it.

Itzcoatl feels the spear’s point scratch across the godstone underneath the Servitor. “Die!”, he snarls at the skewered angel, cruelly twisting the bronze blade before he yanks it out of the seraphic flesh. Another terrible cry of pain issues from behind the mask, then yelps as the Servitor tries to contract into a bundle despite the violent twitches shaking his slender frame.Divine life spills out of a fist-sized cavity in his belly in a welter of blood that has nothing divine to it.

While priests and slaves and warriors stare thunderstruck, Itzcoatl stands astride the dying angel, bloody spear in hand, breathing hard.

Higgins, I give the stage to you; Itzcoatl might want to say or do something in this singular, epochal moment and really shine in his role, or capitalize on it. Whatever he does, he has won himself everybody present as accomplices; voluntary or not, they are now in with him. For that you get 1 SA point to the power-Drive, and for killing the Servitor you get 1 SA point to the hate-Passion and also 1 SA point to the Destiny.

And don’t forget that all people who are able to work the godstone are here on the square (save An-Ara, but nobody has as yet noticed that she’s not present), practically in the power of greedy Itzcoatl.

At the same moment, Ghost Jaguar is sitting peacefully at the feet of a Servitor and learning from him and Itzcoatl is standing spear in hand over the corpse of another Servitor he has just brutally and blatantly slain. Now who could have foreseen this?

Ian, “that man” was Shaq-Atli, Pac's closest assistant; and it remains to be seen wether he’s dead or just severly injured. And yes, the scene was pretty dramatic, I'd say; rather cool to visualize the flow of events. And yes again, Itzcoatl has all but gained a second device in a single day; is he going to loose this one as well?

_________________
My real name is Michael; use it, if you like.